Table of contents for Issue 988 in RAIL

stefanie.foster@bauermedia.co.uk @stefatrail CREATING distance from any problem can be a valuable way to gain perspective and bring clarity. When we’re too close to every detail, we can become overly focused with the weeds and fail to appreciate the surrounding forest. I went on maternity leave in May 2022, so have been away for nearly 14 months. When I left, arguments on the railway were all about fares reform, union relations, passenger satisfaction - and the forthcoming shift to Great British Railways (to name but a few). More than a year later, and it feels like I’m in Groundhog Day. Nothing has changed. We’re still arguing about the same issues, just with a diminished spirit and less sense of optimism. Sadly, I’m not surprised. On my return, I asked Twitter folk…

There is no single source of information on ticket office closures, with each operator having a different style and giving different information. Operators and the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) have been playing a ‘pass the parcel’ ping-pong, with RDG referring people to operators, and the latter in some of their consultations pointing people to the RDG’s plans. In most cases, the consultation can only be accessed from the home page of the website, although in some cases they are not obvious. Avanti’s is called ‘Have your say’, with smaller type saying, “Public consultation launched on the future of ticket retailing”. In the worst example, c2c has nothing on its home page. Instead, its consultation is ‘hidden’ as a separate non-menu page only accessible from its press release, or by making…

THERE has been no contact between train operators and ASLEF “for the last 12 weeks”, claims the train drivers’ union. The blame for the lack of further movement in the long running dispute has been laid firmly at the door of government and employers, with ASLEF’s General Secretary claiming that ministers and employers “appear content to let this drift on and on”. His comments came in the wake of a further week-long ban on overtime being announced for July 31-August 5. It follows three previous seven-day overtime bans, and 11 one-day strikes called over the last 12 months. “We have not heard a word from the employers since [the last proposal was made on] April 26- not a meeting, not a phone call, not a text message, nor an email.…

Ten Tube stations have been announced by Transport for London as the next in line to achieve step-free access. Alperton, Arnos Grove, Burnt Oak, Eastcote, Finchley Road, Northolt, North Acton, Rayners Lane, West Hampstead and White City have all made the shortlist for access work in 2023-24. TfL says the stations were selected using a formula that considered not only benefits to passengers such as reduced journey times, but also the feasibility of installing new lifts and having sufficient space to carry out accessibility improvements at depth. The approach was also influenced by feedback from a consultation that took place in 2021 and which garnered 5,500 responses.…

England needs a national transport strategy, with the absence of an overarching vision for transport hindering environmental and economic progress. That’s the conclusion of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), which argues that clearly defined outcomes - and agreements about how to work towards them - is what transport professionals need most. Publishing a policy position statement, ICE said that while some issues are UK-wide, an English strategy would be a “pragmatic” first step towards long-term goals. Its call came as the Transport Select Committee of MPs announced a new inquiry on strategic transport objectives. ICE’s paper sets out key recommendations about what a national transport strategy for England should do, and what it should look like: ■ A national transport strategy for England should set out an overarching vision…

THE influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has slammed the Department for Transport (DfT) as being clueless about how to proceed with the HS2 station at Euston. In a damning report, the PAC says that despite being eight years into planning HS2 at Euston, the DfT “still does not know what it is trying to achieve with the station and what sort of regeneration it will support”. The PAC examines the value for money of Government projects, programmes and service delivery. Drawing on the work of the National Audit Office, the PAC holds government officials to account for the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of public spending. “It is clear now that the £2.6 billion budget HS2 Ltd set for the project was completely unrealistic, even before the impacts of inflation are…

The Campaign for Better Transport wants airlines to offer free rail tickets, to encourage passengers not to use their cars to travel to airports for international journeys. Its Fewer Flights Charter, published on July 6, also calls for the Government to do more to reduce aviation’s carbon emissions by reducing the number of domestic flights. CBT also wants pollution figures to be published to show how poorly air compares with rail, a new tax on UK aviation fuel, a reversal of the cut in air passenger duty, and penalties imposed for flying empty planes.…

A new CIRAS phone app is helping rail staff to raise confidential health, safety and wellbeing concerns simply and quickly. CIRAS is the transport sector’s confidential safety reporting hotline. Created after a similar scheme in the nuclear industry, it is supported by all companies. The app has been developed in response to feedback from CIRAS members. Their concerns are listened to in confidence and sent to the company for resolution- helping to improve safety management and reduce risk. “The more concerns we can listen to, the more insights we can share with our members, and the greater the opportunity for them to address risks that have been identified,” said CIRAS director Catherine Baker.…

A six-month project to rebuild Platform 3 at Lichfield Trent Valley commenced in mid-July. The platform is the last stop on the Cross-City Line and sits directly above Platforms 1-2 on the West Coast Main Line. Network Rail is investing £5.8 million in a scheme that will necessitate Cross-City Line services being temporarily cut back to Lichfield City until December 27. Replacement bus services will run for the duration of the works, while West Coast Main Line services continue to call as usual.…

NETWORK Rail is starting a two-year study into the best way to bring High Speed 2 services into Leeds, Rail Minister Huw Merriman announced on July 17. Publishing the study’s terms of reference almost two years after first announcing the work in the Integrated Rail Plan (RAIL 945), which axed HS2’s plan for Leeds, Merriman said: “The work in the study will consider a range of options and take account of value for money, affordability, deliverability and timescales, economic development, disruption to passengers and local views and evidence.” However, the terms of reference set no overall aim for the work. For example, it doesn’t say whether the study should concentrate on capacity, speed or wider links into the rest of the rail network for connectivity. The terms merely say that…

There will be no trains for 22 weeks between Aylesbury and Princes Risborough (until October 30) due to a culvert repair and HS2 construction. It is part of a closure that also sees Aylesbury-Amersham trains halted for 12 days from August 7 to 18. Rail replacement bus services will be provided. In addition, Marsh Lane level crossing will be closed to road traffic from August 18 until spring 2024 to allow the work to take place, as well as a project to upgrade the crossing in 2024 to bring it up to current safety standards. The initial 12-day closure enables a permanent repair to a brick-built culvert damaged in March, leading to repeated short-notice closures of the line. Immediately south of Aylesbury station, the culvert - hidden from public view…

Production of nearly 2,742 concrete segments for HS2’s Delta Junction viaducts at Water Orton and Coleshill in the West Midlands has begun at HS2’s purpose-built factory in Kingsbury (Warwickshire). The first segments will be used to build the 500-yard River Tame West viaduct near Water Orton, which crosses a valley and connects the Watton House and Faraday embankments. Work started on the supports earlier this year, with the deck to follow in the coming months. The 55,000m2 factory employs around 1,000 people. Its daily output can be up to eight segments, each weighing between 50 and 80 tonnes.…

A planning application should be lodged later this year for another ‘new’ building for Redditch station - the southern terminus of Birmingham’s Cross-City line. The latest transformation of the site (the third in just over 50 years) shows an ambitious glass-fronted two-storey building to replace the basic functional ticket office and brick shelter opened by British Rail on October 5 1992. This had been quickly put up to allow the previous site to be sold for redevelopment, despite the station only dating back to February 1972. The original spacious Midland Railway station, opened in 1868, had been flattened to expand the town centre and build a bus station. Revamping the station is regarded by Worcestershire County Council as one of the county’s “most important projects”, to help remove the stigma…

Network Rail has increased the number of patrols at Warwick station, following a “worrying rise” in the number of people crossing the tracks. Ten cases of trespass have been reported since May, after the subway connecting both platforms was closed to enable the installation of new lifts. A diversionary route has been created around the outside of the station, to temporarily provide platform access. But it seems that not all passengers are willing to use it. “The diversion route is necessary while we make the railway more accessible to everyone,” said NR scheme project manager Elinor Weymouth. “A short cut is not worth risking your life for.”…

London’s six Overground routes are to be named by the end of next year, to create their own identities and to make them easier to use and find on maps. The idea was strongly opposed by former London Mayor Boris Johnson. But his successor Sadiq Khan has revived it, saying he is simply extending the much-loved format of the Underground which began labelling its lines over a century ago. The routes to be named are: ■ Stratford to Richmond/Clapham Junction.■ Euston to Watford Junction.■ Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside.■ Liverpool Street to Cheshunt/ Enfield Town/Chingford.■ Highbury & Islington to New Cross/Crystal Palace/West Croydon/ Clapham Junction.■ Romford to Upminster. Transport for London will have the final say on the choice of names, saying that local groups and transport historians will be…

A day of events to welcome Ozzy the bull to Birmingham New Street station will take place on July 26. The 10-metre-high moving sculpture is currently being rebuilt behind hoardings on the station concourse, having starred at last summer’s Commonwealth Games in the city. Passengers will get to see Ozzy’s first performance (which includes a moving head, roar, swishing tail and lit-up eyes) at lunchtime on unveiling day. Across the station there will also be face painting, a brass band and dance performances to welcome Ozzy (formerly known as Raging Bull, and recently renamed after the Birmingham native and Black Sabbath frontman following a public vote) to his permanent home.…

Three-quarters of Network Rail’s suppliers have committed to implementing their own science-based emissions targets. Supporting the UK Government’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, NR became the first railway company to set independently verified science-based targets in October 2020… and challenged its suppliers to set their own. Suppliers such as manufacturing and construction companies generate around two-thirds of the railway’s emissions, so Network Rail has worked with its partners in setting their own targets. It will support monitoring and measuring their performance to encourage shared learning. “I thank our suppliers, who have shown genuine enthusiasm and desire to do their part in bolstering rail’s position as the greenest form of transport,” said NR Commercial & Procurement Strategy Director Ripesh Patel. “Rail is already a very environmentally friendly way…

Bakerloo Line and London Overground passengers are being reminded of a series of closures this summer. From July 23-August 25, Network Rail will carry out cabling and sleeper renewals plus a power upgrade on a 20-mile stretch of line in north London. This will affect the Bakerloo Line between Queen’s Park and Harrow, and Overground services from London Euston-Watford Junction. The former reopens on August 18 and the latter on August 25. Passengers are advised to use alternative rail or temporary bus routes for the duration of the closures.…

The two surviving coaches from the UK’s only double-deck electric multiple unit - a failed attempt to ease overcrowding on London’s Charing Cross-Dartford services - have been reunited in a project that has saved one of them from likely scrapping. The Bulleid 4DD Group has moved coach S13003S from the Northamptonshire Ironstone Trust, with the intention of restoring it to museum standard. It is now at Sellindge (Kent), where it has been reunited with S13004S. Both are in poor condition. Two 4DD four-car units (4001/02, later 4901/02) were designed by retiring Southern Chief Engineer Oliver Bulleid just before nationalisation, and entered service in 1949. They proved unpopular because of their cramped interiors and the extra time needed at stations to join and disembark. They were withdrawn in 1971.…

Rail industry reliability plans show a “good understanding” of the network’s problems and commitments to improve, but there is scope for better sharing of best practice. That’s according to the Office of Rail and Road, which has made eight recommendations in its letter to the industry, following a review of the joint performance strategies produced by train operating companies (TOCs) in partnership with Network Rail. ORR decided to conduct the review earlier this year, in light of network challenges on punctuality and reliability. As an independent body, the regulator says it is “well placed” to provide a balanced view across the TOCs and NR. NR’s routes agree annual joint performance strategies with most TOCs. These strategies form a key part of the Performance Improvement Management System (PIMS), which provides guidelines…

NetworkNews Contributions for by far the UK’s most published column by the same author - now in its 42nd year -are most welcome from all sources. Personal observations, society magazines, website printouts and live links, transport group newsletters and media cuttings (with dates, please) are sought to maintain topicality. Please email your contributions direct to hj@howardjohnston.co.uk, or rail@bauermedia.co.uk WESTERN Ashley Down: The foundations for the platforms at the new north Bristol suburban station were laid between June 3-18. Bodmin: The Bodmin & Wenford Railway has dropped the word ‘Wenford’ from its name, as it is unlikely that trains will run there in the foreseeable future. Nuneham: The footpath crossing over the Didcot-Oxford line was taken out of use on May 25. Taunton: Richard Coombes (46) from Taunton has been fined…

FIVE white lights burned as Lumo’s 0820 Newcastle-King’s Cross approached Peterborough on April 17 2022. Coupled with a green aspect from signal P468, those lights told Lumo’s driver that they were about to be diverted from the Up Fast into Platform 1, traversing points with a speed limit of 30mph for the first set and 25mph for the two subsequent sets. But the driver didn’t see those white lights. Instead, they applied full power to the train, which had been approaching the signal at 25mph when it cleared from red. This lifted the train’s speed to traverse the points at 76mph despite a last-second full brake application when the driver realised something was wrong. This realisation came from seeing a banner repeater signal that warned of a red signal ahead.…

THE Department for Transport (DfT) faces a legal challenge over its plan to close 866 ticket offices in England and change the operating hours at most of the 90 others. The Labour mayors for Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are preparing to go to court and are supported by the Labour national leadership and unions. The mayors say the 21-day consultation, which closes on July 26, is “totally inadequate”. Under the controversial proposals (RAIL 987), ticket offices would close at some major stations, including London Euston, Paddington, Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street. Stations in Scotland and Wales are unaffected. It has also become clear that job losses will result. Operators are drawing up voluntary redundancy schemes and informed sources…

■ Avanti - All 20 ticket offices to shut, including Euston ■ c2c - 20 to shut, five to stay (with reduced hours): Fenchurch Street, Benfleet, Basildon, Grays and Southend Central ■ Chiltern - All 21 to close ■ EMR - 24 to shut, five to stay as CIC: Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield and London St Pancras ■ Greater Anglia - 47 to shut, CIC for seven stations: London Liverpool Street, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich, Stansted Airport and Cambridge ■ GTR (including Southern and Gatwick Express) - 168 to close, 18 to stay ■ GWR - All 79 ticket offices to shut ■ LNER - Seven to shut, five to stay as CICs with unchanged hours: Doncaster, Peterborough, London Kings Cross, Newcastle and York ■ Northern - 131 to shut,…

Directly employed Eurostar staff will get a pay rise of 8-17%, depending on their grade and role, after the RMT union secured a pay deal. All staff will get a minimum uplift of £4,300 for everyone on £45,000 or below. Other measures include increases in travel benefits, 100% basic pay for weeks 27-40 of maternity leave and support for bringing in greater digital services. RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “I congratulate our members on securing a negotiated settlement on pay and conditions. “This approach from Eurostar is a far cry from the train operating companies who want to cut thousands of jobs, close hundreds of ticket offices and offer us a measly pay deal.” ■ Security staff at Eurostar employed by contractor Mitie are being balloted for strikes over…

The UK’s railways could soon stand a better chance of predicting where major expenditure on infrastructure will be needed, to combat expected climate change over the next 50 to 100 years. The Met Office has developed a data portal that predicts the extremes of heatwaves, floods or droughts. It should be useful across the transport industry, construction, land use, urban planning, and energy industries. Examples of its uses include working out the number of days when temperatures will rise above 25°C followed by nights above 20°C, to predict the times when structures will have prolonged exposure to higher temperatures. It could also be possible to identify periods below freezing that can also lead to disruption and increase the demand for heating.…

Transport for West Midlands’ plans to offer live information on all the region’s public transport on one phone app has moved closer, with the letting of the contract to design the programme. FOD Mobility Group will provide the information on its Mobilleo MaaS platform. Users can plan journeys, receive live travel information, and book and pay for all local transport options. The new software will replace the existing TfWM app and promises to find the best value fares. The project has been funded by the Department for Transport.…

HS2 Chief Executive Mark Thurston has resigned after nearly six and a half years at the helm of the mega-project. Announcing his decision on July 12, he said that leading the organisation has been the highlight of his career, but that the next 18 to 24 months represent the transition from a construction project to railway systems. As such, he agreed with the Board that someone else should lead the programme through its next stage. Thurston leaves on September 29, after which the current chairman of HS2 Sir Jon Thompson will take over as Executive Chairman on an interim basis while a new CEO is found. Thurston says he intends to take the rest of the year off before being “ready for new challenges from the beginning of 2024”.…

Money promised for research at the new Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) in South Wales has topped the £100 million mark, with an offer of £15m to universities that will occupy part of the site. Construction work at the former colliery site at Onllwyn in the Neath Valley is due to start at the end of the year. The University of Birmingham, working with Cardiff and Swansea, intends to set up a facility for testing, validation and customer experience. The latest funding has come from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund. In a separate move, a similar sum has been awarded to the complementary Centre of Excellence for Railway Through-Life Engineering in Goole. Support for the Welsh centre is gathering pace. There is already a wider commitment from the…

A Lumo train with 260 passengers narrowly avoided overturning in Peterborough station when it hit a junction at three times its maximum speed in April 2022, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has reported. If this had happened, there would likely have been scenes reminiscent of the 1975 Nuneaton crash when an express train hit a 20mph junction at 80mph, leaving six dead and a pile of wreckage. The Lumo Class 803 went through a 25mph junction at 76mph after its driver misread a signal, having been lulled into a false sense of security and an expectation of his route. The RAIB says its analysis predicts a “high risk” of overturning at more than 75mph at the junction. Worse, a similar incident with a Grand Central Train happened just over…

Great Western Railway has celebrated the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Marlow branch line with a special livery on one of its trains. The design - a map of the branch running along the river Thames - marks the day that the first service ran between Bourne End and Marlow on June 27 1873. During a day of celebrations, GWR staff welcomed members of local community groups and passenger associations onboard the newly liveried diesel multiple unit (165122). Guests alighted at Bourne End for speeches and to enjoy a cake in the design of the train’s livery.…

“MAINTAIN focus on the day job.” That’s the message from HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser CBE in his annual safety report. He said that while large projects and industry restructuring are taking the headlines, statistics show that focus on day-to-day operation remains key. The report has four key themes at its heart: climate, drainage management, vegetation management and the management of fatigue. He also fired a warning shot at Transport for London. He said: “The implementation of changes to staffing as part of the modernisation programme will continue to test the effectiveness of their safety management systems, in particular the change-management processes.” His comments come after a series of incidents, from those involving passengers on platforms to enforcement action after a track worker investigation at Chalfont. “I continue…

The rail regulator is calling on Network Rail to work with the industry to improve train performance. The Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) annual assessment of NR shows performance worsened during 2022-23, with 67.8% of trains arriving on time, compared with 73.1% the previous year. Freight performance is at its lowest level since 2014. Although industrial action has affected performance, delays caused by NR have also increased. To reverse this trend, the ORR said that “sustained focus” by NR is needed in three areas: improving asset reliability, working with TOCs to build more resilient timetables, and service recovery. At the ORR’s request, NR has produced improvement plans that the ORR will monitor NR against. More positively, NR delivered £900 million efficiency savings. However, its wider financial performance has been…

A second set of proposed changes to the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill has been introduced to Parliament. The submission of Additional Provision 2 (AP2) is an important milestone in the parliamentary process, said HS2 Ltd. “It keeps HS2 on track to open the Crewe - Manchester extension between 2035 and 2041, ensuring zero-carbon rail services extend to Manchester’s two new dedicated HS2 stations at Manchester Airport and Piccadilly.” The Bill, which seeks powers to extend and operate the new high-speed network to Manchester, was submitted to Parliament in January 2022. The first set of proposed changes to the Bill, Additional Provision 1 (AP1), was introduced six months later. The latest changes were introduced on July 3. Most of the changes are relatively minor, such as road alterations…

HS2 has completed the reburial of more than 14,000 human remains excavated from St James’s Gardens at London Euston. It follows the announcement in September 2020 that the remains, removed from the disused cemetery to make way for the footprint of HS2’s southern terminus, would be reinterred at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, as part of an agreement with the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. A prayer service led by The Rev. Neil Hopkins, vicar of Brookwood, took place on June 28 at the monument erected to honour the deceased. The monument is in two pieces to reflect the changes made to the burial ground when Euston was last extended in the 19th century, is inscribed with a poem, and is set within a new landscaped garden. ■ The…

THE new Great British Railways public body should seek to replicate Transport for London as a “well-informed client” and adopt its processes for awarding future rail contracts. This was the message to MPs from David Brown, managing director for UK Trains at Arriva Group, during a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group on July 17. He told them: “One contract we operate is the Overground network for TfL, and that gives us a good insight as to what is possible when you have a well-informed client that understands the role of the rail operations in the urban network. “TfL is very demanding and very well-informed as to what it wants, and I believe whatever guiding mind or strategic body we end up with could learn from how TfL approaches…

Fares reform should take place prior to any discussions regarding the future of booking offices, according to ticketing expert Mark Smith. He told MPs: “We have seen a massive change in the way people buy tickets. However, if you are doing the [closures] sensibly you would first reform rail fares because a lot of people’s ticketing enquires are generated by complexity. You would first look at processes that can’t be done at ticket offices.” Prior to setting up his Seat61 website, Smith worked at the Department for Transport and oversaw the team regulating fares and ticketing on the British rail network. He pointed out that at present, if a passenger wanted to book a seat reservation on some Avanti West Coast services, for example, it is impossible to do so…

Celebrations to mark the 125th anniversary of the opening of the former Felixstowe station building took place on July 1. Felixstowe Mayor Seamus Bennett welcomed a group of Brownies arriving from Ipswich on a ‘seaside bucket and spade’ train, toured a public exhibition, and then attended a public event at the Suffolk resort’s Orwell Hotel. Felixstowe station was opened by the Great Eastern Railway on July 1 1898. The main building is now a Grade 2 Listed building and has housed a shopping centre since 1985.…

RYDE Pier reopened for Isle of Wight trains on July 10, much later than planned following a nine-month closure for refurbishment. However, it will close again after the summer season. RAIL understands the work is not yet half-finished, and that a further closure of four to six months will be needed. The pier is the link between Island Line services and Wightlink ferries to Portsmouth. Network Rail and South Western Railway have not committed to any dates or timescales, but admit that only a quarter of the length of the pier has been fully completed. Network Rail had previously promised that the pier would be open “in spring”, before later revising that to being “in time for the Isle of Wight Festival” in early June. Both deadlines were missed. The…

THE catchment area of a station is up to 16 times larger for cyclists than for people who walk in, says a new government report. It says train operators need to invest in more and better facilities, although there is no suggestion on how they will offset the financial shortfall caused by a potential drop in car park income. Operators are also being urged to take a serious look at the new ‘Cycle-Rail Toolkit 3’ launched by Transport Minister Jesse Norman on June 28. It argues that cycle racks are cheap to install and maintain, take up little space, and make a massive contribution to reducing congestion and cleaning the air. Accepting that more research is needed into the impact that attracting cyclists onto trains will have, the 88-page document…

Failure to adapt to climate warming will result in Britain’s trains facing increasing delays and disruption, warns Swiss electrification specialist Furrer+Frey. In a letter to Rail Minister Huw Merriman, the report’s authors highlight that electric railways have an essential role in reducing emissions from transport and reducing dependence on volatile international fossil fuel prices. But they must also be prepared for increasingly severe climate impacts. Almost a year on from the UK’s first ever red weather warning for extreme heat, the report details how the 3,700 miles of overhead wires could be under threat from hotter and drier summers, more heatwaves, wetter winters, stronger winds, more extensive flooding, and rises in sea levels. Furrer+Frey says its review is the first of its kind to consider a full range of climate-related…

A review designed to improve services on the West Highland Line will be reconvened more than three years after it was put on hold due to the COVID pandemic. Transport Scotland announced it would resume the project “when able to do so” as the spotlight fell on significant congestion issues in Glenfinnan, midway between Fort William and Mallaig on the famous route. The small village has seen an explosion of tourist traffic thanks to the nearby Glenfinnan viaduct, which was featured in Hogwarts Express scenes in the Harry Potter films. The last film in the franchise was released 12 years ago, but the National newspaper reported that the number of tourists visiting Glenfinnan hit half a million in 2019, more than treble the number of visitors four years previous. Since…

Welsh Deputy Minister Lee Waters has called for an improvement to services on the Wrexham-Bidston Line. It follows a visit to the route on June 14, so that he could directly experience the problems reported by passengers over recent months - including delays, cancellations, and frequent overcrowding. On the train, he was told about the issues by members of the Wrexham-Bidston Rail Users Association and the leaders of the Flintshire and Chester and Cheshire West Councils. Waters has now tasked Transport for Wales with creating an improvement plan. TfW Managing Director Jan Chaudhry-Van der Velde explained how the line had lost its rail service following the transfer of stock to bolster other routes, while the operator’s Class 170 fleet was temporarily withdrawn over engine safety problems. This was followed by…

The House of Commons Transport Select Committee has announced a new inquiry into transport data. The topic was selected from more than 220 proposals, after the public were asked to pitch ideas on what the TSC should investigate. From the proposals, 12 applicants were shortlisted- including Railway Industry Association Innovation Director Milda Manomaityte, who called for an investigation into open access railway data regulation and digital and data skills for the future. “We need to empower the supply chain to create innovative solutions when it comes to delivering a digital railway, and this can only be done by having reliable access to good-quality data,” she said. “We would encourage all railway organisations, including RIA members which have contributed to our Data and Digital Technologies for Rail paper, to submit written…

OPEN access passenger trains divide opinion almost as much as the ownership and structure of our railway. Supporters view open access as the ultimate expression of free enterprise - a guaranteed route to improved services, lower fares, and increased choice. But for others, it’s a distraction, a wasteful use of scarce capacity, and a drain on the government-contracted operators on the most lucrative routes. They will remind you that rail already faces fierce competition from cars, coaches, airlines, and (increasingly) remote working and videoconferencing. It’s tough to establish a clear, objective view of the benefits (or otherwise) of open access. But with Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper keen to encourage new private passenger operators, developments in mainland Europe may provide some clues as to what they can offer.…

THERE is foolishness, insanity and utter and complete madness. It is difficult to characterise the announcement on the closure of 1,000 or so booking offices as anything but the latter. What on earth are those in charge of our wonderful railways up to? I wrote a piece, half-jokingly, for The Independent suggesting that this was all part of a cunning plan by ministers to deter people from using the railways. It was all part of a scheme, I suggested, involving cutting back services, scrapping Wi-Fi on trains, installing impenetrable ticket machines and now this -the complete depersonalisation of the ticket retail process. I now suspect this was rather closer to the truth than I had thought. Let’s first debunk the ostensible reasons for doing this. We are told that only…

On sale August 9 Luton DART NICK BRODRICK finds out what’s behind a short, yet significant, new rail-airport link in Bedfordshire. Curzon Street progress CHRIS HOWE examines how the HS2 station is moving ahead alongside its original 1838-built namesake. Lean times ahead? BEN JONES analyses what the future holds for rolling stock manufacturers, leasing companies and the supply chain. Strathclyde prospects Strathclyde Partnership for Transport can trace its routes to the early 1970s. Now, five decades on from that groundbreaking move, what are the prospects for public transport in the Glasgow area? CONRAD LANDIN Subscribe now! Get more of what you love with a RAIL Membership Join today 01858 438884 Quote AJBB See page 66-67 for details…

Some final thoughts from the team at RAIL @RAIL Send contributions to: rail@bauermedia.co.uk Volunteers from Network Rail switched from their day jobs on June 7 to help with repairs at the East Lancashire Railway. The team of eight, who usually ply their trade at NR’s Square One office in Manchester, spent the day replacing wooden sleepers and carrying out other vital track work near the ELR’s Bolton Street station. And they found that in some cases tools over 100 years old were needed to complement traditional methods on the heritage line’s historic infrastructure. “While the trains still run on rails, the modern railway is very different to how things used to be,” said NR Senior Structures Engineer Simon Bishop. “It’s been really valuable to spend time with colleagues and the…

There is a patchwork of different makes and types of ticket vending machines (TVMs) across the country. For security, many do not take cash, which is why ticket offices have been retained. These tend to be rural locations with fewer trains and consequently have a high proportion of non-TVM and cash sales. In other places, TVMs do not take cash, and a new form of permit to travel will be issued. Northern explained: “Customers who can only pay with cash and do not have access to a ticket office should get a Promise to Pay notice from a ticket machine before getting onto a train. “A Promise to Pay notice allows them to board a train as long as they exchange the notice for a ticket (and pay in cash)…

“I’m astounded that the Government thinks it’s a good idea to close ticket offices across the country, at a time when we’re asking people to leave their cars at home.” Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire “The measure of any decent society is how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. The Government’s plan to railroad through these ticket office closures, with a completely inadequate 21-day consultation, shows a complete disregard for the passengers, mostly disabled and elderly residents, who will feel its impact most.” Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Liverpool City Region “Rail bosses justify their plans by saying that, these days, 88% of tickets are sold online. It suggests the people who buy the other 12% of tickets don’t matter.” Andy Burnham, Mayor of Great Manchester “Despite the concerns of…

The Government has announced tap-in tap-out devices at a further 53 stations in the South East. The Department for Transport has also allocated an initial £20 million to extend the facility to 200 locations, and is working with the Great British Railways Transition Team to agree pay-as-you-go pilots in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands by the end of the year. The intention is for customers to no longer have to worry about planning ahead to get the best prices. Instead, they can use their bank card or smart device to tap in on readers, and automatically be guaranteed the best price available on the day of travelling. PAYG is already available at more than 350 stations across London and the south of England. The latest announcement, made on July…

Alstom makes an annual contribution of nearly £1 billion to the economies of the UK and Ireland, according to a new report. Written by EY, the 2023 Economic Impact says the train manufacturer works with 1,144 suppliers in both countries and supports more than 17,000 jobs from its Derby HQ and 36 other locations. Alstom claims to trace its roots back to 1823, when Robert Stephenson and Company opened the world’s first purpose-built locomotive works in Newcastle. Since 1989, the same company has been owned by Alstom. It says it will continue to support British jobs, innovation and manufacturing as the company prepares to build 54 HS2 trains as part of a joint venture with Hitachi.…

Merseyrail is sticking to a summer opening for its new £80 million station at Headbolt Lane, which gives it until late September to procure enough battery-powered units to run the proposed 15-minute timetable and to train crews. Only four of the seven new hybrid Stadler Class 777 units had reached Kirkdale depot by the middle of July, which meant that the widely predicted July 14 opening was missed. A Merseyrail spokesman told RAIL that a variety of finishing touches were still to be made before services could run a mile beyond the current limit of the third rail from Liverpool at Kirkby. However, the ‘Berlin Wall’ concrete block in the platform has been removed, opening up the Northern line to Wigan to potential through traffic for the first time in…

PUT aside ideological battles of public versus private. The evidence shows a thriving railway should be a shared responsibility. That’s the message from Rail Partners, the trade association for independent passenger operators, which is calling for a “reinvigorated public-private partnership to get Britain’s railways back on the track to growth”. Publishing research it commissioned, Rail Partners says that where competition among train companies is harnessed effectively across Britain and Europe, there are more customers, more services, newer trains, cheaper fares, and reduced subsidy. In its Track to Growth: Creating a dynamic railway for passengers and the economy report, Rail Partners sets out the significant and complex challenges facing the railway and offers a series of policy solutions based on the evidence. It argues that while greater public control through an…

Hitachi Rail has been awarded an eight-year contract by TransPennine Trains Ltd and Angel Trains to maintain the 19 Class 802/2 Nova 1 electric multiple units used on TransPennine Express. The £240 million contract will help maintain 550 jobs in depots across the north of England and Scotland, while also contributing to Hitachi Rail’s £460m gross added value that comes from UK maintenance business. “Continuing the maintenance programme until 2031 will help maintain impressive levels of train availability for Nova 1 passengers- currently 70% more reliable than the industry average,” said Hitachi, which supplied the units. Jim Brewin, Chief Director UK & Ireland at Hitachi Rail, added: “This contract is recognition of Hitachi Rail’s incredible maintenance team, and positive collaboration between TransPennine Express, Angel Trains and Hitachi Rail. “We will…

Humans remain the weak link in the chain of safety, according to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), which has made two recommendations following a buffer-stop collision at Enfield Town on October 12 2021 involving an Arriva Rail London electric multiple unit. RAIB adds that “engineered safeguards” do not protect against all events, referring to the fact that TPWS (Train Protection & Warning System) did not stop the collision because the train was travelling too slowly for it to intervene. Although the report was completed in November 2022, RAIB delayed its publication because the train’s driver, Erkan Mehmet (41), was being prosecuted for “endangering the safety of persons being conveyed upon a railway”. Mehmet pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court to 16 weeks in prison on…

A local campaigner has started a Facebook petition to mobilise support for the reopening of Wantage Road station on Great Western Railway’s Paddington-Bristol route in Oxfordshire. It closed on December 7 1964. The county council has been reviewing proposals for a station (to be known as Grove) for well over a decade, but has made little progress. Activist Andy Holding points out that the population of Wantage has more than doubled, with much greater growth planned over the next ten years. The nearby Grove Business Park is also expanding.…

The industry needs to provide more reliable assistance for disabled passengers, says the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), after research with 8,100 passengers. ORR’s 2023 annual Rail Consumer Report shows that where passengers receive assistance, there is high satisfaction with the process, but there were still too many accounts of where either some or none of the booked assistance was received. The proportion of passengers reporting that none of the assistance they had booked was received was 8% - an improvement from 11% last year. With a 74% increase in the number of passenger assistance bookings and the number of Disabled Persons’ Railcards in circulation up 11% from last year, suggesting that more disabled people are returning to the railways, the rail regulator says it is “imperative” that the…

Proposals by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) to increase the age limit for concessionary travel in Northern Ireland have been condemned by the TSSA union. The scheme provides free rail and bus travel for over-60s. The DfI is consulting on proposals to raise the eligibility age to 65, saying that the scheme’s costs are “significantly higher” than in 2007-08, when it was amended to introduce free travel for all 60 to 64-year-olds. It adds that costs are “anticipated to rise in the future” due to more people living longer and fares increasing in real terms over time. The increase of eligibility to 65 would save £20 million a year (20% of the scheme’s current costs). TSSA Organiser Gary Kelly said: “This is a wrong-headed and short-sighted proposal. Cutting free transport…

A key link between HS2 and conventional rail routes into Scotland has not been cancelled according to the Department for Transport but is “deferred in order to determine whether there is a better solution”. The Golborne Link was to be a new 13-mile railway that allowed HS2 trains to switch from high-speed tracks to Network Rail’s West Coast Main Line near Wigan in order to serve Edinburgh and Glasgow. However, Government cut it back in June 2022 saying it would examine alternative options that gave Scotland similar benefits. In July 2022, Parliament’s Transport Committee called on Government to set out its alternative by March 2023. The committee’s MPs made their call in a report examining the Integrated Rail Plan (RAIL 963) in which they also asked Government to publish an…

HS2 Ltd has begun procurement for a £270 million contract to design, supply, operate and maintain an Automated People Mover at Interchange station in Solihull. The APM will connect HS2 passengers with the NEC, Birmingham International station, and Birmingham Airport. It will need to be capable of transporting up to 2,100 passengers per hour in each direction on a six-minute journey on an elevated 2.2km (1.4-mile) viaduct. It will range in height from six to 14 metres, crossing the West Coast Main Line and M42 motorway. Shortlisted companies will be invited to tender early next year, with the contract due to be awarded towards the end of 2024. A separate £150m APM infrastructure contract is due to be awarded in 2026.…

Train operating companies shouldn’t be used as scapegoats over the rail industry’s current problems, claims Rail Partners Chief Executive Andy Bagnall. “We would argue some of the blame for the issues the railways are facing at the moment is increasingly put exclusively onto train companies and our argument is that we have to correctly diagnose the problems we are facing if we are going to require the right solutions,” he told the APPRG meeting. “We need to follow the evidence with what delivers for passengers as a starting point.” Bagnall added that Great British Railways should look at European open-access success stories and look to replicate that in the UK by encouraging new entrants to take on incumbent operators. “Competition in the Italian high-speed market between Trenitalia and Italo saw…

South Western Railway is the first train operator in the UK to have its carbon emission reduction plans approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). Climate experts have analysed the operator’s data and strategy and concluded that SWR’s targets are “the most ambitious designation available”. They examined direct emissions from trains, stations and depots, as well as from the supply chain. SWR has committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040, ten years ahead of the UK’s legal deadline. The decision has been supported by the Department for Transport. “In 2019, SWR emitted as much carbon as the city of Newcastle,” SWR Head of Sustainability Amy Dickinson told RAIL. “It’s important to understand how big we are. We spend £40 million on electricity alone each year. We have…

A special event took place at London Waterloo on July 11 to mark the 175th anniversary of the station’s opening. To mark the occasion, more than 50 high-profile guests and dignitaries - including Rail Minister Huw Merriman, Network Rail Chairman Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, NR Chief Executive Andrew Haines and South Western Railway MD Claire Mann - visited the terminus. The event featured several speeches, while NR and SWR staff also formed a joint choir to sing iconic songs including Waterloo by Abba and Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks. A plaque was also unveiled, while one of SWR’s new (but not yet in service) Arterio trains made an appearance on Platform 19. “At SWR, we are proud to serve Britain’s busiest station and a place that many of our…

In a separate project, the ticket office at Ryde Esplanade has been upgraded as part of £10 million worth of improvements to the interchange between trains, buses, taxis and the hovercraft service from Southsea. The money came largely from government grant. However, just weeks after reopening, the new office is now part of the proposed national programme of ticket office closures (RAIL 987). South Western Railway is consulting over plans to shut all ticket offices across its network, including along the 8.5-mile line between Ryde and Shanklin. Councillor Phil Jordan, the island’s cabinet member for transport and infrastructure, said: “It was nearly two years ago we questioned the requirements for a ticket office, and were assured it had to be provided in the upgraded station. To hear it is no…

Pison joins SYSTRA Romain Pison has been appointed Director of Decarbonisation for SYSTRA’s UK & Ireland Consultancy division. He joins the company from software provider Wiia (which he co-founded in 2020). He was previously Green Infrastructure specialist at the World Bank. Running-in boards Four early British Railways-style dark blue enamel running-in boards have been installed at Trimley station, on the Ipswich-Felixstowe line, to complete its £1.2 million renovation. They were paid for by the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership.…

The line between Wigan Wallgate and Lostock Junction (near Bolton) reopened on June 30, following a six-day closure to demolish and rebuild a bridge carrying Ladies Lane across the route near Hindley station. The work formed part of the £78 million project to electrify the 6.5-mile stretch of railway. Buses provided services between Wigan and Manchester Victoria on both the Atherton and Bolton lines, while the hourly Southport-Leeds was routed along the West Coast Main Line to Golborne Junction and then along the Chat Moss route to Manchester.…

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham says he is determined to hold passenger operators to account and to press for more investment in infrastructure on both sides of the Pennines, in his wider role as the new chair of the Rail North Committee (RNC). “With both of our main operators under public control, there is a real opportunity to reshape the North’s railways,” he said. “I will not compromise on our call for a railway that is as least as good as the service in other parts of the country. But I will work constructively with the rail industry and the Government to achieve it. His deputy, Bradford Council’s Susan Hinchcliffe, is taking a similar line, adding: “The current poor level of service is undermining businesses and holding back economic growth.”…

The University of Birmingham has been awarded £15 million by the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund to establish a research and innovation centre at Goole. The investment will enable the University of Birmingham, alongside the University of Huddersfield, to set up a Centre of Excellence for Railway Through-Life Engineering alongside the major new Siemens Mobility factory, which is due to open in 2024. The funding is part of a £30m pledge to establish two centres of excellence, with the other (located in south Wales) focused on testing, validation and customer experience. The funding includes a wider commitment from the rail industry to co-invest £60m, with a further £16m invested by the University of Birmingham. The new centre at Goole will be located on Siemens’ £200m 67-acre rail village. Construction will…

A fresh storm has broken out over National Highways’ infilling of a disused railway overbridge at Great Musgrave in Cumbria two years ago. On July 17 (as this issue of RAIL went to press), a start was due to be made to reverse the infilling of the bridge, which carries the B6259 road over the former Eden Valley Railway line. The reversal must be completed by October to comply with instructions from Eden District Council, which had ruled that NH acted illegally by not seeking planning permission to fill in the 160-year-old single-arch stone structure between May and July 2021. However, the work will force the temporary closure of the bridge, resulting in five-mile diversions. National Highways also announced that the work to remove the 1,600 tonnes of stone and…

This year’s ImechE Railway Challenge for young people with enterprise and skill has been won by a Polish team, which took on nine other contenders in the final at Stapleford Miniature Railway over the weekend of June 22-25. The PUTrain team from Poznań University of Technology beat the University of Derby & Alstom team. Last year’s winners, FH Aachen & Reuschling from Germany, were third. The event challenges teams of students, apprentices, and young professionals to develop, build and test a miniature (10¼ in gauge) railway locomotive in a real-world environment, tackling issues such as performance, reliability and energy efficiency. The event’s sponsors included SNC-Lavalin Atkins, the Railway Industry Association, Angel Trains, Porterbrook, LNER/Hitachi Rail, the Rail Safety and Standards Board, the Pamela and David Rollin Foundation, and Network Rail.…

OpinionIndustry Insider AS reported in RAIL 987, the Rail Delivery Group, acting on behalf of train operators in England controlled by the Department for Transport, has announced that up to 1,000 station ticket offices are to close. There is a 21-day consultation period which ends on July 26, but it is hard to see that this will change what is proposed unless the more important stakeholders make a legal challenge to prevent the intended action. Transport Focus and London Travel Watch have confirmed that they are statutory consultees for the 13 train operating companies concerned. Transport Focus has said that it will judge the proposals based on the future ability to buy a ticket and other rail products, the consequent staff presence and the ability to deliver accessibility for disabled…

WIN WELCOME to the RAIL Crossword. This issue, two successful solvers can read all about the famous Train Beyond The Mountains, courtesy of Greystone Books (https://greystonebooks.com). ‘The Mountains’ are the famous Rockies, and the train is the Rocky Mountaineer, which follows a dramatic and picturesque route through a wild landscape. Author Rick Antonson has ridden trains in more than 30 countries, but everything he thinks he knows about train travel changes when he boards the Rocky Mountaineer with his ten-year-old grandson Riley. As the Rocky Mountaineer winds over trestles and through tunnels, each mile of track uncovers stories of dynamite and discovery, surveyors and schemers, explorers and visionaries, and the people who helped to build Canada against the odds of geography and politics. Fellow passengers recount train travels in other…