Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 18th March 2021
The latest rail news on Thursday, 18th March 2021
Scotrail is to be taken into public ownership next year, Scotland’s Transport Secretary Michael Matheson has announced.
It features in many of the national newspapers, including the i, that says the move follows a previous decision to terminate Abellio’s 10-year franchise for Scotland’s main train operator in March 2022 – three years early.
Mr Matheson said ScotRail would be run from then on by an arm’s length company owned and controlled by the Scottish Government, through an “operator of last resort”.
Drones should be used more to inspect the railway, an inquiry has found.
An article in the Daily Mail (Scotland) writes that it is among more than 50 recommendations made to Network Rail and follows the Stonehaven disaster in August last year.
Three people died and six were injured when a train derailed due to a landslide.
The investigation by Lord Mair advises that ‘more regular and frequent use’ should be made of helicopters and drones to identify problems.
Eurostar has increased the pressure on the UK and French governments to strike a bailout deal after the boss of its biggest shareholder said it needed a cash injection within weeks to survive.
An article in The Daily Telegraph writes that the Channel Tunnel train operator has been left at risk of bankruptcy after passenger numbers plummeted by 95 per cent during the pandemic.
Finally, and HS2 has revealed revised designs of the railway in the Canley Brook area near Kenilworth in Warwickshire which will significantly reduce environmental impacts and avoid a major realignment of a local river, preserving the home of protected wildlife such as otters and bats.
The design changes, developed by HS2’s main works contractor Balfour Beatty Vinci with their Design JV partners, mean that the railway will travel in a slightly shallower and longer cutting in this area.
Photo credit: HS2 Ltd
