Railnews Magazine September 2023 Edizione posteriore

A council has described the proposed closure of most station ticket offices in England as unlawful and ‘discrimination by design’. Protests are continuing.

In other news, Network Rail has been fined £6.7 million for the fatal derailment at Carmont in August 2020, train services in England were seriously disrupted over another three days when both the RMT and ASLEF staged more industrial action, and a light plane came close to colliding with a train in Cheshire on 16 August.

Tributes have been paid to a Nottinghamshire police sergeant who was hit by a train and fatally injured while helping a man who was trespassing on the East Coast Main Line.

Infrastructure developments have included confirmation that £140 million is to be invested in electrification of the East Kilbride line, while the Scottish transport minister has installed the last track clip on the Levenmouth link, which is due to open next year.

The end is in sight for the £30 million refurbishment of Barmouth Bridge, there has been more progress with the installation of digital signalling on the Northern City Line, and train regulation in Cornwall is also being brought up to date as most semaphore signals are to be replaced by colour lights controlled from Exeter.

The first pier has been built to form a major junction for HS2 at Water Orton. Also in the West Midlands, an updated 30-year strategy for railways in the region has been published.

Passenger totals on the London Underground over the August Bank Holiday were the highest since lockdowns, and this month’s feature examines how well National Rail is recovering from Covid.

Finally, Railnews is launching its Business website on 28 September at www.railnews-business.co.uk, and in this edition we include the first Business Spotlight section, which will appear in print regularly from now on.