Railnews Magazine Railnews September Back Issue

MORE strikes have been called by three rail unions during September, while controversy surrounds the decision of Avanti West Coast to cut its services on the grounds that drivers are taking unofficial industrial action, which the unions deny.

In other news, in spite of strikes the number of passengers reached 95 per cent of pre-Covid levels in early August, London Bridge was closed on 17 August after a railway arch fire, plans to reopen the ‘Waterside Line’ between Totton and Fawley are moving forward, Network Rail has unveiled three options for the redevelopment of Troon station, a major upgrade of Oxford station is going ahead and a project to renew the pumps which protect the Severn Tunnel has been completed.

In London, TfL has agreed funding with the DfT, but transport secretary Grant Shapps has awarded it on the condition that TfL plans for driverless Underground trains.

Leading business news is the decision of Dutch Abellio to sell its train and bus contracts in Britain to a new company based here, which will be led by Abellio UK’s managing director Dominic Booth. The fares rise for 2023 is to be below the rate of July’s RPI, which was 12.3 per cent, but the DfT has declined to say what next year’s increase will be, except that changes will be delayed again from January to March.

Railway people making headlines include long-serving railwayman Adrian Shooter, who was at the unveiling of a statue of himself at London Marylebone station, and Tyne & Wear Metro driver Richard Neesham, who has retired from the Metro at the age of 75.

This month’s feature reports on the proposed Mid Cornwall Metro, for which Cornwall Council has applied for a Restoring Your Railway grant of almost £50 million.

Railnews for September is out now.