Trains return to Barnstaple, but Cornish line stays closed
Trains are running between Exeter and Barnstaple for the first time this month, after Network Rail repaired the damage caused by heavy rain which washed away ballast and put some structures at risk. But Network Rail warned that it would be continuing to monitor the situation, because more rain is forecast for north Devon over the next ten days.
A Great Western Railway Intercity Express has made a surprise appearance on East West Rail, as there continues to be no firm opening date for the restored line between Bicester and Bletchley, which was completed well over a year ago. People in Winslow have been protesting at the continuing lack of trains at their new station, which is being guarded by security officers at an alleged cost of one million pounds a year.
The Prime Minister is supporting proposals to invest almost 500 million pounds in Welsh train services, which include seven new stations. The Welsh Government has already committed 1.1 billion pounds to upgrade and electrify the Core Valley Lines and another 800 million pounds for new trains. Six of the new stations will be in South Wales.
The Borders Railway will be closed over three weekends next month, so that parts of the line can be electrified. The scheme was announced in September last year by transport secretary Fiona Hyslop as part of an investment of 342 million pounds in electrification and electric trains for Glasgow, Fife and the Borders Railway, which was reopened in September 2015.
Trains are running again between Horsham and Dorking (Main) this morning, after more than two weeks of disruption caused by a landslip. The route was closed on 27 January after the slip at Ockley had left two lines hanging in the air. The soil had given way along a nine-metre section of embankment leaving the lines unsupported in a ‘rotational failure’. Network Rail attributed the slip to heavy rain, following a wet winter.
Fares on ScotRail will be frozen for 12 months, following a similar freeze south of the border. First Minister John Swinney said it was part of his government’s ‘resolute focus on the cost of living’. Peak fares have already been abolished on ScotRail routes. The freeze has been welcomed by the TSSA union, although it called for the SNP government to be replaced by a Labour administration.
A new law banning people who behave unacceptably on the railway could be introduced in Scotland. A court can already order anti-social offenders not to travel by train or enter stations, but a new report says a ‘Railway Banning Order’ could be created by passing a new law, while the range of offences which could be dealt with out of court ‘quickly and proportionately’ could also be increased. The report has been produced by the Rail Enforcement Powers Working Group, which reflects the views of rail operators, trade unions and the police.