Some trains are calling at Northampton and Long Buckby again, after the line had been closed on Monday by water overflowing from a tributary of the River Nene following Storm Bert over the weekend. The flood had submerged tracks and signalling equipment at Northampton station, which is close to the river. Network Rail engineers have been checking the track and equipment for water damage, and a limited hourly train service is now running. However, replacement buses are still being provided between Northampton, Long Buckby and Rugby, and between Northampton, Wolverton and Milton Keynes Central. Other West Coast Main Line services between Birmingham and London have also been reduced. There is a train twice an hour between Milton Keynes Central and London Euston, but trains from Birmingham New Street via Northampton are terminating at Milton Keynes Central, all London to Tring locals have been cancelled, and only two out of three London Northwestern trains between London and Crewe will be running. However, Avanti West Coast is reporting a good service on all its routes. London Northwestern warned that the limited timetable is also expected to continue tomorrow, while Network Rail continues to restore the equipment. Network Rail’s West Coast South route Gary Walsh said: ‘We’re pleased to have been able to reopen lines through Northampton station following Monday’s severe flooding caused by Storm Bert. Our teams are continuing to work around the clock to meticulously clean, test and repair water-damaged equipment so we can restore a full timetable as quickly as possible. ‘I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while our complex repairs continue and urge people travelling this week to check their journeys at www.nationalrail.co.uk or with London Northwestern Railway.’

The Government is being asked to pay for a business case setting out plans to use part of a heritage branch line in Somerset for a park and ride service. A Strategic Outline Business Case has been submitted by Somerset Council and West Somerset Railway PLC. If it went ahead, an hourly park and ride service would use the Minehead branch as far as Bishops Lydeard, which is the normal terminus of heritage trains from Minehead. The plan proposes the development of Bishop Lydeard as a park-and-ride hub for commuters and tourists, with hourly trains running from Taunton throughout the year which would be co-ordinated with buses, particularly on routes around Taunton.  There would also be ‘scope’ to run some trains through to Minehead in the future. The Business Case has been developed in co-operation with Great Western Railway and Network Rail, and Somerset Council said it has received ‘strong backing’ from local MPs and other councils, as well as tourism and heritage organisations in the region. The Council said it has asked for a ‘modest funding package’ of £137,000 to prepare the Full Business Case. Somerset Council’s lead member for transport and waste services, Councillor Richard Wilkins, said: ‘We are excited about the potential of this project to provide a significant transport link to our local communities and while doing so preserve a vital piece of our heritage. This initiative will enhance connectivity, support our environmental goals, and contribute to the economic vitality of the region.’ West Somerset Railway chair Jonathan Jones-Pratt added: ‘We are extremely grateful to the team who have developed and supported this project. We await the opportunity to develop the final business case and if successful this will play a key part in the West Somerset Railway’s future.’

Potential strikes on London Underground have been averted after the RMT accepted LUL’s latest pay offer. Lower paid staff will see their pay rise between 5 and 6.6 per cent, and the average increase will be 4.6 per cent. The union has also welcomed the scrapping of a freeze on pay bands and of proposals to introduce new structures which it claims would have affected work-life balance. Harmonised paternity leave has been extended to three weeks, there will be three years of protection of earnings for staff who have been displaced for medical reasons, and improved travel privileges for retired staff. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘This agreement is a landmark victory for our members and a vindication of RMT’s determination to fight for fair pay and conditions.’ However, there is still the possibility of minor disruption on the Elizabeth Line on New Year’s Eve, because the RMT has called a 24-hour strike of control room staff starting at 21.00 on 31 December, in a separate dispute over pay. A ban on overtime and rest day working has also been called from 5 December to 18 December. The union wants improvements to staff leave and shorter working hours. TfL said Elizabeth Line services, which are operated for TfL by MTR, would still run during the strike, but that trains might be busier than usual. It added: ‘We encourage the RMT and MTR to find a solution.’

Trains are still being delayed or cancelled in several areas this morning, after Storm Bert caused flooding and wind damage over the weekend. The Northampton loop on the West Coast Main Line is not expected to reopen before tomorrow at the earliest, because signalling and telecomms equipment were damaged when the tracks at Northampton station disappeared under water from the nearby River Nene, which had burst its banks. Network Rail said the waterlogged equipment ‘needs to be assessed, repaired and thoroughly tested’ before trains can return. Long Buckby station will also remain closed today, and replacement buses are running from Northampton to Rugby and Milton Keynes Central. West Coast South route director Gary Walsh said: ‘We’re working as quickly as we can to clean up and repair damaged rail equipment.’ Flooding in South Wales has also disrupted services. Trains running between Radyr and Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil are not likely to restart before midday, while trains are not expected to return to the section between Llanhilleth and Ebbw Vale Town before the end of today. The Great Western Main Line was also blocked between Swindon and Bristol Parkway by flooding at Chipping Sodbury, and debris is being removed from the tracks, with trains unlikely to return today. Through trains are running again between London Paddington and Cardiff Central but they are being diverted, adding 40 minutes to journeys. In Berkshire, two of the three platforms at Newbury are still closed and fast trains from Newbury to London have been cancelled, although local stopping services and intercity services will still be calling at the one platform which is available. Further west, disruption is continuing in Devon on the Barnstaple and Okehampton branches, and buses are replacing trains from Exeter again today.

A stormy weekend has meant that many lines are blocked by floods or fallen trees today. Northampton station is flooded after the River Nene burst its banks, and no trains are running on the loop of the West Coast Main Line which serves Northampton and Long Buckby. Network Rail has warned of ‘extensive flooding’ blocking the line at Northampton, and flooded streets also mean that no replacement buses can run. Main line services can still run via Kilsby, but trains are running late and services from Milton Keynes Central and stations south are limited because of the loss of trains from Northampton. Carole Bayliss, strategy director for Network Rail’s West Coast South route apologised to opassengers, and warned that the floodwater ‘will mean major disruption on the West Coast Main Line today’. She added: ‘While our teams monitor water levels and wait until it’s safe to fully assess the extent of flood damage to the railway, we're urging passengers to check with National Rail Enquiries before travelling.’ The rain and winds of Storm Bert over the weekend have also blocked the railway in many other places. There are speed restrictions on a number of Scottish lines, including Aberdeen and Inverness, Ayr and Edinburgh, Carlisle and Glasgow Central, Edinburgh and Perth, and Glasgow Queen Street to Cumbernauld, Oban and Mallaig. An oil spill at Inverness has also affected trains from there to the central belt, and replacement buses are running between Inverness and Perth. In north west England, no trains are running between Lancaster and Barrow-in-Furness because the line is flooded.  Fallen trees between Broxbourne and Audley End have damaged overhead power lines, and all services have been suspended between Harlow Town, Stansted Airport and Cambridge. Floods are also delaying trains between Banbury and Bicester North. Southern has warned of cancellations, with fewer trains than usual running on several routes, including Havant and Southampton, Portsmouth and Barnham, Tulse Hill and London Bridge and also between Sutton and London Victoria. Floods are affecting several lines in Wales and the borders. There are no trains between Pontypridd and Treherbert, Aberdare or Merthyr Tydfil, or between Llanhilleth and Ebbw Vale Town. A landslip between Hereford and Abergavenny has blocked the line, and flooding at Lydney means that trains between Lydney and Cheltenham Spa may be delayed or cancelled. Trains cannot run between Cheltenham Spa, Stroud and Swindon, while there is severe disruption between London and South Wales. GWR can only run shuttle services between London and Swindon, and between Bristol Temple Meads and South Wales.  It is proving difficult to provide alternative road services on some routes, and passengers are being advised to postpone their journeys until tomorrow at least if they can. In south west England, there are no trains running between Bristol Temple Meads and Exeter St David’s, or between Newton Abbot and Plymouth, again because of flooding. Floods or fallen trees have blocked the lines to Okehampton, Barnstaple, Gunnislake and Looe, while there are also no trains on the Newquay line because of scheduled engineering work.

Former deputy prime minister and transport minister John Prescott has died at the age of 86. His family said he had been living in a care home, and had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. John Prescott was the son of an LMS signalman and was born in Prestatyn in 1938. He left school when he was 15 to work as a trainee chef and then as a steward on the Cunard Line. Although he had failed the eleven-plus examination, he later graduated from Ruskin College and the University of Hull. He was elected MP for Kingston upon Hull East on 18 June 1970, and continued to represent that constituency until 12 April 2010. His main influence on transport policy came after he had been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions by the new Prime Minister Tony Blair on 2 May 1997. The breadth of his responsibilities inspired the nickname of ‘Prescott’s super-ministry’, but he spent a lot of his time on transport matters. In June 1998 he rescued the failing Channel Tunnel Rail Link, telling MPs: ‘When I had the chance to examine the details of the deal put in place by the previous Government, I was appalled … Even this week I was asked to find £100 million to pay for specially designed sleeper trains which do not work, have never been used, and are now lying idle in a field.’ He oversaw the creation of a new public private partnership to complete the project after four months of talks, and construction continued. The first section opened in Kent in 2003 and Britain’s first high speed line was opened throughout four years later. In July 1998 he published a White Paper entitled ‘A new deal for transport’, and this was followed in November 1999 by improvements to railway safety in the wake of the Ladbroke Grove train crash, which included the nationwide installation of TPWS and the launch of the confidential reporting system CIRAS. The following month he published a Ten Year Plan for Transport, and was also responsible for a new Transport Act which received Royal Assent in December 2000, creating the Strategic Rail Authority. He was made a Life Peer in July 2010, after Labour had lost 91 seats in the General Election in May, resulting in a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government. He could be hot-tempered, as was demonstrated by the famous egg-throwing incident in Rhyl in May 2001, when Prescott, who had won several boxing matches in his youth, punched a protestor who had thrown an egg at him. There had been no punches in 2000 at East Croydon, but he clashed verbally with an elderly lady who effectively gate-crashed a tram launch event on 6 April, telling Prescott that trams were hopeless and dangerous, and that he should not have allowed them to return. On that occasion the protestor won the day, because Prescott angrily abandoned a question session with the media and left the scene abruptly, leaving the reporters to quiz the old lady instead. John Prescott is survived by his wife Pauline and their sons Jonathan and David. John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott, 31 May 1938–20 November 2024

New figures released by Network Rail show that high lorries colliding with bridges caused over 100 days of delays for trains in the twelve months to March this year. From 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 there were 1,532 reported bridge strikes, equal to one every six hours, which cost the rail industry around £20 million in delays, cancellations and repairs. The new figures have come as Network Rail urges haulage operators and their lorry drivers to ‘Wise Up, Size Up’ and take better care on the roads. Stuntney Road in Ely has the unflattering title of ‘Britain’s most bashed bridge’ as part of Network Rail’s annual compilation of big hitters – with 18 recorded incidents over the past year. Next worst were Stonea Road, Stonea and Lower Downs Road, Wimbledon, which were each bashed 17 times, or every three weeks on average. Network Rail’s ‘Wise Up, Size Up’ campaign reminds lorry drivers to check the height of their vehicles and plan their route in advance to avoid low bridges.  Network Rail also has a team of bridge strike ‘champions’ covering each route, who visit haulage companies in their areas. The last two consecutive years has seen a reduction in the total number of incidents, with a 4 per cent reduction in the last year alone. Improvements have been identified on a local level too. While Stonea is second on the list of recorded incidents for 2023/24, it did see an 11 per cent reduction in bridge strikes last year compared to the year before. In February 2021 Network Rail’s engineers worked on a repair on the Cambridgeshire bridge that involved the installation of a new protection beam, designed to withstand future bridge strikes and making it stronger than before. This extra protection helps to reduce disruption to rail and road traffic in the event of future strikes. Cambridgeshire County Council also updated the road signs with its new height of 2 metres, which was unavoidably 10cm lower than before because of the new beam. Network Rail’s group safety and engineering director Martin Frobisher said: ‘Every time a vehicle hits a bridge it can serious safety issues for road and rail users. To compound matters, these incidents can delay tens of thousands of passengers while we inspect the bridge and repair any damage, creating cost from public funds which should be used upgrading and improving our network. ‘We’ve done a lot of work with transport partners to tackle bridge strikes and it’s encouraging to see this is paying off with a general downward trend in the number of incidents. But with a strike every six hours there’s still much to do and we urge operators and drivers to properly plan their routes, know the height of their vehicles and be vigilant for road signs showing the height of bridges. ‘We will report those who don’t to the Traffic Commissioners and Network Rail always looks to recover the entire repair and delay costs from the driver and the operator.’

Arriva’s British open access operator Grand Central is applying for a licence extension, saying that it will order new bi-mode trains if the extension is granted. Grand Central is asking the Office of Rail and Road for a continuation of its track access rights beyond 2027. GC had already applied earlier this year for a new station call at Seaham, and additional services between York and London. If it does order new trains they would replace the present fleet, which is 24 years old. Arriva bought Grand Central in 2011, but Grand Central began operating on its first route between London and Sunderland in December 2007. However, its application had triggered court action by the Intercity East Coast franchise operator GNER, which claimed that its new competitor benefited from lower track access charges. GNER did not succeed, and surrendered its contract. Grand Central said its application had been approved by local businesses which included Hays Travel and Halifax Town football club, as well as the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce. Paul Hutchings is the managing director responsible for Grand Central. He said: ‘We’re proud of the role we play at Grand Central in connecting underserved communities across Yorkshire and the North East, and we’re grateful to be backed by local businesses who recognise the crucial role our services play in connecting businesses to opportunities that drive local growth. ‘We want to secure our long-term future in the region, creating the conditions to unlock investment in new trains at no cost to the taxpayer, expanding capacity and enabling us to deliver an even better experience for our passengers and the communities we serve.’

The Elizabeth Line concession has been awarded by Transport for London to a new operator, less than three years since the line was opened in full. The line had been operated by MTR of Hong Kong since ‘TfL Rail’ was launched on the outer sections of the future Elizabeth Line in 2015. The new MTR contract had been awarded the year before, and was to run for eight years. The line should have been completed through central London in 2018 but in the event opening was delayed until 2022, partly because of software problems. The contract changeover date will be May next year, when GTS Rail Operations Limited takes charge. GTS is a joint venture between Go Ahead Group, Tokyo Metro and Sumitomo Corporation. The contract will run seven years with an option to extend it for up to two years. The new contractor will be responsible for preparing to serve the new Old Oak Common HS2 station in 2030, when the number of services will increase. It will also be expected to encourage collaboration with Network Rail, which manages the surface infrastructure on both sides of London, and have a ‘relentless focus’ on safety as well as providing more than 500 apprenticeships, along with funding grants to community groups. Ten more Class 345 trains now being built by Alstom in Derby will come into service. TfL chief operating officer Claire Mann said: ‘The Elizabeth Line has had a transformational impact since opening in 2022 and has quickly become one of the most popular and reliable railways in the country. The railway has provided new, more direct journey options which has led to huge numbers of customers using our safe and accessible trains and stations. ‘I am delighted that we have appointed GTS Rail Operations to continue to build on the success of the line and I look forward to working with them.’

A new centre for storing newly-manufactured lengths of rail has been opened by British Steel in Scunthorpe, where most rail for British tracks is made. BS said the new £10 million ‘stocking hub’ will make sure that new rail is ready when needed for Network Rail projects. It said the rails ‘will have undergone stringent testing and quality assurance checks required to meet the specification to allow immediate despatch or welding into 216m lengths’. The new centre has 11 multi-gantry hoists to lift the finished rails on to wagons. When fully stocked, the hub will hold around 25,000 tonnes of finished rails. British Steel’s commercial director, rail, Craig Harvey said: ‘We are committed to building the railways of the future, and this investment supports the government’s ambition to improve rail travel and connectivity. ‘It will also enhance our long-term strategic partnership with Network Rail – a partnership which helps millions of passengers and freight operators enjoy safe, enjoyable, and timely journeys. ‘Together we have an integral role to play in strengthening the UK’s infrastructure, enabling development, and supporting hundreds of businesses and thousands of jobs in the supply chain. ‘The new facility is the latest in a series of major investments in British Steel by our owner, Jingye, which is resolute in its commitment to enhancing our operations and helping us build a sustainable future for our business.’