Olympics ++ The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has confirmed that he wants London to host the 2040 Olympic Games, which would trigger more transport improvements. He told MyLondon: ‘We're working with colleagues to get a bid explored. 2032 and 2036 are a done deal. The attraction of a deal for 2040 for London is it would be the greenest Olympics ever – watch this space.’ It is the second time that the Mayor has revealed his ambition. He told ITV last year during a trip to the USA that the cost ‘wouldn’t be humongous’ because the capital was equipped to host the Olympics in 2012, when the Docklands Light Railway was extended. Strikes ++ Southeastern is the latest operator to warn that strikes by drivers tomorrow and Friday will mean that no trains will run on its network. Southeastern’s operations and safety director Scott Brightwell said: ’If this strike action goes ahead, we’re sorry, but there’ll be no Southeastern train services at all.’ Other operators who do not expect to provide any service during the strikes are Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Govia Thameslink Railway, Heathrow Express, Island Line, West Midlands Trains, Northern and TransPennine Express. Mainland South Western Railway services are expected to keep running because SWR said its drivers are not taking part in the walkouts. However, SWR services through the Hook area will continue to be reduced because two of the four lines are still closed while Network Rail continues to repair a major landslip.  Viaduct ++ The last of 292 concrete piles that will form the foundations for the longest railway bridge in Britain have been installed at the site of HS2’s Colne Valley Viaduct. Once complete, the 3.4km bridge will carry HS2 over a series of lakes and waterways near Hillingdon on the north-western outskirts of London. Deck assembly began last year, and HS2 said more than 500 metres of the structure is now complete. When finished, the viaduct will take the title of ‘longest railway bridge’ from the Tay Bridge on the east coast of Scotland, which is 3.26km long.

Information gap ++ The Railway Industry Association in Scotland has said it is disappointed that the Scottish Government has postponed publishing its plans for funding railway infrastructure north of the border for a second time. Publication of the Control Period 7 High-Level Output Specification and Statement of Funds Available between April 2024 and March 2029 was due in November. The publication date was then moved to 27 January, but this has also been missed. RIA said supply chain companies needed clarity about future spending so that they can plan their businesses. New station ++ Demolition gangs have moved in at the site of the future Willenhall station in the West Midlands, and work is also under way stablising the old mine workings under the site, which must be done before construction can begin. Three disused buildings which formerly dealt with waste are being removed. The demolition follows the move of the recycling business which formerly occupied the site off Rose Hill. The new station in Walsall is part of the £55 million project to restore passenger trains between Willenhall and Darlaston. Rugby specials ++ GWR will be running 17 extra trains to Cardiff Central on Saturday for the Six Nations rugby match against Ireland. GWR said it expects to provide a full Saturday timetable following industrial action on Friday, which will mean 38 trains will arrive in total, providing almost 30,000 seats for fans.

Tram depot ++ Work has started on the expansion of the West Midlands Metro tram depot at Wednesbury to accommodate a larger fleet. The additional trams are needed because the network is growing. The depot’s capacity will be more than doubled, while maintenance areas and workshops will be modernised and extended. Transport for West Midlands has estimated that 150 jobs will be created at the larger depot. No trains yet ++ West Midlands Trains has warned that restoring trains rather than rail replacement buses on the Marston Vale line between Bletchley and Bedford is proving difficult. The Vivarail Class 230 units on the line were withdrawn at the beginning of December after Vivarail had appointed administrators, because of fears that maintenance would be a problem. WMT subsidiary London Northwestern has issued a Business Update, which says it has been ‘working hard to explore all options’, but that introducing another class of unit raises issues of compatibility, training and effects on capacity on the West Coast Main Line. Stakeholders are set to be briefed further on 6 February.

Overcrowding ++ There were scenes of confusion and crowding at London Bridge during last night’s rush hour, because all trains had been stopped after a trespasser was seen on the line. Passengers complained of panic and long queues for escalators. In a Twitter message, Southeastern managing director Steve Wight said: ‘This is the second time that crowd control has been required at London Bridge recently. The last occasion was when a points failure caused disruption. Tonight's disruption was due to an emergency call stopping all trains due to a trespasser. A review will be held.’ Southeastern has already been under fire for changing its rush hour timetables last month, which mean fewer direct services run to and from Cannon Street. Drivers’ strikes ++ Special strike day timetables are set to be published by National Rail tomorrow, as ASLEF drivers prepare to strike on two days next week. The walkouts will affect 14 train operators in England on 1 and 3 February, and the RMT has also called out its driver members on the same days. The Rail Delivery Group said many lines will have no services, and where trains do run they will start later and finish earlier. Services on the days after each strike may be disrupted for a while, because some trains will have been left out of position, and in some cases trains may also be affected during the evenings before each walkout. The RDG has estimated that about 30 per cent of the usual services will run during the strikes. New trains ++ Transport for Wales’ £800 million fleet of Class 197 units is being officially launched by the Welsh Government’s minister for rural affairs and north Wales Lesley Griffiths, at a ceremony in Llandudno. Built in Newport by CAF, the 77 trains will be used on many routes. They have leather seats, air conditioning, wider doors and information screens. The first 197s entered service on the Conwy Valley line last month, but today’s ceremony marks the formal launch.

Eurostar has warned that Brexit formalities are threatening its business, although it is holding out hopes that a new digital immigration system will simplify the procedure in due course. Chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave said more rigorous border controls, combined with a shortage of security staff and the effects of the pandemic, meant that passenger numbers had fallen by 30 per cent. Speaking at an event in Brussels to launch the new combined business which has been formed by the merger of Eurostar and Thalys, she said: ‘The thing is now we are not able to run the same transport offer we had before in 2019, because of bottlenecks in stations. We have a main issue in Eurostar terminals because of the new boarding conditions between the UK and EU, because of the impact of Covid, because of staff in the stations.’ She also unwilling to say if the international trains will ever call at Ebbsfleet and Ashford again, pointing out that the big cities like London, Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels are Eurostar’s main traffic objectives. She explained: ‘These are the main cities, these are the main markets we are working for, which is our main role, I would say.’ The Brussels event also saw the unveiling of Eurostar’s new brand, which will be carried by Eurostar and Thalys trains. Eurostar said it had chosen ‘an iconic star as its symbol and new logo inspired by l’Etoile du Nord, the original train service linking Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam and as a tribute to the first Eurostar logo’.

Line reopens ++ The railway between Hurst Green and East Grinstead in Surrey is set to reopen this morning, after it had been blocked by a landslip last Thursday. Network Rail engineers and BAM Nuttall have been working continuously to repair the line after a 10 metre stretch of a seven metre high embankment slipped away from the railway, around 800m from Lingfield in the up direction. Cracks also spread six metres on either side of the slip, leading to fears it could get worse if action wasn’t taken immediately. Engineers have installed a steel wall, made of 44 10 metre steel piles, which will stabilise and support the embankment. The engineers have also used 50,000 tonnes of ballast. Meanwhile, work is continuing at the site of another landslip, near Basingstoke on the South Western Main Line, which occurred about ten days ago. South Western Railway was able to restore a limited service yesterday, although down trains are still unable to call at Hook. Station ++ Work has started on building one of the stations on the Levenmouth line, which is being restored by the Scottish Government in a £116 million project. Cameron Bridge, just off the A915, will have two 196m platforms and serve Methilhill as well as Cameron Bridge. Network Rail will equip the new station with 125 parking spaces, a bus stop and footpaths. A new bridge will also be built over the river to provide a direct connection with Methilhill. Network Rail said the work will take about 10 months, and that the Levenmouth Rail Link should open in the spring of 2024. New trains ++ Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has been celebrating the introduction of new Stadler-built trains on the region’s local network. The first Class 777 unit carried guests on an inaugural trip from Liverpool Central to Kirkby yesterday morning. The Mayor said: ‘This is a massive day, not just for our area, but for the entire country, as we launch the UK’s first publicly-owned trains in a generation into service for the first time. Alongside the work we’re doing on buses, active travel and integrated ticketing, we’re bringing our transport network into the 21st century.’ Viaduct ++ The first V-shaped pier for 300m viaduct that will carry high speed trains to the new Curzon Street HS2 station in Birmingham has been completed. The pier, five metres tall, is the first to be installed for the ‘Curzon No. 3 Viaduct’, which will be the final approach to the seven platform station in the city centre, near the present station at Moor Street. A total 30 piers will be needed, and their heights will vary between five and six metres above ground level. They will include four steel tripod piers to span the Digbeth Branch Canal. Transpennine leader ++ A new managing director has been appointed to lead the Transpennine Route Upgrade between Manchester and York. Neil Holm said: ‘There is an exciting future for rail in the North of England, and I am proud to lead a programme of thousands of brilliant people that will transform rail travel across the North in the coming years. Work is well underway.’ Before joining Network Rail, Neil was programme director for the construction of aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales.

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.

The RMT is considering a ‘best and final’ pay offer, which train operators made last night. It includes increases of five and four per cent for 2022 and 2023 respectively, along with proposals to adapt the railway to allow for ‘significant changes’ in demand. The Rail Delivery Group said staff who are paid below a certain threshold will receive a guaranteed £1750 in the first year, while pay would be backdated to the relevant 2022 pay award date, so that eligible staff benefit from a lump sum payment as soon as possible. The RDG also said that staff are guaranteed no compulsory redundancies until at least 31 December 2024, compared with the previous date of 1 April 2024. The operators have stepped back from the previous demand that trains should operated by drivers only, saying only that ‘train operating companies could separately make proposals to update and revise current on‐board roles – for example reflecting the use of new on-board technology for station/driver dispatch processes’. Other elements include a new ‘multi-skilled’ job description for station staff, who would be ‘trained and better equipped to take on a range of responsibilities aimed at better meeting the needs of customers‘. There would also be ‘station groups’ so that staff would be able to move between stations if, for example, there were staff shortages or where less able passengers needed assistance. Other key parts of the deal are new conditions applying to Sunday working and the use of part-time contracts and flexible working rosters and patterns. The RDG pointed out that Sunday travel has increased significantly since the Covid-19 pandemic. RDG chair Steve Montgomery said: ‘This is a fair offer that gives RMT members a significant uplift over the next two years – weighted particularly for those on lower incomes who we know are most feeling the squeeze – while allowing the railway to innovate and adapt to new travel patterns. It also means we can offer our people more varied, rewarding careers. ‘With taxpayers still funding up to an extra £175 million a month to make up the shortfall in revenue post-Covid, we urge the RMT to put this offer to its members so we can bring an end to this damaging dispute.’ The union has acknowledged the offer. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘The National Executive Committee will be considering this matter and has made no decision on the proposals nor any of the elements within them. ‘We will give an update on our next steps in due course.’ At the moment, the RMT is still set to stage a strike of its driver members on 1 February, while the drivers’ union ASLEF will be calling out its members for two 24-hour stoppages on 1 and 3 February.

A plan to improve the railways linking Newquay, St Austell, Truro and Falmouth in Cornwall has won funding of almost £50 million from the government’s Levelling-Up fund. The total cost has been put at £56.8 million, and this will include £2.71 million from the council, with the balance coming from other funders. The Mid Cornwall Metro will provide hourly through trains on the route, which serves four of Cornwall’s largest towns. The work will include longer platforms at two Falmouth stations to take three-car trains, as well as a second platform at Newquay and a new crossing place on the Newquay branch at Tregoss Moor. Falmouth is Cornwall's main university town, but there is a smaller university campus in Newquay and higher education colleges in St Austell and Truro. All the sites will be within 15 minutes’ walk of Mid Cornwall Metro stations. Other improvements include a new signalling panel at Goonbarrow on the Newquay branch, as well as a general upgrade of Newquay station, including ticket machines, platform canopies, toilets and a larger station concourse, as well as landscaping of the street outside, ebike hire and a new bus interchange which would offer direct road links to Cornwall Airport Newquay. MP Steve Double, who represents St Austell and Newquay, said: ‘It’s great news to today have confirmation of our successful bid to the Levelling Up Fund for the Mid-Cornwall Metro. ‘We have been working together on this along with Cornwall Council for a number of years and we’d like to thank the council’s team and in particular Cabinet Member for the Economy Cllr Louis Gardner for their efforts in putting together such a strong bid. The Mid-Cornwall Metro project will allow residents of Newquay and the communities along the lines to not only have a direct route to Falmouth but also to the main line and beyond, and also provide economic benefit in allowing quicker, easier access for commuters and visitors coming into the area.’ Cornwall Council has calculated that 180,000 people would live no more than 4km from an MCM station and 280,000 within 10km, while the urban cores of Newquay, St Austell, Truro and Falmouth account for more than a fifth of the population of Cornwall between them.

ASLEF and the RMT have both called new walkouts after talks between the unions and management last week failed. There had been fresh hopes of a settlement, but the two unions have announced further strikes at train operators on 1 and 3 February. ASLEF said it had rejected the latest proposal, although this had not been the result of negotiations, which was made by a ’cartel’ allegedly created by the government and which represents some operators. The union’s general secretary Mick Whelan said: ‘The proposal is not and could not ever be acceptable but we are willing to engage in further discussions within the process that we previously agreed.’ Drivers belonging to ASLEF at most English operators are now set to stage two 24-hour strikes on 1 and 3 February, although Merseyrail drivers are not involved, having just agreed a deal with Merseytravel about operating new trains. The minority of drivers who belong to the RMT will also be striking on 1 and 3 February. The union added that hhe decision to strike on 1 February will coincide with a TUC ‘day of action’ where several unions are coordinating their strikes during the cost-of-living crisis. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘Our negotiations will continue with the rail operators to create a package on jobs, conditions and pay that can be offered to our members.’ The Rail Delivery Group responded: ‘It’s disappointing our fair and affordable offer, which would take average driver base salaries from £60,000 to nearly £65,000 by the end of 2023 pay awards, wasn’t put to the ASLEF members.  ‘With taxpayers still funding up to an extra £175 million a month to make up the shortfall in revenue post-Covid, it provided a significant salary uplift while bringing in long overdue, common-sense reforms that would mean more reliable services for passengers. Rather than announcing further unnecessary strikes, we ask ASLEF to recognise the very real financial challenge the industry is facing and work with us to deliver a better railway with a strong long-term future.’ The RDG also said that ‘although the discussions have been undertaken at a national level, each train operating company collectively bargains with local ASLEF representatives. The national agreement sets out the principles as the basis for those negotiations.’