‘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.

Govia Thameslink Railway was renationalised at 02.00 yesterday morning, and the RMT has accompanied the reform by calling for all railway staff to be employed in-house. The union has been running a campaign to end ‘outsourcing’, when staff such as cleaners are employed by a third-party contractor.

Govia Thameslink Railway will be returned to the public sector at 02.00 on Sunday, in the next stage of the government’s renationalisation programme. The Department for Transport said the changeover would mean that eight out of 10 journeys would then be provided by public operators, with only Chiltern Railways, Great Western Railway, East Midlands Railway, Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry remaining in the private sector for the time being.

Thunderstorms have damaged signalling in west Wales and north west England, and many trains are delayed. Meanwhile, National Rail has warned that temperatures may exceed 30 degrees in some areas again today.

Record temperatures are delaying trains again today. South Western Railway is warning that some trains have been cancelled, particularly on the routes between London, Winchester, Southampton, Bournemouth and Weymouth, and also to Aldershot and Haslemere.

The man who was CEO of DfT Operator until recently has returned to the private sector. Robin Gisby, who had been in charge of the company which owns renationalised passenger operators has become chairman of InterCity Rail Freight, which is developing methods to revive the railways’ parcels traffic using passenger trains.

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.’

The introduction of summer timetables on National Rail involves significant changes to train services, many of which are new or improved.