Trams may be back in favour, as DfT launches taskforce
The government has unveiled a new ‘mass transit taskforce’, which the Department for Transport says is intended to ‘tackle barriers to delivery of mass transit systems across the UK, supporting economic growth, jobs and new homes’. New schemes could include buses, light rail and trams.
A Class 387 unit operated on Southern by Govia Thameslink Railway was being unveiled in Great British Railways livery at Brighton on Thursday. The details reveal that the former operators’ names may be set to be continued by GBR, because the unit bears the words ‘Great British Railways Southern’. Up to now the fate of the private sector brands had been uncertain, but the new livery appears to resolve that doubt.
A ‘short term’ approach to railway infrastructure procurement is increasing costs, delaying completion and holding back investment and innovation, according to a new report from the Competition and Markets Authority.
Wales says it is being short-changed by the ‘reset’ of HS2, which has been announced by transport secretary Heidi Alexander. She is cutting the maximum speed to 320km/h in a bid to save money, but the Welsh Government has accused ministers at Westminster of denying Wales a ‘fair share’ of funding.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has announced that the maximum speed of trains on HS2 will be 320km/h, instead of 360km/h. The cost of the line is now expected to be somewhere between 87.7 million and 102.7 billion pounds. The transport secretary said she was setting out plans for a ‘fundamental reset’ which was intended to complete the project as soon as possible.
Passengers on West Midlands Trains are being advised to travel only if they must between 21 and 23 May, because of industrial action by members of TSSA. The dispute is about payments for rest day working, which the union says are not in line with the pay for members of other unions.
The RMT has suspended this week’s Underground strikes, after talks with TfL made progress. The RMT said: ’At the eleventh hour the employer has shifted its position.’