All DfT articles
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Rail Business UKInterCity East Coast direct award planned
UK: The Department for Transport intends to directly award incumbent London North Eastern Railway a contract to continue to operate InterCity East Coast passenger services. LNER is a brand of state-owned operator of last resort DfT OLR Holdings Ltd, which has operated services on the East ...
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Rail Business UKAlex Hynes appointed DfT Director General Rail Services
UK: The Department for Transport has appointed Alex Hynes as Director General Rail Services. He is due to join on a two-year secondment from his current position as Managing Director of Scotland’s Railway on April 15. Interim Director General Anit Chandarana will return to Network Rail ...
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Rail Business UKRail reform makes limited progress with unclear plans
UK: The government’s rail reforms are facing delays and there are long-standing issues that need to be addressed including financial sustainability, according to a National Audit Office report published on March 8. After the white paper on rail reform was published in May 2021, the Department ...
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Rail Business UKUK urged to join Eurofima to facilitate access to cheaper rolling stock finance
UK: Eurofima is urging British policymakers to sign its convention, which would facilitate UK rail organisations’ access to cheaper funding for rolling stock and other equipment.
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Rail Business UKBradford Forster Square station remodelling funded
UK: The Department for Transport has announced £24m of funding for the delivery of works to increase capacity at Bradford Forster Square station. A further £4m has previously been spent on design work for the project, which includes a new platform, relocating a crossover and associated ...
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Rail Business UKBattery traction trial ahead as TransPennine Express fortunes improve
UK: Overcrowding and short-notice cancellations at state-owned TransPennine Express have declined since the December timetable change, prompting Managing Director Chris Jackson to suggest the operator is in a ‘better place’.
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Rail Business UKInterview: Avanti West Coast navigates complex path to recovery
UK: Avanti West Coast Managing Director Andy Mellors sets out how the operator intends to restore resilient operations and develop services further, explaining that there will be no return to the pre-Covid operating plan on Europe’s busiest mixed-use railway.
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Metro Report InternationalGovernment announces £250m one-year capital funding deal for Transport for London
UK: Transport for London says it will reassess its recent draft business plan to ‘address the impact of the continuing shortfall in funding’, after the government announced £250m of funding for investment projects in 2024. The money announced on December 18 is ring-fenced for capital projects ...
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Rail Business UKPlans for centralised Great British Railways ticket sales scrapped
UK: The government has dropped plans to create a centralised Great British Railways online rail ticket retailer, the Department for Transport has confirmed. The proposals were originally outlined by the in May 2021 as part of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail white paper. However, on December ...
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Rail Business UKEast West Rail project should be aligned with wider economic strategy, says National Audit Office
UK: The government needs to align the East West Rail project and housing development plans to maximise the economic benefits of the future railway, according to a report from the National Audit Office.
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Rail Business UKLatest tranche of Transpennine Route Upgrade funding confirmed
UK: The release of a further £3·9bn tranche of funding for the ongoing £11·5bn Transpennine Route Upgrade was confirmed by Rail Minister Huw Merriman on December 4. The Department for Transport indicated that work on TRU would be accelerated through the cash injection and noted that ...
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Rail Business UKEast West Rail and West Yorkshire mass transit mentioned in Autumn Statement
UK: The government said in its Autumn Statement that it is continuing to progress with the East West Rail scheme linking Oxford and Cambridge and is to provide £2·5bn for a West Yorkshire mass transit network.
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Rail Business UKBradford station study
UK: The Department for Transport has announced £400 000 of funding from the previously-announced West Yorkshire Devolution deal to ‘kickstart’ master planning for a proposed new station in Bradford. The work will consider how a new station could best support regeneration and maximise the potential to ...
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Rail Business UKLondon Day Travelcards saved
UK: An agreement has been reached to continue the sale of Day Travelcards, which offer unlimited travel on most public transport in London and can be bought in combination with rail tickets to the capital from elsewhere. ‘The offer now on the table saves a much-valued ...
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Rail Business UKRail leaders court Labour as fears of ‘managed decline’ grow
UK: Amid mounting concern about potential cuts to rail provision, senior leaders in the passenger and freight markets have begun to engage more closely with the Labour Party ahead of a likely general election in 2024.
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Rail Business UKTransport Committee sets out criteria for regulations on minimum service levels during rail strikes
UK: The House of Commons Transport Committee has published a report outlining what it says the government should include in future regulations requiring railway companies to provide minimum service levels during strikes. The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act became law earlier this year, but details of ...
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Rail Business UKGovernment publishes Mobility-as-a-Service code of practice
UK: The Department for Transport has published a code of practice to help organisations involved in Mobility-as-a-Service schemes navigate the technical, commercial and regulatory challenges, including ensuring that accessibility is taken into account. The guidance published on August 30 is aimed at technology companies, transport operators ...
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Rail Business UKDfT ‘does not know what it is trying to achieve’ with ‘floundering’ London Euston redevelopment
UK: The Department for Transport ‘still does not know what it is trying to achieve’ with the High Speed 2 station at London Euston ‘despite spending over eight years planning and designing it’, according to a highly critical report from the House of Commons Public Accounts ...
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Rail Business UKRail industry insiders stress importance of ticket office closure consultation
UK: Public consultation has begun over plans to close the majority of station ticket offices in England, with industry insiders stressing the importance of passengers giving feedback as part of the process.
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Rail Business UKRecommendations to improve on-train air quality
UK: The Department for Transport’s Science Advisory Council has made a number of recommendations in response to a Rail Safety & Standards Board analysis of air quality onboard trains. The council notes that the methodology makes it difficult to compared on-train air quality with outdoor observations, ...