Underground
strike
++


Members
of
the
RMT
are
joining
ASLEF
in
a
24-hour
strike
on
15
March,
which
is
Budget
day.
The
unions
are
in
dispute
with
Transport
for
London
over
jobs,
pensions
and
contracts.
The
RMT
said
that
staff
‘deserve
decent
pensions,
job
security
and
good
working
conditions’,
but
TfL
denied
that
pension
changes
were
on
the
table,
adding
that
‘We
want
to
make
London
Underground
a
better
place
to
work
so
we
urge
ASLEF
and
the
RMT
to
call
off
this
damaging
strike’.
Most
train
operators
on
the
Underground
are
members
of
ASLEF,
while
RMT’s
membership
includes
station
staff.

Freight
trains
++
Rail
Partners,
which
lobbies
on
behalf
of
the
private
sector,
has
unveiled
new
research
into
the
prospects
for
freight
on
trains.
The
group
says
if
the
government
sets
an
‘ambitious’
target
to
treble
the
amount
of
rail
freight
by
2050,
the
economic
benefits
would
be
almost
£5.2
billion
a
year
and
replace
20
million
lorry
journeys
annually.
Rail
Partners,
whose
members
include
the
five
largest
freight
operators,
is
quoting
conclusions
by
the
environmental
data
analysis
consultants
Aether,
the
Logistics
Institute
at
the
University
of
Hull
and
Railfreight
Consulting.

Eastern
promise
++
Rail
investment
in
the
East
is
not
keeping
pace
with
the
economic,
social
and
environmental
needs
of
the
region
according
the
regional
partnership
Transport
East.
It
has
published
a
report,
‘State
of
Rail
in
the
East’,
which
highlights
poor
connections,
particularly
between
Norwich
and
Ipswich,
and
Cambridge
and
Peterborough.
It
adds
that
trains
are
slow,
compared
with
services
on
other
main
lines,
leading
to
longer
journeys.
Frequencies
are
also
poor,
especially
on
local
lines
serving
smaller
communities,
and
to
Stansted
Airport.

Rail
degrees
++


Aston
University
is
inviting
former
students
to
get
in
touch
to
help
it
to
celebrate
50
years
of
transport
education.
Transport
studies
at
Aston
began
in
1973,
when
the
subject
appeared
as
part
of
a
combined
honours
degree
course.
The
first
transport
students
graduated
in
1976.
In
1982
the
course
became
a
degree
in
its
own
right
and
40
years
later
the
university
is
still
teaching
the
transport
professionals
of
the
future.