Double decker trains could run to London, according to rolling stock builder Alstom, which has supplied two-deck TGVs to countries like France for many years. The British structure gauge is smaller than on continental Europe and could not accommodate such trains, but HS1 and the international platforms at London St Pancras were built to the more generous UIC GB+ profile. Larger single deck trains are already being run to London by Eurostar, because since HS1 opened in full in 2007 they no longer need to use any part of the British domestic network. Alstom’s CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge told the Financial Times that double decked trains would increase traffic on routes between London and the continent, although they would need regulatory approval, which might take ‘some years’. He continued: ‘The double-decker train has a lot of advantages. It’s a very high-speed train with the lowest cost per seat and the highest capacity. ‘We can propose through the tunnel. Whether it’s Eurostar or other competitors, we’ll see.’ There have been proposals in the past to convert parts of the British network to a larger structure gauge, but they have all foundered on objections about costs and practicality. A plan to enlarge the commuter routes from London Waterloo was rejected because of the scale of work which would have been needed, while there were also doubts about the effects on station dwell times of more passengers using the same number of doors. Instead, it was decided to improve capacity by running more conventional 10- and 12-car trains. Do you have a comment on this story? 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 London has revealed that it no longer uses social media as a way of communicating to passengers, after power cuts caused rail services to be cancelled and many central London stations closed. The problems on Monday afternoon disrupted parts of the Underground and Overground, as well as the Elizabeth Line. The power failures have been attributed to a National Grid fault, but TfL was criticised by passenger watchdog London TravelWatch for not making the situation clear to its passengers. They were advised to use the TfL website, but this also then crashed. TfL, which had apologised for the closures and cancellations, has now revealed it has stopped using social media channels because messages do not appear promptly and in chronological order, so that information about disruptions is sometimes posted when in fact normal services have been restored. Last night, TfL’s customer director Emma Strain said: ‘I apologise to our customers who were affected by the power issue caused by a failure of supply from National Grid on the network yesterday and who had any issues accessing our travel information. All of the rail services that were affected were restored yesterday and have been operating as normal today. ‘We continue to look carefully at how we best notify customers about service issues in real time, this includes being able to use notifications in our TfL Go app to communicate with customers, and in future enabling more personalised notifications based on our customers’ individual journeys.’ Do you have a comment on this story? 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 London has attributed widespread disruption on its railways to a ‘voltage dip’ caused by a fault on National Grid’s network. It has apologised to passengers, but transport watchdog London TravelWatch has criticised TfL for not keeping the public updated more effectively. Services on most lines are running normally again this morning, although an unrelated incident involving a passenger was causing disruption on Underground services through Barking early today. Yesterday’s power cuts affected the Elizabeth Line as well as parts of the Underground and Overground networks. Bakerloo services were suspended, along with those on parts of the Mildmay Line. The Circle, District, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Waterloo & City lines were also disrupted by delays and some partial closures, while many stations closed for a time. They included Covent Garden, Embankment, Oxford Circus, Paddington, Tottenham Court Road and Waterloo. The Suffragette Line on the Overground was also closed because of an unrelated fire alert. TfL’s chief operating officer Claire Mann said today: ‘All of the services that were interrupted due to a power supply issue to our network were returned to service yesterday. We're sorry for any disruption this caused to customers.’ National Grid also apologised, saying: ‘The fault was resolved within seconds and did not interrupt supply from our network, but a consequent voltage dip may have briefly affected power supplies on the low voltage distribution network in the area.’The fault is reported to have been caused by a fire at a sub-station. Network Rail encountered problems of its own at London King’s Cross, where a downpour caused a power cut on several platforms in the main line station. Staff restored the power and cleaned up the rainwater, and all the affected platforms were reopened by about 18.00. No trains were cancelled. London TravelWatch said: ‘We are glad to see that London’s transport network is back up and running after the disruption yesterday. ‘While incidents such as these are unpredictable, it was disappointing to see the lack of information and updates on TfL’s own social media feeds, particularly as other train operators were keeping passengers updated. Increased traffic to the TfL website also saw the site crashing and becoming unresponsive. ‘We accept that incidents like this can occur but do expect TfL to do much better when it comes to communicating with the millions of people who are reliant on their services. Directing all passengers to their website is not practical if the site then crashes, and people need to receive up-to-date information in order to continue their journeys with the least disruption. ‘Passengers also need reassurance that public transport services will be more resilient in future to incidents such as this.’ Railnews has invited TfL to comment. Do you have a comment on this story? 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 former Greater Anglia franchise will be renationalised on 12 October, and the operator has said it is ‘disappointed’. Greater Anglia, which is owned by a consortium of Transport UK and Mitsui, has held a National Rail Contract since 19 September 2021, following the abolition of franchises in 2020. Jobs are not at risk, said Greater Anglia, because staff will be transferred to the new publicly-owned company. TUK said: ‘Despite having other valid options for which operator to nationalise next, we are disappointed that the Government has decided to go ahead with Greater Anglia, which is outperforming other railways and generating income for the taxpayer. We are also concerned that this decision creates unnecessary risk, such as slowing the pace of service improvements and jeopardising taxpayer revenue, given that Great British Railways has yet to be established, and its functions currently fall to the temporary DfT Operator.’  Managing director Martin Beable said: ‘I am very proud of what we have achieved here in East Anglia over the past thirteen years, significantly improving standards, investing in a complete fleet of new trains, and working closely with the local community. ‘As we transition to a publicly owned railway, we remain focused on delivering outstanding levels of service for our passengers.’ Transport UK CEO Dominic Booth added: ‘I’m incredibly proud of our stewardship of Greater Anglia. For the third year running, Greater Anglia won an unprecedented three Golden Whistles for punctuality and was named Passenger Operator of the Year at the National Rail Awards. ‘This is a testament to the whole team’s hard work and commitment to delivering the highest-quality services possible for our passengers. Our task now is to ensure that we oversee a smooth transition into public ownership and support the Government with its wider agenda of rail reform.’ Greater Anglia will be the third former franchise to be renationalised this year. The first will be South Western Railway on 25 May, followed by c2c on 20 July. Do you have a comment on this story? 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 railway safety body has issued a reassurance about plans to cut the minimum age of train drivers from 21 to 18, in a bid to boost their numbers. Almost a third of the present workforce are due to retire in the next five years, and cancellations have been caused by a lack of staff. The Department for Transport says younger drivers could be joining the industry by the end of this year. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said: ‘We’re taking bold action to improve train services and unlock thousands of jobs. ‘We’re committed to getting the economy moving and a big part of that is getting young people into the workforce, putting them on track for a skilled and fulfilling career, which will boost growth across the country and help deliver our Plan for Change. ‘We’re future-proofing our railways against delays and cancellations caused by a shortage of drivers, ensuring that we can provide reliable, passenger focused train journeys under Great British Railways for decades to come.’ Mark Phillips is CEO of the Rail Safety and Standards Board, and he says its research shows that train drivers aged between 18 and 21 are not too young to do the job safely: ‘To boost economic growth by running more frequent rail services, the industry needs to invest in enabling more young people to start train driver apprenticeships. Our research determined that 18-year olds are capable of safely becoming train drivers and identified opportunities to improve how the rail industry manages competence for all drivers. ‘Starting a train driving career could be more appealing at 18 than at 20, as young people can choose it over pursuing a degree or an office job. It is an excellent career choice, offering the opportunity to work independently in a role that carries huge responsibility.’ Do you have a comment on this story? 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.

Peak fares will be abolished on ScotRail in September, after a previous trial ended last September on the grounds that it had not attracted enough extra passengers to balance the books. At the time, Transport secretary Fiona Hyslop said: ‘The pilot primarily benefited existing train passengers and those with medium to higher incomes. Although passenger levels increased to a maximum of around 6.8 per cent, it would require a 10 per cent increase in passenger numbers for the policy to be self-financing.’ But peak fares will now be scrapped permanently. First Minister John Swinney told MSPs: ‘Last year, in the face of severe budget pressures, we took the difficult decision to end the peak fares pilot on our railways. ‘But now, given the work we have done to get Scotland’s finances in a stronger position, and hearing also the calls from commuters, from climate activists and from the business community, I can confirm that, from 1 September this year, peak rail fares in Scotland will be scrapped for good. ‘A decision that will put more money in people's pockets and mean less CO2 is pumped into our skies.’ The Scottish Greens had criticised the decision to end the pilot last year, and the party has welcomed the Scottish Government’s change of heart. Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater said: ‘Earlier this year, they said they wouldn’t do it. They even voted against Green calls to do it. We’ve finally got there.’ The decision has also been applauded by rail unions. ASLEF’s Scottish organiser Kevin Lindsay said: ‘Ending peak-time fares removes a tax on people commuting to work, making rail travel genuinely affordable for many more people across Scotland,’ while the RMT described the decision as ‘right’. The campaigning group Transform Scotland said it had been ‘perverse for rail passengers to be penalised’ with peak fares. Mr Swinney has also reversed the policy of banning the visible carriage of alcohol on ScotRail trains. The ban was introduced in November 2020, and it meant that alcohol had to be kept out of sight in a bag and not consumed on railway property, because of anti-social behaviour which had included intoxicated passengers ignoring Covid rules about ‘physical distancing’. The First Minister said the ‘counterproductive and ineffective’ ban would be lifted and replaced by ‘new regulations that focus restrictions more effectively on particular times and locations’. Work is under way on drafting a ‘behaviour code’, which could include the withdrawal of concessionary travel passes as a deterrent. Do you have a comment on this story? 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 outsourcing – the use of contractors to provide services like cleaning and catering – to be abolished on the railways. A new report from the union called ‘How outsourcing embeds systemic racism on the railway’, claims that thousands of workers, who are predominantly from black and minority ethnic communities, are ‘trapped’ in outsourced jobs with no pensions or training and have no pathway to promotion. Surveys have revealed that 58 per cent of outsourced cleaners and caterers are from these backgrounds, although they make up only 25 per cent of the staff directly employed by train operating companies. In London and the south east up to 80 per cent of outsourced cleaners are BME, compared with 40 per cent of train and station staff. The report adds that 82 per cent of outsourced workers want to build a career in Great British Railways, but 77 per cent have never had a discussion about promotion, and 68 per cent have had no ‘meaningful’ training in the last three years. The union claims that companies use outsourcing to create a two-tier workforce, depriving staff of sick pay, pension rights and job security, ‘all while extracting shareholder profit’, and it is calling on the government to take action. General secretary Eddie Dempsey said: ‘Outsourcing is one of the most exploitative practices, enshrining dreadful employment conditions and low pay for workers. ‘Black and ethnic minority workers bear the major brunt of this super exploitation and are effectively trapped in second-class employment, unable to progress in a train company or Network Rail. ‘Outsourcing is inefficient and wastes public money while company bosses and shareholders make obscene amounts of money, much of it leaving the country all together. ‘RMT will fight tooth and nail to see these workers brought in-house, so they can enjoy the benefits our other members have being directly employed. ‘Labour has promised the biggest wave of insourcing for a generation. We intend to hold them to their promises and build on what they have started with GBR.’ Do you have a comment on this story? 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.

Trains have returned to Ryde pier today, after the latest in a series of engineering possessions which have disrupted Island Line services for several years. The latest work meant that the Victorian pier, which provides a link with ferries to the mainland, had been closed since September, while engineers installed 590m of rail, 450 sleepers and 250m of rail bearers, which support the track. The pier has always been under siege from the maritime weather, and the new sleepers are made of a composite material which should last longer than the wood it has replaced. The first train departed from Ryde St Johns at 05.23, arriving at Ryde Pier Head six minutes later, and the first service from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin left at 06.03. The whole route between Ryde and Shanklin has also been closed for a week, so that engineers could install cable ducts under the track at Brading, test the signals and remove building materials from the pier. Drivers were also given refresher training. Network Rail pointed out that today’s opening is four days ahead of schedule. Wessex route renewals director George Murrell said: ‘I’m delighted that full Island Line services have resumed this morning, four days ahead of schedule and in time for the May Day Bank Holiday. This is a busy and important time for the Island’s tourism industry in which the railway has a critical role to play. ‘We’re aware this has been a long project and I’m grateful to the support we’ve received and patience and understanding from businesses, residents and the wider Island community. ‘The Isle of Wight deserves a safe, reliable and high performing railway and the completion of this significant and complex programme of vital repairs and maintenance will greatly support us in meeting this aspiration. ‘I’d also like to pay tribute to the many engineers and colleagues who have worked so hard and in all manner of weather conditions to complete this important work ahead of schedule.’ Do you have a comment on this story? 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 Rail Accident Investigation Branch has confirmed that there were two blocked sander hoses on a Class 158 unit involved in a fatal head-on collision in mid-Wales last year.  A train heading west failed to stop within a passing loop at Talerddig on 21 October, ran through the points at the far end and collided with an oncoming train. There were 31 people on board the westbound train, including the driver, guard and another member of railway staff. One passenger died and three other people were seriously hurt, including the guard. The driver of the eastbound train was also seriously injured, and became trapped in the cab. The driver of the westbound train had made an emergency brake application without success, and managed to warn passengers that a collision was imminent. When the westbound train overran the points at the far end of the loop it was on a descending gradient, and the collision occurred at a combined speed of 50 km/h (30 mph), damaging both units as well as causing the casualties. The eastbound train was pushed back about 35 metres by the impact. Weather forecasters had warned that rail adhesion in the Talerddig area was likely to be ‘moderate or poor’ on the day in question, because 3 to 4 per cent of the season’s leaves were likely to be on the ground and more were expected to fall during the day because of high winds associated with Storm Ashley. The unit with the faulty sanders should have been stabled at Crewe depot overnight, but because some services had been disrupted it actually spent the night in a platform at Chester. This meant that the driver could not reach equipment on the train’s underframe at the start of duty, and the sander test button could not be checked. As well as the blocked sander hoses, an electrical fault had also prevented the automatic sander from working, while the orifice plates, which are part of the sander pneumatic system, were found to have been installed incorrectly. However, it is not clear whether electrical faults had been caused by the collision, or occurred when the trains were being removed from the collision site. The report is an interim one, and the RAIB’s investigation is continuing. Do you have a comment on this story? 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.