Railnews - Latest News

New appeal for peace in pensions dispute (Thu, 17 May 2012)
East Midlands Trains has promised to protect pension benefits for employees and called on drivers' union Aslef to work with the company to resolve the dispute, as passengers faced the last of six days of industrial action affecting the EMT network.
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DfT gives green light to tram trains (Thu, 17 May 2012)
Tram trains will be running in Britain in 2015, as the result of a decision by the Department for Transport to invest £58 million in a trial scheme in South Yorkshire. Transport minister Norman Baker has given the green light to a project which will link the present Sheffield tram network and Rotherham via a new 400m connection near Meadowhall.
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Fraudulent travel set to rise after ticket offices close (Wed, 16 May 2012)
An increase in the number of passengers travelling without tickets is expected to cost London Midland more than £400,000 if proposals to close some ticket offices and reduce the hours at others go ahead. The figure comes from leaked documents which have been revealed by the RMT union, and follows a controversy last month when DfT emails seen by Railnews suggested that the decision to close some offices had already been made.
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East Midlands MD condemns escalation of dispute (Tue, 15 May 2012)
The Aslef pensions dispute which is disrupting East Midlands Trains again this week is showing signs of worsening, because the RMT is now also balloting its EMT members for industrial action. The operator's managing director David Horne has described the development as 'extremely unhelpful'.
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Major Northampton scheme gets green light (Tue, 15 May 2012)
Northampton station is in line for a £20 million redevelopment after confirmation of funding from the Department for Transport.
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New depot plans for Derby unveiled (Tue, 15 May 2012)
Plans for a new maintenance centre in Derby employing 400 people have been submitted for planning approval by Network Rail, which said the scheme was 'central' to its plans.
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Welsh station overcomes Beeching axe (Tue, 15 May 2012)

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New finance chief for FirstGroup (Mon, 14 May 2012)
FIRSTGROUP has named its new finance director, who is expected to take up the reins towards the end of the summer.
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Merseyrail unveils plans for new fleet (Mon, 14 May 2012)
Merseytravel has launched a programme to replace the ageing fleet of Merseyrail electric multiple units, and says it will start the tendering process later this summer. The fleet running on local lines in and around Liverpool was built more than 30 years ago, and is coming to the end of its life.
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More strikes loom as EMT talks fail (Fri, 11 May 2012)
More strikes seem set to go ahead on East Midlands Trains, after talks to resolve a pensions dispute broke down. The walkouts involve more than 400 Aslef drivers. Services were reduced or replaced by buses on Tuesday and Thursday last week, when drivers staged 24-hour strikes in protest at company proposals which Aslef claims will 'weaken' their pension arrangements.
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