Wendy Morton, MP for Aldridge-Brownhills, was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Transport on December 19, replacing Chris Heaton-Harris, who has been appointed Europe Minister.
Angel Trains has signed £600m of new senior debt, arranged directly with a number of lenders and to be drawn next year for general corporate purposes, including the potential repayment of existing shorter-dated debt. ‘This represents effective senior funding which will ensure that sufficient liquidity is available to support new business whilst reducing refinance risk even further. We are also delighted to welcome a small number of new lenders into our financing group’, said CFO Alan Lowe on December 17.
On December 17 the government extended Transport for London’s coronavirus emergency funding deal until February 4.
The signing of the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement ‘is really positive news for the railway industry, supporting UK rail suppliers in developing greater trade ties with one of their top priority markets’, said Railway Industry Association CEO Darren Caplan on December 17. ‘A number of UK rail companies are already well established in Australia, but this Free Trade Agreement will allow greater trade and co-operation between the two industries by opening up Australian government contracts to suppliers and removing tariffs on railway products.’
Retail group Tesco has begun sending refrigerated containers by rail, with Direct Rail Services using Stadler Class 88 electro-diesel locos to haul twice-daily trains from the port of Tilbury to Coatbridge seven days a week.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has appointed Seb Dance as Deputy Mayor for Transport from January 4, succeeding Heidi Alexander, who is stepping down after 3½ years. Alexander will remain on the TfL board until the central section of Crossrail opens, and during this time will continue to chair TfL’s Elizabeth Line Committee. The Mayor intends to also appoint Dance to succeed Alexander as Deputy Chair of the TfL Board, subject to confirmation by the London Assembly.
Angel Trains has been accredited as a Platinum Employer against the Investors in People standards for organisational development, talent growth and human resource activity.
Built environment and rail sector recruitment specialist Coleman James has appointed Josh Haggart as Director of Rail, heading its new Doncaster office specialising in white-collar technical rail recruitment. The company plans to expand to 20 consultants over the next three years. He joins from Navartis.
RAIB makes four recommendations in its report into the runaway and derailment of wagons at Toton on January 17: DB Cargo should establish the extent to which vehicles are being left unsecured in its yards and sidings, and identify and address the possible reasons for this; the operator should review and improve its processes for trains arriving at yards so it is clear when tasks should be undertaken, who is responsible for them and how their completion is communicated; it should review its current arrangements for supervising, monitoring and auditing safety in its yards and sidings; Network Rail should revise its risk assessment process for trap points. Two learning points cover the importance of securing vehicles prior to detaching locomotives, and that the primary purpose of trap points located on the exit from sidings or a goods line is to protect running lines from runaway vehicles.