The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has concluded that the serious derailment of a freight train near Carlisle almost a year ago was caused by one pair of wheels which had stopped rotating up to 88km before the derailment, near Petteril Bridge Junction. The line was badly damaged by the accident on 19 October 2022, in which two of the wagons fell off the bridge, and the routes from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Settle were blocked for seven weeks. No one was hurt. The RAIB has made three recommendations to the railway industry, and also identified one learning point for signallers about when trains should be stopped for examination. TSSA names new general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust has been elected as general secretary of the TSSA. She is a former mayor of the London Borough of Camden, and is the first woman to lead a railway union. She won 47 per cent of votes. The union’s executive committee had endorsed her candidacy in July, saying that she had highlighted abuse against women and girls when she was mayor of Camden. FirstGroup rail profits higher than expected FirstGroup has reported that increased leisure travel over the summer has boosted the revenue from its open access services Hull Trains and Lumo, which both run on the East Coast Main LIne. First also said that its fees from operating services under contract to the government have now been agreed with the Department for Transport, and are higher than expected. The adjusted operating profit for the 2024 financial year is now expected to be between £12 million and £15 million more than predicted.

The mayor of Greater Manchester has called for land which has already been bought for HS2’s axed Phases 2A and 2B to Crewe and Manchester to be safeguarded. The government has said the land will be resold, but Andy Burnham, who was speaking at a fringe event during the Labour Party conference, said the short timetable for a sell-off was ‘not acceptable’, and that the Prime Minister’s decision to abandon the route, announced six days ago at the Conservative Party conference, ‘mustn’t be allowed to stand’. He continued: ‘We need to safeguard the land. We've been told that the Birmingham to Manchester land is protected for a matter of weeks but that protection will be lifted. ‘That does not give Andy Street [mayor of the West Midlands] or me or Tracy Brabin [mayor of West Yorkshire] or anyone else the time to look at whether that’s viable. ‘We need to actually work together. There should be a clear message that time should be allowed to look at Birmingham to Manchester to see if we can come up with an alternative solution. ‘When will Birmingham to Manchester ever get a good railway line if we throw away all the work that’s been done in the last 15 years?’ Delegates at the Labour conference backed a motion last night calling on the party to build HS2 in full if it is elected. Although leader Sir Keir Starmer has declined to commit himself to rescuing the high speed project, Labour is promising to create ‘a comprehensive and well-developed plan by the next election’ for railways in the north of England that can be ready ‘from day one’.

More inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the Network North announcements made by the Prime Minister last week have been emerging, following the axing of HS2 to Crewe and Manchester (writes Sim Harris). Rishi Sunak told the Conservative Party conference on 4 October that £36 billion will be released by scrapping Phases 2A and 2B, the sections north of Lichfield. Instead, the funds would be invested in other transport schemes. He said: ‘I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project. And in its place, we will reinvest every single penny, £36 billion pounds, in hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, and across the country. ‘This means £36 billion of investment in the projects that will make a real difference across our nation.’ The budget for HS2 Phases 2A and 2B would have been spent between now and about 2040, and it has been revealed that some of the projects now listed by the government will not be completed until well into the 2030s. Many of the schemes are not ‘new’. They have been listed on previous occasions, and in some cases have been completed, such as Metrolink to Manchester Airport and Nottingham Express Transit to Clifton South. Both these extensions are listed by the government as being funded by money from HS2, but were actually opened as long as nine years ago. The government also withdrew its initial press release issued on 4 October and replaced it with a revised version the following day.  The first release said: ‘The Leamside line, closed in 1964, will … be reopened.’, but the rewritten version says: ‘The North East will receive around £1.2 billion from the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) 2 budget, plus a further £0.7 billion on top – funded from HS2 …This money could part fund the reopening of the Leamside Line.’ In another revision, the first announcement promises ‘£100 million in funding for a Mass Transit system: to revolutionise travel in and around Bristol.’  In the second there is no reference to Bristol as such. Instead, it says: ‘£100 million in funding for the West of England Combined Authority’. The Authority’s area includes Bristol, but it now appears to be able to decide how to spend the £100 million. Labour shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: ‘Their back of a fag packet plan is in disarray, and this shambles shows once again the Conservatives simply aren’t serious about delivering for the North. ‘Only after 13 years of failure could the Conservatives pledge to take two decades to deliver projects they’ve already promised. ‘These are promises that have been made to the North and Midlands countless times before – and frankly they’re sick and tired of empty promises from this broken Government. ‘The truth is, catastrophic Conservative mismanagement has blown a hole in HS2 and after this fiasco, why should anyone in the North believe they can deliver anything they say?’

Reports overnight say that construction of the HS2 station at London Euston, with its 7km link from Old Oak Common, will only go ahead if private investment can be found. The Prime Minister said on Wednesday that although he was scrapping Phases 2A and 2B from north of Birmingham to Crewe and Manchester, the connection with Euston was back on the agenda. The proposed station will now have only six platforms rather than the 11 which were originally envisaged when HS2 was to serve the East Midlands, South Yorkshire, Leeds and Manchester as well as Birmingham. Mr Sunak also said he was taking the revived Euston project away from HS2 Ltd, and creating a Euston Development Zone company to manage the work. Construction at Euston was paused earlier this year because the budget of £2.6 billion had increased to £4.8 billion.  The Department for Transport has not commented on the claims of private sector involvement, beyond saying in the Network North Command Paper that funding of Euston should be ‘underpinned by contributions from those people and businesses its development supports’. Concern has also been growing about the the government’s intention to release safeguarded land on the route between Lichfield and Manchester, which would make restarting the scheme very difficult. The DfT has stopped buying land for Phase 2A between Lichfield and Crewe, and will start selling properties which it had already acquired at a cost of £423 million. If another government wanted to restart the high speed scheme north of Birmingham, it would have to apply for a new Transport & Works Act order, authorising a second round of compulsory purchases. These can involve protracted negotiations with property owners and push completion of a line to north west England even further into the future.

HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester has been replaced by numerous transport projects, including some road improvements as well as railway electrification, a new tram system and an extension of the £2 maximum bus fare. The improvements have been dubbed ‘Network North’ but they include many schemes elsewhere in England as well as some in north Wales and south west Scotland. The axeing of Phases 2A and 2B of HS2 to Crewe and Manchester by the Prime Minister was widely expected, and his decision was greeted with applause on the last day of the Conservative Party Conference on Manchester yesterday, but there has been widespread criticism of his decision. Rishi Sunak said: ‘The facts have changed. And the right thing to do when the facts change, is to have the courage to change direction. And so, I am ending this long running saga. I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project.’ However, the section of Phase 1 between OId Oak Common and London Euston is back on the agenda, although Mr Sunak is making one major reform. He said: ‘The management of HS2 will no longer be responsible for the Euston site. There must be some accountability for the mistakes made, for the mismanagement of this project. We will instead create a new Euston development zone, building thousands of new homes for the next generation of homeowners, new business opportunities and a station that delivers the capacity we need. And in doing so, for the first time in the life cycle of this project – we will have cut costs. The £6.5 billion of savings that Mark [Harper] and I are making will be taken from the Euston site and given to the rest of the country.’ National Infrastructure Commission chair and former Network Rail chief executive Sir John Armitt said: ‘High Speed 2 was part of a long term strategy with clear objectives to link up some of the country’s largest cities. It had been planned for almost 15 years and under construction since 2017. ‘The decision to stop the legs north and east of Birmingham is deeply disappointing, leaving a major gap in the UK’s rail strategy around which a number of city regions have been basing their economic growth plans. ‘A High Speed 2 route between Manchester and London via Birmingham, alongside Northern Powerhouse Rail, would have enabled increased capacity and better connectivity both north-south and east-west. While it is welcome that the money will be redirected into rail and other transport projects for the North and Midlands, it’s not yet clear how the collection of schemes announced today will address the gap left behind.’ Major HS2 contractors including Arup, Siemens and Mace had launched a last-minute bid to convince Mr Sunak not to cancel HS2 to Manchester, saying savings could be made and private investment found. They were supported by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, who is a Conservative, but Mr Sunak went ahead with an emergency cabinet meeting in Manchester before announcing that the axe would fall. Mr Street, who will not be resigning from the Conservative Party, according to reports, said he was ‘very disappointed’. On Monday, Mr Street had said axing the Manchester leg would amount to ‘cancelling the future’, and he has now said he will continue to work with the private sector to see if Phases 2A and 2B could be restarted. Midlands Connect chairman Sir John Peace said: ‘We are disappointed and disheartened.’ But he added: ‘We must not start from scratch, we must work … to deliver HS2 Phase 1 all the way to Euston. There are also lessons to be learnt from the HS2 story so far. The Midlands Rail Hub and road programmes including the A5 which have been announced today resonate with us. These are our transformational East-West priorities for the region, which we recommended and have been progressing with Government. We are now calling for more detail on timescales and plan of action, and asking for a high-level urgent meeting with ministers.’ The private sector lobby group Rail Partners said the decision ‘will have consequences felt for generations by the rail industry, its supply chain, passengers and freight customers’. Rail Partners chief executive Andy Bagnall continued: ‘While reinvestment in other regional rail schemes is a significant consolation, the decision to reduce investment in rail and divert funds to road schemes feels counterintuitive as we look to attract people to move away from carbon intensive modes of transport.’ Some of the rail projects announced by the Prime Minister include electrification between Selby and Hull and between Crewe and Holyhead. A new station will be built in Bradford, and the Midlands Rail Hub will go ahead, while Cullompton and Wellington stations in Devon and Somerset will be reopened. Also in Devon, the 8km line from Bere Alston to Tavistock will be rebuilt to restore train services between Tavistock and Plymouth. The long-discussed scheme to build a tram system in Leeds is being revived and there will be more extensions to West Midlands Metro, while there will be improvements to Ely junction in East Anglia, which will help rail freight. Great Western Main Line electrification could be revived to Bristol Temple Meads with the help of a £100 million grant to the West of England Combined Authority, which covers Bristol, Bath, south Gloucestershire and north east Somerset. On the roads, the £2 maximum bus fare in England outside London will now be continued until the end of next year, and there will be more than 70 road schemes, including upgrades to the A1, A2, A5 and the M6. The A75 to Stranraer will also be improved, and there will be funding for the Shipley bypass and a relief road at Blyth. Former transport minister Norman Baker of the charity Campaign for Better Transport said: ‘This ragtag and bobtail selection of bits and pieces, some of which no doubt have merit, will not compensate for the hammer blow that has been delivered today. By cancelling the Northern leg of HS2, the Prime Minister has taken much needed rail investment and ploughed it into yet more roads. The roads budget is already bloated, and today’s announcement simply diverts money from a sustainable transport future into unsustainable and unchecked traffic growth.’ RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘The incompetence of successive Tory governments has now cost the taxpayer billions and led to this disastrous decision for Britain's economy, environment and our ailing transport infrastructure. High Speed rail together with a modern expanding public transport network is key to the future of linking every part of our country together, from north to south and East to West. ‘Public transport investment is not an either-or question. The fact is we will not be able to tackle the climate emergency without encouraging people to use modern, cheap and efficient high speed rail and hugely expanded local bus services. The key to thriving economies of the future is to be environmentally sustainable and to interconnect cities, towns and villages to promote economic activity.  ‘The Conservative government is playing political games ahead of an election and instead of investing properly in Britain's public transport and high speed future, Rishi Sunak risks putting the country in the slow lane.’

The Prime Minister has told the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester that HS2 will not be built north of Birmingham. ► Scrapping Manchester leg will save £36 billion ► High Speed line to be replaced by a new Network North ► Phase 1 will be completed, and go to Euston, but … ► HS2 Ltd to be stripped of responsibility for Euston development He said: ‘I am ending this long-running project. We will invest £36 billion in new transport projects in the Midlands and North, that will make a real difference across our nation.’ Mr Sunak said HS2 to Manchester would be replaced by a new Network North ‘With our new Network North, you will be able to get from Manchester to the new station in Bradford in 30 minutes. Sheffield in 42 minutes, and to Hull in 84 minutes on a fully, electrified line.’ The new Midlands Rail Hub will also go ahead, along with extensions to West Midlands Metro. Main roads will also be upgraded. He added: ‘East West links are more important.’ He also reassured his audience that Phase 1 of HS2 will be completed, and that it will include London Euston. A Euston Development Zone will be created, taking responsibility for the Euston development away from HS2 Ltd. 

It is being reported that the Prime Minister will announce the scrapping of HS2 Phases 2A and 2B from Birmingham to Crewe and Manchester today. The BBC claims that Rishi Sunak will reveal a series of alternative projects in England and Wales when he addresses the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on its final day. Ministers have repeatedly avoided answering questions about the future of HS2 over the past few days, ever since it emerged that talks were being held at government level when documents were seen being carried by a Treasury official. The Prime Minister himself would only say that he would not comment on ‘speculation’. Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who is a Labour politician, has described the reports as ’profoundly depressing’, while his opposite number in Birmingham, Conservative Mayor Andy Street, warned that abandoning the northern section of HS2 would damage the reputation of the United Kingdom in other countries.

Merseyrail’s new ‘powerless’ station at Headbolt Lane opens tomorrow. Running on an extension of the line from the previous Merseyrail terminus at Kirkby, the new trains will be battery powered and so the new line has no third rail. Headbolt Lane, which has cost £80 million, will open with an hourly service to Liverpool Central, but this will be increased gradually to four trains an hour. It is hoped that as the battery trains continue to arrive in Liverpool, Merseyrail services could be extended to Manchester, Wrexham, Warrington, Preston and Runcorn, because the new trains do not need a 750V conductor rail. Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram said: ‘As a Kirkby native, I know how long local people have been talking about a station at Headbolt Lane. Thanks to devolution and the power it gives us to shape our own destiny, we’ve turned that talk into reality. ‘We’ve invested £80 million in this fully accessible, state of the art station, and it will be the first to be served by our new battery powered trains. These trains are the first of their kind in the country and will help us to significantly reduce our carbon footprint, paving the way for a cleaner, greener integrated London-style transport network. ‘Headbolt Lane station sets a new standard for public transport in this country, and it’s the very least that our residents deserve. We’re incredibly grateful to local people and passengers on the Kirkby line for their patience and understanding throughout this project. I hope they’ll agree with me that it’s been worth the wait.’ Great Western Railway bought some battery-powered rolling stock from the former company Vivarail in February this year, and is hoping to introduce battery trains on the West Ealing to Greenford branch in west London. However, at the time GWR engineering director Simon Green said: ‘We’ve been working closely with the Vivarail team on this exciting project for some time, and we are delighted we have been able to step in and make sure its important work can continue. ‘There have clearly been some setbacks that mean we will need to review the existing plans and timescales, but we will continue to work with Network Rail and the Department for Transport to get the project back on track.’

Updated 14.44 London Underground strikes which had been set to take place tomorrow and Friday have been called off. The RMT said they had been ‘suspended following significant progress made by RMT negotiators and London Underground Limited representatives’ at ACAS. The union said it had ‘managed to save key jobs, prevent detrimental changes to rosters and secure protection of earnings around grading changes’. However, it warned that although ‘key elements’ had been settled ‘there remains wider negotiations to be had in the job, pensions and working agreements dispute’. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘I congratulate all our members who were prepared to take strike action and our negotiations team for securing this victory in our tube dispute. ‘Without the unity and industrial power of our members, there is no way we would have been able to make the progress we have. ‘We still remain in dispute over outstanding issues around pensions and working agreements and will continue to pursue a negotiated settlement.’ London Underground’s director of customer operations Nick Dent responded: ‘We are pleased that the RMT has withdrawn its planned industrial action this week and that the dispute on our change proposals in stations is now resolved. This is good news for London and we will continue to work closely with our trade unions as we evolve London Underground to ensure we can continue to support the capital in the most effective way.’

The Prime Minister is refusing to say whether HS2 will be built north of Birmingham to Crewe and Manchester, although newspapers overnight are mostly assuming that the axe is about to fall. Rishi Sunak has continued to resist attempts by journalists to find out what will happen. He told BBC Breakfast: ‘I know you want to keep asking, I know there’s lots of speculation, but what I’m going to say is I won’t be forced into a premature decision because it’s good for someone’s TV programme.’ It has also been reported that an emergency cabinet meeting will be held during the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester today, but this has also yet to be confirmed. Many senior Conservatives, including three former Prime Ministers, are opposing the cutback. Various parts of the railway industry are also continuing to criticise the possibility that the ‘network’ could be reduced to a section between west London and Birmingham. The Rail Forum said this morning that it would be ‘a devastating blow for the supply chain and in our opinion will cause significant reputational damage to the UK.’ It continued: ‘HS2 is vital for creating additional capacity for the next 50-plus years (it's not about capacity requirements today), levelling up and providing better connectivity as an integral part of other schemes e.g. Northern Powerhouse Rail, [and] ensuring we have a 21st century long distance, low carbon public transport network.’ Last night Railway Industry Association chief executive Darren Caplan, who is at the conference, said: ‘The Railway Industry Association and our rail business members are getting increasingly concerned about reports that HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester will be scrapped. ‘These companies already have around 30,000 people working on the scheme with a huge amount of construction ongoing and are set to employ even more, together with billions of pounds of investment, on HS2 Phase 2. The uncertainty around all this is potentially devastating to their plans, all of which were developed in good faith.’ With orders for an HS2 fleet now uncertain, Derby City Council has expressed concern about the security of jobs at the Alstom works in the city. It said: ‘The Council has pledged to play its part in supporting the company, and urges Government to work with Alstom, as it attempts to mitigate a major fall off in production as a result in delays in new train orders.’ Labour shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh MP said: ‘This fiasco shows the Conservatives are too divided and too distracted to take this country forward. ’After weeks of chaos and indecision on the biggest infrastructure project in the country, Rishi Sunak’s relaunch is now coming off the rails. ‘This shambolic conference is showcasing precisely why working people cannot afford five more years of the Conservatives.’