Mayor says HS2 needs a new name and new lookWEST Midlands Mayor Andy Street says HS2 should be rebranded, and provide a direct rail connection between Birmingham and Paris. In an article in The Times, the Mayor said ‘when intercity fast trains shift to HS2, we can open up Birmingham

Photo: PA With the end of the Virgin Trains franchise taking place at 01:59am on December 8 after 22 years of running trains between London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, they’re going out with a bang! To celebrate all that Virgin has achieved since it launched in 1997, the company

Photo: PA With the end of the Virgin Trains franchise taking place at 01:59am on December 8 after 22 years of running trains between London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, they’re going out with a bang! To celebrate all that Virgin has achieved since it launched in 1997, the company

THE pattern of Sunday rail timetables in Wales is set to change radically next month. Transport for Wales said the number of services would increase by almost half, with an extra 186, or 40 per cent, being introduced on 15 December for the winter timetable.Among the many changes, Maesteg will

Mark Smithers considers several important examples of narrow gauge and industrial steam locomotives which are not currently in the forefront of public attention. One of the more sobering aspects of the current domestic heritage railway scene is the large number of historic steam locomotives that can for one or more

FirstGroup directors branded ‘immature’ as shares fallTHERE is new turmoil at rail franchise operator FirstGroup, with a major investor branding its directors ‘immature’. Robert Tchenguiz has allied himself with 10 per cent shareholder Coast Capital to demand that First sells off its US businesses. First has already been challenged by

London fares to stay frozen in 2020Transport for London fares are to be unchanged in 2020, which will be the last year of a four-year commitment by the Mayor Sadiq Khan to keep fares frozen. The freeze will cover fares for single pay-as you go journeys on the Underground and

Weekend extraGreen light for West Coast franchise NEW assurances by FirstGroup and Trenitalia over competition concerns about the West Coast Partnership franchise have been accepted by the Competition and Markets Authority. The partners have undertaken to cap fares and to maintain cheap Advance fares. The new franchise is due to begin

THE first day of industrial action by the RMT on West Midlands Trains starts on Saturday 16 November, and WMT is warning that service levels will be sharply reduced, with no trains at all on some routes or sections of routes.The walkout marks the start of a season of industrial

EUROSTAR is marking its 25th anniversary by unveiling a plastics-free train, on which single-use plastics have been eliminated.The first Eurostar left London Waterloo on 14 November 1994, and since then Eurostar has gained more routes and a new fleet of rolling stock. The train forming the 10:24 departure from London