Pay offer for ScotRail drivers improved
FRIDAY BRIEFING: Pay offer for ScotRail drivers improved ++ Wheels fault subject of formal investigation ++ US company makes offer for FirstGroup ++ Rail performance falls back ++
Train services in Wales could be affected for the rest of the year, according to Transport for Wales, after two Sprinter units were damaged by colliding with a mini digger which had been abandoned on the line near Craven Arms. No one was hurt.
The staff in 13 train operating companies have voted in favour of rail strikes. The ballot also involved staff at Network Rail, who have supported walkouts as well. A majority of RMT members at Govia Thameslink Railway only voted for industrail action short of a strike, while those at Island Line are understood not to have supported any industrial action. The RMT described the result in favour of action as ‘overwhelming’, and said its National Executive Committee will now be considering its next steps.
The long-awaited launch of the Elizabeth Line through central London was marked by many of the capitals’s landmarks being highlighted in purple light, which is the colour of the new line. The first trains to carry passengers between Whitechapel, Liverpool Street and Paddington left Paddington and Abbey Wood on schedule at 06.30 this morning, and trains will now run every five minutes between 06.30 and 23.00 on Mondays to Saturdays. Sunday services will wait a little longer, except that the line will be open on the Sunday of the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend.
TUESDAY BRIEFING: Rail industry awaits strike ballot result ++ Strikes disrupt London Underground ++
The RMT has reacted angrily to reports that transport secretary Grant Shapps is considering a change in the law so that a minimum number of railway staff have to go on duty, even if their union has held a strike ballot and gained a majority in favour of walkouts. Reports over the weekend said that the government could take action to reduce the effect of any national rail strikes, amid concerns that vital freight trains carrying fuel and food could be held up. Road transport is not seen as a replacement, because of the continuing shortage of HGV drivers.
MONDAY BRIEFING: First day of reduced ScotRail timetable ++ Elizabeth Line on final countdown ++ First train calls at new station ++