The RMT has announced further 24-hour strikes on London Underground on 4 and 6 October, as its dispute continues with Transport for London over job security and conditions. The union fears that 600 staff at stations are facing the loss of their jobs and is also critical of what it describes as ‘detrimental working conditions’. It also alleges that the staff who are left will have more work to do, sometimes alone, which increases the risk of fatigue and jeopardises safety. The effect of the walkouts is not yet clear, but the whole system could be disrupted. The union’s general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘Station staff have had enough of having their livelihoods threatened by job losses and attacks on their terms and conditions. ‘Station staff have a vital role to play assisting vulnerable passengers access the network safely and ensuring that the tube is a safe environment for passengers. ‘These job cuts and attacks on conditions are going to lead to more unstaffed stations, temporary closures and rising passenger anger. ‘TfL has had its budgets slashed but the savings made by these station staff cuts will be negligible and will lead to shortages that are unacceptable. We call on Mayor Sadiq Khan to meet us urgently to discuss this matter.’ Transport for London has yet to comment. Meanwhile, the Campaign for Better Transport has launched a campaign today to save London’s one day Travelcards, which are set to be withdrawn next year in a bid to increase Transport for London revenue. The CBT said the loss of the Travelcards would increase the costs of travelling around the capital by an average of 16 per cent. The CBT’s Norman Baker added: ‘At a time when we should be doing all we can to encourage people to use green public transport to access London’s shops and attractions, this move is going in entirely the wrong direction. Public transport works best when you can use one ticket for your whole journey, so we need more, not less, integrated ticketing.’

The Public Inquiry into the troubled history of the project to restore trams to Edinburgh has concluded that the seriously delayed and much-reduced result, at a cost which was much greater than expected, was due to a ‘litany of avoidable failures’. The original scheme had featured three tram lines, but when trams eventually started running in 2014, five years late, they served a 14km route which was only part of Line 1. The tram fleet was much larger than necessary because it had been ordered with the full network in mind and attempts were made to lease the surplus vehicles to other tram operators, including Transport for London, but without success. The first line from Edinburgh Airport to the city centre via Haymarket was extended from the temporary city centre terminus to Newhaven in June, but a large proportion of the network remains on the drawing board. The inquiry has been chaired by Lord Hardie and was set up nine years ago. The process has cost more than £13 million, and involved the examination of more than three million documents. The inquiry report runs to 961 pages. The main conclusion is that Edinburgh City Council must take some of the responsibility, along with its development company TIE (originally Transport Initiatives Edinburgh), which the report says failed to collaborate effectively with the council and the tramway contractors, who became increasingly impatient. The final report was accompanied by a video message from Lord Hardie, in which he says: ‘TIE's failures were the principal cause of the failure to deliver the project on time and within budget,’ but adds that the council ‘must also share principal responsibility with TIE for the delays in design’. He also says the Scottish Government ‘recognised their mistake in withdrawing the oversight of Transport Scotland officials designed to protect the public purse’. Lord Hardie has made 24 recommendations, including considering whether new laws are needed to provide civil and criminal action against people or companies who knowingly submit reports including false statements to councillors. Other recommendations include that Scottish Ministers should undertake a review of public inquiries to determine the most cost-effective method of avoiding delay, in the interests of protecting the public purse and maximising the benefits from public expenditure on major projects, that Scottish Ministers should contemplate establishing a joint working group consisting of officials in Transport Scotland and representatives of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, and that the procurement strategy for any future light rail project should make adequate provision for the uncertainties concerning the location of utilities and redundant equipment. He continued: ‘What is clear from the inquiry’s work is that there was a litany of avoidable failures on the parts of several parties whose role it was to ensure that public funding was spent effectively and to the benefit of Scotland’s taxpayers, and that the Edinburgh Trams Project was delivered efficiently. ‘Poor management and abdication of responsibility on a large scale have had a significant and lasting impact on the lives and livelihoods of Edinburgh residents, and the reputation of the city.’ Scottish Conservative MSP for the Lothians Miles Briggs said: ‘Lord Hardie is highly critical of councillors and the arms-length bodies responsible for the project, but he also singles out Scottish government for criticism. He is clear that ministers failed to protect the public purse and acted in the SNP's political interests, rather than the public interest.’ Cabinet secretary for transport Mairi McAllan said the Scottish Government would take time to consider the report, but he added: ‘The inquiry took too long, was too costly and in some instances the evidence heard does not support the conclusion drawn.’ When the 4.7km extension to Leith and Newhaven carried its first passengers in June, councillors said it had opened on time and within budget.

► Incumbent operators win right to stay ► DfT avoids any more renationalisations ► Avanti warned improvements must continue Updated 11.42 The Department for Transport has awarded National Rail Contracts for Arriva West Coast and CrossCountry. Both will start on 15 October, when the present agreements expire. The decisions have avoided the need to renationalise any more former franchises, following the surrender of TransPennine Express. Avanti West Coast, which is owned by FirstGroup and Trenitalia, has been battling with performance problems and had been given two six-month terms to allow time to recover. Its new contract will run for at least three years, until 18 October 2026, and possibly up to nine, although the transport secretary will be able to end the contract at any time during the six-year extension period by giving three months’ notice. The DfT said that by March this year ‘Avanti had already made significant progress towards its recovery, with 40 per cent more services being run and cancellations within Avanti’s control falling to 4.2 per cent. Those arrangements were further extended to ensure these improvements would continue and passengers would feel confident in using the services again.’ It continued: ‘Since then, Avanti West Coast’s services have seen further improvements. Cancellations have consistently been below 3 per cent since March, and as low as 1.1 per cent in July 2023, down from 13 per cent in January 2023. Over 90 per cent of trains now arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled time, improved from 75 per cent in December 2022. Over 100 additional drivers have been trained and brought on since April 2022.’ West Coast Partnership, which comprises Avanti West Coast and the future operator of HS2, will earn a fixed management fee of £5.1 million a year, with the opportunity to earn a variable fee of up to £15.8 million a year if punctuality and other targets are met. As with other National Rail Contracts, the owners of AWC will continue to take no revenue risk, meaning that AWC will pay all revenue to the DfT and will not suffer if earnings fall. FirstGroup chief executive officer Graham Sutherland said: ‘The new National Rail Contract agreed today will allow our team to use its expertise on further improvements. These include programmes to refurbish the existing fleet and to introduce new, more environmentally friendly trains, which will encourage more passengers to return.’ Transport Focus director David Sidebottom said: ‘After previous poor performance, leading to missed meetings, appointments and leisure events, passengers will be relieved that Avanti are now delivering a more frequent and reliable service. ‘In Transport Focus’ latest Rail User Survey, passenger satisfaction with Avanti West Coast has improved, now at 87 per cent, the highest level seen for more than a year. Satisfaction with punctuality and level of crowding on board is also recovering, although still lower than previous levels. ‘Avanti must continue to focus on improving reliability.’ Labour shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: ‘Passengers who rely on this abysmal service will be appalled that, despite being almost rock bottom of the league table for delays, Avanti is being awarded a lucrative new contract. That’s on top of millions of pounds in performance bonuses. ‘The only reliable thing about Britain’s railways under the Tories is the waste of taxpayers’ money, which the government has put into the pockets of shareholders. Rather than rewarding failing operators by renewing their contracts, Labour would end this scandal by bringing them back into public ownership as they expire and put passengers first.’ Meanwhile, Arriva has won a new contract for CrossCountry with a core term of four years and a maximum possible term of eight years. The contract includes the replacement of High Speed Trains with ‘more modern rolling stock’, refurbishment of existing fleets and direct daily services between Cardiff and Yorkshire, north east England and Edinburgh from December 2024. Arriva Group’s UK Trains division David Brown said: ‘This is great news for Arriva Group, our colleagues at CrossCountry and for customers of the railways. I’m proud of our long-standing reputation in the UK rail industry and our track record of successfully managing and delivering train services across the country. The government’s confidence in Arriva will ensure we can deliver connectivity and more comfortable services.’ The CrossCountry award has come as the future of Arriva, which is owned by Deutsche Bahn, is in the melting pot. Infrastructure fund I Squared is a lead contender, although reported interest shown by FirstGroup may now have receded.

Train operators have urged the drivers’ union ASLEF to accept reforms, after the union announced two further strikes on railways in England on 30 September and 4 October, along with overtime bans on 29 September and also from 2 to 6 October. The union’s general secretary Mick Whelan said: ‘While we regret having to take this action – we don’t want to lose a day’s pay, or disrupt passengers, as they try to travel by train – the government, and the employers, have forced us into this position. The Rail Delivery Group responded: ‘We want to give our staff a pay increase, but it has always been linked to implementing necessary, sensible reforms that would enhance services for our passengers. The union have rejected a fair and affordable offer without putting it to their members, which would take average driver base salaries for a four-day week without overtime from £60,000 to nearly £65,000. We ask the ASLEF leadership and executive to recognise the very real financial challenge the industry is facing and work with us to deliver a more reliable and robust railway for the future.’ Labour remains cautious about HS2 The Labour Party has refused to promise that HS2 will be built in full if it wins the next General Election. The party’s campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden has spoken in favour of the high speed project, but he said the costs needed to be confirmed before the line could be included in the Labour manifesto. The government has already refused to confirm that Phase 2 to Crewe and Manchester is going ahead, while the section between Old Oak Common in west London and Euston station has already been paused for at least the next two years, amid uncertainty about the design of the station at Euston. Train contract decisions due The government needs to make decisions soon about the future of two train operating contracts which both expire next month. Avanti West Coast, owned by FirstGroup and Trenitalia, was extended for six months in the spring to allow more time to recover from operating problems, but runs out on 15 October. CrossCountry, which is run by Arriva, will expire on the same day. Talks at the Department for Transport with both operators are understood to be in progress. Reopening plan cut back Plans to restore the passenger service between Burton-on-Trent and Leicester are set to be cut back to Coalville, because there is not enough capacity for passenger trains on the single line onwards from there to Leicester. Passenger services were withdrawn in September 1964 but the line is still used for freight. However, redoubling between Coalville and Leicester to allow passenger trains to return is being described as a ‘significant infrastructure investment’. Network Rail’s programme director for the Restoring Your Railways project Mike Smith said: ‘Network Rail is working to further develop the Ivanhoe Line project. Currently, the project is not extending to Leicester. However, this reconnection could form part of a separate future project, should the initial Ivanhoe service prove to be a success.’ Stations on the line could be at Coalville, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Castle Gresley, near Swadlincote. 

The Prime Minister has refused to say whether HS2 will still be built north of Birmingham to Crewe and Manchester, following the revelation that talks have been held with the Chancellor over the past few days about reducing the scheme still further. The original plan has already lost the section to Leeds, which is now set to terminate at East Midlands Parkway, while work on the new high speed station at London Euston has been paused for at least the next two years. The latest uncertainty has dismayed politicians in north west England. The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: ‘Why should it be the North of England that pays the price? What we are going to end up with here is in the southern half of the country, a modern, high-speed rail network, and the northern half of the country left with crumbling Victorian infrastructure. That won't level us up, it will do the exact opposite. Let’s have an honest conversation about it.’ Work is continuing on the line between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham. A spokesman for the Prime Minister would not be drawn on the fate of the Manchester line, saying only: ‘Spades are already in the ground on our HS2 programme and we're focused on delivering it.’ Tramline extended Trams will start running to Wolverhampton station on Sunday. West Midlands Metro has been extended from its original Wolverhampton terminus at St George’s, on the fringe of the city centre, to Piper’s Row and on to the city’s recently modernised National Rail station. The new services will provide direct interchanges with buses as well as trains. The development has been led by Transport for West Midlands, part of the West Midlands Combined Authority, working with construction and design partner Midland Metro Alliance, operator Midland Metro Ltd and the City of Wolverhampton Council. Penalties rise Penalty fares are increasing on Manchester trams. The fare for travelling without a ticket or pass on Metrolink is going up to £120 from 24 September as part of continuing efforts to combat fraudulent travel. Transport for Greater Manchester said tickets would be checked by dozens of additional Customer Service Representatives. Airport boost Trains will start running every 15 minutes to Stansted Airport all day once again from 10 December, when new timetables start. The service was reduced in response to the Covid pandemic, but Greater Anglia had already restored four trains an hour during the peaks. This frequency will now continue during the rest of the day and also at weekends. Greater Anglia said passenger numbers at London Stansted Airport have been increasing. Transpennine MD The interim managing director of TransPennine express Chris Jackson has been confirmed as managing director. The appointment took effect yesterday. He had been in charge at TPE since the operator was nationalised on 28 May.  New station Network Rail has awarded the second of two contracts to build the new station for the Beaulieu development at Chelmsford to J Murphy & Sons Ltd. The award follows an agreement between Network Rail and Essex County Council to complete the work. The £124 million contract includes main construction on behalf of Essex County Council and also Chelmsford City Council.

A newspaper report is claiming that HS2 between the West Midlands and Manchester is set to be axed. The Independent alleges that the Prime Minister and Chancellor have discussed cancelling Phase 2 to release money to fund tax cuts before the next election. It would be the second time that the project has been reduced, after HS2 to Leeds was cut back to East Midlands Parkway in November 2021. Construction of Phase 1 between London and Birmingham is continuing, but the section between Euston and Old Oak Common is also in doubt, after construction was officially paused for two years in the spring, amid confusion and debate over the plans for High Speed platforms at Euston. During Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons yesterday, Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant asked: ‘HS2 is the most dysfunctional organisation I have ever had to deal with. Will the Prime Minister, in the short term, try to restructure HS2 so that it works as a company should? In the longer term, can he save other constituencies by stopping HS2 at the end of phase 1?’ However, Mr Sunak said only that he understood the ‘frustrations’ that HS2 construction was causing in Lichfield, and that ‘the Transport Secretary will continue to hold [HS2] to account’. Phase 1 between London and Birmingham was planned to open in 2026, but that is now not expected to happen until 2029.

The Scottish Government has confirmed that it is suspending peak hour train fares for a trial period of six months, and that ‘off-peak’ fares will be available all day. The experiment will start on 2 October and continue until 29 March next year. Transport minister Fiona Hyslop told the Scottish Parliament that the trial is a ‘key part’ of its transport commitments, as set out in its recent Programme for Government. She said: ‘The Programme for Government makes clear our commitment to encourage a shift towards sustainable transport. We know that there is much to be done in encouraging people back to rail if we are to achieve our net zero targets. ‘This peak fare removal pilot is aimed at achieving this by making ticketing simpler with off-peak fares valid all day. This is an exciting and unique opportunity to encourage more people to choose a safe, reliable, and greener form of public transport.’ Scotland’s Railway managing director Alex Hynes added: ‘This is a hugely exciting opportunity for Scotland’s Railway to encourage more people across the country to choose rail travel instead of using the car. ‘Everyone at ScotRail is working hard to make sure that this six-month trial will be a success, and we will be monitoring our services and stations daily to see where we have any significant increases in customer journeys. ‘We know that cost and simplicity is a critical factor for people when they choose how to travel.’ Although peak fares will not be charged on most routes, they will continue to apply on journeys not controlled by ScotRail, such as Dunbar to Edinburgh. Minimum fares will also apply for some types of railcard until 10.00, while the Two Together railcard will be excluded before 09.30 on weekdays. Transport Scotland said the exceptions have to be made because they are part of wider national conditions which also apply in England and Wales. 

Opposition to proposals to close nearly all station ticket offices in England is growing, as more local authorities voice their objections. At least one is calling train operators to account at a special meeting, while a Mayor has tried using a station while his vision was artificially limited. Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Mayor Dr Nik Johnson joined Royal National Institute for Blind People campaigners at Ely station, where Greater Anglia is proposing to close the ticket office. He was given three sets of special glasses that simulate a range of eye conditions. He then tried to find his way around the station and use the ticket machines. The first set replicated total loss of peripheral vision, the second age-related macular degeneration, and the third, cataracts. Wearing the glasses and assisting himself with a white stick, the Mayor had to negotiate his way through station doors, find available ticket machines and try to work them, getting a taste of what travel would be like for blind and poorly-sighted passengers without the help of ticket office staff. Dr Nik Johnson is medically qualified. After the trials, he said: ‘I’m very grateful to the RNIB for the chance to experience what using train services is like for blind and partially sighted people. It was incredibly humbling, but also hugely motivating, and I’m determined to make sure public transport is there for everyone, including the campaign to keep properly staffed, fully accessible ticket offices open.’ Meanwhile, Devon County Council is taking separate action to counter the closures plan. This would affect every staffed station in Devon, including the major junction of Exeter St Davids, where 183,315 tickets were sold at the office last year, which was 12.1 per cent of the total number of journeys. The council has invited Great Western Railway and South Western Railway to a meeting at County Hall, where they will be questioned. A national consultation about the closures ended on 1 September, and the passenger watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch are now sifting through a total of 680,000 responses. They are due to make recommendations to the transport secretary by the end of next month.

The derailment of a ScotRail HST at Carmont, near Stonehaven in north east Scotland, was caused by Network Rail’s failures to impose a speed restriction and to maintain an embankment drain properly, a court has been told. The derailment on 12 August 2020, in which three people lost their lives, happened after a Glasgow-bound train had been reversed at Carmont signal box because of another landslide further up the line, after several hours of very heavy rain. The HST was returning to Aberdeen when it collided with debris on the track and struck a bridge parapet. Some of the vehicles overturned down an embankment and a fire broke out in one of them, the leading power car. The crash claimed the lives of 45-year old driver Brett McCullough, 58-year old conductor Donald Dinnie and 62-year old passenger Christopher Stuchbury. Six people were hurt. The High Court in Aberdeen was told on 7 September that the drain had been built by contractor Carillion, which has since ceased trading, but Network Rail had not made sure it was constructed properly. It had also failed to have a handover meeting with Carillion after the work had been done, and did not have a proper system for dealing with the effects of bad weather. The Met Office had issued an amber ‘severe weather’ warning for the area the day before. Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC told the court: ‘Network Rail cooperated fully with the investigation, and from the outset were clear that this case would result in a guilty plea.’ Network Rail admitted two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and was fined £6,700,000. In a statement last night, Network Rail Scotland managing director Alex Hynes said: ‘The Carmont derailment and the tragic loss of Christopher Stuchbury, Donald Dinnie and Brett McCullough was a terrible day for their families, everyone involved, and for the railway network. ‘It is clear that our infrastructure was at fault for the accident, so it is right that Network Rail pled guilty. ‘To the families of those who lost their lives we would say again how deeply sorry we are that this tragedy was able to happen. And to those survivors who were injured, we are very sorry for the pain and distress caused. ‘Since the accident, we have been working hard to make our railway safer and to learn the lessons of Carmont. ‘We are absolutely committed to delivering on the recommendations made by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch in its report into the accident.’ The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said it will now ‘begin the process for a Fatal Accident Inquiry to examine the full circumstances surrounding these deaths, identify the lessons that can be learned and help to avoid such incidents happening in the future’.

The derailment of a ScotRail HST at Carmont, near Stonehaven in north east Scotland, was caused by Network Rail’s failure to impose a speed restriction and to maintain an embankment drain properly, a court has been told. The derailment on 12 August 2020, in which three people lost their lives, happened after a Glasgow-bound train had been reversed at Carmont signal box because of another landslide further up the line, following several hours of very heavy rain. The HST was returning to Aberdeen when it collided with debris on the track. The train collided with a bridge parapet and some of the vehicles overturned down an embankment in the crash, which claimed the lives of 45-year old driver Brett McCullough, 58-year old conductor Donald Dinnie and 62-year old passenger Christopher Stuchbury. Six people were hurt. The High Court in Aberdeen was told that the drain had been built by contractor Carillion, which has since ceased trading, but Network Rail had not made sure it was constructed properly. It had also failed to have a handover meeting with Carillion after the work had been done, and did not have a proper system for deailing with the effects of bad weather. The Met Office had issued an amber ‘severe weather’ warning for the area a day earlier. Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC told the court: ‘Network Rail cooperated fully with the investigation, and from the outset were clear that this case would result in a guilty plea.’ Network Rail has admitted two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.