UK passenger train operator news – Page 23
-
Rail Business UKGrand Central suspends services until March 1
UK: Following the government’s announcement of a third national lockdown in England, London to West Yorkshire and Sunderland open access operator Grand Central said it would be suspending all its services from January 9 until March 1. ‘It is hugely disappointing for us to be starting 2021 ...
-
Rail Business UKHull Trains suspends services for a third time
UK: East Yorkshire to London open access operator Hull Trains is to temporarily suspend all services from 00.01 on January 9, following the government’s announcement of a third coronavirus lockdown in England. As an open access operator, FirstGroup subsidiary Hull Trains is not eligible for the financial ...
-
Rail Business UKAccessibility training extended to cover replacement bus teams
UK: Greater Anglia has extended its accessibility awareness training scheme to include rail replacement bus teams. The online programme is delivered by a team of disabled trainers put together by equality trainer Sarah Rennie. It covers meeting and greeting disabled customers, and how to talk to them ...
-
Rail Business UKLNER IC225 sets head for temporary store
LNER has confirmed that its complete fleet of IC225 push-pull trainsets formed from a Class 91 locomotive and MkIV coaches will be taken out of service temporarily.
-
Rail Business UKScotRail offers free ticket refunds after coronavirus rule changes
UK: ScotRail is to offer free refunds on unused tickets bought on or before December 20, following the Scottish Government’s announcement of more travel restrictions over the Christmas and New Year period. In order to claim the fee-free refund, customers must keep hold of their tickets and ...
-
Rail Business UKLaunch of Merseyrail’s new trains delayed by pandemic
UK: Challenges arising from the coronavirus pandemic mean that the phased introduction of Merseyrail’s fleet of Stadler Class 777 electric multiple-units will not begin this year, transport authority Merseytravel has confirmed. The pandemic has affected a number of manufacturing and testing workstreams and disrupted critical European supply ...
-
Rail Business UKGWR to test Hitachi battery hybrid inter-city train
UK: Leasing company Eversholt Rail and Hitachi Rail Europe have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop an underfloor battery powerpack to be trialled on a Class 802 electro-diesel inter-city trainset operated by Great Western Railway on the London – Penzance route.
-
Rail Business UKCAF completes final Class 195 DMU for Northern
UK: CAF has delivered the final Class 195 Civity diesel multiple-unit to Northern, completing the 2016 order for 25 two-car and 33 three-car sets. The final 44 vehicles were assembled at the company’s new factory in Newport, which was opened by Prince of Wales in February, making ...
-
Rail Business UKSouth Western and West Coast franchise termination payments agreed
UK: FirstGroup and the Department for Transport have reached agreement on payments for the termination of the South Western Railway and West Coast Partnership franchise agreements, which were signed before the pandemic, and are negotiating new directly-awarded management contracts which would come into effect when the current ...
-
Rail Business UKSouth Western Railway scraps onboard catering
UK: South Western Railway has withdrawn its onboard catering services and ended its contract with provider Elior, putting around 130 jobs at risk. ‘It is with regret that, following consultation with our passengers and the Department for Transport, we have had to terminate our contract with commercial ...
-
Rail Business UKWest Midlands Trains deploys on-train information and entertainment
UK: West Midlands Trains has deployed an on-train real-time information and entertainment system supplied by GoMedia and its parent company Icomera. Passengers connect their smart device to on-train wi-fi, and can then access live information about both the progress of the train and onward connections. There is ...
-
Rail Business UKInquiry considers railway infrastructure in Wales
UK: The House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee has opened an inquiry into railway infrastructure in Wales, inviting written evidence by February 26 regarding: where does responsibility lie for rail infrastructure in Wales? how effectively do the UK and Welsh governments co-operate with one another in ...
-
Rail Business UKMechan jacks and turntables installed in Exeter
UK: Mechan worked with main contractor Hochtief to design, supply and install a set of 12 lifting jacks and two turntables for a three-road maintenance facility which has been built to expand GWR’s Exeter Olds View depot near St David’s station. The 15 tonne rail mounted jacks ...
-
Rail Business UKClaire Mann named South Western Railway Managing Director
UK: Claire Mann has been appointed as the next Managing Director of South Western Railway, and will take up the post in early 2021. Mark Hopwood, currently Interim Managing Director of SWR, will return to his former role as Managing Director of Great Western Railway on ...
-
Rail Business UKNorthern runs its final Pacer
UK: Following a temporary reprieve to provide additional capacity during the pandemic, Northern has operated its final passenger service with a Pacer diesel multiple-unit. Northern’s final Pacer service ran on November 27, when unit 142 004, coupled to 150 225, left Kirkby at 15.36 and arrived ...
-
Rail Business UKTrains for Wales under construction
UK: Construction of the future South Wales Metro train fleet is underway, with Transport for Wales reporting that Stadler has made significant progress with the 36 three-car Class 398 Citylink tram-trains ordered in 2018 for use on services from Cardiff to Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil. ...
-
Rail Business UKGreater Anglia Class 720 Aventra EMUs enter service
UK: The first two of 133 Aventra electric multiple-units which Bombardier Transportation’s Derby factory is supplying for Greater Anglia’s commuter routes entered passenger service on November 26. A pair of Class 720 EMUs formed the 16.10 service from Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street, returning as the ...
-
Rail Business UKRail enhancement proposed as the ‘backbone of an alternative’ to road spending in southeast Wales
UK: Investment in a ‘comprehensive and co-ordinated’ programme of railway enhancements, rapid bus routes and active travel instead of road construction has been recommended by the South East Wales Transport Commission. The Commission chaired by Lord Burns was established by the Welsh government’s Minister for Economy, ...
-
Rail Business UKGrand Central to restart services
UK: Grand Central is to restart services on December 3 as the lockdown restrictions in England change, but the open access operator warned that it would only be offering a reduced and reservation-only timetable and no onboard catering. ‘While it’s great to be back, we can’t emphasise ...
-
Rail Business UKORR demands action on lack of wheelchair access at Liphook station
UK: The Office of Rail & Road has issued a formal Improvement Notice instructing South Western Railway to comply with its legal duty to ensure that people using wheelchairs can board and alight from trains at Liphook station. This action was taken after the regulator identified that ...