Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Wednesday, 15th March 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Wednesday, 15th March 2023
Hundreds of thousands of workers will stage a strike on Budget Day in what threatens to be the biggest walkout since the current wave of industrial action started last year.
The article in the Evening Standard says members of several trade unions will take action, mounting hundreds of picket lines across the country amid continuing anger over issues including pay, jobs, pensions and conditions.
Those striking on Wednesday include teachers, university lecturers, civil servants, junior doctors, London Underground drivers and BBC journalists.
Labour says it has obtained a leaked document showing proposed delays to HS2 would end up increasing the cost of the project for the government.
An article on Sky News says ministers announced last week that the construction of the northwest sections – from Birmingham to Crewe, then Crewe to Manchester – would be delayed by two years to spread the cost and save money.
But shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said advice written by officials in the Department for Transport had “blown apart” the money-saving claim and “laid bare the consequences of the decision”.
Rail minister Huw Merriman said the government did not comment on leaked documents.
Campaigners and politicians have discussed plans to reopen a railway line closed more than 40 years ago.
An article on the BBC website says Market Harborough and Northampton used to be connected by a rail link that was opened in 1859, but shut in 1981.
Campaigners are calling for the 14-mile route to be restored and said it would benefit both commuters and tourists while taking cars off the road.
The English Regional Transport Association (ERTA) said it was a “worthy cause to pursue”.
Greater Anglia is to run a Class 321 Farewell charity charter train on Saturday 29 April, to mark the upcoming withdrawal of the trains from use on the Greater Anglia network, as the operator rapidly approaches the point where all its services will be operated by new trains.
The event, aimed primarily at rail enthusiasts, will raise funds for three charities relevant to the Greater Anglia operating area – East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH), Havens Hospices and the Railway Mission.
Photo credit: Greater Anglia
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