Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Wednesday, 1st November 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Wednesday, 1st November 2023
The government has backtracked on its decision to close railway station ticket offices across England after fierce opposition.
An article in The Metro says transport secretary Mark Harper announced the government has asked train operators to withdraw their proposals.
The government has bowed under pressure after watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch announced they would oppose every single planned closure, due to issues including the impact on accessibility.
Plans to close most of England’s ticket offices, as well as the office in Glasgow Central, were brought forward by train operators amid pressure from the government to save money, following a drop in revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
New polling by the Railway Industry Association (RIA), the voice of the UK supply community, shows that over 50 per cent of rail suppliers believe the industry will contract in the next year. These findings represent a significant increase in negative sentiment among businesses across the sector over the last 12 months.
Two hundred railway supplier leaders responded to an independent survey by Savanta over September and October.
Commenting on the research Chief Executive of RIA Darren Caplan said: “The findings from this survey support the need for more certainty from the Government on what national, regional and local rail work – both track and train – it wants the railway industry to deliver in the months ahead.”
A new dispute is brewing between ScotRail and its biggest union over planned staffing changes when a line is electrified in Glasgow next month, The Scotsman has learned.
The Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) has vowed to fight plans for trains on the Glasgow Central to Barrhead route to be switched to driver-only operation.
Conductors who control doors on the diesel trains on the line are expected to be replaced with lower-grade ticket examiners when electric trains start operating next month.
Seoul’s subway system plans to introduce trains with carriages with no seating in order to alleviate congestion during peak hours, its operator has announced.
An article on Yahoo News says the trial programme, set to start in January, will involve the removal of seats from two carriages on subway trains running on two of the South Korean’s capital’s nine major lines during morning and evening rush hours, Seoul Metro said on Wednesday.
It forms part of a broader project aimed at reducing congestion on one of the world’s busiest metro systems.
Photo credit: London TravelWatch
