Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Friday, 3rd March 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Friday, 3rd March 2023
The HS2 rail project could be delayed as one of a number of potential options being considered to curb rising costs, the project’s boss has said.
An article on the Mirror website says in an interview with the BBC, HS2 chief executive Mark Thurston said the impact of inflation on the project over the past year has been “significant… whether that’s in timber, steel, aggregates for all the concrete we need to use to build the job, labour, all our energy costs, fuel”.
Mr Thurston told the broadcaster HS2 was in discussion with suppliers and the government on finding ways to minimise the soaring costs.
He said: “We’re looking at the timing of the project, the phasing of the project, we’re looking at where we can use our supply chain to secure a lot of those things that are costing us more through inflation.”
A train service that runs between London and various Scottish cities, stopping at Carlisle, has been nationalised.
An article on the Carlisle News & Star website says the Caledonian Sleeper services will be provided by the Scottish government from the expiry of the current Caledonian Sleeper franchise on June 25, 2023.
Speaking in a statement to parliament yesterday (March 2), the minister for transport Jenny Gilruth said: “Having stated in October that the existing Caledonian Sleeper franchise would come to an end in June 2023, I want to give rail staff and passengers as much certainty as I can about the future.”
All the new Merseyrail trains running on the network had to be removed from service for a number of days.
An article on the Echo website says the paper understands that all the new Class 777 trains rolled out so far on the network were taken out of service for a number of days because of a software issue.
The new trains – which so far are only running on the Kirkby line – are now back in operation on the network following work to upgrade the software.
Merseyrail insist the problem has not interfered with the roll-out of the new trains, which will reach a key milestone on Monday when the Kirkby line is fully stocked with Class 777s. Work will then begin to prepare the Ormskirk line for the arrival of the new fleet.
A disused ticket office at a railway station that is at risk of collapse has led to a platform being closed.
An article on the BBC website says Greater Anglia said the issue at Brandon station, Suffolk, would affect passengers heading towards Norwich, with trains unable to stop.
The roof of the listed building, which shut in 1978, would be removed “as an emergency measure” to allow experts to assess it, the operator added.
Photo credit: Richard Clinnick
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