The long series of strikes involving the RMT is over, after 18 months of walkouts. A new ballot of members has shown that a majority are in favour of accepting the latest pay offer from the operators. The union’s general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘Our members have spoken in huge numbers to accept this unconditional pay offer and no compulsory redundancies until the end of 2024. ‘I want to congratulate them on their steadfastness in this long industrial campaign. ‘We will be negotiating further with the train operators over reforms they want to see. And we will never shy away from vigorously defending our members’ terms and conditions, now or in the future. ‘This campaign shows that sustained strike action and unity gets results and our members should be proud of the role they have played in securing this deal.’ The first response came from transport secretary Mark Harper, who said: ‘This is welcome news for passengers and a significant step towards resolving industrial disputes on the railway, giving workers a pay rise before Christmas and a pathway to delivering long overdue reforms.’ The Rail Delivery Group said: ‘This welcome vote from RMT members will unlock a pay rise for our people, and means that fair agreements have now been reached with three out of the four unions involved in the recent industrial dispute. ‘Unfortunately, the ASLEF leadership’s decision to call further industrial action means passengers still face disruption between 1-9 December, despite an offer remaining on the table which would see basic driver salaries increase from £60k to £65k for a four-day week. ‘We want to reach a fair agreement which will get more trains running on time and put the railway on a sustainable footing, at a time when taxpayers are contributing an extra £54 million a week to keep services running post-Covid. Instead of staging more damaging industrial action, we call on ASLEF to work with us to resolve this dispute for the long-term good of everyone who works in rail and the millions of businesses and passengers who rely on it every day.’ The results of the ballot, as published by the RMT, show that there was a majority in favour of a settlement of almost 90 per cent, with 13,454 at 14 train operators in England voting ‘yes’ and 1570 ’no’.  This story is breaking: more follows

Transport for London says the number of passengers travelling on the Underground was 4.05 million on 23 November, which is the largest daily total recorded since the start of Covid restrictions in March 2020. The Elizabeth Line, which is counted separately, carried more than 766,000 passengers on 9 November, setting a new record for the route. More than 720,000 daily journeys are made on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays each week, following the trend since Covid for commuting to be more concentrated over three days. TfL added that midweek ridership on the Underground is now regularly above 3.7 million daily, and up by around 6.5 per cent compared to last year. In spite of the change in commuting habits, ridership on Mondays and Fridays is also regularly above 3 million journeys a day, topping 3.6 million on recent Fridays because of additional leisure travellers. Several Underground stations in central London are already close to or exceeding the passenger volumes levels seen before the pandemic. Ridership on the Night Tube and Night Overground services is also up, with around 60,000 journeys on a Friday night between 00.30 and 04.30, and close to 70,000 journeys on a Saturday night between 00.30 and 04.30. London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway are also increasingly popular. The increases have strengthened TfL’s case for a long term budget settlement with the Government. One proposed economy was the scrapping of Day Travelcards, but this was abandoned when TfL reached a new agreement with the Rail Delivery Group’s London area National Rail operators and also the Department for Transport. However, TfL said there was no commitment in the Autumn Statement to provide longer-term support, and that the situation is ‘now urgent’ if TfL is going to be able to continue to provide reliable services that can support the most recent growth. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: ‘It’s fantastic to see London truly roaring back post-pandemic - this impressive boost in ridership will support London’s and indeed the whole UK’s wider economy recovery. There’s no doubt that as Christmas approaches the appeal of London’s world-leading shops, restaurants and other venues is as strong as ever. ‘This data shows that people are returning to their pre-pandemic travel patterns. We can’t rest on our laurels. In order to further support this boom and deliver the world class transport system London deserves we need sustained capital investment over multiple years with support from central Government. This will help us support jobs and economic growth in London and across the country, and build a better, more prosperous London for all.’

The number of crimes committed on London Underground rose by more than a third in the six months from April to September this year, pushing the crime rate for each million passengers up from 13.7 to 18.6. The RMT has called for an end to ‘austerity’ measures which can potentially reduce the deployment of staff on duty. Transport for London has reported that although crime has risen, passenger numbers are down by 11 per cent. There is particular concern about thefts and robberies, because thefts were up by 83 per cent and robberies by 107 per cent. Almost two thirds of thefts took place on trains, at 61 per cent, while the rest were on stations. The worst stations for thefts were all busy interchanges in central London – King’s Cross St Pancras, Leicester Square and Oxford  Circus. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘These soaring crime rates come as no surprise to tube workers that are on the front line every day in this increasingly hostile environment. ‘RMT has been warning for many years that instead of an agenda of austerity and constant cutbacks we need decent staffing levels and investment to ensure a safe and secure transport network for London.’ Meanwhile, the RMT has discovered that one in three of its female members working for ScotRail have been sexually harassed in the course of their job, following a new survey. The union said more than 80 per cent of the respondents revealed they had not reported the incident, with most saying they felt they would not be taken seriously. More than half also said they had witnessed female passengers becoming the victims of sexual harassment over the past year.

The lobbying group Rail Partners has made a new bid to get the private sector more involved in operating passenger railways. The group has already campaigned for a continuation of privately-owned operators, and for them to have greater commercial freedom than they have under current National Rail Contracts. Although the Government appears to be sympathetic, the Labour Party has said it would move towards a ‘publicly-owned railway’ in England if it gains power at the next General Election. The Scottish and Welsh operators have already been renationalised by the devolved governments, while three previously-franchised English operators, Southeastern, Northern and TransPennine Express, have also been returned to state control. LNER was set up as a nationalised operator from the start in 2018 following the failure of the Virgin Trains East Coast franchise, which was mostly owned by Stagecoach. Rail Partners is now calling for more open access operators to be permitted, such as Grand Central, Hull Trains and Lumo. The Office of Rail and Road has already approved an application by Grand Union Trains to operate five trains a day between London, Cardiff and Carmarthen from December 2024, although Grand Union says the opening date is yet to be confirmed because it is in talks with rolling stock suppliers. Grand Central has also just been granted permission to call at Peterborough for the first time. Another operator, Wrexham & Shropshire, had to close in early 2011 after financial problems. Rail industry leaders met in London for Rail Partners’ Open Access Summit, to discuss ‘unlocking the potential of open access rail operations’ within Britain. The discussion focused on how to encourage new open access services and how to remove existing barriers to prospective entrants. Yesterday’s event was attended by rail minister Huw Merriman, who Rail Partners described as ‘a longstanding advocate of open access operations’. Also at the meeting were civil servants from the Department for Transport and the Treasury. They were joined by representatives of Network Rail, the ORR, existing open access operators, rolling stock leasing companies, third-party ticket retailers and many of the owning groups, including Arriva Group, FirstGroup, Mitsui, MTR, Trenitalia and Transport UK (formerly Abellio). Rail Partners chief executive Andy Bagnall said: ‘Alongside the important role played by contracted operators, open access services have the potential to deliver really tangible benefits for passengers and communities across the UK. ‘Currently, the system is not set up to fully unlock that potential, or attract new entrants into the market. That’s why bringing together so many senior industry colleagues to work together, find the solutions, and remove those barriers is so important, and we’re optimistic that we will see measures to support open access in the near future.’ Arriva UK Trains managing director David Brown added: ‘Open-access operators, like Arriva’s Grand Central, are of vital importance to our railway, driving competition and innovation at the same time as connecting areas of the country that are underserved by the regular timetable. ‘Today’s summit was a welcome first-step in ensuring the role of open-access operators is not only safeguarded but encouraged to grow.’ 

Grand Central trains will soon be calling at Peterborough for the first time. The open access operator has been given approval for its trains to call at Peterborough twice a day from Monday to Saturday by the Office of Rail and Road. Grand Central began running on the East Coast Main Line between London and Sunderland in December 2007. After Hull Trains, it was the second open access operator on the route, and it was given permission by the regulator to call at York. This decision proved controversial and it was legally challenged, without success, by the franchised operator GNER, which withdrew from the industry soon afterwards. Grand Central added a second route between London and Bradford in May 2010, but the new approval for Peterborough marks the first time that its trains have been allowed to call at an intermediate station south of York. The ORR said it supports open access services where these provide competition without ‘unduly’ affecting performance. It also considers what the effect will be on Government funds. The modern successor to GNER on the East Coast route is LNER, which is nationalised. Local services between London and Peterborough are run by private sector Govia Thameslink Railway, which has a National Rail Contract. The ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform Stephanie Tobyn said: ‘Open access services promote competition on the rail network and give passengers more choice about how they travel. With passenger numbers still not quite recovered following the pandemic, it’s important that the network provides options for all as the industry looks to increase passenger journeys. ‘ORR plays a crucial role in overseeing competition on our railway, and we’ll continue to assess open access applications with the goal of providing greater consumer choice, value and performance.’

The Office of Rail and Road has begun sponsoring the Rail Ombudsman, in line with a commitment in the 2021 Plan for Rail. The ORR will now hold the Ombudsman to account for independent and impartial provision of its service. The Ombudsman is the last of port of call for unhappy passengers who have not reached an agreement with the relevant operator or the applicable passenger watchdog – Transport Focus or London Travelwatch. The ORR has updated how the Ombudsman operates, including new arrangements to make the service more accessible. The changes include the appointment of a non-executive director with experience of disability and the training of Ombudsman staff about accessibility. There are also new ways for passengers to contact the Ombudsman, and a programme of upgrades to processes and systems to make the service easier to use. Since the service was introduced in 2018, the Rail Ombudsman has dealt with more than 15,000 cases. The ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform Stephanie Tobyn said: ‘The Rail Ombudsman provides confidence to passengers that there is an independent body to turn to where they are unable to resolve a complaint with their train or station operator. In ORR’s new oversight role we’ve improved the model for how the Ombudsman service operates to better serve the needs of passengers.’

The Office of Rail and Road has approved Castleford station, which has been rebuilt and is due to open soon. The ORR has worked with Network Rail to make sure that the station meets the required standards. The station’s second platform has been rebuilt and will be reopened. A new footbridge with lifts has also been installed. Each of these elements, as well as lighting and signage, were inspected. Bridge completed HS2 has completed the last section of earthworks that will carry East West Rail between Oxford and Cambridge over the new high speed line near Calvert in Buckinghamshire. Contractors have built two bridges, one underpass and 3.4km of adjacent earthworks for EWR where the two projects intersect. Contracts awardedNetwork Rail has awarded several contracts worth a total of £61.5 million for the East Kilbride Enhancement Project. The contractors are Story Contracting, AmcoGiffen, SPL Powerlines, Siemens, Rail Systems Alliance Scotland and WSP. Electrification of 22.4 single track kilometres can now go ahead.

Changes to the rules about central door locking could mean the end of heritage trains on Network Rail infrastructure, a major operator has warned. West Coast Railway Company, which runs many steam-hauled specials on National Rail lines as well as the scheduled ‘Jacobite’ service between Fort William and Mallaig, is challenging a decision by the Office of Rail and Road to revoke an exemption which allows heritage trains on the main network even though they are not fitted with full central locking for their swing doors. Instead, operators like West Coast have been permitted to use a modified system, which includes stewards in each coach who bolt the doors individually using secondary door locking. They are also responsible for monitoring the doors while the train is in motion. West Coast has warned that converting its coaching fleet to full central locking would cost £7 million. This would take almost 10 years to repay, and the business would cease to be a going concern. The operator has challenged the ORR’s decision in the High Court over the past two days, but judgment has been reserved and may not be known for several weeks. West Coast pointed out that safety is its priority and there have been no accidents caused by its present door locking system. The operator’s commercial manager James Shuttleworth said: ‘This country was the birthplace of railways and I very much hope it won’t be the death of our steam power on the main line. Specialist railways are one thing, but to truly experience the beauty and power of steam we still need our most famous trains to run on the real railway. ‘Our services, particularly the Jacobite, have become an intrinsic part of Scottish tourism; they’re lynchpins. They have helped build up local economies, which we’re extremely proud of. When we first started operating the Jacobite in 1995, I don’t think we could have predicted how popular an attraction it would become. ‘Safety is, of course, WCR’s priority and WCR supports the ORR’s desire to continue to drive safety improvements. The challenge we have is the cost of installing a modern safety system on carriages from a different era. Our decades of operational experience suggest to us that a steward to four doors, with secondary locks and monitoring, a train manager and a guard is enough to ensure the safety of our passengers and colleagues.’ Heritage trains running on main lines have been criticised in recent years, particularly when reckless ‘enthusiasts’ trespass on the railway because a train hauled by a locomotive like the Flying Scotsman is due to pass. A major accident was only narrowly avoided at Wootton Bassett Junction on the Great Western Main Line in March 2015, when a steam special almost collided with an HST because the driver of the steam locomotive had passed a signal at danger, overrunning it by almost 700 metres and coming to a stand fouling the main line. The train’s operator West Coast Railway Company was temporarily banned from running heritage specials. In June 2016 West Coast was fined £200,000 with costs of £64,000 at Swindon Crown Court, while the driver was given a prison sentence of four months, suspended for eighteen months. Both the driver and West Coast had admitted health and safety offences. The RAIB later reported that both the AWS and TPWS on the locomotive had been isolated, against the rules. In evidence, the ORR said its inspectors had uncovered 'significant failings in WCRC’s managerial controls'. It added: ‘This prosecution has led to WCRC taking significant steps to improve its management of safety, with support from the regulator.’

Ballot papers are being sent to RMT members working for London Underground, as the RMT pursues its claim for better pay and a restoration of free travel for all Underground staff. The union said Transport for London has created a ‘bonus pot’ worth £13 million for senior managers, while the commissioner’s pay has been increased by 11 per cent this year. It is also unhappy about a ‘freezing’ of pay bands, and claimed that the freeze will create a two-tier workforce. The ballot opened yesterday and will continue until 19 December. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘Tube workers who help bring vast amounts of value to the London economy are not going to put up with senior managers and commissioners raking it in, while they are given modest below inflation offers. ‘The refusal of TfL not to restore staff travel facilities and create a two-tier workforce is also unacceptable. Our members will now decide whether to set a mandate for strike action over pay and we urge TfL to improve their offer to avert disruption to Londoners.’ Transport for London said it was encouraging the RMT to ‘continue to engage with us’ and put the latest offer to its members. It had offered staff a 5 per cent pay increase for 2023, and although some jobs did come within a pay range which has been frozen for this year, is said this applied to ‘less than 2 per cent’ of staff.

The modernised and enlarged station at Gatwick Airport opened to passengers this morning. The first train to call was the 05.48 Thameslink service from Bedford to Brighton. There has been a Gatwick Airport station since 1935, when the name was given to an existing station at Tinsley Green. This was replaced by another Gatwick Airport station in 1958. This was also an existing station called Gatwick Racecourse which was rebuilt to serve the airport. In 2019-20 the station was used by more than 21 million passengers, according to the Office of Rail and Road. Modernisation has added a second concourse, eight new escalators, five new lifts, four new stairways and additional ticket gates. The platforms have been widened and track has been upgraded. The station is within the North Terminal, but the linkspan to the South Terminal has also been improved. The two concourses have allowed a one-way system to be introduced. Passengers going to the airport terminals will use the new concourse, while the older concourse will be for passengers leaving the airport. Network Rail Sussex route director Lucy McAuliffe said: ‘I’m delighted to see the upgraded Gatwick Airport station open today, providing the millions of passengers that use the station each year with a fantastic and fit-for-purpose station that supports the ambitions of London Gatwick and the significant growth in passengers expected in the years to come. ‘This has been a highly complex and challenging project and I am proud of how hard our teams have worked in close conjunction with our partners to deliver a station upgrade that makes journeys to the airport much easier for all passengers and encourages people to ditch the car and travel by rail, the cleanest and greenest way to travel. ‘This project is not just for those making their way to the airport, the work benefits passengers right across the route by giving them quicker journeys and a more reliable timetable. I hope passengers enjoy this newly upgraded station.’ Govia Thameslink Railway customer services director Jenny Saunders added: ‘Our trains sustainably speed people to the airport in just half an hour from London - and that's much better for the environment than driving. ‘However, the station has been struggling with the numbers using it and that holds up our trains, delaying everyone. ’This stunning redevelopment has fixed all that. I genuinely believe our customers are going to love the extra space and improved accessibility that will make the journey between train and plane quicker, easier and more attractive.’