Penalty
++


The
amount
of
a
penalty
fare
on
trains
in
England
has
gone
up
from
£20
to
£100
from
this
morning.
The
government
says
more
than
£200
million
is
lost
through
fraudulent
travel
each
year,
but
critics
say
faulty
ticket
machines
and
long
queues
at
booking
offices
sometimes
tempt
people
to
take
the
risk.

Landslip
++


A
limited
service
has
been
restored
past
the
site
of
the
landslip
at
Hook
which
damaged
the
South
Western
Main
Line
on
the
London
side
of
Basingstoke
just
over
a
week
ago.
South
Western
Railway
said
emergency
repairs
by
Network
Rail
had
made
some
improvements
possible, and
that
a
limited
service
is
being
restored
to
Hook,
Winchfield,
and
Fleet.
However
trains
from
London
will
still
not
be
able
to
call
at
Hook.

New
trains
++


The
first
of
the
Stadler-built
Class
777
trains
for
Merseyrail
is
making
its
inaugural
trip
this
morning
from
Liverpool
Central
to
Kirkby.
The
fleet
of
53
trains
will
replace
units
built
by
British
Rail
Engineering
more
than
40
years
ago.
Seven
of
the
new
trains
will
be
able
to
run
on
batteries,
to
cover
the
non-electrified
section
between
Kirkby
and
Headbolt
Lane
which
is
set
to
open
in
the
spring.

Rabbit
++ Great
Western
Railway
hopped
into
the
year
of
the
Rabbit
on
Saturday
with
a
special
Chinese
New
Year
celebration
at
Reading.
Passengers
were
treated
to
a
performance
by
30
dancers
from
South
Gloucestershire
Chinese
Association,
which
celebrated
the
start
of
the
Chinese
New
Year
yesterday.
The
dance
has
a
history
of
more
than
2,000
years
and
is
believed
to
bring
good
fortune.