EXCLUSIVE: The first pictures of the Railway 200 exhibition train are being published by Railnews today, ahead of a formal media launch in London tomorrow.The images show the four-coach train, named ‘Inspiration’, at Derby, where it has been undergoing final tests.It is due to leave for London later today, to go on display to invited guests at a major London terminus tomorrow.After that it will travel to Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway and open to the public for the first time on Friday.The train will make a 12-month tour of the network, stopping at selected stations to welcome visitors.Entry to the train is free, but must be booked in advance. _______________________________________ To see today’s images, click here._______________________________________ Do you have a comment? Please click here to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Eurostar services from London are badly disrupted again this morning after two trespassers on the high speed line in France lost their lives. The delays have been made worse by cable thieves near Lille, who apparently struck early yesterday. Eurostar is warning that ‘our trains are likely to be subject to severe delays and last-minute cancellations. We advise you to cancel or postpone your trip.’ The 07.01 and 07.31 from London to Paris were being delayed by at least an hour this morning, and the 07.56 CEST from Brussels, which was due in London at 08.57 BST, is not now expected until at least 10.17. Some Eurostars operating on the former Thalys routes between Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris are also affected.  The fatalities on LGV Nord occurred in two separate incidents. According to French reports, one was between Lille and Paris, and the other was between Lille and Arras. It is also being reported that the theft of 800m of copper cable from various locations between Lille and Douai in the small hours of Tuesday has affected Eurostar as well as French TGVs and other domestic services. Passengers have been complaining bitterly on social media, saying that they were left stranded at midnight at Paris Nord with nowhere to sleep after three trains to London were cancelled. Another earlier service to London was delayed by at least four hours. The worst delays in the history of Eurostar occurred a few days before Christmas 2009, when several trains failed inside the Channel Tunnel during the night of 18-19 December after fine snow in France had penetrated their motors. More than 2000 people were stranded on four trains for up to six hours. Heating and lighting were lost on some of the trains when emergency power supplies failed, and two lorry shuttle trains had to be used to rescue passengers from stalled Eurostars. The incident was followed by a major review of how Eurostar had dealt with the problems, and this report made 21 recommendations.  Readers’ comments Thank you for the information you have found and published about the Eurostar delays on 24 June and today, 25 June. The information coming from Eurostar (what little information there is) is conflicting and muddled. The app which they directed us to yesterday says trains are cancelled and that we can only get a refund through the service we used to book the journey; the Eurostar website keeps bouncing the travel update screen so that it shows only London to Paris, not the reverse. My revised booking, which I made on the app, is not showing on the website when I log in. There is no information about hotels, any refunds possible, any vouchers for hotels, etc. Given that it is Fashion Week in Paris I and several others have found ourselves in Versailles after a 1.5 hours-long journey last night from Gare du Nord – when we were released at around 20.00 hours and on our own to figure out what to do. The reason we are in Versailles is due to the cost of hotels in Paris – what few there started at 270 GBP per night, then quickly escalated to prices outside the bounds of affordability. I am (was) due back to London today, for a very important work gathering tonight but which I am now unable to make. I run my own business and do not have an assistant or anyone else to help me sort this out. It’s distressing, and rather disturbing. Eurostar and any other carrier should have a duty of care to their passengers, whom they have absolutely abandoned. I am now looking at alternative routes back to London – not sure what else to do or when Eurostar will be running again. Kelly Falconer, Twickenham Do you have a comment? Please click here to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

The railway connection to a quarry in Yorkshire has been restored, 60 years after its previous siding was closed by British Rail. When tests are complete, GB Railfreight will be able to run aggregate trains from Horton Quarry, in the Yorkshire Dales, which is connected to the Settle & Carlisle line. Each train will transport up to 1,650 tonnes of aggregates to construction sites in the region. Although it lost its rail connection in 1965 the quarry, which is owned by Heidelberg Materials UK, has been producing limestone and high-quality gritstone since 1889. Heidelberg’s regional director Becky Murphy said: ‘The reopening of the rail link is fantastic news and has been years in the making. ’It will allow us to supply high-quality aggregate to major construction projects by rail, reducing vehicle movements on the wider road network and cutting associated CO₂ emissions.’ The work to relay the siding was carried out by Duo Group, VolkerRail and AECOM, in partnership with Network Rail. Do you have a comment? Please click here to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Transport for the North says it is ‘adamant’ that a plan to complete Northern Powerhouse Rail is needed now. The call comes after the news that £15.6 billion is to be invested over the next five years in local rail and tram networks, mostly in the North and Midlands. This announcement was followed by the Spending Review and the government’s ten-year Infrastructure Strategy, while an updated Infrastructure Pipeline is expected soon. TfN also pointed out that a recent study by the IPPR thinktank exposed the lack of transport investment in the North compared to London over past decades. A meeting of the TfN Board in Liverpool yesterday welcomed the latest announcements of transport investment in North of England cities but called for more, saying that further spending should include rural and coastal areas. It also welcomed progress on the TransPennine Rail Upgrade, with electrification between Manchester and Leeds well underway. Members of the Board said outstanding projects include new lines via central Warrington, Manchester Airport and Bradford, major upgrades to routes linking Sheffield, Leeds and Hull, and improvements to the East Coast Main Line, including reopening the Leamside Line. TfN chair Lord McLoughlin said: ‘The North’s political leaders know that better connectivity can unlock sustainable and inclusive growth. While welcoming the commitments in the recent Spending Review, we also need to see Northern Powerhouse Rail become a reality for our communities and businesses and now is the time for a clear plan to make it happen. ‘We need to be able to give our industries and our young people the certainty to look ahead and see transformational infrastructure happening to help build a better future for the North. ‘We want to see decisions made by the North, for the North, in the North. Meanwhile, Northern has announced that it is strengthening the electric Class 331 units running between Leeds, Ilkley, Skipton and Bradford Forster Square from this week. Some trains will be lengthened from three or four cars to six, providing more than 5,400 extra seats a day. Do you have a comment? Please click here to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Govia Thameslink Railway and Network Rail have apologised to passengers for a weekend incident in which passengers were effectively trapped on a down train near Loughborough Junction for two hours on the hottest day of the year, when the temperature in south London reached more than 30 degrees. Some people bound for Gatwick Airport missed their flights, when services in the area were halted by a fault on a train on Saturday. It took two hours to evacuate one train, after which passengers walked along the track once the conductor rails had been isolated and staff were on hand to supervise. One passenger was reported to have said that Thameslink would have ‘hell to pay’. GTR said: ‘A fault on a train near Loughborough Junction brought all services to a halt in the area, three of them outside station platforms. ‘Without power and air conditioning on such a hot day, we pulled all resources from across Sussex and Kent to get personnel on site to safely evacuate passengers as quickly as possible along the track. ‘This would have been a difficult and uncomfortable experience for our passengers and we are truly sorry.’ Do you have a comment? Please click here to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

The government’s £725 billion 10-year Strategy for infrastructure has received a generally broad welcome from the railway industry, but a council is criticising the omission of one scheme. The Strategy document acknowledges that rail growth has been re-established, saying: ‘Although rail passenger demand fell during COVID, it has since rebounded and is expected to continue growing over this decade.’ The Strategy mostly confirms railway investments which had already been announced, such as £15.6 billion for the North and Midlands to fund a new tram system for Leeds and Bradford, upgrades at Leeds station, improvements for tram networks in several other cities and £3.5 billion for the Transpennine Route Upgrade. Also included are the next stage of work on the Midlands Rail Hub and continuing the construction of HS2, while further south there is £2.5 billion for completing East West Rail to Cambridge, funding of £2.2 billion for Transport for London capital projects and investment in Welsh rail schemes including Cardiff West Junction, although most infrastructure spending in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Government. Domestic Scottish schemes are also devolved. A budget of £41 million has been allocated for improving WiFi on trains, by using low-orbiting satellites. The Railway Industry Association has been a vocal critic of ministers’ failure to update investment plans in recent years. Chief executive Darren Caplan said: ’RIA has been a longstanding campaigner for a long-term plan for rail investment, enhancements and rolling stock so today’s Government announcement of a ten-year infrastructure strategy and the commitment to publish a pipeline in July is extremely welcome. ‘We look forward to seeing the full details of the pipeline, which will need to give businesses sufficient clarity to plan ahead.’ But the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Paul Bristow has warned the government not to take Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ‘for granted’ by ignoring an upgrade in his region which would improve rail freight flows. He said: ‘Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is a place of innovation and world-changing breakthroughs, with an economy which is internationally renowned. But if Government thinks this success can be taken for granted, they are making a costly mistake. ‘Government must understand that fixing Ely Junction remains essential. Without it, we can’t unlock the full potential of our region or make good on the Government’s own vision for a thriving Cambridge economy which is critical to the country’s industrial future. ‘I look forward to more detail from the Department for Transport in mid-July on which projects will be funded. I continue to make the case that Ely Junction is the single, most obvious way to unblock our region’s transport. Government knows this and the business case is crystal clear. ‘Nobody doubts the North needs investment. But when £415 million was committed to rail upgrades between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York, with a return of £2.50 for every £1 spent, our own Ely Junction, which returns nearly £5 for every £1 invested, should be hard to ignore.’ Do you have a comment? Please click here to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Updated 13.32, 13.44, 14.00, 14.05, 14.09Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced a four-year funding settlement for Transport for London as part of her Spending Review. There will be £2.2 billion between 2026-27 and 2029-30 for Transport for London's capital renewals programme. £25.3 billion is included in her transport budgets to continue construction of HS2 from Birmingham Curzon Street to London Euston. She says a quarter of the Transpennine Route will have been electrified this year, and that funding of £3.5 billion will be available. She also promised to ‘take forward’ work on Northern Powerhouse Rail in the coming weeks. There will be a further £2.5 billion for East West Rail, to ‘unlock the potential’ of the Oxford-Cambridge corridor. There be funding for Midlands Rail Hub West, and £445 million will be invested in Welsh railways, including upgrades at Cardiff Central. The rail projects in this Spending Review are in addition to £15.6 billion already announced for local transport in the city regions which were announced on 4 June, plus £2.3 billion for transport improvements in other counties outside London, including bus lanes, cycleways and congestion measures. Reactions are coming in. London Transport Commissioner Andy Lord said: ‘We are grateful that the Government has agreed a much-needed multi-year capital funding agreement similar to those in place with Network Rail and National Highways. ‘This settlement will ensure that London’s transport network can continue to support new homes, jobs and economic growth in the capital. And it will boost jobs, skills, growth and opportunities across the UK. It will allow us to deliver a programme of sustainable investment, aligning our suppliers around a longer-term programme. And it will mean that we can complete the introduction of new trains on the Piccadilly line and DLR and new signalling on 40 per cent of the Tube, can procure a new tram fleet, progress discussions on new Bakerloo line trains and can get to work on renewing some of London’s critical roads, tunnels and flyovers. ‘Our supply chain supports growth and opportunities right across the UK, with around two thirds of our suppliers based outside London, and nearly a third of our overall spend and resulting economic benefit felt outside of our city. We are pleased that, together with our suppliers, we can move on from the short-term and stop-start nature of funding over recent years.’ Railway Industry Association chief executive Darren Caplan said: ‘The Railway Industry Association welcomes the support Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced for UK rail in the Spending Review, and the recognition that the railways are key to delivering economic growth. ‘This support includes the next phases of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, East West Rail, and Northern Powerhouse Rail, as well as new funding for the Midlands Rail Hub and for Welsh rail infrastructure. ‘The Treasury's plans to reassess the Treasury’s Green Book investment framework should also be applauded, as social, environmental and regional value are all central to what rail delivers. ‘This Spending Review follows the announcement last week of £15 billion of funding for local transport in city regions, including metro and tram networks, whether the Midlands, Sheffield, Greater Manchester, Yorkshire, Tees Valley, Newcastle, or West of England. Rail businesses from every part of the UK will want to be involved with delivering those schemes, as the Government and devolved bodies take them forward. ‘Finally, we also welcome the Chancellor’s focus on skills and training as well as her ambition to leverage private investment into transport to help alleviate capacity and connectivity constraints. We look forward to more details on how this will be delivered, when the Government’s Infrastructure and Industrial strategies are published later in June.’ AECOM’s chief executive for Europe and India Richard Whitehead said: ‘This long-term funding cements the government’s pledge to accelerate the delivery of essential infrastructure and, in turn, unlock growth opportunities across the UK. ‘The additional capital expenditure on infrastructure – including nationally significant schemes such as East West Rail – is welcome, along with the £15.6 billion for city region local transport projects. This should promote more balanced regional development and ensure strategic investments benefit all parts of the country, driving growth and innovation.’ Do you have a comment? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

The RMT is calling for all outstanding open access applications to be rejected, and for the existing operators to be nationalised. The call comes in response to new trading figures from FirstGroup, which owns Hull Trains and Lumo and is also due to launch open access services on two new routes from London to Stirling and South Wales over the next couple of years. The Office of Rail and Road is considering a number of other applications at the moment, including more from FirstGroup as well as others from Alstom, Arriva and Virgin Trains. The government’s public response has been mixed. The Department for Transport has declined to support most current applications and Network Rail has voiced concerns about capacity, but the Prime Minister said ‘Open access operators have huge potential to offer passengers more choice’ in answer to a question in the House of Commons on 22 May. First, which is due to lose its final two former franchises soon, has reported that its open access revenues were up from £99.8 million in 2023-4 to £106.4 million in the last financial year, with an operating profit of £34.1 million. RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: ‘FirstGroup is cashing in off the back of a broken system where they are allowed to cherry-pick profitable routes, draining revenue from public services, and dodging proper infrastructure costs. ‘This is continued privatisation by the back door. It undermines Labour’s commitment to a publicly owned railway and keeps the gravy train running for shareholders. ‘It is time to close the loopholes, stop the profiteering, and bring all rail services into a single, publicly owned, integrated system that puts passengers and workers before private profit. ‘We want an immediate moratorium on new open access approvals and a phased integration of existing open access services into the publicly owned Great British Railways.’ FirstGroup has denied that it does not pay a full share of infrastructure costs, and says its open access services encourage more people to travel by train. However, a recent report commissioned by state operator LNER was said to have concluded that open access operators on the East Coast Main Line would abstract more than £1 billion in revenue from LNER over the next ten years. Do you have a comment? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

Eurostar is planning three new routes, two of them from London. The British services will connect the UK capital with Frankfurt and Geneva, while the third will link Amsterdam and Brussels with Geneva. Their introduction depends on a new fleet of up to 50 trains by the early 2030s, which will need an investment of around €2 billion. The news of Eurostar’s expansion comes as other operators compete for paths on HS1 from London, although the Office of Rail and Road says the capacity of Temple Mills depot is limited. Unless it is enlarged or there is a new depot, only one further operator can be accommodated. Eurostar says its passenger numbers rose to more than 19.5 million in 2024, which was an increase of 5 per cent. Revenue was up by 2 per cent, to €2.0 billion (£1.7 billion), although its bank debt was €650 million at the end of last year. Its busiest route is still London-Paris, which carried more than 280,000 passengers last year. Eurostar CEO Gwendoline Cazenave said: ‘We’re seeing strong demand for train travel across Europe, with customers wanting to go further by rail than ever before and enjoy the unique experience we provide. Despite the challenging economic climate, Eurostar is growing and has bold ambitions for the future. ‘Our new fleet will make new destinations for customers a reality – notably direct trains between London and Germany, and between London and Switzerland for the first time. A new golden age of international sustainable travel is here.’ Alain Krakovitch is president of the Eurostar Groupand director of TGV-INTERCITÉS at Eurostar’s major shareholder, SNCF Voyageurs. He added: ‘2024 is an exceptional year, crowned by the successes of the Olympic Games.  Eurostar is in good shape to serve 30 million passengers and the ambition to develop our European services remains strong.’ British transport secretary Heidi Alexander has welcomed the development, saying: ‘Last month I signed a landmark agreement to deliver a direct rail link between London and Switzerland, paving the way for direct commercial services. Today’s announcement by Eurostar shows that the government’s plan for change is rapidly strengthening the links between major cities in countries across Europe, creating more opportunities to travel, work, and socialise.’ Do you have a comment? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.

A thinktank says its calculations show that the north of England received £140 billion less for transport projects than London between 2009-10 and 2022-23, which would have been enough to build seven Elizabeth Lines. An analysis of Treasury figures by the Institute for Public Policy Research is based on the equivalent amounts for each person in the population. While transport investment in London was £1,183 for each citizen, in the North East it was just £430, although this figure would not have necessarily included more recent investment in a new fleet of trains for Tyne & Wear Metro and the reopening of the Ashington line. Yorkshire and Humber was only slightly better off, with £441, and the North West spent £540 a head. The average in the North was £486. These calculations have been published today in the wake of last week’s Treasury announcement of £15.6 billion for public transport projects in city regions outside London over the next five years, and two days before the Spending Review. Almost exactly two thirds of the total of £15.6 billion was for city regions in the North, at £10.5 billion. The individual Mayors will decide which projects in their regions should receive investment. IPPR, IPPR North and Lord Jim O’Neill, who chairs the Northern Powerhouse Partnership and is a former Treasury minister, have published ‘Great Northern Rail’, which is their plan to improve rail services in the North. Their call follows an earlier announcement by former minister Lord Blunkett, who unveiled his own proposals for railways in Yorkshire on 16 May. These improvements would need a total of £16.4 billion between now and 2040, plus a further £2.5 billion for trams in Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield. Lord Jim O’Neill said: ‘Good governance requires the guts to take a long-term approach, not just quick fixes. So the Chancellor is right in her focus on the UK’s long-standing supply-side weaknesses – namely our woeful productivity and weak private and public investment. ‘Backing major infrastructure is the right call, and this Spending Review is the right time for the Chancellor to place a big bet on northern growth and begin to close this investment chasm. But it’s going to take more than commitments alone – she'll need to set out a transparent framework for delivery.’ Marcus Johns is senior research fellow at IPPR North. He added: ’Today’s figures are concrete proof that promises made to the North over the last decade were hollow. It was a decade of deceit. ‘We are 124 years on from the end of Queen Victoria’s reign – yet the North is still running on infrastructure built during her reign – while our transport chasm widens. ‘This isn’t London bashing - Londoners absolutely deserve investment. But £1,182 per person for London and £486 for northerners? The numbers don’t lie – this isn’t right. This government have begun to restore fairness with their big bet on transport cash for city leaders. They should continue on this journey to close this investment gap in the Spending Review and decades ahead.’ The Chancellor is due to report the outcome of the 2025 Spending Review in two days from now, and she has already predicted that there will be more spending on railways. Do you have a comment? Please click here  to send an email to Platform at Railnews. Moderated comments will be published on this site, and may also be used in the next print edition.