RMT members at 14 train operating companies take action in dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions
Workers across the rail industry will join train drivers in strikes on 1 October, targeting the start of Conservative party conference.
The RMT union has announced fresh action after planned strikes were put on hold during the 10 days of mourning for the Queen.
Continue reading...South Western, Southeastern and Greater Anglia among operators expected to run more late services
Extra late-night trains will run from the capital from Wednesday to help people pay their respects to the Queen, as Transport for London predicted that the late monarch’s funeral would be a bigger logistical challenge for public transport than the 2012 Olympics.
TfL has set up a dedicated command centre and enlisted a large number of volunteers from its ranks as it anticipates handling more than 1 million people travelling to attend the lying in state of the Queen in Westminster Hall and her funeral.
Continue reading...‘Blatant efforts’ by companies criticised by campaign group Transport & Environment
Britain’s biggest housebuilders privately lobbied for the government to ditch rules requiring electric car chargers to be installed in every new home in England, documents have revealed.
The FTSE 100 construction firms Barratt Developments, Berkeley Group and Taylor Wimpey were among the companies who argued against the policy in responses to an official consultation seen by the Guardian. The “blatant lobbying efforts” were criticised by Transport & Environment, a campaign group.
Continue reading...The union is seeking a 3.5% annual wage rise, with an additional cost-of-living supplement
The New South Wales government and rail unions will seek to resolve a long-running dispute by conciliation before the Fair Work Commission next week.
The commission’s deputy president, Bryce Cross, had initially rejected a bid by Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink applying to enter conciliation during a hearing on Friday.
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Continue reading...Road safety experts say more needs to be done to reduce fatalities by focusing on young men
Men would be banned from getting a driver’s licence until they are 21 under a “controversial” proposal being made to the New South Wales government.
The proposal is one of several being made by road safety experts, who say more needs to be done to reduce road fatalities by focusing on young drivers – and particularly young men.
Continue reading...Plan costing £60m is intended to help passengers during cost of living crisis and will come into effect in January
Bus journeys in England will be capped at £2 for three months amid concerns about the cost of living crisis.
The Department for Transport said the £60m plan could save passengers more than £3 for a single ticket.
Continue reading...Cost of electricity for running trains alone is expected to increase from £595m to £885m in 2023-24
Network Rail is bracing for a £1bn energy bill for the first time in the history of Britain’s railways, as the energy crisis is forecast to increase its costs by more than 50% over the next financial year.
The cost of traction – providing the electricity for running electric trains – is expected to increase to £885m in 2023-24, Network Rail said, up from £595m this year.
Continue reading...State government cites falling Covid case numbers and the end of winter as it announces decision
The Victorian government has lifted its recommendation that people work from home but has vowed to maintain its public transport mask mandate, despite the requirement due to be dropped on domestic flights from next week.
Citing falling Covid case numbers and the end of winter, the state’s health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, said Victorians were now encouraged to cease working from home.
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Continue reading...Government to seek termination of enterprise agreement unless further action is ruled out before weekend
The New South Wales government will seek to terminate the enterprise agreement of thousands of rail workers and scrap a deal to modify a multi-billion dollar fleet of trains unless the union agrees to end all industrial action by 5pm Friday.
In a dramatic step that could set the stage for a prolonged court battle, the government wrote to the head of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU), Alex Claassens, and threatened to file an application with the Fair Work Commission to terminate the agreement.
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Continue reading...The NSW government is hoping that frustrations over disruptions will turn sentiment against the rail union
Dominic Perrottet’s 11th-hour decision to press the nuclear button in the long-running dispute with rail workers is a high-risk gambit. The New South Wales premier has bet the house on his ability to win a public relations war against the union.
For months, the state government has insisted that rail strikes that have crippled Sydney’s transport network are “politically motivated”.
Continue reading...Dominic Perrottet says he will meet the rail union in court if workers reject government’s final offer
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has issued a sensational ultimatum to the state’s rail workers, vowing to tear up their industrial agreement and meet the union in court unless they accept his government’s final pay offer.
Amid the latest round of chaos on the state’s rail lines on Wednesday, a visibly angry Perrottet said that after 58 meetings he would no longer bargain with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) over a new enterprise agreement.
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Continue reading...Sadiq Khan accepts ‘far from ideal’ settlement but says it secures long-term future for transport network
Tube fares will rise and more bus services will be cut in the capital, the mayor, Sadiq Khan, warned, after Transport for London agreed to accept a £1.2bn funding settlement from the government.
The deal, slightly improved from a “final offer” made in July by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, was welcomed by TfL as allowing it to avert the “managed decline” of its transport network.
Continue reading...Combined rail unions say industrial action would be halted until end of September if government agrees to pay rise
As Sydneysiders brace for yet another day of disruptions on the train network on Wednesday, the heads of the state’s rail unions will be locked away with the New South Wales transport minister, David Elliott, in a bid to finally end a months-long industrial standoff.
The meeting – held amid another round of industrial action by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) – marks the latest flashpoint in a protracted battle between a government beset by industrial strife and a union movement increasingly determined to flex its muscle.
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Continue reading...Abellio UK’s CEO Dominic Booth is understood to be leading buyout and will help fund deal using own money
The Dutch state railway is to pull out of the UK with a management buyout of its subsidiary Abellio, which runs four rail lines and a number of London bus routes.
Abellio, which for 20 years has run East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, Merseyrail and West Midlands Railway and employs 15,000 staff, is to be sold by the Netherlands state-run Nederlandse Spoorwegen to its UK management. The business will be operated by a new firm, to be known as Transport UK Group Limited.
Continue reading...Travellers had to leave their vehicles and walk through the emergency tunnel
Eurotunnel passengers were stranded for nearly five hours at subsea level after the train broke down beneath the Channel, leaving hundreds of passengers to be ushered to a service tunnel.
The incident happened late on Tuesday, affecting the 3.50pm Eurotunnel Le Shuttle service from Calais to Folkestone.
Continue reading...Airport says it will not extend restraints beyond end of month, as it reveals first-half profit of £50.6m
Gatwick airport has said it is back to “business as usual” and will not need to extend its capacity restraints beyond the end of the month.
The company said normal operations have resumed following months of strain on airports and airlines across Europe amid a surge in demand and staff shortages as pandemic restrictions eased.
Continue reading...Rail services will be much-reduced, and buses in west and south-west London and Surrey also affected
Travellers are facing a further day of disruption on Saturday as thousands of transport workers go on strike in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Network Rail, several train companies, and bus services in London and parts of Surrey will be hit by industrial action by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT), TSSA and Unite unions which will also affect Sunday morning train services.
Continue reading...Denial comes as language toughens on both sides and head of RMT again warns of de facto general strike
Downing Street has denied that ministers are deliberately seeking a political fight with rail unions, as both sides toughened their language further and the head of the RMT warned the impasse could continue “indefinitely”.
Just 20% of rail services ran on Thursday, in a sixth day of strike action since June involving the RMT and TSSA unions, with further disruption taking place on Saturday, which is likely to affect trains throughout the weekend.
Continue reading...Network Rail, several train firms, London Underground and London buses to be hit by latest action
Commuters and other travellers are facing further disruption over three days from Thursday on rail, tube and bus services, as tens of thousands of workers begin the latest round of strike action.
Network Rail, several train companies, London Underground and buses in the capital will be hit by industrial action due to long-running disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
Continue reading...The secretive state demands each cycle display a registration number – although officially women are banned from bikes
• UK cyclists could be made to have registration plates
If the British transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is looking for a “model” for his bicycle registration plates proposal he could turn to one of the world’s most illiberal countries: North Korea.
After decades of being frowned upon as a primitive means of transport for citizens of a modern, socialist paradise, cycling gained official acceptance in the secretive state in 1992 – although it is officially banned for women.
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