London Waterloo trains and tracks to be de-iced as Network Rail prepares for colder weather January 17, 2019 Special de-icing trains will run overnight to prevent the UK’s rail infrastructure freezing to a standstill as temperatures are expected to plummet in the coming weeks. South Western Railway will run its so-called ghost trains all night to clear tracks of snow and ice and spray passenger doors with de-icer to prevent them from jamming. [...]
Users of Gospel Oak to Barking line brace for more misery as roll-out of electric trains delayed indefinitely January 16, 2019 The planned roll-out of electric trains on the troubled Gospel Oak to Barking line has been delayed indefinitely as manufacturer Bombardier struggles to resolve software issues. Commuters using the London Overground line have endured repeated delays to the introduction of new Class 710 electric trains, which manufacturer Bombardier has blamed on software problems. Read more: TfL [...]
Christmas sales grow at St Pancras International despite retail gloom January 15, 2019 Commuters choosing to do their Christmas shopping at St Pancras International station grew 6.3 per cent in 2018 compared to the year before, according to figures released by the station's operator today. The rise was driven by growing passenger numbers and strong growth in non-food sales, the company said. St Pancras has welcomed a number of [...]
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 [...]