Train operator warns 'don’t travel' as storm approaches
TransPennine Express is warning passengers not to try to travel between north west England and the Scottish central belt tomorrow, after an amber weather warning of gale force winds gusting at up to 150km/h.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has revealed a three-phase plan to bring rail services and stations into the region’s Bee Network, integrating commuter rail routes with trams and buses. The plans envisage simple fares using contactless smartcards. The first phase, covering trains between Manchester, Glossop and Stalybridge, is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
Open access operator FirstGroup is considering running trains elsewhere in Europe, where more routes are being opened up to competition, but it signalled last night that it is still planning to stay on the rails in Britaiin, in spite of nationalisation.
FirstGroup has published a vigorous response to a warning over open access from the transport secretary, who has expressed doubts about the financial and operational case for more open access passenger services.
FirstGroup will publish a report today which sets out its support for open access passenger services, as the fight to protect them ramps up. The report and the event in London at which it will be unveiled had been planned before transport secretary Heidi Alexander published a letter to the Office of Rail and Road about open access licences two weeks ago. In it she signalled the likelihood that open access licences will be harder to obtain in the future.
Walkouts by Avanti West Coast train managers planned for the next two Sundays have been suspended to allow what their union the RMT is describing as ‘intensive talks’ to go ahead in a dispute over pay for rest day working.
The passenger watchdog Transport Focus has called for a rethink by operators over how they deal with passengers who have made a mistake when buying a ticket. The watchdog says it wants operators to ‘play fair’ with passengers who have made a mistake for the first time. They would be identified, informed of the reason for their error and the facts recorded so that they could be checked if problems occurred again.