Brits brace for Christmas travel trouble with “Frantic Friday” on the roads ahead of series of rail strikes and station closures December 22, 2017 Brits today face the busiest date for travelling on the nation’s roads, at the start of a festive period stacked with travel troubles including rail strikes and numerous station closures. The RAC has warned drivers against travelling today where possible with last-day commuters mixing with an expected 1.25m leisure trips. It has been dubbed “Frantic [...]
Christmas travel disruption roundup: London Tube and train stations and networks closed over Christmas December 20, 2017 With this morning’s news of a DLR strike planned for New Year’s Eve, Londoners may well be wondering what travel troubles they’ll be facing over the festive period. Well fear not, for here is a roundup of the various engineering works and walkouts planned – along with which days are set to be busiest for [...]
Southern owner Govia Thameslink Railway unveils next phase of its mass timetable restructure – and wants passengers’ opinions November 24, 2017 Southern rail owner Govia Thameslink Railway has announced proposals for a massive timetable restructure, and wants passengers’ opinions on the latest stage of it. It has already carried out two phases of consultation, but this latest is concentrating on weekend and late night services. Proposed changes include: • Doubling Saturday services for Hertford North, Welwyn [...]
Train companies team up for £85bn plan to boost Britain’s railway post-Brexit in public and private partnership October 30, 2017 Rail companies, their suppliers, and Network Rail, have today set out plans to work more closely together, in order to drive £85bn of additional economic benefits to the UK economy. Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train firms and Network Rail, said the plan “will deliver the railway that the [...]
Piccadilly Line’s Night Tube service troubles could continue until end of the year as unions point to driver shortage September 19, 2017 Night Tube services on the Piccadilly Line are being derailed by fewer trains being run than scheduled, leading Transport for London (TfL) to draw up an amended schedule in an effort to minimise disruption. New figures obtained by City A.M. reveal that since July, the line has been running considerably fewer trains than scheduled, which [...]
Transport for London pledges no compulsory redundancies in London Overground overhaul of ticket offices as strike threat looms | City A.M. September 18, 2017 Transport for London (TfL) and Arriva Rail London (ARL) said today that “there will not be a need for compulsory redundancies” in plans to overhaul the London Overground, as unions warned ticket office closures could lead to industrial action. ARL will begin meeting with staff and unions to discuss proposals to improve customer service, including [...]
Southern rail: Transport secretary accuses Labour of stoking up unrest on the railways July 4, 2017 Transport secretary Chris Grayling has accused senior Labour figures of stirring up unrest at Southern rail and encouraging further industrial action on the beleaguered network. Speaking at a House of Commons debate yesterday to discuss the publication of a report into the train operator’s performance by Chris Gibb, a non-executive director at Network Rail, Grayling [...]
Government delays publication of report on Southern rail troubles until after the 2017 General Election April 26, 2017 The publication of a report into Southern rail troubles has been delayed until after the General Election, leading MPs to criticise the government for sitting on the findings. The report looking into Southern owner Govia Thameslink Railway, was carried out by Chris Gibb, a non-executive Network Rail director with 35 years’ experience in the industry. [...]
Complaints about Govia Thameslink Railway surge 347.1 per cent in a year after months of Southern rail troubles | City A.M. March 23, 2017 Complaints about Southern rail’s parent company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) rocketed over 300 per cent in the third quarter of last year and accounted for nearly a fifth of all complaints made nationally. The 347.1 per cent rise came from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR)’s latest stats on complaints made by passengers regarding [...]
Government will pay long-suffering Southern rail passengers over £8m but many more could still claim compensation March 21, 2017 The government will pay out at least £8.85m in compensation to Southern rail annual season ticket holders due to months of disruption suffered by passengers. However, there have only been 36,979 claims so far from passengers for the special scheme to refund a month’s travel; under half of the number entitled to claim the compensation, [...]