In The News | 1st February 2023 | Latest Rail News

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InTheNews: The latest rail news on Wednesday, 1st February 2023

Hundreds of thousands of workers – including school teachers and train drivers – are walking out on strike for what will be the biggest day of industrial action in more than a decade.

An article on the ITV website says teachers in England and Wales, who are members of the National Education Union (NEU), will embark on their first day of strikes on Wednesday, which threaten to disrupt more than 23,000 schools.

Picket lines will be mounted outside schools, railway stations, universities and government departments, and rallies will be held across the country.

Rail passengers face another day of travel disruption as train driver members of Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union strike both today and Friday as part of their long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Transport Scotland has submitted key funding documents to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), covering the period between April 2024 and March 2029.

An article on New Civil Engineer says the original date for Transport Scotland to submit the Control Period 7 (CP7) High-Level Output Specification (HLOS) and Statement of Funds Available (SoFA) was 30 November 2022. This was then pushed to 9 January 2023 and then pushed again to 27 January 2023.

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “Transport Scotland has submitted the HLOS and SoFA statement/information to the ORR within the requested legal timescales. The minister for transport intends to provide an update to Parliament and wider stakeholders in due course.”

Train services in part of the North East are not running after a second cable theft in 24 hours.

An article on the BBC website says the Tyne and Wear Metro is suspended between Monkseaton, North Tyneside and South Gosforth in Newcastle.

Metro operator Nexus previously announced a £1,000 cash reward following similar thefts.

Passenger trials are getting under way for the first time to test a new driverless railway that will take people direct to an airport terminal.

An article on the BBC website says the £290 million Luton Dart is due to open in April but has faced delays and increased costs.

The 1.4-mile (2.2km) railway links Luton Airport Parkway station to London Luton Airport in about three minutes.

Luton Rising, which owns the airport, said the trials were a “key part of the countdown process before opening”.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

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