Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 21st December 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Thursday, 21st December 2023
A train operator has “strongly” urged its customers not to travel on certain services today as Storm Pia is expected to bring winds of up to 80mph.
An article on the ITV website says TransPennine Express (TPE) asked customers to delay their journeys in and out of Edinburgh until after 3pm, as parts of the UK brace for high winds.
A yellow weather warning for wind came into effect at midnight and will last until 9pm, with forecasted gusts of 70mph to 80mph in northern Scotland.
Winds are expected to be as strong as 45mph to 55mph elsewhere in the country, with the warning also covering Belfast, Newcastle upon Tyne and Manchester.
Rail fares across Scotland will increase by 8.7 percent from April next year.
An article on the BBC website says the price rise by Transport Scotland will affect all services operated by ScotRail as well as the Caledonian Sleeper.
The Scottish government said current fares were “simply no longer sustainable”.
An “ambitious” target of growing rail freight by at least 75 per cent by 2050 has been set by Transport Secretary Mark Harper.
An article on City A.M. says the Cabinet minister said this will lead to economic and environmental benefits. He believes setting a target for increasing the amount of goods moved by train will encourage more private sector investment in the sector.
One freight train can replace up to 129 lorries, while moving a tonne of freight by rail produces a quarter of the carbon emissions compared with road transport, according to the Department for Transport.
Work to build the first railway station along the Great Eastern Railway in 100 years hit a “critical milestone”, an MP said.
An article on the BBC website says Beaulieu Park station is being built in north Chelmsford, Essex, at a cost of £160 million.
Parts of the site’s roof have been completed and a signal power supply point in central Chelmsford is built, the city’s Conservative MP Vicky Ford said.
The new station is expected to open by the end of 2025.
