Southeastern rail franchise on course for another extension as Go Ahead in talks with government November 28, 2019 Go Ahead, the company which operates the Southeastern rail franchise, is in talks with the government over extending its contract to run the line beyond the current 1 April end date. The competition for the franchise was unexpectedly scrapped in August and a five-month extension awarded to Govia, the joint venture between Go-Ahead and Keolis, [...]
Virgin Trains manager jumps ship to First Group for west coast main line railway takeover November 26, 2019 First Group has poached the boss of Virgin Trains just in time to take over the west coast main line rail franchise in 12 days’ time. Phil Whittingham, who has been at Virgin since it took control of the country’s most lucrative rail network in 1998, will keep running the line, which connects London to [...]
South Western Railway services to close early in December amid strikes November 25, 2019 Christmas parties across London will be scuppered next month, as late night train services face the chop amid 27 days of rail strikes. The strike, which begins next Monday, is on course to be the worst ever in the capital city, and will hit all services which run in and out of Waterloo, the busiest [...]
Londoners face 27-day Christmas rail strike as union talks break down November 21, 2019 Christmas shoppers and commuters face a month of festive travel chaos, after talks over a 27-day strike on one of London’s busiest rail networks broke down. Negotiations between the Rail and Maritime Transport union (RMT) and South Western Railway collapsed after the operator failed to put forward any proposals that could settle the dispute, according [...]
‘Dirty business’: Rail firms will still be dumping raw sewage on the line next year November 3, 2019 Rail operators have been forced to backtrack on a promise to stop the “dirty business” of dumping excrement on tracks by the end of the year. Network Rail and a number of train companies have admitted the 2017 promise – to stop using carriages whose toilets flush sewage directly onto the track by the end [...]
Arriva-run Northern Rail franchise could be nationalised October 16, 2019 One of Britain’s biggest rail franchises could be renationalised amid concerns about its financial situation and late-running trains, the transport secretary has said. Grant Shapps said he is considering whether Northern Rail, which is run by German operator Arriva, should be brought under state control. Read more: Arriva seeks £200m from government over East Midlands [...]