Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Wednesday, 30th September 2026.
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Wednesday, 30th September 2026
The first trains on a £7bn new railway which will eventually connect Oxford and Cambridge could be further delayed due to industrial action.
An article on the BBC website says the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), which represents train guards, said on Tuesday that its Chiltern Railways members had agreed to take 24-hour strike action.
It comes following a lengthy dispute over plans for drivers to control the opening and closing of carriage doors on services along the first section of the new East West Rail (EWR) route.
Tony Baxter, the interim managing director of Chiltern Railways, said the firm was “disappointed” by the vote in favour of industrial action.
He added that it expected to operate the “vast majority” of services on the days of the industrial action.
A campaign for international trains to stop at a second station in London is gaining steam after the move was strongly backed by Rail Minister Lord Hendy.
An article on The Standard says Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin is already exploring the option of a rail halt in the east of the capital for planned new train services to and from France.
Lord Hendy, a former Transport Commissioner for London, believes using Stratford International could help to drive economic growth in this part of the city.
The peer told The Standard: “Stratford is already a major transport interchange with huge potential to deliver further growth in the local area.
“We believe there are opportunities to support this growth through international services stopping at the station, and we are proactively engaging with all industry partners to try to make this happen.”
New publicly-run trains will aim to have level boarding as standard to improve accessibility, as part of the Government’s upcoming strategy for new trains.
Great British Railways (GBR) will make unassisted level boarding between the train and platform a baseline expectation for all new trains wherever possible, in a move towards greater accessibility on the rail network.
This means passengers with disabilities, mobility difficulties and others who need assistance such as parents with pushchairs and those travelling with luggage will benefit from much easier journeys, giving everyone more freedom to travel independently.
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