HS2 is “cannibalising” the rest of the transport budget, TaxPayers’ Alliance claims June 25, 2015 The High Speed 2 rail link connecting Birmingham to London is “cannibalising” the rest of the UK's transport budget, Jonathan Isaby, head of the TaxPayers' Alliance, has claimed. Read more: High Speed 2 to lose a link from North to Europe In a statement, Isaby said promises had been made “time and time again” [...]
Sir Peter Hendy, the Transport for London boss who called commuter trains “s**t”, appointed to lead Network Rail as £35.8bn investment plan is delayed June 25, 2015 Network Rail has appointed Peter Hendy, the former Transport for London commissioner who only two months ago described commuter trains as "s**t" and "awful", as its chairman. Read more: Network Rail is at crisis point and won't deliver the upgrades it promised "On Southeastern, the trains are like the Wild West. They are s**t, awful. And [...]
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin: Network Rail is at crisis point and won’t deliver the upgrades it promised June 25, 2015 Network Rail has overspent and won't be able to deliver all the changes and upgrades it promised, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin told the House of Commons today. Read more: Network Rail privatisation to be discussed by government officials in order to shake off debt burden The government’s proposed five-year £38.5bn investment plan to transform [...]
UK national rail strike: Threat averted as Network Rail and unions reach pay deal June 24, 2015 The threat of a strike that would have brought Britain's entire train network grinding to a standstill has been averted after a pay deal was reached. Network Rail and the unions have agreed a two-year deal that includes a two per cent pay rise for staff this year and a pay rise in line with [...]
Investigation launched into Network Rail reliability after delays and cost overruns June 12, 2015 Network Rail is to be investigated by Britain's rail regulator after it was accused of delivering poor punctuality and reliability on some of its key routes. The routes, some of which are the busiest commuter routes in the country, were "below requirements", according to the regulator, the Office of Road and Rail (ORR). They are operated [...]
Network Rail profits halve as company admits it is not keeping up with pace of change June 11, 2015 After strike threats and widespread condemnation over ongoing travel chaos, Network Rail is continuing its annus horribilis with a set of pretty dismal results. The figures: Network Rail's pre-tax profits halved for the year to March 31, from £1.-4bn to £506m, while opreating profit fell 13.3 per cent to £1.74bn. Revenues also slipped [...]
National rail strike: RMT suspend 24-hour Network Rail walkout planned for 4-5 June June 1, 2015 The national rail strike, scheduled to take place this week, has been suspended after unions and rail bosses negotiated a new pay deal. In a letter to members RMT general secretary Mick Cash said improvements to pay conditions "are enough to suspend the forthcoming industrial action". The action, due to take place over 24 hours [...]
Rail strike: Network Rail and RMT crisis talks continue into evening in a bid to avert industrial action May 30, 2015 Talks between Network Rail and RMT bosses are continuing into the evening as the two sides try to negotiate a deal to avert strikes that will bring Britain's railways to a halt. A pay deal was rejected by union bosses on Thursday, meaning plans for a strike by Network Rail staff are back on. However, [...]
UK national rail strike: Which train routes are affected, will my ticket be valid, when will the strike take place? All your Network Rail bank holiday walkout questions answered May 21, 2015 UPDATE 2.45pm: The RMT has followed the TSSA union in "suspending" its strike . Things are not going well for Network Rail: having tried everything in its arsenal to prevent a planned strike by workers in the RMT union over pay and jobs, yesterday it resorted to sending threatening legal letters. Not exactly a sign of power. As [...]
Is the Network Rail train strike cancelled? TSSA suspends action as RMT mulls improved offer May 21, 2015 The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) has said it has suspended its planned bank holiday strike after receiving an improved offer from Network Rail bosses. However, as things stand, workers at the bigger RMT union – which has five times the number of members as TSSA – is still going ahead with the planned 24-hour [...]