Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Tuesday, 26th July 2022
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Tuesday, 26th July 2022
The impact of this week’s first rail strike will be felt from late afternoon today, before services are severely disrupted tomorrow when 40,000 workers stage a new walkout in the bitter row over jobs, pay and conditions.
An article on the Mail online says the first train to be cancelled due to the strike is the 5.30pm Grand Central service from Sunderland to London King’s Cross tonight, while all Caledonian Sleeper services between Scotland and the capital tonight are axed.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail and 14 train operators will walk out tomorrow, crippling services across the UK with only a fifth of trains set to run, on around half of the network.
Meanwhile an article in City A.M says transport secretary Grant Shapps was accused of blocking the negotiations between rail operators and unions that could end the ongoing strikes.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) called on Shapps to “stop prolonging the rail dispute” which has threatened to bring the country to a standstill.
The DfT (Department for Transport) rebutted the accusations, saying the government has never meddled in the negotiations between unions and employers.
In other news passengers across the North and Midlands are one step closer to quicker, greener and more reliable train services as Dorothy, HS2’s Tunnel Boring Machine, has made her first break through on the London to Birmingham route after eight months underground.
Breaking through at Long Itchington Wood late last week, Dorothy – one of HS2’s ten custom built Tunnel Boring Machines – completed the first of 64 miles of tunnel which will span intermittently between London and Manchester.
The tunnel network is set to improve transport across the country, level up the North and Midlands and bring the Europe’s largest rail project to life.
To add some pizzazz to travel messages ahead of next weekend’s Brighton and Hove Pride, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has enlisted the help of two of Brighton’s most iconic drag queens.
Stephen Richards and Jason Sutton – better known as Lola Lasagne and Miss Jason – have both been part of the UK drag scene for over 25 years, performing regular shows in Brighton and beyond.
With such unique and recognisable voices, the rail operator snapped them up to record special-edition station announcements that will grab attention in the week leading up to Pride (From 1st August).
Photo credit: HS2 Ltd
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