The RMT union has condemned the scrapping of a pilot on ScotRail which abolished peak fares for a year. The trial did not yield the results for which ministers had hoped, and Transport Scotland said it was not financially possible to continue beyond next month, when the 12-month trial expires. But the RMT described the decision as ‘a retrograde step’. The union’s general secretary Mick Lynch said the decision undermined the Scottish Government’s own climate change and car reduction goals. He continued: ‘RMT has long called for the off-peak fares trial to be made permanent, and the decision to scrap the trial will be significant disappointment for many passengers. The return of peak fares, inflated by this year’s 8.7 per cent fare increase, will make rail travel unaffordable for many and push people into cars. ‘The Scottish government should be investing in making rail travel affordable, accessible and reliable and it should rethink this short-sighted and damaging decision.’  

The temporary removal of peak fares on ScotRail showed a ‘limited degree of success‘, according to a report published by Transport Scotland today. The pilot began on 2 October 2023, and is due to end on 27 September this year. The Scottish Government subsidised the temporary removal of peak fares to encourage modal shift from private car to rail while making rail travel more affordable and accessible over the pilot period. The cost of the full year subsidy was approximately £40 million. The success of the pilot has been measured through the analysis published today, which uses daily patronage data from April 2022 to the start of July this year, covering a period before the pilot and nine months of the test period. This analysis shows that while there has been a limited increase in the number of passengers during the pilot, it did not achieve its aims of encouraging a significant modal shift. The Scottish Government said it was now bringing the pilot to an end next month because it was facing ‘financial challenges‘. Transport secretary Fiona Hyslop said: ‘The pilot primarily benefited existing train passengers and those with medium to higher incomes. Although passenger levels increased to a maximum of around 6.8 per cent, it would require a 10 per cent increase in passenger numbers for the policy to be self-financing. ‘The pilot will have been welcome in saving many passengers hundreds and in some cases thousands of pounds during the cost of living crisis but this level of subsidy cannot continue in the current financial climate on that measure alone. ‘I am aware, however, that a significant minority of people who cannot choose when they travel to and from work did and would benefit from lower priced rail travel – these are people who might find the return to peak fares challenging. ‘I can therefore announce the introduction of a 12-month discount on all ScotRail season tickets and permanently amending the terms of flexipasses to allow for 12 single journeys for the price of 10, used within 60 days, equivalent to a 20 per cent discount for those who travel less frequently. Super off-peak tickets will also be reintroduced. ‘The Scottish Government would be open to consider future subsidy to remove peak fares should UK budget allocations to the Scottish Government improve in future years.’

The Alstom works at Derby has won a second order, following the £370 million contract to build 10 trains for the Elizabeth Line. Litchurch Lane works had run out of orders earlier this year, and was at risk of closure. The new contract from ROSCo Beacon Rail, worth £60 million, is to refurbish the Voyager units which were built by Bombardier in Belgium for Virgin more than 20 years ago. The work will involve 312 cars, which will be fitted with new seats, tables, carpets, improved lighting and a system to count passengers. Alstom had signed an eight-year extension to its Train Services Agreement with CrossCountry last year, valued at about £825 million. Alstom managing director for the UK and Ireland Peter Broadley said: ‘We now look forward to giving these iconic Alstom-built trains some well-deserved TLC with a comprehensive overhaul that will include new seats, on-board technology enhancements and an exterior repaint.’ CrossCountry fleet and engineering director Adrian Hugill added: ‘We’re delighted to be moving forward on the refurbishment of our Voyager fleet. We look forward to working with colleagues at Alstom and Beacon.’ Meanwhile, CrossCountry has been under fire following the news that it is reducing its services between Newcastle and Reading, and between Nottingham and Cardiff from 10 August to 9 November, to release time for driver training. Several MPs from the places affected have voiced their concerns, while transport secretary Louise Haigh said she had approved the reductions ‘reluctantly’. In a letter to CrossCountry, she said: ‘Over the past year, the level of train cancellations across your company has increased significantly and by your own forecasts, you expected to breach your contractual targets for cancellations in the coming months. Put simply, the only reason I accepted your proposal was to give passengers more certainty on which services will run.’ CrossCountry has been placed on a Remedial Plan. Ms Haigh added: ‘If you fail to deliver the Remedial Plan, I will not hesitate to take further action.’ The operator pointed out that changes to existing formations on the trains which do run will provide 97 per cent of the seats which are provided in its full timetable, but admitted that its service had ‘fallen below the standards our passengers should expect from us.‘ It continued: ‘All too frequently, our passengers have been inconvenienced by on-the-day cancellations, which results in poor quality and reliability of service. By the end of the temporary timetable, we will have more fully-trained drivers.’ The government is planning to renationalise the former English franchises over time as they expire, or when they reach a break point known as the core expiry date. The CrossCountry contract, which is owned by Arriva, could have run until 12 October 2031, but the core expiry date is 17 October 2027.

Negotiations over pay are set to restart with the RMT, following ASLEF’s provisional acceptance of the government’s pay offer to drivers, which will now be put to ASLEF members with a recommendation to accept. Transport secretary Louise Haigh said the new deal for drivers will be ‘better value’ for taxpayers than allowing strikes to continue. Starting in July 2022, drivers walked out at all English operators on 14 occasions, and a further four ‘staggered’ strikes affected different  operators. There were also 12 bans on rest day working, most of which lasted several days. The offer to drivers, part of which is backdated, consists of 5 percent for 2022-23; 4.75 per cent for 2023-24 and 4.5 per cent for 2024-25. The RMT is now looking for similar increases for its 40,000 rail industry members. Ahead of next week’s discussions with government, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘All things being equal, we are expecting a parallel, synchronised offer. ‘We are meeting the Department on Tuesday on behalf of our members who work for train operating companies, and on Thursday for staff who work for Network Rail.’ Shadow transport minister Helen Whately accused the government of giving the unions priority. She said: ‘Pensioners are being deprived of the winter fuel allowance, taxpayers are facing tax hikes and passengers are facing higher fares, all as the result of this government’s choice to put the unions first.’ She added that it was ‘deeply disappointing that this government has chosen not to include working practice reforms in their deal’. The amount of any rail fares rise in 2025 is not yet known, but July’s RPI, announced two days ago, was 3.6 per cent. The figure for July each year is usually the basis for changes to rail fares the following year. Until recently, fares had risen each January, but the annual changes have been postponed until March since 2021.

ASLEF is putting a new pay offer to its members, with a recommendation that they accept it. As reported in Railnews yesterday, the drivers’ union took part in fresh talks at the Department for Transport, after an earlier meeting had been described as ‘constructive’ by both sides. The union said it had been offered a ’no-strings three-phase’ series of pensionable rises, backdated where appropriate, consisting of 5 percent for 2022-23; 4.75 per cent for 2023-24 and 4.5 per cent for 2024-25.  General secretary Mick Whelan had been accompanied at yesterday’s talks by assistant general secretary Simon Weller and executive committee president Dave Calfe. Mr Whelan said: ‘We are pleased that after being treated with utter contempt for the last two years by the privatised train companies, and the previous government that was pulling their strings, we finally have a new government – a Labour government – that listens and wants to make the railway work for staff, for passengers, and for the taxpayer. 'The offer is a good offer – a fair offer – and it is what we have always asked for, a clean offer, without a land grab for our terms and conditions that the companies, and previous government, tried to take in April last year. ‘We will put it to members with a recommendation for them to accept.' He continued: ‘We have achieved more in the last four weeks of a Labour government than we managed under a Tory government that set out to destroy us – first by refusing to meet us, then by insisting the companies could only offer us 2 per cent, then by offering us 4 per cent but with a land grab for all the T&Cs we have spent 144 years negotiating with productivity and sweat. ‘We have gone from people behaving dishonestly and deceitfully and trying to rip up all our T&Cs to a group of people who seem to understand the interests of rail workers, the travelling public, and the taxpayer.' If ASLEF members vote to accept the offer, it will bring to an end a series of 18 days of strikes which began in July 2022. Of these, 14 were national and four were ‘staggered’ between different operators. There were also 12 bans on rest day working, most of which lasted several days. Transport secretary Louise Haigh has welcomed the outcome of yesterday’s talks, saying: ‘When I took this job, I said I wanted to move fast and fix things – starting by bringing an end to rail strikes. ‘The Conservatives were happy to see the taxpayer pay the price as strikes dragged on and on, and passengers suffered. This Labour government is doing the right thing and putting passengers first. ‘If accepted, this offer would finally bring an end to this long-running dispute, and allow us to move forward by driving up performance for passengers with the biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation.’ There has been no comment from the Rail Delivery Group, which did not take part in the talks.

Posted 14th August 2024 | ASLEF pay talks resume Further talks over train drivers’ pay are understood to be taking place today between ASLEF and the Department for Transport. However, the operators represented by the Rail Delivery Group are not involved. If the talks succeed, they will bring a long series of strikes to an end. The union had complained repeatedly that the previous Conservative government had refused to negotiate after a pay offer was rejected in April last year. That offer had included a series of 4 percent pay rises, but with these came controversial changes to rosters and other arrangements. These included a bid to end discretionary Sunday working by introducing a seven-day working week. Several operators have claimed that a lack of drivers on Sundays had caused cancellations, while the final of the Euros on 14 July was said to have had a similar effect. After Labour was elected last month,  transport secretary Louise Haigh said she was committed to ‘resetting’ industrial relations.Neither side has commented in advance of the new talks.

The British athletes who competed at the Paris Olympics, collecting a total of 65 medals including 14 gold, have returned to London to receive a heroes’ welcome at St Pancras station. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was there to greet them as they alighted from a special Eurostar train from Paris. Sadiq Khan said: ‘On behalf of all Londoners, I want to pay tribute to our amazing Team GB athletes who represented our country so brilliantly at the Paris Olympics. To bring home 65 medals – one more than the previous Olympic Games in Tokyo – is a real testament to the skill, determination and brilliance our Olympians have demonstrated on the world’s biggest sporting stage.’ Eurostar CEO Gwendoline Cazenave said: ‘We are thrilled Team GB decided to travel with Eurostar to bring home their Olympic medals. The Golden train was perfect for athletes to travel in comfort and sustainable style while continuing the party a few hours after the closing ceremony. Rendezvous in a few days for Paralympics.’

The west-facing rail connection from the Great Western Main Line to Heathrow Airport is the latest casualty following the announcement of a £22 billion ‘black hole’ in national budgets by chancellor Rachel Reeves on 29 July. Railway budgets already axed in a bid to save more than £2 billion of ‘unfunded pledges’ in Transport alone include the Restoring Your Railway fund. This decision has dismayed a number of local councils who were backing plans to reopen lines like the Portishead branch in Bristol and new stations in many places, including Haxby in North Yorkshire, Aldridge in the West Midlands and Devizes in Wiltshire. But the plan to give Heathrow a westerly railway connection, which was first unveiled 12 years ago, still has ‘wide cross-party and local support’, according to Slough’s Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi. Mr Dhesi was shadow rail minister between April 2020 and September 2023 while Labour was in opposition, before he was replaced by Stephen Morgan. The link would have started from a junction near Iver and have been 6.5km long, allowing trains from places like Oxford, Bristol and Cardiff to serve the airport directly. Mr Dhesi has not abandoned his support for the line, and has set up an All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Western Rail Link. During a Commons debate about the project on 30 April this year, he said: ‘The scheme, which has been identified as a nationally significant infrastructure project by the National Infrastructure Commission, promises to decrease train travel times, offer a consistent service of trains in each direction, vastly improve connections and bring destinations within the “golden hour” for foreign direct investors.’ In the wake of the election, he added: ‘Since the Conservative government promised to build it over a decade ago, this nationally significant infrastructure project has been beset by delays and funding challenges, yet receives wide cross-party and local support from businesses and residents. ‘With a new Labour government, I know it is steadfast in its commitment to economic growth, and enhancing our infrastructure and rail connectivity, alongside tackling the climate crisis. ‘I look forward to future discussions on how we can improve all transport services for my Slough constituents.’

The opening date of the restored Northumberland Line between Newcastle and Ashington has now been confirmed as December, after earlier predictions that it would be carrying passengers this summer. The reason for the postponement has not been given. Northern has also revealed that the first test journey was completed along the 29km route two days ago. A Class 158 unit driven by Martin Rodger, accompanied by Mark Laverick, arrived at Ashington shortly before 09.30 on Monday, and training trips will now start. The line has cost £298.5 million, and the reopening will be the result of a project supported by the Department for Transport, Network Rail, Northumberland County Council and Northern. When the line reopens, trains will call at Ashington, Newsham, Seaton Delaval, Manors and Newcastle, running every 30 minutes during the day and once an hour in the evenings and on Sundays. Three more stations at Bedlington, Blyth Bebside and Northumberland Park are still being built, and will not open before next year. Programme manager Paul Henry said: ‘We’re delighted to see a Northern train complete a test run along the line for the first time. ‘It marks an important milestone in a major construction project, as it has taken years of hard work to transform this old freight line into a railway that will soon be used by thousands of passengers every week.’