Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 27th October 2022
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Thursday, 27th October 2022
West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has convened an emergency meeting with Northern Metro Mayors today to discuss the ongoing disruption faced by rail passengers across the North.
An article on the Business Desk says the talks with Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham; Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram; Mayor of the North of Tyne Jamie Driscoll and Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard follow weeks of disruption where hundreds of services have been cancelled by a number of rail operators, including TransPennine Express, Avanti West Coast and Northern.
The saga has affected thousands of commuters in the North, with people left facing last-minute cancellations or waiting hours for unreliable replacement services, according to the article.
Brabin, said: “Today, we as Northern Mayors come together to send a clear message that we will not stand for this shambles.”
The pressure is on for Avanti, with the government threatening to intervene if significant improvements to the West Coast Mainline are not delivered.
Transport minister Kevin Foster, speaking to ministers, told how Avanti West Coast has been granted a six-month extension to improve services following a summer reduction, with improvements having to be evident by 1 April.
There is clearly no room for fooling about with the date, the minister stated that the extension provides a clear opportunity to improve the service to the standard expected by the public, and failure to do so could result in the government taking over Avanti’s network.
A new train named after Hull’s famous Bee Lady, Jean Bishop, was unveiled yesterday and her family were there for the occasion.
An article on Hull Live says the engine arrived at Hull Paragon Interchange for the first time yesterday afternoon at around 2.30pm. Jean’s daughter Jennifer and her husband, Ken Baldwin, were at the station to see its arrival.
Hull Trains held a competition to name their fifth and final new train and Jean Bishop was the winner. All the shortlisted names had a connection to Hull including headscarf revolutionary Lillian Bilocca and even “Chip Spice”.
Space-age technology using lasers and plasma jets are being trialled as a more sustainable way to vaporise autumn leaves from railway lines and minimise passenger delays in the future.
Throughout October, Network Rail has been carrying out comprehensive testing using its multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) on heritage lines at the East Lancashire Railway.
Engineers have been testing if autumn treatment trains fitted with the laser beams and superheated plasma jets are as effective at cleaning rails as the current method using high pressure water systems.
Photo credit: Network Rail
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