Passengers who have bought an Advance ticket which they can subsequently no longer use as a result of changes to Covid-19 restrictions will not have to pay the administration cost of rearranging travel, the Department for Transport has announced. The temporary measure enables passengers to claim discretionary rail travel vouchers or credit notes for unused Advance tickets that are valid for up to a year. The government is also allowing independent retailers to temporarily waive the usual change of journey administration fee for Advance tickets.
Petards is to supply its eyeTrain track debris and third rail monitoring cameras for the refurbishment of Porterbrook-owned Bombardier Transportation Electrostar EMUs operated by Govia Thameslink Railway. Porterbrook has also placed a £1·3m order for similar equipment to be supplied for 19 Class 769 Flex trainsets to be operated by Great Western Railway.
TransPennine Express customers can now opt to donate their Delay Repay compensation to the Action for Children charity, which provides mental health support for vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
Telent has rolled out ‘free and unlimited’ passenger wi-fi at London’s Victoria, Euston and London Bridge stations, with Waterloo and Paddington scheduled to follow by January and all Network Rail major stations by the end of 2021.
TSSA has signed a recognition agreement with Govia Thameslink Railway covering staff in operational control roles at Three Bridges, London Victoria and York. ‘We have had a long-standing presence in these workplaces, but gaining formal recognition means these railway workers will now have the added benefit of official workplace representation and trade union bargaining for pay, hours, holiday and other issues’, said TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes.
Greater Anglia is to provide a secure cycle storage compound at Cambridge North and a total of 75 extra cycle spaces at Cheshunt, Rye House and Ipswich stations, with funding from Sustrans, the Department for Transport and Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Suffolk county councils.
Eave has secured £2m in Series A funding from Pembroke VCT to accelerate development of its FocusLite smart ear defenders and Peak online platform for visualising construction site noise. Users include HS2 contractor Costain-Skanska JV.
Network Rail has increased the number of seats at London Liverpool Street from 208 to 411. The new seats, designed by Johan Berhin of Green Furniture Concept, are made of oak and beech from 100% FSC certified sources as well as 85% recycled steel and recycled ocean plastic, and feature tables and USB charging points.
Merseyrail has worked with Network Rail and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to launch an accessibility forum to engage with customers with accessibility needs and organisations that represent them. The first meeting included representatives from 17 organisations across the voluntary sector.
Principal contractor AECOM and partner Soil Engineering Geoservices have begun ground investigations for the Northumberland Line project to reintroduce passenger services between Ashington and central Newcastle, with six new stations. The works have been procured via Scape Group’s Built Environment Consultancy Services framework.
HS1 Ltd has been awarded We Invest in People gold accreditation by Investors in People for its commitment to improving business standards and people management. ‘We have worked closely with all members of staff to develop our business plans, improve retention, drive high levels of engagement and enhance our training strategies to ensure all of our staff continue to feel happy and appreciated at work‘, said Lucy Clarke-Bodicoat, General Counsel & Corporate Services Director at the high speed line infrastructure concessionaire.
On October 26 Eurostar ran its first through service from Amsterdam to London, with border and security procedures undertaken before boarding to eliminate the previous need to change trains in Brussels.
