Derailment


The
Rail
Accident
Investigation
Branch
has
launched
an
inquiry
after
a
train
struck
trees
near
Thetford
which
had
fallen
across
the
track.
The
Greater
Anglia
train
from
London
Liverpool
Street
to
Norwich
was
travelling
at
83
mph
(134
km/h)
during
the
evening
of
6
February
this
year.
The
leading
bogie
left
the
rails
and
the
train
continued
for
about
680
metres
before
the
driver’s
emergency
brake
application
brought
it
to
a
stand.
One
of
the
31
passengers
was
slightly
hurt.

Tickets


Northern
has
announced
an
ambition
‘to
make
buying
a
ticket
as
easy
as
it’s
possible
to
be’.
A
new
head
of
retail
will
start
work
at
Northern
next
month.
Nick
Clarke,
who
replaces
Jason
Wade
after
he
became
Northern’s
regional
director
for
the
North
East
in
February,
has
joined
from
Arriva,
and
will
be
responsible
for
the
way
ticket sales
are
managed.
He
will
also
lead
Northern’s
efforts
to
reduce
fraudulent
travel.

Tickets
2
The
Office
of
Rail
and
Road
says
third-party
ticket
retailers
have
‘responded
positively’
to
its
call
for
an
end
to
‘drip
pricing’,
when
fees
and
charges
associated
with
a
purchase
are
not
made
clear
at
the
beginning
of
the
transaction.
The
ORR
had
written
to
seven
retailers,
and
several
have
made
‘interim’
improvements
ahead
of
‘more
substantial’
changes
to
follow.
Two
have
yet
to
make
any
changes,
but
are
set
to
do
so
later
this
year.
The
ORR
said
it
would
monitor
progress,
and
will
be
holding
the
companies
to
account.

Open
access


FirstGroup
has
reported
that
its
open
access
operators
are
doing
well,
and
that
their
success
has
pushed
rail
trading
‘slightly
ahead
of
the
Group’s
expectations’.
In
a pre-close
trading
update,
First
says
this
is
due
to
‘continued
strong
demand,
effective
yield
management,
and
the
settlement
of
certain
one-off
infrastructure
and
other
claims’.
First
has
submitted
an
application
for
open
access
services
between
London
and
Sheffield,
as
part
of
Hull
Trains,
and
is
also
hoping
to
extend
some
Lumo services
from
Edinburgh
to
Glasgow.