Shares up after construction firm Costain’s order book hits a record £4.2bn January 3, 2019 Shares in Costain are up more than five per cent after the construction and engineering company announced today that it finished the year with a record-breaking order book of £4.2bn. In a trading update the firm, which is a major supplier to Network Rail and Highways England, said it had an order book of £4.2bn, up from [...]
The best Christmas gift for rail users would be more competition and scrapping HS2 December 21, 2018 This week is set to be one of the busiest of the year for domestic travel. So, as London’s train stations are swamped with those endeavouring to get away for the their holidays, it’s worth dwelling on what would be the best Christmas present for travellers: a properly functioning rail system. Amid the whirlwind of [...]
Don’t spend a penny: Network Rail to scrap all toilet charges from April next year December 17, 2018 Network Rail is to scrap toilet charges at all of its stations from 1 April. In March the former chief executive of Network Rail, Mark Carne, pledged to scrap the charge at all of its stations from 2019, saying it was "quite wrong to penalise people when they are in discomfort". Currently charges at stations in London, [...]
Network Rail offers to wrap commuters’ Christmas presents at London stations December 12, 2018 Network Rail is offering a free gift wrapping service to commuters at London train stations this Christmas. The service, which Network Rail has dubbed “Wrapland”, is available from a pop-up stall at London Bridge until tomorrow and then at King's Cross from 17 to 19 December. The stall has been set up to encourage commuters to purchase presents from shops [...]
‘Systemic failures’ led to commuter chaos after May’s timetable changes, says regulator December 7, 2018 Train companies must put passengers at the heart of decision-making to prevent a repeat of May’s timetable chaos, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said today. The ORR published a raft of recommendations to improve rail services for passengers in phase two of its review into major rail disruption earlier this year, saying "systemic [...]
The NHS faces another winter crisis, but politicians continue to fail to learn the lessons of public sector failures December 7, 2018 On Thursday, the British Medical Association warned that NHS England is likely to be 10,000 beds short over the coming winter. The next few months are possibly going to be the “the worst on record”, as projections for A&E admissions are looking to increase by 100,000 this year alone. It’s remarkable that the healthcare season [...]
These are the 10 rail operators with the most delayed train services December 6, 2018 Rail services' punctuality and reliability have dropped by 2.5 per cent in the UK, as signal failures, extreme weather and management issues led to more late-running trains for long-suffering commuters. The latest statistics from rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) for the second quarter of 2018-19 also show that East Coast operator LNER suffered [...]
Fixing the rail system means putting passengers first December 5, 2018 The headlines yesterday that Govia Thameslink Rail (GTR) must spend £15m on passenger improvements to hold onto its franchise will be welcome if overdue news for the droves of commuters whose lives were made hell during the timetable chaos earlier this year. The Department for Transport labelled GTR’s performance “unacceptable”, and has not only decreed [...]
Transport secretary Chris Grayling could have done more to avert May timetable chaos, say MPs December 4, 2018 Transport secretary Chris Grayling should have been "more proactive" in averting the crisis that unfolded from the timetable upgrade in May, MPs have said. The Transport Select Committee said it was "not reasonable" of Grayling to "absolve himself of all responsibility" in the May timetable change, which resulted in widespread cancellations, delays and overcrowding. The committee [...]
‘A kick in the teeth for commuters’: The industry reacts to the rail fares hike November 30, 2018 Rail fares are set to increase by an average of 3.1 per cent in the new year, affecting millions of people and increasing many passengers' season tickets by around £100. The rise in the cost of travelling by train comes despite calls for a price freeze following a year of disruption that saw Network Rail fined [...]