Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Friday, 8th October 2021
Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Friday, 8th October 2021
Figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) show that rail travel started to rebound between April and June 2021, following the gradual easing of government COVID restrictions.
Overall, there were 182 million rail passenger journeys made between April and June this year. This is more than five times the 35 million journeys made in the same quarter last year (April to June 2020).
Commenting on the figures Andy Bagnall from the Rail Delivery Group said: “Rail companies are working together to welcome people back to train travel, whether to visit friends or family or head into the workplace.
The installation of a new canal bridge has marked a major milestone in the £56 million redevelopment of University railway station in Birmingham.
Spanning the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, the bridge links the new station to the University of Birmingham campus and will be crossed by thousands of passengers a day when it opens next summer.
The existing 1970s building, which serves both the University of Birmingham campus and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, is one of the busiest stations in the region.
Entrepreneurs and innovators pioneering new ways of creating a better transport system will see their ideas brought to life from idea through to inception with thanks to government funding, Transport Minister Trudy Harrison has announced.
Up to 53 projects will be awarded a share of £1.95 million in Department for Transport funding. Past winners include a purifying system to lower virus transmission on trains, a portable charger for use at remote locations and a battery cooling system.
A five-year-old boy had his wish granted by Network Rail and South Western Railway (SWR) as he got to be a train driver – or as close as a five-year-old can get!
During the summer, Amtek Gorczyca left a message on a Wish Tree at London Waterloo station. The message said: “I want to be a train driver”, and station staff swooped into action with their colleagues at SWR.
At the visit last weekend Amtek, from Finchley, north London, was made an honorary member of the team and was given a tour of the platforms, sat in a driver’s cab and was shown how trains work and got to blow a train horn.
Photo credit: Office of Rail and Road
