Click here to listen to the latest news on Tuesday, 22nd September 2020
The story dominating the papers today is the news yesterday that new ‘recovery’ contracts have been granted to Britain’s rail companies, marking the end of the franchising model introduced in the mid-1990s.
The article in the Scotsman features the comments from the Department for Transport that says taxpayers will continue to cover losses made by operators for the next 18 months ahead of the creation of a ‘simpler and more effective structure’.
The article says that emergency measures introduced in March have cost the government at least £3.5 billion.
Meanwhile The Times says train companies will be penalised for operating late and dirty trains.
The article features comments from Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying that payments would be withheld from private operators that failed to meet new performance targets.
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The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has released more details into its investigation into the derailment and fire involving a tanker train at Llangennech last month.
Its preliminary examination has found that at some point during the journey the brakes on all wheels of the third wagon of the train had become applied, and remained so until the derailment.
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The Rail Minister Chris-Heaton-Harris has praised the role of Journey Makers for helping support passengers.
The Department for Transport announced the project with Volunteering Matters in May. Hundreds of volunteers have been deployed to stations across the country to support existing transport staff in helping passengers.
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Finally, and RailDirector’s first edition has gone live online. Several thousand printed copies were sent to rail industry directors and leaders last week, but now you can view it online.
Editor Dean Bruce says he’s been overwhelmed by the initial response to the magazine and can’t wait for more people to have access to it.
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Photo credit: Network Rail
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