HS2 Ltd has lost a case in the Court of Appeal, which has ruled that it extended Bromford tunnel in Birmingham without planning permission. The tunnel’s portals would originally have been within Birmingham City Council’s area, but the extension of the tunnel, which leads to Washwood Heath depot, placed the eastern

MPs have cast doubt on the plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail, saying they echo the same failures seen in HS2. The Public Accounts Committee is also doubtful how the full programme can be completed within its price cap of £45 billion. The Committee says it is not confident that the Department

The National Audit Office has warned that the cost of the ‘reset’ of the remaining section of HS2 will be about £153 million. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander announced last month that the line between London and Birmingham will now cost up to £107 billion, after chief executive Mark Wild had

picture: GBR AngliaCambridge South station opened for business yesterday morning, and an official opening follows today. The project is the university city’s third station, after Cambridge North was opened nine years ago. That station is now handling 1.5 million passengers a year, and Cambridge South is being served by up to 20

Train operators in England and Wales are urging passengers to only travel if they must, as the heatwave continues. Red and amber warnings of extreme heat are still in force, particularly in south east England, and there is also a risk of thunderstorms. There are also no trains between Luton and Bedford,

picture RAIBThe train from Corby which ran into the back of a stationary train south of Bedford, killing the driver and injuring more than 160 passengers, had passed a red signal a few moments before. The RAIB has issued its first report into the collision on 19 June, also revealing

Warnings of disruption to train services because of very high temperatures have spread to north west England. A red warning of extreme heat in southern England and the Midlands has already caused the railway to urge passengers not to travel in those areas unless they must, but Network Rail has said

Rail passengers are being urged not to travel, particularly in southern England or the Midlands, as temperatures threaten to exceed 35 degrees over the next few days. Train operators are warning that speed restrictions will be necessary as rail temperatures climb, and the Met Office has issued a red ‘extreme heat’

There will be no trains between Luton and Bedford this week, as engineers work on removing the two trains which collided south of Bedford on Friday, killing a driver and injuring 100 passengers. Last night, nine of the injured passengers were still in critical condition in hospital, and inspectors from the

It is now known that 100 people were injured in Friday’s train crash near Bedford, in which the driver of one of the trains was killed. Sim Harris asks what lessons might be learnt. The earliest railway engineers were well aware of the risks of a rear-end collision. The time interval system