The Prime Minister is supporting proposals to invest almost £500 million in Welsh train services, which include seven new stations. The Welsh Government has already committed £1.1 billion to upgrade and electrify the Core Valley Lines and another £800 million for new trains. Six of the new stations will be in South

The Borders Railway will be closed over three weekends next month, so that parts of the line can be electrified. The scheme was announced in September last year by transport secretary Fiona Hyslop as part of an investment of £342 million in electrification and electric trains for Glasgow, Fife and

Trains are running again between Horsham and Dorking (Main) this morning, after more than two weeks of disruption caused by a landslip. The route was closed on 27 January after the slip at Ockley had left two lines hanging in the air. The soil had given way along a nine-metre section

Fares on ScotRail will be frozen for 12 months, following a similar freeze south of the border. First Minister John Swinney said it was part of his government’s ‘resolute focus on the cost of living’. Peak fares have already been abolished on ScotRail routes. The freeze will apply season tickets and Flexipass

A new law banning people who behave unacceptably on the railway could be introduced in Scotland. A court can already order anti-social offenders not to travel by train or enter stations, but a new report says a ‘Railway Banning Order’ could be created by passing a new law, while the range

Councillors on the Planning Committee of the City of London have voted in favour of granting planning permission for the redevelopment of Liverpool Street station. The plans, which have proved controversial, include an office block as well as a larger concourse, step-free access to all main line and Underground platforms, eight

A mid-life refurbishment of a Bombardier-built Voyager has been unveiled at Litchurch Lane in Derby. The Voyagers were built in Belgium at the end of the last century for service with Virgin Trains, which ordered them in tilting and non-tilting versions for its West Coast and CrossCountry franchises. The first refurbished unit

The Commons Transport Committee has called for assurances in the Railways Bill that there will no micromanagement of Great British Railways by the government, and that there will be no ‘potential tension’ between GBR and ministers. Two new reports have identified gaps in the Bill’s provisions and also consider the prospects

In some ways, it is too late to argue about the merits of Great British Railways, because this reform is happening. The Bill to give GBR legal powers is making its way through Parliament, while passenger operators are being progressively renationalised. When Govia Thameslink Railway is nationalised (or, as the DfT

The Railway 200 exhibition train ‘Inspiration’ is going west this spring, because some of the latest dates announced for visits include stations in Devon and Cornwall for the first time since Inspiration’s nationwide tour began last summer at the Severn Valley Railway. Since then it has visited stations and heritage railways