Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Tuesday, 2nd January 2024
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Tuesday, 2nd January 2024
Rail passengers travelling between Southampton and Bournemouth face a day of disruption due to urgent track repairs being carried out.
An article on the BBC website says Network Rail said “substantial rail damage” had been found in both directions on the line at Hinton Admiral.
It said specialist teams were on site working on the issue.
CrossCountry and South Western Railway services are likely to be disrupted until the end of Tuesday.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has promised to build a new £20 million railway station at Teesside Airport.
The article on the Yahoo! News website says the Tory mayor wants an accessible station built using money allocated to the area from the scrapping of HS2.
The current station has long been neglected. Services have been suspended since May 2022, with no timescale for them resuming.
National Rail says the closure is due to “urgent repairs to the railway”.
Plans for new rail stations and a wider range of services in Somerset are moving closer to becoming a reality.
An article on the BBC website says Chard Parkway, Wellington, Somerton, Langport, and The Gravity site near Bridgwater are looking to have railway stations in a few years.
Many of the county’s stations were closed due to the Beeching cuts of the mid-1960s.
Somerset Councillor Andrea Davis said “Better, more integrated” services were “vital” to the south west.
An Elizabeth line station assistant who has saved 29 people at risk of ending their lives at the railway has been made an MBE in the New Year Honours list.
Rizwan Javed works at Ealing Broadway station – where trains can pass through at high speeds – helped to save each life by being alert and approaching vulnerable individuals in difficult situations.
He is among several to have been recognised in the New Year Honours list. Network Rail’s Zoe Sookun has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the railway through her work in project managing the delivery of the Rail Aid for Ukraine project.
Ruth Busby, People and Transformation Director (Regional) for GWR and Network Rail Wales and Western has been awarded an OBE for services to diversity in the rail industry.
Photo credit: Tees Valley Combined Authority
