Northern Rail franchise on course for financial collapse in ‘a number of months’ January 9, 2020 The crisis-stricken Northern Rail franchise is on course for a full-scale financial collapse within months, according to transport secretary Grant Shapps. In a statement citing the franchise’s most recent financial information, Shapps said the franchise could only continue to run for “a number of months” before the government stepped in. Read more: Arriva-run Northern Rail [...]
Greater Anglia rail franchise clause at centre of dispute involving Abellio January 5, 2020 A row between rail officials in Holland and Britain has spilled over into 2020, after train operator Abellio continued to take heavy losses from a clause in one of its UK government contracts. Abellio is a subsidiary of Dutch state-owned company Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS). Read more: Rail: Williams review recommendations ‘could take 10 years to [...]
Dissenting HS2 report revives calls for government to release official review January 5, 2020 Whitehall is facing growing clamour to release its official review into the HS2 rail line, after a former insider slammed the project in his own dissenting report over the weekend. The Rail Industry Association (RIA), which represents contractors working on HS2, urged the government to publish its independent review into the line “swiftly” after Lord [...]
MPs were ‘misled’ on HS2 cost, says former deputy of government review into project January 5, 2020 Parliament was “misled” over the costs of the High Speed 2 rail project, according to the former deputy chairman of the government’s independent review into the line. Lord Tony Berkeley said the cost of the project is “out of control” and could be as much as £107m, three times the original estimate, in his own [...]
South Western rail strike set to run to end of December as peace process stalls December 16, 2019 Strikes across one of London’s busiest railway networks are increasingly likely to run for the whole of December, after the process of arranging peace talks between union bosses and South Western Railway has stalled. The 27-day rail strike called by the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) Union has caused chaos for the first 16 [...]
Rail fail: South Western services still hampered despite temporary election halt to RMT strike December 12, 2019 Commuters were left angry this morning as South Western Railway services remained on partial timetables, despite rail strikes being temporarily called off for election day. The 27-day rail strike called by the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) Union has caused chaos for the first 11 days of December, but industrial action was due to [...]
General Election 2019: The rail industry’s Christmas wishlist December 10, 2019 The rail industry is on the verge of the most precipitous change since John Major took it private 28 years ago – whether it likes it or not. On the one hand, the Conservatives are likely to tear apart the system which decides who runs each line – known as franchising – having grown impatient [...]
New era as Avanti begins running West Coast Main Line services December 8, 2019 A new era began for West Coast Main Line train services this morning as Avanti completed its first journey from London Euston to Manchester. Avanti, the franchise managed by the partnership of Aberdee’s FirstGroup and Italy’s Trenitalia, has taken over from Virgin Trains, which has run the line since 1997. Read more: Virgin Trains’ manager [...]
Rail strike: Union writes to South Western to restart talks as commuters complain of ‘hell’ December 4, 2019 Rail union bosses have written to South Western Railway in an attempt to halt what is planned to be Britain’s longest ever rail strike. As commuters complained of “hell” on their way to work with the strike entering its third day out of 27, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) Union asked South Western [...]
Commuter chaos continues as London rail strike standoff enters second day December 3, 2019 The standoff between South Western Railway and the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) Union went on today, as Labour faced claims it was working alongside union bosses to boost its election prospects. Commuters were left miserable again as the longest rail strike in history entered its second day, with some warning that the remaining [...]