In The News: 3rd April

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Ministers have been urged to ensure a rail engineering firm reported to be planning to axe 100 jobs in Kilmarnock is not breaching contract conditions by shifting work 240 miles away.

That’s according to an article in The Herald, which says Scottish Labour made the call after it emerged Wabtec is planning to ‘consolidate’ its operations in Doncaster.

Wabtec said the decision is not related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It says decisions like this are never easy, but over the past few years the site has experienced reduced volume.

Network Rail is giving thousands of British firms a vital boost to their cashflow during the coronavirus crisis.

The company has announced a move to immediate payments for its suppliers, which means payments could be up to seven days quicker for SMEs and up to 28 days quicker for other suppliers.

It was one of several measures revealed when railbusinessdaily.com spoke with its commercial and procurement director Clive Berrington.

Read the full interview here.

Details have been revealed of emergency working principles which aim to help the rail continue to serve the nation but operate in a sustainable and safe manner.

The details have been released by the TSSA union, and have been agreed by most of the train operating companies, Network Rail and all the rail unions.

It is based on three key principles: working together, operational requirements and protecting workers.

Read more here.

Finally, and several of the national newspaper feature an article of a train driver who has been filmed ‘body-slamming’ a teenager accused of assaulting a ticket inspector.

The Metro says on the platform the train’s driver climbed out the front to come and defend the inspector.

A spokesperson for South Western Railway said they would always advise ‘against physical contact’, but added that the driver in this case ‘was in a very difficult position as his colleague was being assaulted’.

Photo credit: Chrispo/Shutterstock

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