Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Friday, 17th June 2022
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Friday, 17th June 2022
Secretary of state for transport Grant Shapps has told rail staff not to “risk striking yourself out of a job”, days before industrial action that will close much of the railway next week.
A report from The Guardian said the transport secretary was “appealing directly to workers” instead of unions, as he claimed strike action was “a bid to derail reforms critical to the network’s future, and designed to inflict damage at the worst possible time”.
Speaking at a Siemens train depot in north London, Mr Shapps said he wanted to see staff given a pay rise, but that “Pay needs to be in step with the wider public sector.”
The deputy mayor of London has complained of “a frustrating lack of progress with the Government in agreeing a long-term funding deal for Transport for London.
Seb Dance said without a long-term deal, TfL would be forced to enact major cuts to bus and Tube services which would be “disastrous” for the capital’s economic recovery.
Secretary of state for transport Grant Shapps responded in Parliament, saying the government “provided £5 billion to Transport for London”, and the required level of savings has yet to be seen from the organisation.
Read the full story here: https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/sense-of-frustration-over-lack-of-tfl-deal/
More than double the number of rail journeys were made by passengers between April 2021 and March 2022 compared to the number of those made during the pandemic, according to figures.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said a total of 990 million journeys were made in Britain over the last year, compared to only 388 million journeys made in 2020-21, when journeys fell to the lowest levels last seen in the mid-nineteenth century.
Read the full story here: https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/passenger-numbers-more-than-double-compared-to-height-of-pandemic/
Finally, television’s most popular gardener Alan Titchmarsh was at Ilkley Station this week to choose the area’s most green-fingered primary schools.
The competition was organised by the station adoption group and supported by Halifax Station Partnership and saw five primary schools go head-to-head to design and create a planter for passengers at the station to enjoy.
Operator Northern donated the money for materials and plants for the competition, which saw Ashland primary school crowned winners for their fabulous floral creation.
That’s it from today’s round-up. For the latest in rail news, visit news.railbusinessdaily.com.
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