Railnews Magazine March 2024 Edizione posteriore

The draft Rail Reform Bill has received a mixed response, with any move towards Great British Railways being welcomed by many, although critics say it is too little, too late, because it has no chance of becoming law before the next General Election.

There has also been criticism of the 4.9 per cent increase in regulated rail fares in England, and performance problems between London and Reading have led to the announcement of a £140 million Recovery Plan by Network Rail.

HS2 continues to attract the headlines. The Public Accounts Committee says the project is now ‘very poor value for money’, but work is continuing on Phase 1 between London and Birmingham and a tunnelling machine has completed a 16km journey under the Chilterns.

The fate of the Alstom works at Derby remains uncertain, but rail minister Huw Merriman has written to operators and manufacturers, setting out potential orders for at least 2,000 rail vehicles, while Siemens welcomed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his cabinet at the Goole Rail Village.

In other news, multiple landslips blocked a number of lines during February, and as Railnews was going to press Network Rail reported another slip, at Stoke Mandeville near Aylesbury.

The final stage of a scheme to modernise signalling on the Cornish main line has begun, Network Rail has taken another step towards Net Zero by laying plastic sleepers in a tunnel and Transport for London has launched a consultation into an extension of the DLR.

Business news leads with a report that future passenger contracts will include ‘risk and reward’, FirstGroup’s open access operator Lumo is eyeing an extension to Glasgow Central, four bidders for Transport for London’s Elizabeth Line have been shortlisted, and lobby group Rail Partners has published a ‘Manifesto for Rail’.

Railnews for March is out now.