A proposal for for trains on East West Rail to be staffed by a driver and a customer service inspector have failed to break the deadlock between the Department for Transport and the RMT, which has been opposing plans to use driver-only trains between Oxford and Milton Keynes Central.

A working group has met for the first time to prepare a feasibility study examining the potential for a direct Caledonian Sleeper service to mainland Europe. The Scottish Government had committed itself in its last manifesto to look at such a scheme.