Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Tuesday, 9th August 2022
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Tuesday, 9th August 2022
Avanti West Coast has imposed a stripped-down timetable “until further notice” over what it claims is “unofficial strike action” as drivers call in sick and refuse to take overtime.
The article in the i news says just four trains an hour will run from London Euston to Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham from 14 August under the plans, while just one train every two hours will run from London to Edinburgh via the West Midlands.
The rail firm, which is one of several locked in a dispute with the Aslef train drivers’ union over pay, blamed the “current industrial relations climate” for severe staff shortages on its network.
An Aslef spokesperson told i: “There is no unofficial action by drivers at Avanti West Coast. The company needs to stop lying and start recruiting enough drivers to deliver the services it promises passengers it will run.”
£90 million worth of upgrades are to be delivered by Network Rail over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Among the work includes HS2 preparatory works at London Euston to help deliver the high-speed railway for passengers and boost capacity.
Network Rail says the vast majority of Britain’s rail network (over 95 per cent) will be open for business as usual this coming Bank Holiday weekend.
Network Rail has opened a consultation on reintroducing a passenger service on a freight-only line.
The article on the BBC website says the nine-mile Waterside track in Hampshire closed to passenger trains in 1966 but the plan would see services run from Southampton to a new station in Hythe.
Under the proposals, Marchwood station will be upgraded and Platform 5 at Southampton Central refurbished.
The consultation began on Monday and runs until Friday 9 September.
The National Railway Museum has signed a three-year loan agreement with the Barrow Hill Engine Shed Society to enable Midland Railway locomotive no.158A to go on static public display at Barrow Hill roundhouse.
The locomotive travelled to Barrow Hill last Thursday from Locomotion in Shildon, where the engine had been receiving conservation work and asbestos remediation.
Photo credit: National Railway Museum
