Saturday train services halted as Aslef drivers begin industrial action in long-running pay dispute
Rail passengers are facing another day of disruption as a strike by train drivers halts virtually all national rail services in England.
Members of the Aslef union have started a 24-hour walkout in the long-running pay dispute, targeting the start of the Conservative party conference in Manchester.
Continue reading...Several people received minor injuries after the heritage train was involved in a ‘shunting’ incident, according to police
Several people were injured after two trains, one of which was the famous Flying Scotsman, collided at “slow speed” in the Highlands of Scotland, police said.
The crash happened at Aviemore railway station in the Cairngorms at 7.10pm on Friday. The station is home to Strathspey Railway, a heritage line that takes visitors on steam trains in northern Scotland.
Continue reading...The PM instead praised the UK’s ‘fantastic multicultural democracy’, saying the nation has done an ‘incredible job of integrating people’
The former SNP minister Fergus Ewing has claimed his party no longer stands up for Scotland as he was suspended for a week after a disciplinary vote by fellow MSPs.
The sanction, which was backed by 48 votes to nine with four abstentions, came about after Ewing voted against the SNP-Green government in a no-confidence motion against the Scottish Green minister Lorna Slater.
The SNP I joined would never have asked me, or indeed any other elected politician, to choose between loyalty to party and loyalty to constituents …
It was never an ordinary political party because it was one which put Scotland first.
Fergus is a long standing MSP, he has been a minister, he understands the procedures here and what the outcome is of voting in the way that he did.
No, you are and you’re her direct line boss. So why didn’t you deal with that situation, as her boss?
The way it works for MPs is slightly different, in the sense that they themselves are elected by their constituents and we have a separate process for them stopping the job that they’re in. It is not my ability to do that, actually. Ultimately people elect their MPs regardless of who the prime minister is.
Continue reading...Comments from Paul Johnson of Institute of Fiscal Studies come as Downing Street hints at delay to work on second phase of rail link
Around 20,000 university workers are out on strike this week at more than 50 universities across the UK, despite a dramatic last-minute scaling back of industrial action.
Strikes had been set to go ahead at 142 UK universities this week as part of a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions, but it emerged last week that two thirds of branches of the University and College Union (UCU) had declined to take part.
Davey said the Lib Dem commitment – dating back to 1992 – to raise income tax by 1p to improve public services is unsustainable in the current economic climate. Originally the money raised was earmarked for education, but at the last election the party said it would use it to fund the NHS.
Speaking from Bournemouth to broadcast studios, Davey suggested the burden should instead fall on companies making “huge profits” while people struggle with the cost of living.
Continue reading...Rail networks in most countries have been starved of funding while motorways lengthen, study shows
European governments have “systematically” shrunk their railways and starved them of funding while pouring money into expanding their road network, a report has found.
The length of motorways in Europe grew 60% between 1995 and 2020 while railways shrank 6.5%, according to research from the German thinktanks Wuppertal Institute and T3 Transportation. For every €1 governments spent building railways, they spent €1.6 building roads.
Continue reading...Fresh uncertainty for high-speed line as leak suggests Sunak and Hunt have discussed cost implications of Manchester phase
The HS2 high-speed rail line is at risk of further cuts to its route north of Birmingham as the government considers whether it can afford high-cost projects in advance of the autumn budget.
The project has been mired in fresh uncertainty after the prime minister’s spokesperson refused to guarantee on Thursday it would run to Manchester, after publication of a photographed document suggesting further cuts were under discussion.
Continue reading...Austrian rail operator ÖBB says service will resume partly in December and daily from October 2024
A night train linking Berlin and Paris will return in December, nine years after the service was cancelled, the Austrian rail operator ÖBB has announced.
ÖBB has been a pioneer in bringing back night trains as Europeans look for low-carbon travel options.
Continue reading...Mayor of northern town of Brandizzo speaks of ‘chilling scene’ after accident near Turin
Five railway workers in northern Italy were killed when they were hit by a train while carrying out overnight maintenance work.
Paolo Bodoni, the mayor of Brandizzo, told the AGI news agency that an emergency worker had described to him a “chilling scene, with human remains across 300 metres”.
Continue reading...Railway says smuggled-in gas cylinder caused blaze that burned for two hours at Madurai station in Tamil Nadu
Nine people have died after a fire broke out in a stationary train compartment at a railway station in southern India, officials said.
The blaze broke out at 5am on Saturday and burned for two hours before firefighters were able to put it out, authorities said.
Continue reading...Government confirms ticket price rises will be delayed until March and will be below retail prices index
Rail fare rises in England will not exceed 9% next year and will be delayed until March, the government has said.
Ticket costs used to increase in January in line with inflation as measured by the retail prices index over the 12 months to the previous July. On Wednesday the Office for National Statistics revealed last month’s RPI rate was 9%.
Continue reading...Rail workers’ union says 20,000 members from 14 firms will strike on 26 August and 2 September
Members of the biggest rail workers’ union are to stage fresh strikes in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT) said 20,000 of its members from 14 train operators would walk out on 26 August and 2 September.
Continue reading...Thirty people reported dead and more than 90 injured after Rawalpindi-bound express overturns
A train has derailed in southern Pakistan, killing 30 people and injuring more than 90.
Ten carriages of a Rawalpindi-bound train derailed and some overturned near the Pakistani town of Nawabshah on Sunday, trapping many passengers, said senior railway officer Mahmoodur Rehman Lakho. Officials said rescue operations had been completed by early evening.
Continue reading...Gusts of up to 65mph forecast to hit English and Welsh coasts on Saturday along with prolonged rain
Ferry and rail passengers have been warned of cancellations and delays as gusts of up to 65mph (105km/h) are forecast to batter the English and Welsh coasts at the weekend.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for wind in parts of England and Wales from 6am on Saturday until 9pm the same day, and prolonged rain was forecast.
Continue reading...Problems with first two phases, from London to Birmingham and then to Crewe, ‘do not appear to be resolvable’
The HS2 rail project was last week given an “unachievable“ rating by the official infrastructure watchdog.
A “red” rating was assigned to the plans for the construction of the first two phases of the high-speed line, from London to Birmingham and then on to Crewe in Cheshire, by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA).
Continue reading...Aurizon confirms driver was not injured in crash at Fairfield station on Saturday night
Rail regulators are investigating whether laws were breached during a “serious” train crash in Brisbane, after a freight train ploughed into an excavator at Fairfield station on the weekend.
The rail line was completely closed for 12 hours to accommodate works on Cross River Rail on Saturday.
Continue reading...Mick Lynch downplays prospects of a resolution to dispute over pay, jobs and conditions
The RMT leader, Mick Lynch, has claimed he has not met a government minister since January as he downplayed prospects of a resolution to the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
The next strike by members of the of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union takes place on Thursday, with strikes also scheduled for Saturday and 29 July.
Continue reading...Mark Thurston to leave government-owned company as construction moves ‘into an exciting new stage’
The chief executive of the HS2 railway has resigned amid severe delays and soaring costs that have seen the project scaled back.
Mark Thurston announced on Wednesday he would be departing the government-owned company at the end of September after six and a half years at the helm – making him the firm’s longest serving chief executive.
Continue reading...Aslef union announces industrial action on 26 and 28 July to coincide with tube strike by RMT members
London Underground drivers will strike on Wednesday 26 July and Friday 28 July in a dispute over pensions and working conditions, the Aslef union has announced.
The latest industrial action will coincide with previously announced strikes by RMT members who work on the capital’s tube network, causing more disruption for commuters and tourists.
Continue reading...Workers charged with culpable homicide and destruction of evidence after one of country’s deadliest rail accidents
Three men have been arrested in India over a triple-train collision that killed nearly 300 people last month, one of the worst rail accidents in the country’s history, police have said.
The train crash in eastern Odisha state occurred when a packed passenger train was mistakenly diverted on to a loop line and hit a stationary goods train.
Continue reading...‘Rolling action’ by RMT members between 23 and 28 July likely to cause widespread disruption across capital
London Underground staff will take industrial action over a week at the end of July, spelling widespread transport disruption in the capital.
Members of the RMT union will take “rolling action” between Sunday 23 July and Friday 28 July. The RMT said there would be no strike on Monday 24, with staff in different sections and grades halting work on different shifts on each of the other days.
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