Better
value
claim


The
lobby
group
Rail
Partners
is
claiming
that
private
rail
operators
are
better
value
for
taxpayers.
In
its
latest
newsletter,
RP
highlights
payments
to
the
Treasury
from
operators
worth
£3.8
billion
between
2010
and
2019,
although
this
figure
does
not
take
into
account
the
direct
grants
made
to
Network
Rail,
which
reduced
track
access
charges
paid
by
operators.
Rail
Partners
is
calling
for
the
passenger
railway
to
be
operated
through
concessions,
which
is
the
model
used
by
Transport
for
London,
rather
than
nationalised
outright.
Meanwhile,
the
Passenger
Railway
Services
(Public
Ownership)
Bill
has
reached
committee
stage
in
the
House
of
Lords,
after
receiving
its
second
reading
two
days
ago.

Belfast
central
station
opening


Belfast’s
new
central
station
is
to
open
on
Sunday.
Translink
has
confirmed
that
the
the
first
train
to
depart
from
Belfast
Grand
Central
will
be
an
Enterprise
service
to
Dublin
at
08.05,
and
the
first
train
to
arrive
will
be
the
08.30
from
Portadown,
due
in
at
09.15.
Translink
has
described
Grand
Central
as
‘the
largest
integrated
travel
hub
on
the
island
of
Ireland’,
with
eight
platforms
and
26
bus
stands.
The
station
has
been
designed
to
cater
for
up
to
20
million
journeys
a
year. 

Leaf
fall
timetables


Train
operators
are
warning
that
the
times
of
some
trains
will
be
changed
slightly,
as
leaf
fall
timetables
come
into
force.
Southeastern
said
some
of
its
services
will
depart
a
few
minutes
earlier
from
Sunday,
and
that
it
has
been
estimated
that
50
million
leaves
fall
on
to
the
railway
in
the
south
east
of
England
alone
each
autumn.