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.
Continue reading...Bernie Wagenblast’s voice is known to millions of passengers on the AirTrain service. Now, at 66, she’s happy with a new life
One of the first voices millions of commuting New Yorkers hear each morning is the measured tone of former traffic reporter Bernie Wagenblast reminding them to stand away from the platform edge. Wagenblast, AKA “the voice of New York”, reminds AirTrain passengers at JFK or Newark that the doors are closing, and hosts a podcast about infrastructure, including episodes on Ohio’s bridges and wildlife crossings in Oregon. But that neutrally pan-American male voice, honed by years of practice to impart clarity and authority but not alarm, is changing.
Earlier this year, Wagenblast, 66, went on the radio to present herself publicly as a transgender woman, and has this month been participating in US Pride celebrations with gusto, including the march at Asbury Park on the Jersey shore. Wagenblast is still Bernie, but that’s now derived from Bernadette, not Bernard.
Continue reading...Though the number of railway accidents has come down in the past few years, derailment remains the main cause
There is no railway system quite like the Indian railways. Trains remain an essential lifeline in India, the world’s most populous country of 1.4 billion people, carrying about 13 million passengers a day for work, family and leisure on trains that weave across 40,000 miles of track, more than enough to wrap around the Earth.
Friday night’s collision involving two passenger trains and a freight train in the eastern state of Odisha was one of the worst accidents since 1999, when a collision between two trains in West Bengal killed 285 people. More recently, 160 people died in 2016 when the Indore-Patna Express derailed and as recently as February, two goods trains collided in Uttar Pradesh.
Continue reading...About 40% of services expected to run on Saturday as 12,000 Aslef members hold second day of industrial action this week
Rail services across England have again come to a halt as 12,000 train drivers strike for the second time this week amid a long-running dispute with the operating companies over pay and conditions.
Members of the drivers’ union Aslef are walking out for 24 hours on the majority of lines in England and some cross-border routes into Scotland and Wales, leaving only 40% of services running.
Continue reading...Rescue operation under way with death toll expected to rise in India’s worst rail disaster in more than 20 years
At least 288 people have been killed and 803 injured after two passenger trains collided in the eastern Indian state of Odisha – the country’s deadliest rail disaster in more than 20 years.
The Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata in West Bengal to Chennai in Tamil Nadu, was going about 80mph (130km/h) when it collided with a stationary freight train at about 7pm on Friday, causing it to derail.
Continue reading...Latest action on 2 June comes between two days of strikes by Aslef and will bring further disruption to football final
The RMT has announced another rail strike on Friday 2 June, the day before the men’s FA Cup final, warning that the government “cannot wish the dispute away”.
About 20,000 RMT members working for the 14 major rail companies in England will strike for 24 hours in the long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
Continue reading...Most networks will have limited service as RMT members at 14 companies in England walk out
Passengers faced a second day of disruption on Britain’s railways on Saturday as the union leader Mick Lynch insisted the 24-hour strike had not targeted the Eurovision song contest.
Train crews are staging another 24-hour strike, immediately after Friday’s action by drivers, disrupting people travelling to Liverpool for the Eurovision final, as well as National League football fans heading to Wembley in London.
Continue reading...Northern rail network to be run by state-owned operator of last resort when contract expires on 28 May
TransPennine Express (TPE) is to be run by the state after ministers announced that the failing rail company would not have its contract renewed.
The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said the northern rail network would be run by the state-owned operator of last resort after passengers experienced disruption, cancellations and a significant decline in the extent and reliability of the service.
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