Rail franchises operators & contracts

GTR fined record £5m for ‘persistent and prolonged failures’ in May timetable chaos

14.03.19: Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has been fined a record £5m for its role in last year’s May timetable chaos. The ORR criticised the train operator for “persistent and prolonged failures” in informing passengers as the...

West Midlands unveils new May rail timetable

13.03.19: More direct services, greater capacity and extra evening and weekend services have been promised as West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway launch their new timetable for May 2019. The train operators have revealed a raft of c...

LNER trains for ECML given approval to enter passenger services

11.03.19: New LNER rolling stock for the East Coast Main Line (ECML) has received approval for its Class 800 Azuma trains to enter passenger service. The ORR has authorised the operation of the Class 800/1 nine-car trainsets and the Class 800/2 five...

SWR and Porterbrook trial new emission-slashing rail technology

08.03.19: Groundbreaking emission-reducing technology is to be fitted to South Western Railway (SWR) train units as part of a new trial aiming to cut down harmful emissions from diesel trains by 80%. Porterbrook is working in partnership with exhaust...

New May timetable announced as rail bosses insist ‘lessons learned’ following last year’s chaos

08.03.19: The rail industry has confirmed the new summer 2019 timetable, with 1,000 extra services added to relieve overcrowding as rail bosses say they “learned the lessons” of last year’s chaos. A host of timetable adjustments are...

New six-carriage Northern trains pushed back two years due to delayed upgrade works

07.03.19: The delivery of Northern’s new six-carriage trains at Leeds station has been delayed by two years due to separate delays to Network Rail upgrades. The longer trains were due to be introduced at the end of this year, but due to delays...

MP slams ‘appalling’ Southeastern rail delays amid reports that passengers were forced to ‘pay double’

06.03.19: A Conservative MP has slammed “appalling” Southeastern rail services ahead of talks in Parliament following reports that the train operator faces a £100m legal claim over “making passengers pay double.” Sir Dav...

DfT must improve governance over rail industry or passengers face another year of ‘hell’, warn MPs

01.03.19: Rail passengers are facing another year of “hell” with major timetable changes and engineering works unless the government improves its governance of the rail sector, MPs have warned. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has publ...

South Western Railway to become UK’s first 5G railway as FirstGroup announces deal for superfast Wi-Fi on trains

26.02.19: FirstGroup has announced a deal to become the first UK’s first 5G railway network, bringing superfast Wi-Fi to the Southern Western Railway franchise. In partnership with Blu Wireless, Network Rail and the DfT, FirstGroup’s rail...

CAF commences design and engineering on DMUs for Wales and Borders franchise

21.02.19: Spanish rail manufacturer CAF has announced it is beginning the design and engineering work for the highly-anticipated Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) for the Wales and Borders franchise. Being built at the company’s facility in Newport...

South Western Railway strikes suspended after ‘significant breakthrough’ in guard dispute

19.02.19: Strike action by workers on the South Western Railway (SWR) have been suspended after a “significant breakthrough” was made in the long-running dispute over guards on trains. RMT members were due to walk out this Friday and agai...

ScotRail expands new Hitachi electric trains to Glasgow routes

18.02.19: ScotRail’s new Hitachi electric trains are to be rolled out across Glasgow as the operator extends its £475m investment into rolling stock in the wake of its second improvement notice in two months from the government. The new c...

40-year-old Pacer trains in East Lancashire gone by end of the year, assures Northern

18.02.19: Northern has assured passengers that it will replace all of its 40-year-old Pacer trains on the East Lancashire line by the end of year. Concerns were raised at a meeting of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and passengers have e...

Rail industry proposes ending peak-tickets in ‘radical’ overhaul of rail fares

18.02.19: Train operators have called for a major reform of the rail fare system which would scrap peak and off-peak ticket pricing and support the rollout of ‘tap-in, tap-out’ travel nationwide. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) called its p...

Battered Dawlish rail line gets £80m for new protective sea wall

15.02.19: A new taller sea wall is to be built at Dawlish as the DfT announced that up to £80m is being made available to build it – five years on from the storms which wreaked havoc on the rail line. Around £40m was spent by Networ...