Train production
Siemens says that four out of five new trains for the Piccadilly Line of London Underground will be assembled in West Yorkshire, rather than just 50 per cent. The company said it is in the final stages of fitting out its factory in Goole as part of its ‘rail village’ in which up to £200 million is being invested and up to 700 jobs created.

Lines closed
The lines between Southampton Central and Havant, Eastleigh and Portsmouth Harbour and also between Southampton Central and Portsmouth Harbour will be closed from today until Friday, while Network Rail engineers upgrade the railway in the Portsmouth and Fareham areas. At Portsmouth Harbour engineers will renew 1094m of track. They will also refurbish 592m of rails at Vernon Bridge and replace sleepers and ballast in the Fareham area, while signals will be upgraded between St Denys and Swanwick. Buses are replacing trains operated by South Western Railway, Great Western Railway and Southern.

Service returns
Hourly Transport for Wales services are returning between Chester, Runcorn, Helsby, Frodsham and Liverpool this morning. The number of daily trains on the route is increasing from 15 to 30, and they will be formed of new Class 197 CAF units built at Newport in south Wales. Services on the route were launched in 2019 and call at Liverpool South Parkway, for John Lennon Airport.

Higher penalty
Transport for London is increasing the penalty fare for travelling without paying from £80 to £100, following a similar move by the Department for Transport on National Rail in England. TfL said it prosecuted 19,614 people for fare evasion in 2023, an increase of 56 per cent on the previous year. It estimates that fraudulent travel costs around £150 million a year. Revenue disputes can also be a cause of aggression by passengers, and all frontline staff have been equipped with body worn video.