In The News | 28th April 2023 | Latest Rail News

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InTheNews: The latest rail news on Thursday, 28th April 2023

Rail workers at 14 train operators are to strike on May 13, the day of the Eurovision Song Contest final, after union leaders rejected a pay offer, the RMT announced.

An article on the Evening Standard says in a statement, the RMT’s General Secretary Mick Lynch said the offer included a first-year payment of five per cent but only if the union terminated its industrial mandate.

The union said discussions would then have to begin without it having any industrial leverage at the negotiating table.

The news follows an earlier announcement by the drivers union Aslef of strikes on May 12 and 31, as well as on June 3, the day of the FA Cup Final.

The Prime Minister has refused to change funding rules which opponents say is depriving Wales of billions of pounds in rail investment stemming from a major high speed rail scheme in England.

An article on the ITV website says speaking ahead of the Welsh Conservative conference, Rishi Sunak said that the HS2 project “will bring benefits to the people in Wales, particularly those in Mid-Wales and North Wales”.

All four Welsh political parties – including the Conservatives – want HS2 to be reclassified as England-only because any spending on transport in England triggers extra funding for Wales, in this case an estimated £5 billion.

HS2 has taken a further step forward in decarbonising the constructure sector, completing a world first by installing four 30-metre deep piles on a London site using a hydrogen dual-fuel piling rig.

The trial took place as part of work done in partnership by ULEMCo and Cementation Skanska, working with the world-leading Business Research Establishment (BRE), funded through the BEIS Phase 1 Red Diesel Replacement competition.

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TransPennine Express (TPE) has proven going green can be rewarding after being formally recognised as Carbon Literate.

It is the first time a UK train operator has achieved the standard set by the Carbon Literacy Trust and is the first step in a long-term programme designed to enhance TPE’s approach to sustainability and environment awareness.

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Photo credit: HS2 Ltd

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