A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly attempted to pull a woman on to the London Underground tracks at King’s Cross, which carry Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City Line trains. The woman is said to be ‘shaken’ but unharmed, but the man was taken to hospital with head injuries after he was hit by a train during the incident, at about 13.30 yesterday. Police say the two people involved are not believed to know each other, and the motive for the alleged attack is unclear.

Region’s leaders urge government to protect trains to North Wales

Business and local authority leaders from North Wales, the Wirral and Cheshire West and Chester in the Growth Track 360 partnership are urging rail minister Wendy Morton to safeguard at least one direct Avanti West Coast train a day in each direction between North Wales, Chester and London. Avanti has controversially reduced its services, blaming poor industrial relations. The partnership is also calling on the government to honour a promise to restore services between London and North Wales to at least the level which applied before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Network Rail publishes plans for fire-damaged station

Network Rail has unveiled three options for the redevelopment of Troon station to local people. The building on platform 1 at Troon was destroyed in a fire in July 2021. Option one is a reinstatement of the old building on a like-for-like basis using modern materials. The second is a reinstatement of the old building but with some changes, such as the size of the building and the layout of entrances and exits. The third is a ‘modern interpretation’ of the old building.

Severn Tunnel safeguarded by new water pumps

A project to renew the pumps at Sudbrook has been completed, safeguarding the recently-electrified Severn Tunnel, which is 7km long and connects England with South Wales. The pumping station was built in 1886, and originally equipped with Cornish beam engines to pump out the millions of litres of water a day which come from the Great Spring inside the tunnel. The pumps are renewed every 30 years, and Network Rail says the latest project to update them has been completed by its contractors Centregreat. Each 1.5 tonne pump had to be lifted out of a 60m shaft, before their replacements could be lowered into position.

Northern starts selling £1 journeys

Northern is launching a ’flash sale’ in which more than a million tickets will be available for £1. Passengers must buy their tickets online or using the Northern app, while stocks last. The journeys may be booked for travel between 6 September and 20 October, and will be available from 10.00 today. Northern’s customer and commercial director Mark Powles said: ’This is our way of helping to extend the summer holiday feeling by a further six weeks, getting people through until the start of the October half term.’