Category Archives: Rail transport

Train strikes to halt most trains in south-east England on Tuesday

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Commuter routes in and out of London hit as train drivers begin three days of rolling strikes amid six-day overtime ban

Most trains will not run in south-east England on Tuesday – including on key commuter routes in and out of London – after train drivers embarked on three days of rolling strikes at national rail operators.

Drivers in the Aslef union are striking for 24 hours at each English operator between Tuesday and Thursday, while continuing a week-long nationwide overtime ban that started on Monday, as part of a long-running pay dispute.

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Rail strikes restart as Aslef train drivers embark on new action

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Union to roll out 24-hour strikes across England’s train operators for three days this week and six-day overtime ban from Monday

Rail passengers face a week of disruption as train drivers embark on another round of industrial action on Monday, despite tentative attempts by the industry to restart talks.

Drivers in the Aslef union will strike for 24 hours at each of England’s national train operators over the course of three days from Tuesday until Thursday, while an overtime ban will apply nationwide from Monday until Saturday.

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Train driver who upskirted female passenger avoids jail sentence

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Paolo Barone found guilty of voyeurism after taking photos of sleeping woman on train to St Albans in 2022

A Thameslink train driver who took photos up a woman’s skirt while she was asleep on a train has avoided jail, despite being found guilty of voyeurism.

The driver, Paolo Barone, was on his way home from a shift in September 2022 when he saw that the woman, 51, had fallen asleep on a train travelling from London Blackfriars to St Albans in Hertfordshire.

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Train drivers in England begin three-day series of strikes

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Avanti West Coast services among those affected by Aslef industrial action, which continues on Saturday and Monday

Rail passengers across England will face significant disruption on Friday as train drivers at five operating companies carry out industrial action.

The 24-hour strike will be the first of three days of rolling strike action being taken by the train drivers’ union Aslef, with services on Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway all affected.

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Network Rail to spend £2.8bn to cope with effects of climate crisis

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Funding for drains, embankments and other measures is part £45.4bn five-year investment plan

Network Rail is to spend nearly £3bn to protect the railway from the effects of the climate crisis and extreme weather, as it warned that the country’s network was having to contend with hotter summers and increased winter floods.

As part of its new £45.4bn five-year investment plan, the body in charge of Great Britain’s rail network will spend £2.8bn over the next five years on activities and technology to help it cope with the impact of climate change.

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Hollywood connection: Wrexham lines up three-hour direct rail service to London

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Train maker Alstom plans fast service skirting Birmingham as Ryan Reynolds’ football club takeover reaps in ever more benefits

Direct trains could next year connect Wrexham to London, with a new service capitalising on the town’s Hollywood-meets-football mini-boom.

The train manufacturer Alstom is bidding to set up the Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway with a promise of cheaper, more comfortable trains straight to London.

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Deutsche Bahn files legal action over German rail strike

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GDL union has announced its sixth strike in a dispute over wages and hours

The German rail operator Deutsche Bahn has taken urgent legal action in an effort to stop a strike by a train drivers’ union.

The GDL trade union, which has about 40,000 members and represents train drivers and other rail workers, announced a strike this week – its sixth in a months-long dispute over wages and hours.

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Indian train drivers in crash that killed 14 were watching cricket, minister says

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Collision in Andhra Pradesh state in October took place as India played England during one-day World Cup

The drivers of a train that missed a signal and ploughed into another train, killing 14 people, were distracted because they were watching cricket on a phone, India’s railways minister has said.

The fatal collision in Andhra Pradesh state in October took place as hosts India played England during the one-day World Cup.

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Rail fares to rise by 4.9% in England and Wales on Sunday

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In London, Tube and bus fares are being frozen and prices reduced during rush hour and on Fridays

Rail fares in England and Wales will rise by 4.9% on Sunday, adding hundreds of pounds to annual travel costs for many commuters.

Campaigners said passengers would be “rightly angry” at the latest increase, above the current inflation rate of 4%, despite the government arguing that it had made a significant intervention to keep the fare rise down.

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Indian runaway train travels 43 miles without a driver

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Inquiry ordered after 50-carriage freight train set off on its own when driver disembarked at station in Jammu

Indian Railways has ordered an investigation after a runaway freight train loaded with gravel travelled 43 miles (70km) without a driver.

About 50 carriages set off solo on Sunday, from the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab, before being brought to a halt by wooden blocks placed on the tracks.

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Fund to hand out £4.7bn from axed HS2 northern section to smaller projects

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Ministers say smaller towns and cities in north of England and Midlands to benefit from scrapping of Leeds and Manchester lines

About £4.7bn that would have been spent bringing HS2 to Manchester and Leeds is to be reallocated to transport projects in smaller towns and cities in the north of England and Midlands, ministers have said.

The money is specifically for communities that are outside city regions, in places such as Blackpool, Hull and Leicester, as well as counties including Staffordshire and Lincolnshire, which don’t have directly elected metro mayors.

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‘Take the Windrush, then change on to the Suffragette’: onboard the renamed London Overground lines causing controversy

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Mayor Sadiq Khan thinks his new line names for the capital’s ever-expanding rail network bring clarity, but not everyone agrees

The ancient Egyptians saw names as magical. It was said that Isis tricked Ra, the sun god, into telling her his true name, to give her power over him and put her son Horus on the throne.

Londoners have a different take. The Northern line was nearly named TootanCamden in the 1920s, the historian Robert Graves wrote – a pun on the Tutankhamun craze of the time and the line’s route through Tooting and Camden.

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London Overground: new names and colours for six lines revealed

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Web of orange on tube map revamped to celebrate city’s unique local history and culture, says mayor

The London Overground is to be rebranded into six lines with names inspired by the capital’s and the country’s diverse modern history, from Windrush to the Lionesses.

The web of orange on the tube map will be replaced by six colours and routes in August to help make the capital’s public transport network easier to navigate.

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A year on from the East Palestine toxic train derailment, what’s changed? – podcast

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A year ago on 3 February a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in a small village on the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania. A few days after the derailment, officials decided to vent and burn the chemicals it was carrying to prevent an explosion.

Those still living in East Palestine and the surrounding communities have been told the air they breathe is safe, but many aren’t confident in what they’re being told.

So what led to the derailment? What’s changed in terms of legislation to make sure this kind of accident doesn’t happen again? And how are residents coming together to advocate for their safety and that of fellow Americans in the future?

The Guardian’s fossil fuels and climate reporter, Dharna Noor, travelled to East Palestine to see for herself what’s changed in the 12 months since the disaster

Archive: ABC News, CBS News, NTSB, NBC News, SMART Union, WFMJ, WKYC, WTRF

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Machu Picchu train line reopens after protesters strike deal to readmit tourists

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Access to Incan site in Peruvian Andes restored after dispute over new electronic rail ticketing system

Peruvian authorities have reopened the train route to Machu Picchu, after an agreement was struck to end more than a week of protests that had blocked access to the famed Incan site and stranded tourists.

PeruRail said in a statement a partial service had restarted on Wednesday and that a regular service would return on Thursday from the city of Cusco to Aguas Calientes, a town near the archaeological site.

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Machu Picchu tourists stranded as protesters block trains to site

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Train services suspended due to safety concerns as people demonstrate against Peru’s consolidation of ticket sales

Protesters in Peru are blocking access to Machu Picchu, leaving some tourists stranded amid local anger over a new ticketing system halting rail transport to one of South America’s most popular heritage sites.

Train services to the ancient ruins high up in the Andes have been suspended since Saturday due to safety concerns over demonstrators blocking the railway line. Travel links were still not reopened on Monday, two tour operators told Reuters.

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Tourists heading to Europe could face 14-hour queues at Dover from October

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New EU entry-exit system could lead to gridlocked roads if scheme goes ahead as planned, MPs hear

Tourists heading to Europe could face waits of up to 14 hours at border controls under a scheme to be launched in October, MPs have been told.

The Port of Dover and the surrounding area could face significant disruption when the EU entry/exit system is introduced unless measures are taken to prevent delays, parliament’s European scrutiny committee has heard.

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Tornado warning issued as 90mph Storm Isha hits UK

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Forecasters warn of life-threatening gusts in coastal areas as weather causes travel disruption across country

A tornado warning has been issued across parts of Britain as Storm Isha takes hold, with potentially life-threatening gusts and travel disruption expected into Monday.

A “tornado watch” zone was issued for Northern Ireland as well as parts of Scotland and northern England by the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (Torro) on Sunday afternoon. That means a “strong tornado” is possible in those regions.

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UK weather: Storm Henk triggers more than 300 flood warnings in England

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Train operators say services face delays and cancellations after rain and strong winds batter UK

More than 300 flood warnings are in place across England as travellers face transport delays, with train services struggling to get back on track after rain and strong winds from Storm Henk lashed large parts of the UK.

The Environment Agency said on Wednesday there were 368 active alerts in England for possible flooding, 322 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected and, in Northampton, one danger-to-life severe flood warning.

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UK weather: Storm Henk hits parts of south as Met Office issues warning

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Damage to buildings and floods likely as first named storm of 2024 sweeps across southern Britain

Commuters faced misery on roads and rail networks and people were told to prepare for flooding as the first named storm of 2024 – Henk – swept across parts of southern Britain, bringing winds of up to 80mph (128km/h).

About 2,000 homes in Cornwall experienced power cuts and trees were brought down by the wind. People were asked to stay away from coastal areas hit by the storm and in some areas police advised people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

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