In The News: 27th April

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From today Transport for London is placing 7,000 staff, whose work has been reduced or paused as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, on furlough.

The company says it will save it an estimated £15.8m every four weeks. This will partly reduce the huge financial impact of the virus, with tube journeys falling by 95%.

London’s Transport Commissioner Mike Brown said they are having constructive talks with the Government about the support needed. He is hopeful for an urgent agreement so they can continue to provide the city with the vital transport it needs now and going forward.

Plans for First Rail’s new venture, a direct service linking Edinburgh, the north-east and London, continues to gather pace.

The company has announced Helen Wylde as MD, Matthew Lee as Commercial and Customer Experience Director, and says the first of the new trains has arrived in Britain.

The service is planned to be launched in October 2021.

Network Rail’s Managing Director in the Wales and Western region has spoken to railbusinessdaily.com about the amazing recruitment campaign for signallers.

Mark Langman also says that the present situation has brought to the fore the way communications are taking place across the area.

He says they are using technology like video conferencing and conference calls much more to keep in touch with 1,000s of home workers and frontline colleagues in depots.

You can read the full article here.

Finally, and the Coronavirus lock-down guidelines has led to changes to everyone’s lives, including trainspotters.

But rather than put hobbies on hold, the traditional spotter has thinking outside the box.

Leading the way has been Railcam’s Jamie Rowley who has been using social media to share photographs or videos as part of the #SpottingFromHome campaign.

It’s been a big success with 2.7 million impressions over the past 4 weeks.

Photo credit: Ms Photo/ Shutterstock

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