More talks over the long-running train drivers’ pay dispute are set to be held in the near future, after a first meeting this week between ASLEF and the Department for Transport was hailed a success and officially described as ‘constructive’. Before the election on 4 July, ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan had blamed the Conservative government for the stalemate in the dispute and the continuing strikes.

Transport secretary Louise Haigh has criticised the Conservatives’ management of HS2, in the wake of a report from the National Audit Office which warns that capacity between London and Manchester will be reduced rather than increased because the trains planned for HS2, which will continue north of Birmingham on the conventional network, may have fewer seats than the Pendolinos they will replace. The report says it may be necessary to encourage people ‘to travel at different times or to not travel by rail’, although it concedes ‘this may constrain economic growth’. The charity Campaign for Better Transport says HS2 has become ’a complete shambles’.