The Monday essay: Build it, and they will come
‘Build it, and they will come,’ is sometimes attributed to Peter Hendy who, when he was transport commissioner for London, used the phrase to justify the large investment in London Overground. Those words are actually a misquote from a 1989 film, but he was right about the Overground, which was created almost 20 years ago, because the result was a transformation. That word is often over-used, but on this occasion it was fair enough. Until 2007, the North London Line, part of the Silverlink Metro franchise owned by National Express, had been a disgrace.
A new 3.5km electrified test track has been opened at Long Marston by rail minister Peter Hendy. Lord Hendy was joined by Porterbrook CEO Mary Grant. The rolling stock leasing company acquired the 56 hectare site at Long Marston, between Honeybourne and Stratford-upon-Avon, in 2021, and bought the freehold three years later.
Another 24-hour walkout has begun on London Underground, as the dispute over a voluntary four-day working week goes on. The RMT has called out its driver members, although ASLEF staff are working normally because their union is not in dispute.
The Welsh Government is calling for intervention by the Department for Transport after it clashed with Great Western Railway over proposals for Transport for Wales trains to run between west Wales and Bristol. The plans are for two-hourly services between Fishguard Harbour or Milford Haven to Bristol Temple Meads via Cardiff Central, but GWR says such trains would abstract revenue from its existing trains.
Services are disrupted on many London Underground lines today, after drivers belonging to the RMT walked out in the continuing dispute about a four-day working week.
The number of passengers on a Cornish branch line rose by a quarter in the first week after the service was doubled on 17 May. The first phase of Mid Cornwall Metro has seen the number of local trains between Newquay and Par increased from eight to 15 a day, plus two daily trains to London.
The only train operated by Lumo from London Euston to Stirling was cancelled yesterday, because of a fault on the only unit which was available. The new open access service was launched by FirstGroup on 25 May, although there will be only one train in each direction for the time being.