Network Rail chair Lord Hendy CBE has been named as a minister of state in the Department for Transport. Peter Hendy, 71, started his career in public transport in 1975 as a graduate trainee with London Transport, having gained a degree in Economics and Geography at the University of Leeds. In 1989 he became managing director of CentreWest London Buses in 1989, under London Transport ownership. Five years later he led CentreWest through a management buyout. After the company was taken over by FirstGroup in 1997, he became Deputy Director UK Bus, at FirstGroup. He returned to London Transport’s successor Transport for London in 2001, when he was appointed managing director of Surface Transport. He became a CBE and commissioner of transport in 2006. He was responsible for transport during the 2012 Olympics, and was widely praised for the effectiveness of the arrangements, gaining a knighthood as a result. He was appointed chair of Network Rail in 2015 and received a life peerage in 2022. He had most recently been leading the arrangements for the Railway 200 festival next year. His move to the Department for Transport will be a change of direction, as he will now be helping to oversee Network Rail and in due course Great British Railways, on behalf of the government.

Network Rail chair Lord Hendy CBE has been named as a minister of state in the Department for Transport. Peter Hendy, 71, started his career in public transport in 1975 as a graduate trainee with London Transport, having gained a degree in Economics and Geography at the University of Leeds. In 1989 he became managing director of CentreWest London Buses in 1989, under London Transport ownership. Five years later he led CentreWest through a management buyout. After the company was taken over by FirstGroup in 1997, he became Deputy Director UK Bus, at FirstGroup. He returned to London Transport’s successor Transport for London in 2001, when he was appointed managing director of Surface Transport. He became a CBE and commissioner of transport in 2006. He was responsible for transport during the 2012 Olympics, and was widely praised for the effectiveness of the arrangements, gaining a knighthood as a result. He was appointed chair of Network Rail in 2015 and received a life peerage in 2022. He had most recently been leading the arrangements for the Railway 200 festival next year. His move to the Department for Transport will be a change of direction, as he will now be helping to oversee Network Rail and in due course Great British Railways, on behalf of the government.

Services were disrupted on several lines in Strathclyde yesterday and four stations were closed. ScotRail said the problems were caused by a shortage of drivers willing to work overtime. The operator conceded that it was their ‘contractual right’ not to volunteer for extra duty, but it was forced to amend the timetables on lines from Helensburgh Central, Lanark, Balloch and Milngavie, while no trains called at Airbles, Barnhill, Alexandra Parade or Duke Street. Other services were also affected, with approximately 25 per cent of trains cancelled. Two days earlier ASLEF had warned ScotRail, which is owned by the Scottish Government, that it would recommend a ballot of its members to its Executive Committee because of a pay dispute. ScotRail service delivery director Mark Ilderton said: ‘We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused to our customers. We know how frustrating it is when cancellations occur. ‘We hope that these service alterations will give customers some certainty and reliability when planning their journeys. Customers should check their journey on our website and mobile app before they travel and should also bear in mind that services will be busier than usual. ‘We want to resolve the pay dispute matter with trade unions and will remain fully committed to further discussions.’

Louise Haigh has been appointed transport secretary by the new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.She had served as shadow transport secretary since November 2021 while the Labour Party was in opposition. She had previously served as shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland, shadow minister at the Home Office) (Policing), shadow minister (Culture, Media and Sport) (Digital Economy) and shadow minister at the Cabinet Office. Ms Haigh, 36, was elected Member of Parliament for Sheffield Heeley in the 2015 general election, and became the youngest Labour member of that parliament. Although Labour is planning to nationalise the remaining former passenger franchises, private sector trade body Rail Partners says it wants to work with Ms Haigh. Chief executive Andy Bagnall said: ‘Congratulations to Louise Haigh on her appointment as transport secretary. ‘The railway is facing severe challenges and train companies agree that urgent rail reform is needed. Getting this reform right is critical for the UK’s economic growth, sustainability and the public purse. ‘Rail Partners and its members hope to work with the new transport secretary and her wider ministerial team to ensure the railway is delivering for passengers and freight customers.’

Former transport secretaries Mark Harper and Grant Shapps are among the Tory casualties in the General Election. Rail minister Huw Merriman had already announced his resignation and did not stand in the election. Labour has won at least 412 seats, a gain of 211, with two seats yet to be declared. The Conservatives will have at least 121 seats, which would be a loss of 250. Other Conservative ministers who have also lost their seats include former Prime Minister Liz Truss, Commons leader Penny Mordaunts, justice secretary Alex Chalk and education secretary Gillian Keegan.  When he was transport secretary, Grant Shapps added his name to Keith Williams’ Rail Review in 2021. Before that he had officially abolished passenger franchises in September 2020 in the wake of the Covid pandemic, replacing them with emergency contracts and then National Rail Contracts. The new government is set to create Great British Railways, which according to a document published in April will be a ‘directing mind’ rather than the ‘guiding mind’ envisaged in the Williams-Shapps Rail Review.  Network Rail will become Great British Railways and take over the operation of the remaining former franchises as they expire, reach a break point or are terminated for poor performance. GBR will also be the general controller of the railways, with only broad decisions about policy and finance remaining with the government. The King’s Speech on 17 July is expected to include legislation to nationalise the remaining former franchises and create Great British Railways, but the former passenger franchises in Scotland and Wales have already been nationalised, along with four in England. However, Labour has also said that open access operators will continue. The new shape of the railways has not won universal support in every part of the industry. The private sector trade body Rail Partners has called for the gains achieved by privatisation to be preserved. Earlier this week, speaking on the Railnews podcast, Rail Partners chief executive Andy Bagnall said: ‘The franchising system had been creaking before the pandemic. Accountabilities had become blurred. There were less and less bidders for contracts. The benefits had started to be outweighed by fragmentation. So I think everyone agreed the railway needed reform. ‘The Department [for Transport] is now more involved with the railways than it was in the days of British Rail. It is unfair to put some of the challenges the industry is now facing exclusively at the door of the private sector train companies. ‘As they [the Labour government] try and reform the railway, make sure that we preserve some of the strengths of the previous system, that we follow the evidence of what works, and that way we are most likely to be able to address the weaknesses as well.’ The Campaign for Better Transport, meanwhile, said its preferred model was the awarding of operating concessions to private companies. This already happens in some parts of the country, such as on the London Overground and Docklands Light Railway.

Edition 1 of the Railnews podcasts is now available. Hear from Andy Bagnall, Darren Caplan, Maggie Simpson and Michael Solomon-Williams, who discuss on the eve of the General Election what kind of railway policies they would like to see from the next government. Also, catch up with the news and enjoy songs from London’s Transport Choir. CLICK TO HEAR

The railway on the Isle of Wight will be closing again in September, so that engineers can carry out more work on the Victorian Ryde Pier, which has been closed at various times for upgrades and maintenance since October 2022. Although trains will only be replaced by buses between Ryde and Shanklin for a month from 6 September, Ryde Pier will not open to rail traffic again until May next year. Network Rail said engineers would be completing a ‘large programme of vital maintenance’, which will include track and bridge renewals between Ryde St Johns Road and Ryde Pier Head, renovations to an historic footbridge at Brading, signalling works at Ryde and bridge repairs in Sandown. A minibus shuttle service will operate between Ryde Pier Head and Ryde Esplanade throughout the winter and early spring, while train services will operate every 30 minutes between Ryde Esplanade and Shanklin. Network Rail infrastructure director Tom McNamee said: ‘Part of the track and infrastructure on the Island Line has become life-expired and extreme weather is contributing to the acceleration of the degradation of the railway. ‘Our planned maintenance will ensure we’re able to keep running services safely and reliably while our ongoing programme of upgrades to the steel structure and track between Ryde Pier Head and Ryde Esplanade stations will preserve and strengthen the track and infrastructure for future generations. ‘We recognise there is never a convenient time to close the line, but we have waited to do so until after the important summer period and we would like to thank local residents, businesses and customers in advance for their patience and understanding while we complete this important work.’

Network Rail says the railway between Bradford and Ilkley will reopen to traffic on 30 June, after it had been blocked by a landslip for almost five months. The slippage at Baildon on 9 February meant that specialist road rail vehicles and other equipment had to be brought in to stabilise the land by removing more than 1,800 tonnes of earth, but the ‘complex environment‘ meant that the original reopening date of mid-March could not be achieved. Wet weather also hampered progress, and it emerged in late March that two houses near the slip had become unsafe and would have to be demolished. At this point Network Rail revised its expected reopening date to the end of June. Network Rail North & East route director Jason Hamilton said: ‘I know this has been a difficult time for the community and I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all impacted local residents for their support and cooperation throughout our work. ‘I also want to say thank you to passengers who have faced disruption to rail services for their patience and understanding of the situation.’ Northern provided rail replacement buses between Bradford Forster Square and Ilkley while the line was closed. The operator’s regional director Kerry Peters added: ‘I’d like to thank our customers for their patience while this complicated and safety-critical work was carried out by Network Rail. We appreciate it has caused significant disruption to people’s journeys and we are very happy to be able to resume services along the line once again.’

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