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Dec 4, 2024 · South Western Railway will be the first private passenger operator to be renationalised under the new Passenger Railway Services Act, the Government has confirmed. The former franchise, which is currently a National Rail Contract, was to have expired on 28 May 2023 but was extended by a Notice of Variation to 25 May 2025 and will end then. South Western Railway is owned by FirstGroup (70 per ...

Sep 26, 2022 · The government has unveiled a Growth Plan which includes lower taxes, new ‘investment zones’ and investment in infrastructure. This features 86 schemes to improve roads, and 10 for railways. The rail schemes included in the Plan have previously been proposed, and in some cases work on them has already begun. They are Cambridge South station, the Northumberland Line, White Rose station ...

Jul 15, 2021 · THE Transport Decarbonisation Plan unveiled by the government has been welcomed by the railfreight industry. The plan sets out a programme of decarbonising transport completely by 2050, and is being described by the government as a 'greenprint'. Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: 'It’s not about stopping people doing things: it’s about doing the same things differently. We will still ...

Jan 30, 2025 · The Chancellor’s plans for long-term economic growth have been welcomed by rail industry observers, because they include substantial investment in railways, but one transport campaigning group said it was ‘disappointed’. Deputy chair of the National Infrastructure Commission Julia Prescot said ...

Aug 25, 2022 · The number of passengers on National Rail reached 95 per cent of the pre-Covid level on one day earlier this month, and figures on other days were also above 90 per cent, according to the Department for Transport. The latest official statistics show that the peak was reached on 10 August, when it was 95 per cent. It was 94 per cent on 7, 8 and 11 August. The totals eased back to 88 per cent on ...

Nov 28, 2024 · This is an archived story, and some of the details have since changed. For an update, click here The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act has received Royal Assent, and it means that public ownership of the former passenger franchises is now the default, rather than the last resort. Some parts of the 1993 Railways Act, which privatised the railway, have been amended. The first ...

Nov 20, 2023 · The government is said to be poised to reintroduce a degree of commercial freedom in National Rail Contracts, with the intention of allowing operators to increase profits. It is reported that the owners of operators are urging the government to loosen the tight restrictions of the present contracts. These were introduced in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic which led to the conventional ...

Dec 1, 2022 · Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews. Chris Jones-Bridger, Buckley Flintshire Once again positive news regarding passenger demand especially given that service provision is still below pre covid levels and for various reasons subject to unpredictability. With revenue still lagging behind volume the immediate challenge for service ...

Review launched of winter disruption on Merseyrail A review has been ordered after winter weather caused serious disruption on the Merseyrail network because of snow and sub-zero temperatures. Some passengers were stranded on board one train for over three hours on 9 January after ice on the third rail had caused it to stall, while all services were cancelled for two hours, which caused ...