Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Tuesday, 15th August 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Tuesday, 15th August 2023
Nearly a quarter of railway station staff face the axe under controversial plans to close ticket offices, union leaders said.
An article on the Mirror website says the RMT claims the proposal to shut counters at 974 stations across England could lead to 2,300 job losses. It says roles at risk would not only be confined to ticket offices.
A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the companies, said: “A range of options will be created for staff affected, including moving to a new multi-skilled role.”
Scotrail train drivers have accepted a new pay deal after months of union negotiations.
An article on the Daily Record website says the train drivers’ trade union, ASLEF, revealed today that its members have voted to accept the rail operator’s most recent pay offer after a ballot among its members.
The deal will see drivers given a five per cent basic pay rise for 2023/24, backdated to 1 April 2023, with a further one per cent increase from 1 October 2023.
Alstom has announced that it has been awarded a contract to provide a charging facility for Irish Rail’s new Battery Electric Multiple Unit (BEMU) trains that will operate between Drogheda, Dublin City Centre and beyond.
The fast-charging infrastructure on two platforms and one siding at Drogheda will be installed by end of 2024 to enable new battery-electric DART+ trains that will enter service in 2025, to operate to and from Drogheda in advance of planned electrification of the line, and to be recharged during service turnaround at Drogheda.
The first of 29 refurbished high-speed trains on Southeastern’s flagship route between London St Pancras and Kent has re-entered service – heralding a £27 million upgrade as part of the train operator’s commitment to deliver a better, more reliable, and more sustainable service.
Unit 395012, well-known to many as the ‘Trainbow’, entered the train operator’s Ashford train maintenance depot on 12th June to have interior refresh work carried out, and emerged from the workshops today to be followed by another 28 trains over the coming months.
Photo credit: Alstom
