Calls for rail reform rise as cost of bailout revealed June 23, 2020 Transport secretary Grant Shapps will appear before the transport select committee tomorrow amid growing calls for the government to use its temporary control of the railways to enact reform of the franchise system. In March, the onslaught of the coronavirus crisis prompted ministers to take the UK’s rail firms under emergency measures for six months, [...]
Railway bailout has cost £3.5bn so far, government reveals June 18, 2020 The UK government has thus far spent £3.5bn keeping its railways running during the coronavirus pandemic, it has been revealed. Responding to a parliamentary written question, rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: ‘Since the outbreak of Covid-19 the government has approved £3.5bn of additional expenditure to ensure that vital rail services continue to operate. “Of this [...]
Rail operators awarded new contracts for Great Western and Southeastern franchises March 30, 2020 First Group and Go Ahead Group have been awarded new contracts to run the Great Western and Southeastern rail franchises respectively with just a day to go before the existing deals run out. The new contracts will run concurrently with the emergency measures the government put in place last week to protect the rail industry [...]
Railway industry in talks with government over emergency coronavirus measures March 15, 2020 The government is in talks with the rail industry over a range of steps to protect franchises against falling passenger numbers due to the coronavirus outbreak. According to the BBC, at a meeting of industry figures last week it was revealed that numbers had fallen by up to 18 per cent on certain lines, although [...]
Mind the gap: How to level up transport networks across south London March 9, 2020 It is widely acknowledged that south London’s transport links are inferior to those north of the river. By taking a cursory glance at the Tube map, it becomes blindingly obvious that there is a clear disparity between the two parts of our city, with several multi-coloured lines stretching well into the north in stark contrast [...]
Half of London Waterloo station to be closed this weekend February 27, 2020 Half of London Waterloo station will be closed for the whole of this weekend as South Western Railway carries out major track maintenance and renewal work on the lines. Some lines between Waterloo and Clapham Junction will be closed, with a reduced service running in and out of the former. A spokesman for the franchise [...]
RMT calls on government to avoid ‘reanimating the corpse’ of rail franchising February 26, 2020 Rail union RMT has called on the government to commit to a full renationalisation of the UK’s railways ahead of the imminent Williams review into the franchising system. Although the review is expected to lead to an “overhaul” of the current system, RMT says that the concession model that is widely touted as the government’s [...]
Railway bodies call on government for rolling electrification programme February 19, 2020 The railway industry has written to transport secretary Grant Shapps calling for the government to begin a constant process of electrifying the UK’s rail networks or risk missing its 2040 decarbonisation goal. The open letter notes that although electrification is the only means to meet the target, once the Midlands mainline has been electrified, there [...]
A high-speed economy needs more than just a few extra trains February 18, 2020 History will show that productivity, not Brexit, was the economic issue of our age. And the new government has made a high-speed start. The focus on “levelling up” the UK economy — and a resultant focus on regional productivity — is completely right. The story of this country’s regional productivity is sometimes characterised solely as [...]
Struggling Northern Rail franchise nationalised and renamed Northern Trains January 29, 2020 Northern Rail is to be nationalised, five years before the franchise was set to end, after months of delays, cancellations and poor financial performance. Transport secretary Grant Shapps will terminate the existing franchise for Northern and install the state’s Operator of Last Resort on 1 March as filings for a new state-run replacement – Northern [...]