Transportinfo.org.uk - today's transport news in the uk, hand picked for you each morning

Thursday, 23 June 2022

BBC News

• Rail strike: Law change would allow agency staff to cover industrial actionMinisters say the plan, which needs Parliament's approval, would limit the impact of future strikes.
• Rail strike: Second day of action under way after talks collapseThursday's strike is set to have a similar impact as Tuesday's, with just 20% of services running.

Financial Times

• Britain's rail strike exposes reforms needed to put industry back on trackLower passenger numbers since Covid and outdated working practices have left hole in finances
• Rail chief threatens to go over union's head on UK strikesNetwork Rail boss proposes polling staff directly on modernisation as Thursday action set to cripple services

The Guardian

• UK rail strike: second day of action to go ahead after talks fail againRMT accuses government of wrecking negotiations as operators and passengers prepare to face further disruption on ThursdayTalks to avert a second national rail strike collapsed in rancour as the two sides traded insults in a bitter war of words as millions of passengers faced another day of disruption.

Times Online

• Unions pile pressure on bosses after 7% pay dealUnions hailed a “new benchmark” for pay awards last night as rail workers in Liverpool were given a 7.1 per cent rise.

The Telegraph

• Train strikes latest: Commuters brace for more carnage as rail workers walk out againPassengers are facing more travel carnage this morning as workers cripple the rail network with the largest industrial action in a decade.

Belfast Telegraph

• Rail workers stage their second strike of the week after talks failThousands of railway workers were staging their second strike of the week on Thursday after talks failed to resolve a bitter row over pay, jobs and conditions.

Nation. Cymru

• Welsh Government and Network Rail at loggerheads over ‘staff removed to England’ claimThe Welsh Government and Network Rail are at loggerheads over a claim made by the First Minister that staff were “removed” from working on railways in Wales to keep open railways in England.

Yorkshire Post

• Ghost train stations of Yorkshire could come back to life under government levelling up plansRestoring swathes of South Yorkshire’s abandoned railway network could be a prime levelling-up opportunity, according to Mayor Oliver Coppard.

Other Regional Press

• Sadiq Khan could be given new powers to raise taxes in 'radical' plans that could fund Crossrail 2 train lineSadiq Khan and other mayors across England would be handed new powers to raise taxes - and face extra scrutiny - under plans backed by a high-profile Conservative group. The Conservative-backing Onward think tank has published a new report setting out how the UK is one of the “most centralised countries” in the developed world and that - despite the promises and rhetoric of successive governments - the situation is getting worse rather than better.
• HS2 Crewe bill passes second reading: MP says line will improve young people's opportuntiiesCrewe and Nantwich MP, Dr Kieran Mullan, has spoken in Parliament about the opportunities HS2 will bring to local people - following the passing of the bill's second reading.
• New train line to link 'left-behind' South Yorkshire towns with Sheffield city centre jobsThe Barrow Hill Line could reopen with stations in Whittington, Barrow Hill/Staveley, Eckington/Renishaw and Killamarsh

British Trams Online

• Tyne and Wear Metro completes tactile paving installation at all stationsEvery platform on every Tyne and Wear Metro station now has tactile paving on the platform edge – making it the first rail network in England to have this feature, giving a major accessibility upgrade for blind and partially sighted people.

New Civil Engineer

• How a £3.2bn Crossrail extension into Kent could be fundedTransport for the South East (TfSE) has outlined a method through which it can gather £3.2bn of funding to build an extension of the Elizabeth line that would see it extend to Ebbsfleet and beyond to Gravesend.
• How a £3.2bn Crossrail extension into Kent could be fundedTransport for the South East (TfSE) has outlined a method through which it can gather £3.2bn of funding to build an extension of the Elizabeth line that would see it extend to Ebbsfleet and beyond to Gravesend.

Railnews

• Network Rail invites RMT to fresh consultation talks Fresh talks are reported to have been arranged for today with the RMT in a fresh bid to end the dispute which is reducing rail services to a fifth of their normal level on three days this week. Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines has defended plans to reduce the number of maintenance staff, because systems of monitoring track are now much more efficient and do not need people walking along the lines. He also said it is planned to cut the number of jobs by a process of natural wastage or voluntary severance rather than compulsory redundancies.

Other News Sources

• UK Infrastructure Bank outlines plans to funnel £22bn into clean energy, transport and digitalisationThe UK’s Infrastructure Bank has outlined how it plans to invest £22bn to “tackle climate change and regional inequalities”, with clean energy listed as the largest area of investment across technologies like subsidy-free renewables, low-carbon hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS).