The chairman of Network Rail Sir Peter Hendy has predicted that leisure and holiday travel by train is set to increase, while commuter traffic is likely to continue to fall, confirming a trend which had started before the pandemic. Sir Peter suggested that demand in the rush hours could fall by perhaps 20 per cent, at least for the next three years. One consequence could be a rethink of maintenance timetables, with more engineering work taking place on ‘quieter weekdays’. The Network Rail chairman was addressing the National Rail Recovery Conference, which also heard from Keith Williams, whose delayed review of the railways is said to be due out soon.

The Prime Minister has come under fire over an alleged funding cut for Transport for the North. Board papers published by TfN said that a letter from the Department for Transport had revealed that TfN’s core funding would be reduced by 40 per cent in 2021-22 to £6 million. But when Boris Johnson was confronted by a Parliamentary question about the figures, he responded that there was ‘no such cut’, continuing: ‘We intend to invest massively in Northern Powerhouse Rail, in railways in the North, and across the entire country.’ Labour said: ‘Either the Prime Minister thinks he can lie with impunity or he simply wasn’t aware.’

Open access operator Grand Central has extended the suspension of its services by almost four weeks to 27 March, following the Prime Minister’s announcement about the timetable for easing lockdown restrictions. Grand Central had been planning to return on 1 March, but managing director Richard McClean said ‘I’m encouraged by recent reductions in the national “R” rate and a drop in COVID-related hospitalisations. This, along with the ongoing vaccination programme, leaves me hopeful that when we return to service it will be permanent, albeit cautious and incremental.’

A trial has been started at a London main line station which uses ultra-violet light to disinfect escalator handrails. Since Covid can be spread by contact, the aim is to make the handrails virtually free of contamination.

Public records show that transport ministers are taking steps to renationalise more train operators, according to the RMT. The union is demanding that the process is stepped up, following ‘strategic changes’ which it says have been made.

A strike ballot of ScotRail conductors has been launched by the RMT in a dispute over pay, but the company has condemned the vote, saying that such a move ‘is wrong for staff at a time of financial crisis for the railway’.

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