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

Thursday, 09 November 2023

Cogitamus

• The Chris Stokes Column - Draft Rail Reform Bill will not fill policy vacuumThe rail industry is now operating in a policy vacuum, with no coherent vision for its governance or its investment strategy. It’s clear that senior Ministers regard the industry as little more than an expensive nuisance, with limited economic importance.

BBC News

• RMT and train firms take step towards ending disputeRMT members are to vote on a pay deal that could halt the union's current wave of industrial action against train companies.
• Clapham Junction: Rail passengers overcharged after flood causes errorCustomers are charged more than £20 a day to travel after part of Clapham Junction train station flooded.

ITV News

• Train strikes: Breakthrough announced in row over rail workers' pay and jobsTalks between the Rail Delivery Group and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union have managed to set out a "mutually agreed way forward" to end rail disputes.

Financial Times

• UK rail operators agree deal with union to end 18 months of strikesTrain companies and RMT develop mutually agreed way forward in major breakthrough

The Guardian

• RMT and train operators reach breakthrough in national rail rowThe RMT union has reached a possible deal with train operators to resolve their long-running national rail dispute, allaying fears of a repeat of last year’s Christmas strikes.

The Independent

• RMT union takes step towards resolving bitter pay disputeThe biggest rail union, the RMT, is seeking a settlement in its long-running and bitter dispute with train operators. It follows several weeks of negotiations quietly continuing in a bid to find a deal that can be put to members.

The Telegraph

• Christmas train strikes may be off as RMT considers new pay dealChristmas train strikes could be off the cards as the RMT union considers a new pay deal.

Times Online

• Light at end of tunnel as RMT and train companies agree deal. [subscription]There is “light at the end of the tunnel” in the dispute over railway workers’ pay, it has been announced, as the RMT and the train companies agreed a memorandum of understanding.

Sky News

• Rail strikes could end as RMT agrees deal with train operatorThe union says it will put the "mutually agreed way forward" to its members for a vote - which includes a backdated pay rise. But their general secretary says the offer is "modest".

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Northern issues persistent train fare evaders warningA TRAIN company has warned persistent fare evaders they should expect to be prosecuted for historic cases as well as the journey for which they were caught.

Yorkshire Post

• Northern Powerhouse Rail: 'Huge relief' as key stretch of rail network is savedThe Government’s decision to press ahead with legislation which will allow a key section of Northern Powerhouse Rail to be built has been welcomed as a “huge relief”.

New Civil Engineer

• Understanding distribution of social impacts can deliver better and more cost-effective projectsThe impact of transport projects on different sections of society has come under increased scrutiny over the past 10 years as government looks to measure social impact alongside more conventional financial value metrics.
• Businesses including Mace and Arcadis urge chancellor to commit to long-term TfL capital fundingA coalition of London businesses has written to the chancellor urging him to commit to a capital funding settlement with Transport for London (TfL) in order to “keep the capital moving, so that it can drive growth, investment and job creation that benefits the UK as a whole”.
• Major refurbishment of 160-year-old wooden rail viaduct in North Wales completed ahead of scheduleContractor AmcoGiffen has successfully completed a major refurbishment project on a 160-year-old rail viaduct in North Wales.
• HS2 | Construction of UK’s longest rail bridge reaches halfway pointEngineers working on the Colne Valley Viaduct for High Speed 2 (HS2) have now completed 1.7km of its record-breaking 3.4km length.
• HS2 designer blames frequent cost rises on ’overengineering’ of projectThe former technical director of High Speed 2 Ltd (HS2 Ltd) and one of the principal designers of HS2’s original plan believes “overengineering” of the project is a principal reason behind the continually ballooning costs.

Rail Advent

• Traction power tests carried out on new Metro trainsNexus has successfully carried out traction power tests with its new Stadler Class 555 trains over the Tyne and West Metro's network's curves and gradients to prove that they are fully capable of service, and testing them to evaluate their horsepower.

Rail UK

• New Metro trains take the strain during traction power testingThe new Metro trains have proved that they can take strain on a series of traction power tests over the network’s curves and gradients.

Railtech

• Alstom to open new maintenance depot in BucharestAlstom will construct a new depot in Bucharest for the maintenance of new electric Coradia Stream passenger trains with an investment of 50 million euros. It will service the 37 Coradia Stream passenger trains acquired by the Romanian Railway Reform Authority (ARF).

Railway Gazette

• Jobs to go at DB Cargo UKUK: DB Cargo UK has announced plans to cut jobs, saying its German parent company DB Cargo ’has informed its European entities that it can no longer sustain the level of losses being incurred across the group’.

Railway Technology

• New rolling stock arrives in StockholmThe X15p electric multiple-units are faster to accelerate and better at braking from their 120km/h top speed than their predecessors

RMT

• RMT update on national rail dispute with train operatorsFollowing further negotiations between RDG and RMT, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the current dispute has been developed which sets out a process for a mutually agreed way forward, including a backdated 2022 pay rise for staff and job security guarantees.

Other News Sources

• White & Case advises EIB on financing rolling rail stock for Grand Est region of FranceGlobal law firm White & Case LLP has advised the European Investment Bank (EIB) on the financing of the acquisition and modernization of rolling stock used for regional rail services in the Grand Est region of France.
• HS2 plant supplier left with surplus stockStaines Hire is selling a raft of machinery rendered surplus to requirements by government infrastructure cuts.
• Gatwick Airport railway station upgrade reducing delays on the Brighton Main LineGatwick Airport railway station is about to get a new passenger entrance that will reduce train delays as far away as Cambridge, Bedford and Brighton — because the new entrance will fix a major bottleneck on the railway.

News from Europe

• Vinci-led team wins £692M materials recovery job on Lyon-Turin tunnel projectA Vinci-led consortium has won an €800M (£692M) contract to recover excavated materials from the French side of the Mont Cenis base tunnel, as part of the Lyon-Turin rail project.