Storm-damaged Welsh line to be closed for months
A branch line in North Wales will remain closed for months, warned Network Rail, after Storm Gareth had swept across the region. The savage weather damaged track, lineside equipment, embankments, bridges, level crossings and stations between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog, and it is not yet known when trains will be able to run again. Buses are replacing the trains until further notice.
Timetables should be ‘fact, not fiction’, said a transport watchdog, after new rules measuring the punctuality of trains were announced by the Rail Delivery Group. From April actual train timings will be published to the minute at every calling point. The industry is already making internal use of this information in a bid to identify problems which delay trains. The Rail Delivery Group said the new system will be ‘the most transparent of all major railways in Europe’, and is ‘part of the industry’s wider programme of work to improve performance and increase customer satisfaction’.
FirstGroup’s plans to run budget-priced open access services on the East Coast Main Line have taken a major step forward with the order of five new trains from Hitachi. The rolling stock deal, worth £100 million, involves train leasing company Beacon Rail. Fares averaging ‘less than £25’ are being promised on board the single-class trains, which will run five times a day each way from 2021 between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh, calling at Stevenage, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Morpeth, with journey times of approximately four hours. One target market will be airline passengers between England and Scotland.
The possibility of reviving British Rail appears to have been ruled out by Keith Williams, as he launched the second stage of the consultation which is part of his Rail Review for the DfT. Speaking in London, he said: ‘We asked passengers if changes to ownership would help. There was no clear consensus that public ownership would solve their concerns, primarily because there is little or no confidence that the system would be any better and, some concern that it would be worse.’ The RMT has condemned his remarks as a ‘political fix’.
The railway needs a new organisation to stop the industry being used as a political football, according to Rail Delivery Group chief executive Paul Plummer. He is proposing that the Office of Rail and Road should be replaced by a new arms-length regulator with greater responsibilities, setting industry objectives while also holding it to account.
Eurostar services between London and Paris are being disrupted by more industrial action by French customs officers. There have been long delays at Paris Nord, and some Eurostar services will be cancelled until the end of the month. The action is connected with the possible effects of Brexit, which the French customs union says will increase the amount of work its members will have to do. They have already refused one pay offer.
Councillors in Edinburgh have approved plans to build a further section of the city’s tram line from the city centre to Newhaven. A full meeting of Edinburgh City Council gave the green light to the scheme last night, having heard that the cost is likely to be just over £200 million. The 4.6km extension will follow the alignment of part of the original proposals for a three-line network, which were cut back drastically after costs of the scheme spiralled.