DEBATE: Would the railways run better with a ‘fat controller’? July 18, 2019 Would the railways run better with an independent “fat controller” in charge, as recently proposed? Scott Corfe, research director at the Social Market Foundation, says YES. Commuters are right to be angry with the state of Britain’s railway network, with its unpalatable combination of high fares, delays, and trains so packed that one feels like [...]
Union ballots staff over ‘deeply damaging’ nationwide rail strike June 28, 2019 Train drivers are set to vote on the first nationwide rail strike in a generation as union bosses lashed out against the government over pension arrangements. Read more: Londoners brace for summer Tube strike The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will ballot thousands of members on whether to hold national industrial action over fears [...]
Commuters suffer London train delays as new rail timetable arrives May 20, 2019 Commuters were hit with their first batch of disruption into London this morning on the same day nationwide timetables were overhauled. Read more: Commuters urged to plan travel as new rail timetable comes into force Speed restrictions were put into place at Wimbledon due to a faulty track, forcing trains to terminate at Basingstoke, where [...]
Commuters urged to plan travel as new rail timetable comes into force May 19, 2019 The rail industry has today pushed through its new summer timetable, a year after changes caused havoc across the country. An extra 1,000 services have been added per week to the timetable, with extra stops and longer trains. The train firms that were caught up in last year's chaos – in which thousands of services were [...]
Stagecoach claims pension risks for three spurned rail franchises ‘exceeded £1bn’ May 2, 2019 Stagecoach is engaged in an increasingly bitter battle with the government after it revealed that the pension risks it was being asked to take on for three rail franchises was "well in excess of £1bn". Stagecoach, which runs a partnership with Richard Branson's Virgin Trains, has been at loggerheads with the Department for Transport (DfT) [...]
Scrap franchise system and let TfL control London commuter routes, says rail industry April 29, 2019 The rail franchise system should be scrapped and responsibility for commuter routes handed from central government to local authorities such as Transport for London (TfL), the rail industry has said. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents the industry, has today unveiled its proposals for the Williams rail review, which transport secretary Chris Grayling called last [...]
Siemens and Babcock among winners of £750m Network Rail signalling contract April 29, 2019 Network Rail has awarded contracts collectively worth £750m to companies including Siemens and Babcock to to deliver signalling and telecoms across the UK. The contracts are for projects such as stand-alone level crossings, stand-alone major telecoms and related civil works. Other firms to pick up the contracts include VolkerRail Special Businesses, Atkins, Linbrooke Services and Colas Rail. Signalling [...]
Passengers warned of disruption as Euston station set to close over Easter and May Bank holiday weekends April 10, 2019 Euston station will be closed for several days over the Easter and May Bank holiday weekends with no trains running in and out of the station, passengers have been warned. The busy London station will be shut from 19 to 22 April and from 4-6 May, which will close routes and lead to longer travel [...]
Old school train tickets to be a thing of the past as rail companies ramp up smart tickets April 10, 2019 Old-school orange rail tickets could become a thing of the past as train companies ramp up the technology for paperless 'smart' tickets. Nine in 10 tickets offered around UK rail stations will be soon be available to buy paperless at busy stations such as Waterloo, Brighton, Gatwick Airport, Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central following upgrades to the [...]
Transport heads raise concerns over Sadiq Khan’s plans for TfL takeover of Network Rail April 9, 2019 Leading Assembly members have raised concerns over Sadiq Khan’s headline-grabbing plan for Transport for London (TfL) to take over key routes and stations from Network Rail in London. Last month the London mayor said responsibility and funding for key rail assets such as tracks and stations should be transferred to the transport body to plug [...]