Train services run by English nationalised operators and those with a Department for Transport contract are set to be disrupted for a week from 30 January, as the pay dispute between ASLEF and the operators continues. Its members will strike at Southeastern, Govia Thameslink Railway and South Western Railway (including Island Line) on 30 January, at Northern and TransPennine Express on 31 January, at Greater Anglia, c2c and LNER on 2 February, at West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway on 3 February and at Great Western, CrossCountry and Chiltern on 5 February. There will also be a continuous ban on working non-contractual overtime at all these operators from 29 January until 5 February. Although the main effects will be felt in England, some cross-border services to Scotland and Wales will also be disrupted, although the domestic operators in those countries are not included. ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan said: ‘We have given the government every opportunity to come to the table but it has now been a year since we had any contact from the Department for Transport. It's clear they do not want to resolve this dispute. ‘Many of our members have now not had a single penny increase to their pay in half a decade, during which inflation soared and with it the cost of living. Train drivers didn't even ask for an increase during the Covid-19 pandemic when they worked throughout as keyworkers, risking their lives to allow NHS and other workers to travel. ‘The government has now tried their old trick of changing the rules when they can't win and brought in Minimum Service Levels legislation. But this new law, as we told officials during the consultation period, won't ease industrial strife. It will likely just make it worse. ’There's no excuse. The government and train operating companies must come to the table with a realistic offer so we can end this dispute and work together to ensure the future of our railways.’ The Department for Transport accused ASLEF of refusing to put ‘a fair and reasonable offer’ to its members, adding: ‘The ASLEF leadership should do the right thing and let their members decide their own future, instead of deciding it for them.’ The Rail Delivery Group was also critical, saying: ‘Despite the railway's huge financial challenge, drivers have been made an offer which would take base salaries to nearly £65,000 for a four day week without overtime - that is well above the national average and significantly more than many of our passengers that have no option to work from home are paid. Instead of staging more damaging industrial action, we call on the ASLEF leadership to work with us to resolve this dispute and deliver a fair deal which both rewards our people, and makes the changes needed to make services more reliable.’

West Coast Railways is urging the Office of Rail and Road to reconsider its ruling that coaches without central locking on their hinged doors can no longer operate on Network Rail infrastructure. The withdrawal of the exemption which had allowed older rolling stock without central locking to be used was challenged by heritage operator WCR in the High Court late last year, but on 22 December the court dismissed its appeal. Mrs Justice Thornton said a feature of the services like the Jacobite between Fort William and Mallaig was the hinged doors that ‘can be opened by anyone inside the train even when the train is moving’. She described central locking as ‘common sense’, because it was safer on a system which was ‘dependent on no more than an assumption by the guard that the stewards have locked the doors’. She added that the ORR had observed that there was no evidence of a WCR investigation or ‘lessons learnt’ after a charter train had departed from York with a door open in October 2020. The ORR told the judge that it did not want heritage operators to go out of business, but that it wanted ‘minimum safety standards’. The exemption was withdrawn from 10 January.  Following the court’s decision, WCR had asked the ORR to keep the exemption until 29 February, while it worked with the regulator to find a long-term solution, but this was refused.  WCR commercial manager James Shuttleworth said: ‘We are already considering a range of options and had asked the ORR to allow the current exemption to run its course, to give us time to put forward detailed proposals. ‘Our much-loved services, enjoyed by so many visitors from the UK and around the world, support a large number of businesses along our routes. The Jacobite alone has become an intrinsic part of Scottish tourism, boosting the economies of Mallaig and Fort William. It brings an estimated £20 million into the UK’s tourism sector to which we contribute £50 million overall every year. For everyone relying on these incredible heritage services this decision is a body blow.’ In spite of the ruling, trains without central locking on their coaches will continue to be allowed on heritage railways where the maximum speed is 40kmh (25mph), but the withdrawal of the exemption applies to all heritage operations on the National Rail network, including WCR’s scheduled ‘Jacobite’.

The contract to run Manchester Metrolink has been extended for three years from this July until July 2027. KeolisAmey Metrolink Ltd has operated the concession since July 2017, and since then 27 more trams have been added to the fleet, while the new line to Trafford Park was opened in 2020. Transport for Greater Manchester said the new contract concentrates on performance, as well as further improvements to the network and more staff working on the front line to combat fraudulent travel and antisocial behaviour. The extended contract will be overseen by Damien Chabas, who was appointed by KAM as its new managing director in August last year. Metrolink is part of Greater Manchester’s newly launched Bee Network, paving the way for an integrated transport system which would be similar to Transport for London. TfGM is planning to include local National Rail services in the network by 2020. TfGM’s head of Metrolink Danny Vaughan said: ‘Since coming on board with us KeolisAmey Metrolink have become an invaluable partner to TfGM. ‘Together we have shown that we are committed to enhancing the Metrolink service for the benefit of our customers, whether that’s investing in the network or delivering excellent levels of reliability and punctuality. ‘There is still a lot of exciting work for us to do, and I am delighted that KAM will continue to be a part of this journey for the foreseeable future.’

The cost of building Phase 1 of HS2 between London and Birmingham could now be as much as £66.6 billion, when inflation is taken into account. In 2012 the government had estimated that the whole network, including the lines to Manchester and Leeds which have now been scrapped, would cost £32.7 billion at 2012 prices. It added at the time that the benefit cost ratio for HS2 was between £1.80 and £2.50 for every £1 spent. The BCR had been revised downwards slightly due to the economic climate but ‘remains convincing’. The latest figure for the cost of Phase 1 alone has been revealed by HS2 executive chair Sir Jon Thompson, who has been giving evidence to the Commons Transport Committee today. He said: ‘The costs of delivery are more than the government budgeted, and that is before you begin to account for the extraordinary construction inflation over the last three years or so. We now estimate that Phase 1 will cost between £49 billion and £56.6 billion before inflation, so that's at a 2019 price, against the government's budget of £45 billion.’ Inflation since 2019 could boost the final expenditure between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street to £66.6 billion. The future of the London section from Old Oak Common to Euston is still unclear. It was paused for at least two years in late 2023, when the government said it would be seeking private section investment. Sir Jon said: ‘On Old Oak Common I think we have made excellent progress. We are now beyond 50 per cent complete, made slightly more complicated by the outstanding decision on tunnelling from Old Oak Common South towards Euston.’ He added: ‘It is the Government’s long-standing policy that infrastructure estimates are only updated at Spending Review points, that’s my understanding of it. ‘So that’s why we’re still working to 2019 prices and the whole conversation is about 2019, which to be frank with you is an administrative burden of some significance in the organisation. ‘The cost estimate and the budget that was set in the first place were too low, in my opinion. ‘There have been some changes to the scope, there definitely has been some poor delivery on our part, and fourthly, there’s inflation. ‘It’s worth remembering that between 2010 when prime minister Gordon Brown launched HS2 and 2019 when the current budget was set, the scope of HS2 has been changed significantly by a whole series of ministers.’

New service Great Western Railway is proposing to run several trains on Saturdays between Oxford and Bristol Temple Meads. Some of the trains would run via the west curve at Didcot Parkway, and revive a route which disappeared more than 20 years ago. The two return trips would call at Swindon, Chippenham and Bath Spa, and one would also call at Didcot Parkway by reversing there. If approval is given by the Department for Transport and Network Rail, the trial journeys could start on 14 September and run until December. Battery delays Merseyrail has promised refunds to passengers who have been affected by delays on the Kirkby line since battery powered Stadler Class 777 units began running on the route. It includes the recently-opened extension to Headbolt Lane, which has no conductor rail and relies on battery trains. Merseyrail said: ‘We know that services on the Headbolt Lane line have fallen short of the high standards our customers deserve.’ The nature of the problems has not been revealed. Pay talks call The ‘white collar’ rail union TSSA has called for urgent talks with Transport for London after it rejected a 5 per cent pay offer. The RMT had been set to strike between Monday and Thursday this week, but the walkouts were called off on Sunday after TfL made an improved offer to the RMT after reportedly ‘finding’ another £30 million. Now TSSA is due to hold a strike ballot of its TfL members, and said: ‘It is hoped that urgent talks will mean that escalation to industrial action can be avoided’.

Strikes which would have disrupted London Underground seriously from today until Thursday have been called off, after progress was made on peace talks between the RMT and Transport for London last night. The walkouts had been called in the continuing dispute over conditions of employment. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: ’I’m delighted that this week’s strikes have now been suspended. They would have caused huge disruption for Londoners and would have been a major blow to the capital’s businesses at the worst possible time. The week of action would have cost our hospitality industry £50 million alone. ‘This shows what can be achieved by engaging and working with trade unions and transport staff, rather than working against them. In contrast, the adversarial approach taken by ministers has lead to years of strikes across the country, whether on national rail, or in our health and education services – all exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis.’ RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘Following further positive discussions today, the negotiations on a pay deal for our London Underground members can now take place on an improved basis and mandate with significant further funding for a settlement being made available. ‘This significantly improved funding position means the scheduled strike action will be suspended with immediate effect and we look forward to getting into urgent negotiations with TfL in order to develop a suitable agreement and resolution to the dispute.’ TfL warned that there could still be some disruption to Underground services this morning, because the strikes had been called off at the last minute.

Train services have been badly disrupted in the south of England after heavy rain caused floods in several areas. Great Western Railway services from London Paddington were the worst affected, partly because floodwater had blocked the Berks & Hants line near Newbury, but also because police closed all four running lines on the main route to Bristol last night after someone had been killed by a train at Pangbourne. Down trains towards Bristol, Cheltenham and the south west were held at Reading because neither route towards the west was open. Thameslink trains are affected by a landslip at Arlesey on the East Coast Main Line, a flood between Gloucester and Lydney obstructed CrossCountry and Transport for Wales trains, while the Looe branch in Cornwall was blocked by floodwater near Sandplace. GWR provided a replacement bus service between Liskeard and Looe, but the buses could not approach some intermediate stations because roads in the Looe Valley were also flooded. Early on Friday, National Rail reported that floods were blocking the lines between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, Reading and Taunton, and Didcot Parkway and Oxford, and that ‘minimal’ replacement services are running between Newbury and Bedwyn, Castle Cary and Taunton, and Didcot Parkway and Oxford. South Western Railway also warned that its services would be disrupted because of the weather. The latest rain was falling on ground which had already been saturated by Storm Henk earlier in the week, and that as a result many trains were unable to run. SWR expects water levels to drop today, but there were no trains running between Yeovil Junction and Exeter because of a landslip near Crewkerne, while a ‘precarious’ tree between Ash and Wanborough meant that trains between Guildford and Farnham were being cancelled until the tree could be removed. Another fallen tree was blocking the line between Horsham and Dorking, but this has now been cleared. Elsewhere, Network Rail staff working overnight reported a landslip at Maidstone East, which is blocking some lines, and services are also suspended at Robertsbridge because of a landslip there.

London Underground staff in various grades are set to strike between tomorrow and 11 January in the continuing dispute with Transport for London over job conditions, but the union has extended a last-minute olive branch to TfL by calling for ‘unconditional talks’ at the conciliation service ACAS. The RMT said it had been invited to talks with TfL earlier this week after London Underground workers had voted in favour of ‘rolling strike action’ by over 90 per cent against a ‘below inflation pay offer’. The union is also protesting about what it says is the creation of a ‘two-tier workforce’, and is calling for full staff travel passes to be restored. General secretary Mick Lynch said that workers ‘were not going to accept poor offers and the continual undermining of conditions.’ He continued: ‘The refusal of TfL to restore staff travel facilities and create a two-tier workforce is also unacceptable. ‘Our members have made it clear that they are prepared to take action and we urge TfL to enter into meaningful conciliatory talks to avert disruption in the capital.’ Unless progress is made at ACAS, engineering train drivers are due to walk out from tomorrow night, RMT members in LUL’s network controls will take action on 7 and 8 January, staff in signalling and service control centres will take action on 9 and 11 January, and all other London Underground RMT members are due to walk out next week, on 8 and 10 January. Railnews has invited TfL to comment.

HS2 Ltd is preparing for a ‘critical new phase’ as work on the surviving section of Phase 1 between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street is stepped up, with an investment of £5 billion in new contracts planned for 2024. The last 12 months have not been happy ones for the project, which suffered the loss of Phases 2A and 2B north of the West Midlands to Crewe and Manchester when the Prime Minister cancelled them on 4 October, along with the last spur towards the East Midlands. Controversy continues over the fate of the land and properties which had already been purchased for the section to Crewe, as well as the poorly-received ‘Network North’ plan for alternative transport schemes which would use the £36 billion released by the cancellation. There is also uncertainty about whether HS2 will ever reach its intended terminus at London Euston. Rolling stock has encountered problems as well. The Department for Transport had attempted to provide only one door on each vehicle, and is now said to be negotiating a costly revised specification for two doors with the rolling stock manufacturers Hitachi and Alstom. Alstom, meanwhile, is poised to close its Litchurch Lane works in Derby, partly because of the reduction in size of the HS2 rolling stock contract, and a decision may be made within weeks. Even so, the remaining part of HS2 will include new contracts this year which will involve track, power, signalling, overhead lines and the new network control centre. HS2 Ltd, which described its plans for this year as ‘pivotal’ said the forthcoming work ‘will be constructed to the highest standards to help create a new benchmark for speed and punctuality, ensuring passengers can rely on the service, even in the face of extreme weather’. Other contracts will include a new telecom system that will provide an uninterrupted mobile signal on board the trains, even in the project’s many tunnels. Over the past year, HS2 has seen the start of work on the first of 14 new platforms at Old Oak Common, the completion of HS2’s first twin-bore tunnel beneath Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire, the launch of the first of two tunnel boring machines for the Bromford tunnel on the approach to Birmingham, and the half way point reached on the Colne Valley viaduct, which will be 3.3km long. It was also confirmed that HS2’s workforce had passed the 30,000-mark. HS2 Ltd executive chair Sir Jon Thompson said: ‘This is a project of phenomenal scale and ambition and we’re immensely proud of the progress made between London and the West Midlands throughout 2023. There will be no let-up in delivery in 2024. ‘The transition in our focus towards railway systems represents another significant milestone and will edge us ever closer towards bringing this transformational project to life.’

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