Category Archives: Rail transport

Train cancellations in Great Britain hit highest level on record

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One in 26 journeys disrupted with government accused of ‘abject failure’ to tackle worst offenders such as Avanti West Coast

Rail cancellations have reached their highest level on record with more than 314,000 trains fully or partly cancelled across Great Britain in a year, a Guardian analysis reveals.

Figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) show that the proportion of cancelled services has more than doubled since 2015, rising to one in 26 of all train journeys being disrupted in the year to 15 October, the latest date for which figures are available.

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UK train drivers to stage fresh 24-hour strike on 26 November

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Aslef union says drivers at 12 companies will take action over pay

Train drivers are to stage another 24-hour strike later this month, disrupting rail services across Britain and dampening hopes of an imminent end to the dispute.

Aslef said drivers at 12 companies would take action on Saturday 26 November, as the union presses for a pay offer.

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UK set for new wave of strikes as civil servants and train drivers vote for action – politics live

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Around 100,000 civil servants, working in multiple government agencies, have voted to strike in a dispute over pay, pensions and jobs.

According to Pat Leahy, political editor of the Irish Times, the Irish government is doubtful about the prospect of a breakthrough in the coming weeks in the talks on the Northern Ireland protocol.

In his Sky News interview Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, also suggested that large number of politicians in parliament are voting for Matt Hancock to perform “grim” tasks on I’m A Celebrity. My colleague Aubrey Allegretti has the story here.

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London Underground strike will halt nearly all tube services on Thursday

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RMT’s 24-hour walkout will slow capital to a crawl, with buses expected to be extremely busy and roads congested

A strike on London Underground will halt virtually all tube services and slow much of the capital to a crawl on Thursday, in the ongoing dispute over jobs and pensions.

Some London Overground and Docklands Light Railway services may also be affected by the 24-hour walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union, while buses are expected to be extremely busy and roads congested. Elizabeth Line trains will run as normal.

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Rail passengers in Britain face disruption despite strike cancellation

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Move came too late to reinstate services on Saturday, and they will remain ‘extremely limited’

Rail passengers in Britain are being warned they could still face disruption on Saturday despite a series of planned strikes being called off.

The RMT union said on Friday afternoon that three days of industrial action by thousands of its members at Network Rail, due to take place on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday on lines across the country, would no longer go ahead.

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Row over Germany’s public transport ticket jumping from €9 to €49

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Charities warn increase in monthly local travel pass will freeze out millions struggling with living costs

Germany plans to replace its successful €9-a-month local public transport pass with a €49 version, a move that is drawing criticism from charities and social care groups who say the new price tag will freeze out millions of Germans suffering under the cost of living crisis.

The €9 pass (equating to about £7.80) was introduced as an experiment over the summer in an effort to entice people to use public transport and help counter rising inflation.

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Man killed by New York City subway train after clothes got caught in car

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Victim’s harrowing death comes after two people were pushed in front of trains, seemingly at random, in recent weeks

A 20-year-old man was killed on Monday after his clothes were caught in a New York City subway car, which dragged him onto the tracks in front of an oncoming train, police said, in the latest grim episode for the largest transit system in the United States.

The victim’s harrowing death comes just three days after David Martin, 32, was shoved in front of a train on Friday, seemingly at random, suffering a broken collar bone. A convicted felon identified as Lamale McRae, 41, was arrested Monday in that attack.

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Network Rail workers to strike again in November

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Action is planned for 3, 5 and 7 November; London Overground and tube staff will strike on 3 November

Network Rail workers are to stage fresh strikes in the bitter row over pay, jobs and conditions, threatening fresh disruption to services.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will strike on 3, 5 and 7 November.

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Ministers back free train travel for military to remembrance services after outcry

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Exclusive: former veterans minister Johnny Mercer and others had condemned plans to scrap free travel

The government has vowed to guarantee free rail travel for military personnel to attend remembrance services this year after facing criticism over moves to scrap the offer.

Proposed plans to stop the free train travel after the government decided the cost would be “too great” had sparked an outcry and calls for a U-turn from the former veterans minister Johnny Mercer and others.

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Scuffles at trial of men accused of causing 2013 train crash in Spain

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Defendant punched as hearings get under way into Santiago de Compostela derailment that killed 80 people

The trial of two men charged with causing the deaths of 80 people in Spain’s deadliest train crash in decades has begun, with one of the defendants being punched as tensions boiled over outside the courtroom.

Francisco José Garzón, who was driving the high-speed train when it crashed near the north-west Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela on 24 July 2013, faces four years in prison if convicted, as does Andrés Cortabitarte, a former safety director at Spain’s state-owned rail infrastructure company, Adif.

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Paris Métro paper ticket reaches end of the line after 120 years

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Iconic ticket on one-way trip to transport history as city opts for payment by travelcards and mobiles

It has inspired French film-makers and songwriters, proven useful to cannabis smokers and aestheticians and served as an emergency bookmark or jotter – but now the Paris Métro ticket has reached the end of the line.

The city’s public transport authority is phasing out the rectangular pieces of cardboard that have kept the capital’s travellers on the move for the past 120 years.

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EU biometric entry system could multiply delays at Dover

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Additional requirements would be time-consuming and threaten capacity, Dover port boss says

Post-Brexit Channel border delays could multiply from next May, with a five-person vehicle being held for up to 10 minutes if the EU goes ahead with a planned biometric entry system, the Port of Dover has said.

The entry-exit system (EES), which is due to start in May 2023, will require all non-EU nationals to register their fingerprints and be photographed before entering the bloc.

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Fresh rail strikes to hit Tory party conference

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RMT members at 14 train operating companies take action in dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions

Workers across the rail industry will join train drivers in strikes on 1 October, targeting the start of Conservative party conference.

The RMT union has announced fresh action after planned strikes were put on hold during the 10 days of mourning for the Queen.

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Man in wigs led string of thefts from French first-class train passengers

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Police aim to reunite stolen goods including 150 pieces of luggage with owners around the world

Police in Marseille are attempting to track down more than 100 first-class train passengers from around the world who had their luggage or wallets stolen by a gang whose leader would disguise himself in wigs.

When a woman leaving a high-speed train at Aix-en-Provence station earlier this year reported to police that her bag containing €50,000 of jewellery had disappeared during the journey, station CCTV footage led to a months-long investigation. Police discovered what they called an experienced operation by three thieves regularly targeting first-class carriages on high-speed trains.

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Biden hails ‘tentative agreement’ to avoid looming US rail strike

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Announcement in early hours comes a day before deadline for deal as freight strike threatened widespread disruption

A tentative agreement had been reached to avert a freight rail strike that could have disrupted commuter rail services across the US, Joe Biden has said.

A strike would also have dealt a major blow to Democrats two months before midterm elections in which they will try to keep control of the Senate and the House.

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Dutch state railway to sell Abellio in UK management buyout

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Abellio UK’s CEO Dominic Booth is understood to be leading buyout and will help fund deal using own money

The Dutch state railway is to pull out of the UK with a management buyout of its subsidiary Abellio, which runs four rail lines and a number of London bus routes.

Abellio, which for 20 years has run East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, Merseyrail and West Midlands Railway and employs 15,000 staff, is to be sold by the Netherlands state-run Nederlandse Spoorwegen to its UK management. The business will be operated by a new firm, to be known as Transport UK Group Limited.

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Further disruption on rail and bus services as transport strikes continue

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Rail services will be much-reduced, and buses in west and south-west London and Surrey also affected

Travellers are facing a further day of disruption on Saturday as thousands of transport workers go on strike in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Network Rail, several train companies, and bus services in London and parts of Surrey will be hit by industrial action by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT), TSSA and Unite unions which will also affect Sunday morning train services.

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No 10 denies ministers seeking political fight with rail unions

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Denial comes as language toughens on both sides and head of RMT again warns of de facto general strike

Downing Street has denied that ministers are deliberately seeking a political fight with rail unions, as both sides toughened their language further and the head of the RMT warned the impasse could continue “indefinitely”.

Just 20% of rail services ran on Thursday, in a sixth day of strike action since June involving the RMT and TSSA unions, with further disruption taking place on Saturday, which is likely to affect trains throughout the weekend.

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Rail strikes: Britons face three more days of disruption from Thursday

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Network Rail, several train firms, London Underground and London buses to be hit by latest action

Commuters and other travellers are facing further disruption over three days from Thursday on rail, tube and bus services, as tens of thousands of workers begin the latest round of strike action.

Network Rail, several train companies, London Underground and buses in the capital will be hit by industrial action due to long-running disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.

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Labour demands action over Avanti West Coast reduced train service

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Transport secretary urged to press for restoration of full timetable or strip operator of contract after 12 cancellations on Monday

Labour has written to Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, urging him to take immediate action to ensure Avanti West Coast restores more frequent services on its busy intercity rail route, or else strip the train operator of its contract.

The rail firm, which runs trains between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, cancelled another 12 services on Monday morning, on the first full day of an already drastically reduced emergency timetable.

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