In The News | 3rd March 2023 | Latest Rail News
Click here to hear the latest rail news for Friday 3 March 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news for Friday 3 March 2023
The HS2 rail project could be delayed as one of several possible options being considered to curb rising costs, the project leader said.
According to an article on the Mirror website, in an interview with the BBC, Mark Thurston, CEO of HS2, said the impact of inflation on the project over the past year has been “significant… be it timber, steel, aggregates for… all the concrete we need to build the workplace, labour, all our energy costs, fuel”.
Mr Thurston told broadcaster HS2 he was in talks with suppliers and the government to find ways to minimize rising costs.
He said: “We’re looking at the timing of the project, the phases of the project, we’re looking at where we can use our supply chain to secure a lot of the things that inflation is costing us more.”
A train service running between London and various Scottish cities, stopping at Carlisle, was nationalised.
An article on the Carlisle News & Star website states that the Caledonian Sleeper services will be provided by the Scottish Government from the end of the current Caledonian Sleeper franchise on 25 June 2023.
Speaking to Parliament yesterday (2 March), Transport Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “Having declared in October that the existing Caledonian Sleeper franchise would expire in June 2023, I want to give train staff and passengers as much so as much certainty as possible about the future.”
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All new Merseyrail trains running on the network have had to be grounded for a few days.
An article on the Echo website says the newspaper understands that all new Class 777 trains introduced to the network so far have been sidelined for a few days because of a software issue.
The new trains, previously only operating on the Kirkby line, are now back on the network after work to update the software.
Merseyrail insists the issue has not affected the launch of the new trains, which will hit a key milestone on Monday when the Kirkby line is fully stocked with Class 777s. Then work begins to prepare the Ormskirk line for the arrival of the new fleet.
A closed ticket office at a train station in danger of collapsing has led to the closure of a platform.
An article on the BBC website says Greater Anglia said the problem at Brandon station in Suffolk would affect passengers bound for Norwich as trains are unable to stop.
The roof of the listed building, which was decommissioned in 1978, will be removed “as an emergency measure” so that experts can inspect it, the operator added.
Credit: Richard Clinicick
