‘Unmitigated disaster’: Unions and Sadiq Khan slam transport sec Mark Harper’s rail reform plan February 8, 2023 Unions and Sadiq Khan have slammed the government’s plans to enhance the private sector’s role in railways, calling it “an unmitigated disaster.” It comes after transport secretary Mark Harper announced last night the creation of Great British Railways (GBR), saying the new public body will take “politics out of the railways.” According to Harper yesterday, [...]
Great British Railways confirmed: Body will take ‘politics out’ of sector, says Mark Harper February 7, 2023 Transport secretary Mark Harper has confirmed the creation of Great British Railways, saying the new public body will take “politics out of the railways”. “This is not Network Rail 2.0, nor a return to British Rail,” Harper told the sector as he delivered the annual George Bradshaw address earlier this evening. “Taking the politics out [...]
Rail travel: Government halving the cost of single LNER fares in a move that will ‘unleash more competition, innovation and growth’ February 7, 2023 The government is set to halve the cost of single rail fares across the wider LNER rail network, as part of its plan to reform the UK’s railways. Transport secretary Mark Harper will announce an extension of single-leg pricing beyond the few LNER services that have trialled the ticketing system since 2020. The move will [...]
Rail strikes: End is now ‘further away’ than when walkouts started, Aslef says February 1, 2023 A resolution to the dispute between train drivers and operators is “further away than when we started,” according to rail union Aslef. Around 12,500 Aslef members at 15 companies are on strike today as part of a ongoing dispute over pay and jobs, joining hundreds of thousands of workers in what is considered the biggest [...]
Is it Avanti? The award for Britain’s worst rail network goes to…. January 23, 2023 Avanti West Coast is the country’s worst train operator when it comes to cancellations, according to a new ranking. A Press Association analysis of recent data published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) shows that Avanti West Coast’s cancellation score for the four weeks ended 7 January was 18.9 per cent. Cancellation score [...]
RMT receives new pay offer from train companies in bid to avert more strikes – but will its members accept? January 19, 2023 The RMT rail union has announced it has received a new and improved pay offer from train operators in a bid to avert more strikes. Union bosses said they will consider the deal – which is worth a minimum of nine per cent over two years – and decide whether to put it to their [...]
Settling rail dispute would have been cheaper than strikes, admits minister January 18, 2023 Rail minister Huw Merriman has admitted the government has lost more money due to the rail strikes’ impact than it would have if it had settled the dispute with unions months ago. “It’s actually ended up costing more than it would have if [the dispute] had been settled,” the minister told members of the Commons’ [...]
More strikes: RMT follows in Aslef’s footsteps with rail walkouts in February January 17, 2023 Rail union the RMT has followed in Aslef’s footsteps from Tuesday morning and announced two days of strikes in early February. Train drivers working at 14 companies – including Govia Thameslink and C2C – said they will down tools on 1 and 3 February after rejecting an eight per cent pay increase over two years. [...]
London disruption warning after rail track left hanging in mid-air due to ‘huge landslip’ January 15, 2023 Major disruption is expected after a main railway line collapsed in a “huge” landslip which left one track hanging in mid-air. The 44-metre landslip happened on the embankment to the north east of Hook station in Hampshire, on the line from London to Basingstoke. The damage has left only two of the four-track railway passable, [...]
Train operators given ‘revised mandate’ for latest union talks, Mark Harper says January 15, 2023 Train company bosses will be working with a “revised mandate” which could include a better pay offer as they enter the latest round of talks with unions, the transport secretary has suggested. Mark Harper said train operators have been given his “permission” to make a new offer to the trade unions. The minister claimed he [...]