Fares, rail policy and DfT news

Government action on poor West Midlands Trains

10 February 2020Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps has today (Feb 9th) called for West Midlands Trains to invest an extra £20m on improving services for passengers after consistent poor services. The funding is set to help passengers across the West Midland...

Birmingham Eastside Metro extension set for approval

07 February 2020The next development to the West Midlands Metro network is set to be given the go ahead by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) next week. When the extension from Birmingham Eastside is complete the line will run from the current Metro lin...

DfT statement on South Western Railway

22 January 2020The Department for Transport (DfT) has today (Jan 22) announced an update on South Western Railway, outlining precautionary measures to ensure the continuation of services. Transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has released a written statement highl...

Abellio ScotRail contract comes to an early end

18 December 2019Today (Dec 18th) saw confirmation from Transport Secretary Michael Matheson that the Abellio ScotRail contract will come to an earlier end than planned. Currently the franchise contract requires Scottish Ministers and Abellio to revisit the level...

RMT puts forward settlement to end SWR strike

09 December 2019As the second week of South Western Railway’s safety strike commences, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has set out a 6-point strategy to a settlement. The plan which was meant to be put forward at renewed AC...

Rail Delivery Group responds to 2020 rail fares proposal

02 December 2019Saturday (30 Nov) saw the rail fares for 2020 published and an expected rise of an average of 2.7% in price in the coming year, with some staying the same and some reducing. Despite the expected average increase, this is the third year in a row t...

Contactless payments now at three Hertfordshire stations

26 November 2019Govia Thameslink Railway are set to welcome contactless payments at three stations, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and Welham Green. The pay as go system generally offers the cheapest single fares towards London by customers simply touching their c...

Metrolink contactless payment system hits millionth journey

20 November 2019Transport for Greater Manchester announced today (20th Nov) that at the weekend Metrolink’s contactless payment system hit the million-journey mark. The contactless payment method was brought in on the 15th of July this year and this milest...

Merseyrail announces smoking will be banned at all stations

18 November 2019From the 1st of December passengers will not be allowed to smoke in any public areas of Merseyrail stations or platforms with the exception of car parks. The announcement comes off the back of the national campaign Stoptober, and is part of Merse...

Northern Rail could be renationalised, according to transport secretary Grant Shapps

16 October 2019The train operator Northern could be set to be renationalised due to concerns over repeated poor performance and late-running services, the transport secretary Grant Shapps has said today. Speaking at an Oral Evidence Session for the Government&r...

Boris Johnson to reform current rail franchising model

14 October 2019The UK’s rail franchising model is to be overhauled and proposals for railway reform brought forward, the Government has announced in today’s Queens Speech. At the State Opening of Parliament, the Government revealed that it wants to...

Rail North Partnership review sets out recommendations

19 July 2019A review of the Rail North Partnership, headed by York Council leader cllr Judith Blake and rail minister Andrew Jones, has set out recommendations following the timetabling crisis last summer. The report focuses on internal management and ensurin...

'Midlands time is now' speech brings TransCityRail audience to their feet

18 July 2019The influential Speakers Panel consisted of Maria Machancoses, Director, Midlands Connect, Chris Rayner, Director of Infrastructure, HS2, Tim Shoveller, Managing Director, North West & Central Region, Network Rail, Mark Ferrer, Operations Director...

TransCityRail: Next stop the Midlands

18 July 2019Unprecedented change and investment is coming to the Midlands, according to a number of high-profile rail leaders speaking at today’s first ever TCR Midlands conference in Birmingham today. With representatives from the West Midlands Rail E...

Maria Machancoses: TCR Midlands drives new way of collaboration

18 July 2019Leading sector figure Maria Machancoses has described the inaugural TransCityRail Midlands conference in Birmingham as a fresh way to “drive a new way of collaboration and new way of thinking.” The director of Midlands Connect enthuse...