Strikes to begin on 16 March after union rejects offers from train operators and Network Rail
The RMT union has announced further national strikes and wider action on the railways after rejecting offers from both train operators and Network Rail last week.
The union’s 40,000 members across Network Rail and 14 train operators will strike on 16 March. Train staff will walk out for three further days, on 18 and 30 March and 1 April.
Continue reading...Aural clock, designed by Turner prize winner Susan Philipz for Curzon Street HS2 station, features sounds made by 1,092 city folk
“I think your voice would suit an F sharp. So that will be six o’clock,” said composer Andy Ingamells as he listened to my feeble attempts to sing Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, my go-to karaoke song.
He is in the process of recording the voices of 1,092 ordinary people from across Birmingham and Solihull so they can be immortalised in the chimes of a singing station clock, which will be placed in the centre of the HS2 railway station being built in the city.
Continue reading...Train operator Northern Southern failed to appear at community meeting in East Palestine, citing concern for their staff’s safety following disaster
Hundreds of residents of the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment and the subsequent burning of some of the hazardous chemicals on board, have questioned officials over potential health hazards.
Norfolk Southern, the rail operator, did not join Wednesday night’s meeting in East Palestine – which was billed as an open house gathering with local, state and federal officials – because of concerns for their staff’s safety.
Continue reading...Officials urge anyone within 1-mile radius of site in north-eastern Ohio to leave amid ‘potential of a catastrophic tanker failure’
Authorities in Ohio say they plan to release toxic chemicals from five cars of a derailed train in Ohio to reduce the threat of an explosion.
Governor Mike DeWine says a “controlled release” of vinyl chloride will take place on Monday at 3.30pm local time.
Continue reading...Hazardous materials being carried on freight train leads to evacuation order and state of emergency
Freight train cars continued to burn on Saturday, sending up heavy smoke, following a derailment that prompted an evacuation order and a declaration of a state of emergency in an Ohio village near the Pennsylvania state line in the US.
About 50 cars derailed in East Palestine at about 9pm EST on Friday as a train was carrying products from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern said on Saturday. There was no immediate information about what caused the derailment. No injuries or damage to structures were reported.
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Rishi Sunak has welcomed Germany’s decision to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
There is more coverage of the German decision on our Ukraine live blog.
Continue reading...National Highways faces third intervention by a local authority over infilling, after burying Congham bridge in Norfolk in tonnes of concrete
A controversial practice by the government’s roads agency of burying historic railway bridges in concrete has been dealt a fresh blow after a third council intervened over another infilled structure.
King’s Lynn and West Norfolk council has told National Highways it must apply for retrospective planning permission if it wants to retain hundreds of tonnes of aggregate and concrete it used to submerge Congham bridge, a few miles east of King’s Lynn.
Continue reading...A plan from Czech railways to replace the emblematic landmark with a modern structure is facing an impassioned backlash
A historic Prague railway bridge, whose importance to the city’s landscape has been compared to the Eiffel tower in Paris, has been earmarked for demolition in a move denounced by architects and preservationists.
The much-photographed Vyšehrad bridge – instantly recognisable for its parabolic lattice steel structure – is unfit to carry an anticipated rising volume of rail traffic, claims Czech Railways, which plans to replace it with a modern structure.
Continue reading...Companies have made a ‘final offer’ to union including pay rise of 9% over two years
The RMT has received a fresh offer from train operators, the union said, raising hopes of a breakthrough in the long-running pay dispute.
Talks have been ongoing in London this week with the RMT and the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), representing train firms, as well as separately with Network Rail.
Continue reading...Central station is replacing its messy, overflowing cycle parking facilities with a low-cost area that’s tucked away out of sight
Beneath the clear waters and pleasure boats by Amsterdam central station is a remarkable feat of engineering: an underwater garage for 7,000 bicycles.
The garage, which opens on 26 January, is the result of a four-year, €60m (£53m) project to clear heaps of rusty bikes left by hasty commuters and install rows of clean, safe parking spaces underground, where bikes can be left free for 24 hours and then at a cost of €1.35 per 24 hours.
Continue reading...Business department says bill will enforce ‘basic’ level of service from different sectors during stoppages
Ministers are to unveil controversial new legislation designed to curb the effectiveness of strike action as industrial disputes continue to paralyse services across the UK.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has previously said the bill will enforce a “basic” level of service from different sectors if workers choose to strike.
Continue reading...Death of young woman follows other accidents on the network, including one in 2021 that killed 26
Two subway trains collided between stations in Mexico City on Saturday, killing at least one person and injuring 57, authorities said.
Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on her Twitter account that the accident happened on Line 3 of the capital’s Metro system, without specifying the cause of the crash, which occurred between the Potrero and La Raza stations.
Continue reading...Passengers advised to travel only if necessary on Wednesday, although No 10 and Network Rail optimistic about reaching deal
• UK strike calendar: service stoppages in January
More disruption awaits commuters returning to work after the Christmas break on Wednesday, the second of five consecutive days of rail strikes.
Once again, much of Britain’s rail network will not be operating, with only about a fifth of trains expected to run, leaving only a skeleton service for commuters on some urban and intercity lines.
Continue reading...Chief negotiator says better communications could sway union members, as first of five days of rail strikes begins
A deal to stop strikes is “in touching distance”, the chief negotiator for Network Rail has claimed, as drivers and staff began the first of five consecutive days of national rail strikes.
Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s chief negotiator, suggested the pay offer would not be improved but claimed that better communication of the deal would begin to win over union members.
Continue reading...RMT staging two 48-hour strikes from Tuesday and Friday and Aslef has called strike for Thursday
Rail passengers will face fresh travel disruption this week because of strikes by tens of thousands of workers in bitter disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail and 14 train operators will stage two 48-hour strikes from Tuesday and Friday, while drivers in the Aslef union will strike on Thursday.
Continue reading...Figure worse than predicted and head of industry body expects ‘more business failures’ in early 2023
The rail strikes have had a worse impact on the UK’s hospitality industry than expected – costing bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels £1.5bn in December alone – according to the head of the body representing the sector.
Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality, said this had contributed to a “perfect storm” for businesses battling high energy bills and a cost of living crisis, adding this meant “undoubtedly we will see more business failures” in the next three months.
Continue reading...Almost every facet of life in the UK – courts to cost of living, transport to healthcare, environment to asylum system – is at breaking point
In mid-November Rishi Sunak was asked in a Channel 4 interview to name one public service that “was working, adequately, working properly”.
The prime minister didn’t give a direct answer. But the exchange feeds into an ever-more-common discourse: that the UK is facing “polycrisis” in almost every facet of life in Britain. From courts to the cost of living, transport to healthcare, environment to the asylum system – everywhere appears to be affected.
Continue reading...General secretary Mark Serwotka predicts ‘coordinated and synchronised’ action from January
The head of the largest civil servants union has warned ministers that “coordinated and synchronised” strike action across the economy will “significantly escalate” from January.
Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), was speaking as his members employed in passport control for Border Force set up picket lines at Britain’s largest airports on Wednesday, in a four-day strike set to continue until New Year’s Eve.
Continue reading...Network Rail advises users of some routes to avoid travel unless necessary until at least 9 January
Rail passengers have been told to avoid some services for two weeks and that trains will be “significantly disrupted” across most of the country into the new year.
The warning from Network Rail came as some services juddered back to life on Tuesday after the Christmas shutdown and several days of strikes by RMT union members.
Continue reading...Delays and cancellations linked to 20 years of privatisation, rising costs and labour shortages worsened by pandemic, say experts
Rail passengers have been delayed or disrupted on more than half of all train services departing from 15 of Great Britain’s busiest stations in the last year, Guardian analysis shows, exposing what has been described as a “broken” railway system that cannot easily be fixed.
Experts said the figures – which show rail services in the north and Midlands as the hardest hit – demonstrated the impact of two decades of privatisation, which had increased costs and public subsidies, combined with labour shortages exacerbated by the pandemic.
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