Railnews Magazine

The dismissal of Chris Gibb as a non-executive director of DfT Operator is the front page story in the May edition of Railnews. Mr Gibb had expressed a personal view about HS2 rolling stock at a Parliamentary meeting, and one Conservative MP responded: ‘If Labour can’t handle straight talking about trains, what hope is there for honest advice on anything?’

A failure of overhead wires at Manchester Piccadilly which caused serious disruption for several days has been blamed on cutbacks by the RMT, but Network Rail said the repairs had proved to be more complicated than expected.

A union published new figures about the level of violence and abuse faced by staff, warning that the situation is now ‘out of control’. The TSSA released the figures to mark Workers’ Memorial Day.

Younger adults are putting themselves at risk on level crossings, according to the results of a survey released by Network Rail, which said the most dangerous factor was distraction. Meanwhile, Network Rail has closed a footpath crossing in Wakefield for three weeks, after four incidents in which young people behaved dangerously.

New railways are in the news. Contracts were signed on 1 May for the reconstruction of the Portishead Line, while the Department for Transport has been sent a feasibility study which sets out proposals to restore the former main line across the Peak District, where there are millions of visitors but most of them come by car.

Railway reforms also continue to make the headlines. The government has refused to change the Railways Bill to make the relative powers of the transport secretary and Great British Railways clearer, after the Commons Transport Committee had called for the proposed law to be amended to iron out ‘potential tension’ between the DfT and GBR.

Railnews for May is out now.