Railnews Magazine May 2017 Back Issue

STRIKES have continued in the dispute over driver-controlled operation, most recently on Northern, while talks with Merseyrail broke down a few days earlier and negotiations between the RMT and Govia Thameslink Railway have been adjourned.

Away from industrial relations news, uncertainty about the risks involved in running a franchise has prompted the Department for Transport to offer a higher level of revenue protection to future bidders in certain cases.

Elsewhere, in a bid to reduce disruption, a new database has been put together by Network Rail in a bid to identify problem trees which could obstruct trains.

New stations added to the network this spring have included Ilkeston in Derbyshire and Cambridge North, which is to open on 21 May, while further north the Borders Railway could be restored through to Carlisle as one of a series of projects which is to be examined by Transport Scotland.

Work is continuing on Great Western electrification, and the Railnews feature for May suggests that new approaches to power for trains mean that the future could be increasingly bi-modal rather than simply diesel or electric. However the trains of the future might be powered, the ORR has warned that passenger satisfaction has been declining recently because performance in some areas has been poor, while the National Audit Office has delivered a damning verdict on the progress of smart ticketing on National Rail, accusing the DfT of failing to live up to its promises.

Meanwhile, rugby players are in training for a major event on 19 May, when railway teams from around the industry will meet in Cardiff for a day.

All this, and much more, is in Railnews for May.