In The News | 22nd January 2024 | Latest Rail News

Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Monday, 22nd January 2024. Sponsored by Petards Rail

InTheNews Sponsored by Petards Rail: The latest rail news on Monday, 22nd January 2024

Storm Isha has sparked travel chaos across the UK, with rail companies advising passengers not to travel on Sunday due to amber wind warnings.

An article on the i News website says Network Rail has already said that disruption is “likely” to continue into Monday, while air traffic control restrictions are in place, leading to some flight cancellations.

The Met Office has said Storm Isha could cause the most widespread disruption on a national level of all nine named storms which have hit the UK so far this season.

ScotRail suspended services last night, not running them again until after rush hour today.

Grant Shapps has insisted that the northern leg of HS2 is not going ahead despite reports that regional mayors have been in secret talks to revive the project.

An article on the i News website says Conservative Mayor for the West Midlands Andy Street and Labour’s Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham have reportedly drawn up a cross-party plan which proposes using the private sector to fund the Birmingham-Manchester leg of HS2.

According to the Sunday Express, secret Government talks are due to be held next week to discuss the future of the rail project.

But Mr Shapps, the Defence Secretary, dismissed the reports on Sunday, insisting that “the decision has been made and the money is being spent elsewhere”.

Salisbury Railway Station has been chosen as the first station in the country to trial a new air-purification device to combat the effects of pollution.

An article on the Salisbury Journal website says the Pluvo Column, placed on platform four of the station, monitors and removes harmful pollutants from the air using advanced air filtration technology.

The air purification totem also features a QR code and phone number that allows customers to interact via text message with South Western Railway’s (SWR) pigeon mascot, Wesley Peck, to learn more about the new technology.

The residents of one UK town have been waiting 67 years for a train – ever since planners demolished their station in 1968.

An article in The Mirror says the West Lancashire town of Skelmersdal had its rail service cut when town planners tore up the rails in 1956 then in 1968 the railway station was demolished altogether.

There has been a longstanding campaign to get a new station for the town – and although progress has been slow, the vision for the line is definitely there, with Labour leader Keir Starmer recently committing to “get on” with such projects if elected, The Express reports.

Photo credit: South Western Railway

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