Railnews Magazine June 2022 Back Issue

THE staff at 13 train operating companies have voted in favour of rail strikes. The ballot also included RMT members at Network Rail, who have added their support for walkouts. The RMT is now considering what action to take.

Disruption has continued on ScotRail, as the driver shortages and industrial action continues. About 320 ScotRail services could not run on 29 May, but there has been a new pay offer.

A fine of £1.4 million has been levied on Network Rail after a lineside worker was crushed, and the new chief inspector of rail accidents has warned that the lessons of the two track fatalities at Margam are not always being heeded. Meanwhile, two Transport for Wales units were damaged when they collided for a stolen mini-digger. They will be out of service for months, and their loss is expected to disrupt TfW services.

The long-delayed Elizabeth Line has finally been opened through central London, and only Bond Street is yet to open because construction work is still in progress there. Thameslink has launched a new direct service between Hertfordshire and Kent, via central London.

In other news, trains returned to the Scottish village of Reston on 23 May for the first time since 1964, staff from Network Rail have come to the aid of rail colleagues in Ukraine, the newest and longest railway bridge in the Midlands is now open for traffic, the first freight train since 2005 has carried timber on the Cambrian line, and the frequency of trains on the Dartmoor Line has doubled to hourly.

The Department for Transport has hailed its Great British Rail Sale of discounted Advance tickets as a ‘runaway success’, and Network Rail has carried out its first tests of a train retrofitted with ETCS.

Railnews for June is out now.