A £401 million government funding boost promises rail services in the North of England and the Midlands with new stations, faster journeys and more reliable services. The Department for Transport (DfT) said £317 million would be invested in the Transpennine Route Upgrade to improve “punctuality, reliability and connectivity” for passengers travelling

Photo: GOV.UK Reforms to Britain’s railways will make train services cheaper and more punctual, MPs have heard. Flexible tickets, which will offer savings on certain routes for people who travel to work two or three times a week, will be at least “20% cheaper” than current monthly tickets, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps

THE government is announcing further investment of £317 million to move the TransPennine Upgrade forward, after an earlier commitment last year to spend £589 million on increasing capacity. However, it emerged in January that the money would not be enough to pay for electrification as well, but today’s additional funding will

A NEW smartphone app has become available today to make it easier and quicker for people who need special assistance when travelling by train to make their requirements known. The ‘Passenger Assistance’ app, developed with operators, allows passengers the choice of requesting assistance, updating their profile and reviewing their journeys. It’s

Heritage Railway magazine, the trackside companion for preservationists and all-round rail enthusiasts has a new deputy editor.  Toby Jennings steps onto the footplate with over a decade of experience of news-focused writing and will be complementing the strengths and hard work of editor Robin Jones. Also see A newshound by nature, Toby

GO-AHEAD Group and rolling stock leasing company Angel Trains have unveiled a potential interior layout for trains in the future, which would allow seating and luggage space to be adjusted according to demand and the type of travellers on board. There would also be dedicated space in each vehicle for fold-up

Photo: Network Rail A £6m refurbishment of one of London’s busiest suburban stations, Hither Green, has now been completed. The works included the refurbishment of the platforms, rewiring all the electrics in the station and replacing all the lighting, removing and replacing the old timber canopy on Platform 2 and 3 with

A coroner has called for Network Rail to improve warning signs at a railway station after a 17-year-old boy was electrocuted on the live rail after he went on to the tracks oblivious of the dangers. Callum Evans, from Southampton, Hampshire, had spent the afternoon with three friends on the beach

Labour said the new reform plans raised more questions than answers while a campaign group accused ministers of “rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic”. Manuel Cortes, leader of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said: “The Conservatives have admitted that their Frankenstein privatisation experiment on our railways has failed and the franchising of

FIRSTGROUP has signed two of the new-style National Rail Contracts, worth up to £20.7 million a year. The contracts are for South Western Railway and TransPennine Express, and will start on 30 May when the present Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements end. First’s new NRCs will run for two years, with an option