Transport for London opened a formal consultation on April 18 for the withdrawal of paper multimodal Day Travelcard tickets, which would mainly affect passengers travelling to and from the capital from stations on the national rail network outside London. TfL explained that ‘we are required to explore this because of conditions of government funding settlements’ relating to the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. ‘Our funding agreement with government requires TfL to develop and implement changes that will generate between £0·5bn and £1·0bn per year of additional revenue from 2023.’ The consultation is due to close on May 23; a final decision will rest with London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Govia Thameslink Railway has completed the refurbishment of the 100th Class 377 Electrostar EMU under its £100m Project Aurora programme. Each EMU is being equipped with features to improve reliability and passenger experience, including enhanced lighting, renewed wiring and USB charging ports. The project is being funded by Porterbrook; Alstom is providing the technical specification, design work and materials, while GTR is undertaking the installation and testing. All 270 units are due to be refreshed by the end of 2025.
London Northwestern Railway has announced that from the timetable change on May 21, it will no longer be offering first class accommodation on its services. ‘First class use has been in decline for some time’, the operator explained ‘By making the whole of our trains available to everyone, we are able to provide an extra 4·7 million seats’.
Buckinghamshire County Council has given final planning approval for construction of a 345 m long viaduct to take High Speed 2 across the A413 road and an existing railway lines south of Wendover. The viaduct has been designed by contractor EKFB, the ASC joint venture of Arcadis Setec and COWI, and architect Moxon.
Following an initial trial at London Euston in 2021, eight Network Rail-managed major stations have now deployed touchscreens for deaf passengers supplied by LB Foster. British Sign Language interpreters have created a library of standard messaging as part of the screen software; these messages can be displayed instantly. BSL messages reflecting operational changes can be uploaded to the screens within 1 h. Following Euston, the screens are now in use at Birmingham New Street, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds, Reading, London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads, with London’s King’s Cross and Liverpool Street to follow in May.
From May 6, London North Eastern Railway’s daily 11.00 London King’s Cross – Edinburgh service will be named The Carolean Express to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III.
Jason Prince has been appointed as Director of the Urban Transport Group of city region transport authorities, succeeding Jonathan Bray. Currently Head of Public Affairs for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, he previously worked for Transport for Greater Manchester. He will take up the post in early July 2023.
On-track plant specialist Permaquip has appointed Richard Cradock as Product & Service Development Manager. ‘We are thrilled to welcome Richard to our team’, said Scott Harrison, Permaquip’s Chief Operating Officer. ‘His extensive rail experience and knowledge of the industry will be a tremendous asset to our company as we continue to provide the best rail plant systems to our customers, both nationally and internationally.’