Railnews Magazine July 2020 Back Issue

TRANSPORT SECRETARY Grant Shapps has given the clearest indication yet that the old style rail franchises will not be revived after the pandemic. He told an MPs’ committee that concessions will be the way forward. Meanwhile, the cost of keeping the existing franchises in business under Emergency Measures Agreements has been revealed by rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris to be £3.5 billion – so far.

Railway investment is continuing: the government has unveiled a £350 million plan to introduce digital signalling on the East Coast Main Line from London to Stoke Tunnel, not far south of Grantham, and new pictures show how work on HS2 has started at a major site which will mark the beginning of the Chiltern Tunnels.

An inquiry has been launched after an incident at a Hertfordshire station when trains operated by Chiltern Railways and London Underground came within metres of each other, while a warning has been sounded by Network Rail about the increased risks which level crossing users could be facing as lockdown restrictions are eased.

News about stations includes an £8 million redevelopment of Aberdeen. ScotRail said one effect would be ‘significant changes to the look and feel’. Further south, the site of the proposed new station at Cambridge South has been revealed by Network Rail. The decision followed a six-week public consultation.

In business news, the European Union says 16 July will be the deadline for deciding whether to approve Alstom’s bid to take over Bombardier, and Stagecoach has lost its High Court battle for compensation against the Department for Transport after three franchise bids had been ruled ‘non-compliant’ over pensions.

The feature in the July Railnews looks back rather than forward. With railway finances in disarray, we ask whether the industry will have much time for nostalgia.

July’s Railnews is out now.