Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Tuesday, 1st December 2020
The latest rail news on Tuesday, 1st December 2020
The Mayor of London, Transport for London (TfL), the Department for Transport (DfT) and HM Treasury have confirmed an agreed funding and financing package for the final phase of the Crossrail project. This means work on the railway can continue at pace.
Crossrail announced in August that it expected the Elizabeth line to open through central London in the first half of 2022 and that they would require funding beyond the agreed funding envelope. Crossrail Ltd is continuing to work hard to reduce its funding shortfall, and TfL is ensuring that further independent analysis of costs is carried out.
The shortfall will initially be covered by the Greater London Authority (GLA) borrowing up to £825m from the DfT which will be given by GLA to TfL as a grant. The GLA will repay this loan from Business Rate Supplement (BRS) and Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy (MCIL) revenues.
A fleet of rail replacement buses is expected to be deployed over the Christmas period, amid industry warnings that laying on too many trains would lead to mass cancellations.
The article in The Daily Telegraph says the Government has been urged to consider alternatives to boosting train services to combat an expected surge in travel over the five-day “Christmas ease”.
The paper says the Transport Secretary has enlisted the help of Sir Peter Hendy, Network Rail’s chairman, as his Christmas tsar to devise a plan to boost capacity.
A new report reveals how 34-wagon freight train derailed at Sheffield railway station.
The article, featuring in the Sheffield Star, says a report published by the Government’s Rail Accident Investigation Branch found that the derailment occurred because “a series of rail fastenings, intended to maintain the correct distance between the rails, had broken”.
A number of the wagons on the train, which was travelling from Hope cement works to Dewsbury cement terminal, tipped over, with some of the cement spilling onto the tracks.
Finally, and nature lovers are teaching railway staff how to deal with swans that occasionally stray on to the tracks.
The article in The Daily Telegraph says Network Rail staff in Wiltshire are receiving training from the Swan Sanctuary so drivers and inspectors no longer have to wing it when trying to get the birds off the tracks.
Photo credit: Sarnia / Shutterstock.com
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