Category Archives: Rail transport

HS2 may be guilty of ‘wildlife crime’ by felling trees illegally, say lawyers

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Reports of rare bat species in ancient woodland being cleared for high-speed rail line

Lawyers have warned HS2 it might be felling trees illegally, after an ecology report found evidence of one of the UK’s rarest bat species in an area of ancient woodland being cleared for the high-speed rail line.

Legal firm Leigh Day has written to HS2 Ltd urging the company to halt activity at Jones’ Hill wood, near Wendover in Buckinghamshire, as it does not have a licence to carry out work that could disturb rare barbastelle bat roosts. They say to continue doing so could be a criminal offence.

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Stonehaven train crash report calls for tighter heavy rain restrictions

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Local route managers and signallers will be given more power to cut speeds or close lines

Heavy rain could lead to more trains being cancelled or told to travel at low speed in future, following the Stonehaven crash that killed three people in Aberdeenshire last month.

An interim report by Network Rail into the tragedy spelled out strengthened procedures that could hasten line closures in bad weather, pending safety inspections.

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Stonehaven tragedy highlights threat to rail from climate crisis

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Fatal derailment after heavy rains exposes growing danger posed by extreme weather

The derailment of a ScotRail train in rural Aberdeenshire with the loss of three lives adds Stonehaven to a grim roll call of names, instantly identifiable with tragedy to those associated with the UK railway: the likes of Potters Bar, Hatfield and Grayrigg. It will be no consolation at all to those grieving lost colleagues, spouses and parents to know just how far apart such tragic events have lately become.

The last time a passenger died in a train crash in the UK was the Grayrigg derailment in 2007, when a Virgin high-speed train went down an embankment in Cumbria, miraculously with just one casualty. Before Wednesday, the last time a driver had been killed in a crash was in 2004; and the last disaster with multiple fatalities, Potters Bar, was as far back as 2002.

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Stonehaven: serious injuries reported after train derails in Aberdeenshire

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Smoke seen billowing from track near flood-hit town amid reports of an engine fire

Emergency services have been called to a major train derailment near Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, where smoke could be seen billowing from the track amid reports of an engine fire and serious injuries.

Four passenger carriages came off the track at Carmont, just west of Stonehaven, as a Scotrail high-speed train travelled from Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street.

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Holocaust survivor launches legal claim against German railway

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Salo Muller secured €50m from Dutch railway for transporting people to Nazi camps

A Holocaust survivor who successfully campaigned for the Dutch railway to pay compensation for transporting people to the Nazi concentration camps has tabled a legal claim against the German state over the wartime role of the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

Salo Muller, 84, whose parents were taken by rail from Amsterdam to the Dutch transit camp Westerbork, and on to their deaths at Auschwitz, is demanding an apology and financial recompense for about 500 Dutch survivors and about 5,500 next of kin.

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Crossrail opening delayed again due to coronavirus

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First section of Elizabeth line will not open as planned in summer 2021, board says

The heavily delayed Crossrail will not open as planned in summer 2021 because of delays caused by coronavirus, its board has said.

The troubled railway, from Berkshire to Essex via central London, was originally expected to open in December 2018 but repeated delays have pushed it back.

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Anti-HS2 protesters begin 125-mile walk along proposed route

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Protest walk organised by Extinction Rebellion began in Birmingham and will stop off at protest sites on way to London

Eighty anti-HS2 protesters have started a 125-mile “Rebel Trail” along the route of the controversial HS2 high-speed rail link to highlight the damage they say it will do to wildlife and woodland.

The aim of the protest walk, organised by Extinction Rebellion, is to try to persuade the government to halt the high-speed link. The walkers will travel through countryside, villages and local communities along phase one of the HS2 route to show solidarity with those opposed to the rail link and say the peaceful demonstration will raise awareness about the environmental damage they say HS2 will cause.

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Swiss authorities seek owner of gold worth £151,000 left on train

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Officials say mystery passenger has five years to present ‘justified claims’ of ownership

If you happened to leave more than £150,000 worth of gold bars in a Swiss train, you can now come forward to claim it.

Authorities in the central city of Lucerne have said a package containing bars worth about 182,000 Swiss francs was found in a train that arrived from the northern town of St. Gallen in October, and efforts to find the owner failed.

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How to solve the UK’s transport problem in the time of coronavirus – video

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Those who can, should go back to work, Boris Johnson has said. But how will people get to work safely? If we take public transport, will there be enough space to physically distance? If we take the car, will the roads cope with all the extra traffic? Josh Toussaint-Strauss tries to figure out some answers, with the help of Peter Walker and Matthew Taylor

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Transport network to get £283m for Covid-19 protection measures

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Roads, rail and buses receive funds to increase capacity and ensure space for social distancing

Roads, railways, buses and trams are to receive a £283m funding package to improve public safety and protect services, the transport secretary has announced.

Grant Shapps said the funding – £254m for buses and £29m for trams and light rail – would increase both frequency and capacity of services while ensuring there is enough space on vehicles to allow for social distancing.

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Business groups brand UK’s quarantine plan for arrivals ‘isolationist’

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All incomers – including British citizens – must disclose where they will be staying, Priti Patel says

Business groups have accused the government of pursuing an “isolationist” policy after the home secretary, Priti Patel, confirmed that arrivals in the UK will have to quarantine themselves for a fortnight or face a £1,000 fine.

From 8 June, almost everyone arriving at ports and airports, including UK citizens, will be required to travel directly to an address they provide to the authorities, where they must then self-isolate for a fortnight. The French interior ministry expressed its “regret” that it would not be exempt from the quarantine plan, after assurances this month that the country would be.

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Train services ramped up as coronavirus travel restrictions eased in England

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Services increased to 70% but capacity kept to 10% of normal levels to prevent crowding

Train companies will increase the number of services on Monday to reflect the easing of coronavirus travel restrictions in England.

Industry body the Rail Delivery Group said services would be increased from about 50% of the standard timetable to 70%.

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Train union threatens strike action if staff and drivers are not protected

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Leaders condemn ‘complete shambles’ on London network that is ‘fraught with danger’

Train unions have said they could take industrial action and stop trains if drivers and passengers are not protected from coronavirus, after photos emerged of packed London Underground services as many people returned to work following seven weeks of lockdown.

Transport for London indicated that the number of commuters remained relatively low, at 63,000 on Wednesday morning, up 7% on the previous day.

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Construction on HS2 can begin, government says

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Formal notification says firms can start work as long as coronavirus safety guidelines are followed

Britain has given the green light for companies to start putting spades in the ground to build a new high speed rail line, saying that work could proceed in line with coronavirus safety guidelines despite the national lockdown.

The prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced in February that the line, known as HS2 which connects London to northern England, would go ahead.

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London underground packed as services cut to curb Covid-19 spread – video

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Carriages and stations appeared crowded in footage shared on social media on Tuesday morning as Transport for London closed a number of stations and reduced trains despite thousands of key workers, including NHS staff, still relying on the tube to get to work.

On Monday, Boris Johnson announced that people should stay at home and only travel to and from work where 'absolutely necessary' as the UK tries to prevent the spread of coronavirus

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German man held over attempted high-speed train track sabotage

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Man suspected of loosening rail bolts on bridge between Cologne and Frankfurt

A German man has been arrested on suspicion of having loosened the bolts on a high-speed train track between Cologne and Frankfurt.

The man, described by Frankfurt’s state prosecutor as being “without fixed abode”, was arrested near Cologne on Friday night after police found specialist equipment for loosening track bolts in his car.

Investigators reportedly tracked down the 51-year-old after a confession letter referring to the location of the attempted sabotage was sent to several politicians, including the chancellor, Angela Merkel.

According to Der Spiegel, the suspect was only recently released from prison in Nuremberg, where he had served a sentence for attempted blackmail.

German police had reported a “possible attack attempt” earlier on Friday after the driver of a high-speed Intercity Express train noticed something unusual in the early hours while crossing Theisstalbrücke bridge near Niedernhausen, just outside Frankfurt.

Several trains had already passed over the damaged track before the tampering was uncovered, police said. If the loosened rails had not been reported early, one of the trains could have derailed off the 50m-high bridge, German media reported, citing investigators.

The general prosecutor in Frankfurt would not comment on a motive for the attempted attack while investigations were ongoing.

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Train services across Britain to be stripped back from Monday

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Ministers and operators to slim timetables after Covid-19 causes 70% fall in passengers

Train services are to be pared back across Britain from Monday as passengers are urged to stop all non-essential travel to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Ministers and rail operators across England, Scotland and Wales have agreed to make progressive cuts to timetables, with the aim of keeping core services running – but reflecting a drop of almost 70% in passenger numbers since the outbreak started.

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Boris Johnson warns UK population to avoid non-essential contact with others as coronavirus cases rise – politics live

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PM tells Britons to avoid pubs, restaurants and non-essential travel but school stay open for now as chief medical officer says ‘next few months are going to be extraordinarily difficult for NHS’

Johnson is wrapping up now.

He says he does not remember government announcing a change like this in his lifetime. He does not think there has been one since wartime, he says.

Q: Are you saying elderly MPs and peers must stay away from parliament?

Johnson says this is a universal announcement, intended for everybody. There are no exceptions, he says.

This is not two weeks and we’re done. This is a significant period of time.

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HS2 legal challenge launched by Chris Packham

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Naturalist says approval of high-speed rail project failed to take account of climate impact

A fresh legal challenge to HS2 has been launched by the naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham, arguing that the UK government’s decision to approve the high-speed rail network failed to take account of its carbon emissions and climate impact.

Packham and the law firm Leigh Day said the Oakervee review, whose advice to proceed with HS2 in full was followed by Boris Johnson last month, was “compromised, incomplete and flawed”.

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Canadian police had ‘no authority’ to search pipeline activists, says watchdog

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Letter offers scathing criticism of police’s tactics against Wet’suwet’en people amid growing protest over gas pipeline

Canadian federal police had “no legal authority” to make ID checks and searches on activists seeking to block a pipeline project on Indigenous territory, according to newly released correspondence from the force’s oversight body.

The nine-page letter written by Michelaine Lahaie, chair of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, offers scathing criticism of the police’s continued use of tactics against Indigenous people which she had previously warned against.

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