A new station has been confirmed by the Department for Transport for Cambridge South, with aid of funding worth £200 million. It will be convenient for the Biomedical Campus, which is the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe, and also near 4,000 new houses. Trains calling at Cambridge South will include those on East West Rail from Bedford. The four-platform station is intended to be completed by 2025. The DfT added that 300 jobs will be created by the construction project, and the station is expected to be used by 1.8 million passengers annually. Rail minister Huw Merriman said: ‘This brand new station will not only benefit local passengers but deliver a major boost to the entire city, improving connectivity to a world-leading academic hub while unlocking local business and growth opportunities across the region. ‘This is just another step in our efforts to create a thriving, well-connected, passenger focused rail network to support communities for generations to come.’ ’During construction, 300 new jobs will be created in the local area and once delivered, the station will act as a key transport link between the biomedical campus and international gateways such as Stansted Airport and the Eurostar, boosting the travel network right across the region.’ Cambridge South will be the second new station for the university city in less than a decade. Cambridge North was opened in 2017.

Updated 9.35Two days of serious railway disruption have started, as the RMT stages a 24-hour strike today and ASLEF follows tomorrow. The RMT has written to MPs on both sides of the house in a fresh bid to move the dispute forward. Nearly all English National Rail operators are affected by the latest walkouts, apart from Merseyrail. However, services on c2c are not expected to change very much, except that 12-car trains will not be able to call at Limehouse. There is serious disruption on other lines, where services have been sharply reduced. Many local lines have no trains at all. The lack of trains will make travelling a problem for thousands of people trying to reach several major events, including Saturday's FA Cup Final at Wembley, the England v Ireland Test match at Lord's, the Epsom Derby and a Beyoncé concert at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London. Trains are running as usual on the ScotRail and Transport for Wales networks, but intercity services from England to both those countries are being disrupted. Some Transport for Wales services are also being affected by a shortage of rolling stock, but this is not connected with industrial disputes. There has already been one ASLEF strike this week, and although no further dates have been announced there has been little sign of progress in the long-running dispute over pay and conditions, which began a year ago. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has written to all MPs, criticising the government for its handling of the dispute. He accuses the government of deliberately ‘squandering billions of pounds on a futile war against the rail unions’ and he is demanding that MPs write to the Prime Minister ‘to insist the government facilitate an improved offer that "will protect staffing and services and deliver a fairer deal for rail workers’. He has also issued a new message to RMT members, calling them to continue to ‘stand firm’. The Rail Delivery Group has responded:‘There have been three pay deals offered which the RMT executive have reneged despite their negotiators in the room agreeing the terms. We’ve said all along we just want railway workers to have their say on the fair and affordable offer of up to a 13 per cent rise over two years, plus guarantees on job security. ‘While their rhetoric continues, this is merely a diversion to the very real financial challenge the industry is facing with taxpayers still shelling out  up to an extra £175 million a month to keep the trains running by making up the 20 per cent shortfall in revenue post-Covid. The only way to afford it is by bringing in long overdue, common-sense reforms that would improve services and punctuality for our passengers. In most cases, these simply extend best practice already in place in parts of the network.  ‘The RMT leadership must recognise the way our passengers use the railway has changed for good, and work with us to adapt so we can​ secure the long-term future of an industry. The only thing they have achieved is continuing to take money out of their members pockets, inflicting misery on thousands of people and damaging an industry which is vital to Britain’s economy and their own members’ livelihoods. ‘We urge the RMT leadership to engage seriously with the financial challenges the industry faces, agree between them what they want from the negotiation and come back to the table, so we can resolve this dispute for the sake of everyone who relies on the railway.’

Train fires ++ A shortage of Alstom-built Class 175 diesel units is continuing on Transport for Wales routes, as the result of a series of fires which have been traced to contaminated engine bays in which fuel deposits had accumulated. All the bays are being deep-cleaned, but the Office of Rail and Road issued an Improvement Notice in March. The work must be completed by 17 September. Line closed ++ There will be no trains between Leeds and Huddersfield for two days this month, as the second phase of work to upgrade Morley station begins as part of the TransPennine Route Upgrade. The closure between Leeds and Huddersfield will be on 17 and 18 June, and the work at Morley will continue until 25 June. During this time, engineers will demolish and rebuild the platforms, change the track layout and redirect signalling circuits to the ROC at York. Opportunities ++ Jobseekers who want to work in construction are being encouraged to register for a new two-week pre-employment programme that could lead to an apprenticeship with HS2’s construction partner, Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall. Applications are now open for 24 new apprenticeships which will start on 12 July. 

National Rail services in England are badly disrupted again today, as ASLEF stages the first of its 24-hour strikes this week. Nearly all English operators are affected, with the exceptions of c2c and Merseyrail. Although domestic services run by ScotRail and Transport for Wales are not involved, there is disruption to trains in Scotland run by Avanti West Coast and LNER, and in Wales to trains run by GWR and, again, Avanti West Coast. Many routes have no service, and where trains can run they will be much less frequent than usual. Even these limited services will cease by around 18.00 at the latest. Today’s walkout is set to be followed by an RMT stoppage on Friday and by ASLEF’s second strike on Saturday. The disputes over pay and conditions appear to have reached deadlock again. The RMT has now gained the legal right to strike when it wishes between now and November, following a new ballot of its members, and the union has also gained a new mandate for industrial action on London Underground.

Job done ++ Normal train services between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh have been restored via Carstairs this morning, after three months of a major engineering possession to upgrade Carstairs Junction, modernising its layout and improving the platforms and lighting at Carstairs station. The £164 million project has cleared a bottleneck on the West Coast Main Line. Appointment ++ Craig Harrop has been appointed interim regional director for Northern in the North West. He took over yesterday. He has replaced Chris Jackson, who is joining the newly-renationalised TransPennine Express as interim managing director. Craig, who was born in Blackpool and lives in Manchester, was previously head of trains and stations at Northern. Scotland wins ++ A station on the west coast of Scotland has won the title of World Cup of Stations champion 2023. The competition was supported by the Rail Delivery Group and Community Rail Network. Wemyss Bay, 42km west of Glasgow, has an orrnate glass roof and a wide passageway down to the ferry terminal, and attracted 8403 votes Over 70,000 votes were cast for stations in 11 regions. The runners up were Denmark Hill with 7441 votes, and Leamington Spa with 3271.

The new station at Reading Green Park will open to passengers tomorrow, after the case for the station was first made nine years ago. The station, in the south of the Berkshire town, is the first to open in Reading since Reading West in 1906. The two-platform station on the line from Basingstoke will serve an existing business park and people living nearby, as well as the proposed Royal Elm Park development, which will provide more housing as well as business spaces. The station has a bus interchange, taxi rank, cycle spaces and two car parks. Reading Borough Council helped to obtain approvals for the project as well as funding and planning permission. It also managed the construction. A celebration event was held at the station yesterday, when a plaque was unveiled. Reading’s new Mayor Tony Page (pictured with GWR managing director Mark Hopwood) said: ‘Reading Green Park station will form an integral part of Reading’s ever-growing sustainable transport infrastructure. ‘The new multi-modal interchange will dramatically improve accessibility and connectivity to this important area of south Reading. The future expansion of the business park and residential areas on Green Park, as well as the proposed Royal Elm Park mixed use development, will all benefit from the new station. ‘It will also be another option for football fans heading to the stadium on match days, again taking the pressure off our busy local roads.’ Sir Alok Sharma is MP for Reading West. He said: ‘Having first made the case for Green Park station in Parliament in May 2014 and lobbied government ministers over the years, I am delighted that the station is now finally opening thanks to millions of pounds government funding. The new station is good news for passengers and increased connectivity and will provide a boost to the local economy.’ Reading Green Park is the first of three new Great Western Railway stations opening this year. The others will be Portway Park & Ride on the Severn Beach branch in Bristol and Marsh Barton on the Great Western main line in the southern suburbs of Exeter.

Grant ++ Rail minister Huw Merriman has announced a grant of £72 million to improve railways in north west England. He revealed the new funding during a visit to Manchester Victoria. The money will pay for a third platform at Salford Crescent, track improvements in north Manchester, and extra entrances and exits at Manchester Victoria, which is Manchester’s second largest station and also provides a direct interchange with trams to the city centre, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale. Scooters ++ Nearly all National Rail operators are banning e-scooters on their services, on the grounds that the batteries can catch fire. Greater Anglia head of safety, security and sustainability Matt Wakefield said: ‘We know that e-scooters have battery packs which vary greatly in quality. The decision has therefore been made to ban these items due to recent incidents elsewhere and the risks associated with them using faulty lithium batteries and catching fire.’ Reality plus ++ Transport for Wales has installed augmented reality maps of its six largest stations, to help passengers who are less confident about using trains. The new information is now available for Cardiff Central, Cardiff Queen Street, Newport, Chester, Shrewsbury and Pontypridd.

A Victorian viaduct in Oxfordshire which was closed on 3 April after engineers had reported dangerous movement of the structure, blocking the main line between Didcot Parkway and Oxford, is set to reopen on 10 June. The closure has interrupted busy passenger services run by Great Western Railway and CrossCountry, and also meant that 40 freight trains had to be diverted every day. Replacement buses have been running between Didcot and Oxford, some of them also calling at the three intermediate stations of Appleford, Culham and Radley. The failing abutment on the south bank of the River Thames has now been completely removed and work is underway to install solid foundations for a new structure. The repair of the 1856 bridge over the Thames has been described as ‘complex’ and ’challenging’, and required some heavy engineering: Twenty-four 15m steel piles have been driven into the bed of the river to create a solid platform for the temporary structure that is currently holding the weight of the viaduct. A 750-tonne crane has been working at the site, while 3000 cubic metres of material were removed from the embankment to make room for the new abutment. A further eight piles have been driven up to 20m into the embankment to give support. Network Rail capital delivery director Stuart Calvert said: ‘The progress we have made on what is an extremely challenging project is testament to the diligence and talent of our teams. ‘There is more hard work to come but we continue to operate round the clock to reopen the viaduct by 10 June. ‘We apologise for the continued disruption for railway users but we are doing everything we can to get the railway running again as quickly as possible.’

Reports in several newspapers which alleged that Great British Railways was being ‘scrapped’ by ministers have been dismissed by an influential rail networking group. The government had already denied claims that there would be no parliamentary time for the necessary legislation to create the industry’s new ‘guiding mind’ before the next General Election, saying that no decision has yet been made about the forthcoming Parliamentary agenda. Great British Railways is the core idea in the Williams-Shapps ‘Plan for Rail’, which was published in 2021 during Boris Johnson’s time as Prime Minister, but the plan lost momentum during various upheavals, including more than one change to the Conservative Party leadership. Even so, a Great British Railways Transition Team of some 300 people led by Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines is continuing to work on the foundations of the new structure, which is intended to see passenger operating concessions replacing the former franchises and include the infrastructure responsibilities now managed by Network Rail. The government has also chosen Derby as the headquarters of GBR after a competition which had attracted 42 towns and cities and was narrowed down to a shortlist of six. In spite of the claims in the press, the Derby-based Rail Forum has told its members in the rail supply chain that it has been testing the truth of the reports. It said: ‘Some of you may have seen speculation in the national press towards the end of last week suggesting that plans for GBR had been scrapped. Following conversations with DfT on Friday and the GBRTT yesterday we are reassured that nothing has changed and plans are still very much moving forwards. Finding space in the next session of Parliament for legislation will be a challenge but we are assured that this will be brought forward as soon as the timetable allows.’

Bad weather and ageing structures are costing Network Rail more, but it says it has been ‘working on plans to deliver the best railway it can for the amount of money available’. It has just announced its budget for Control Period 7 – the latest five-year budgeting plan which starts in April next year. The total allocated in England and Wales is £44 billion, which is £1.8 billion more than in the current Control Period. Figures for Scotland depend on the Scottish Government’s calculations, and are due to be published in the summer. Funding to enhance the railway is no longer included in the CP budgets, and Network Rail pointed out that the government has committed to spending £96 billion on the Integrated Rail Plan. The shopping list for the £44 billion includes investment of £1.6 billion in earthworks and drainage, which are increasingly put under pressure by climate change, as well as the fact that most of the railway was built in Victorian times and cannot be expected to last indefinitely without remedial work. Network Rail said its aim is ‘a more punctual and reliable railway than today’, and improving services for passengers and freight users. Other investment includes ‘next generation’ signalling, renewing lifts and escalators, improving lighting and passenger information systems, reducing emissions and ‘making every penny count’ by achieving efficiencies of £3.4 billion. Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines said: ‘As we look to the next five years, the government’s commitment to invest £44 billion in the operations, maintenance and renewal of England and Wales’s railway is a clear indication of the strong economic value rail brings to Britain. ‘Our plan for CP7 is ambitious, focused on our passengers and customers and reflects the current complexities and challenges facing the industry. There will no doubt be obstacles ahead and I look forward to working collaboratively with the sector to deliver this plan, reshape the industry and build a railway that is fit for the future.’