NEWS
Greening attempts to dispel HS2 speculation
HS2 is “full steam ahead”, transport secretary Justine Greening has affirmed, following speculation that the project was “losing momentum” and Government support.
There was no HS2 legislation in this year’s Queens Speech, leading some to believe support for the project was wavering.
The Government strongly denies these claims and states that legislation was always expected to be introduced in next year’s Queens Speech.
According to The Spectator magazine, an unnamed Tory minister has described the project as “effectively dead” due to a loss of Treasury support, adding that the only thing keeping it going is David Cameron’s backing.
RMT in multiple Olympics disputes
The RMT is to ballot its members working for South West Trains, Greater Anglia and First Great Western in separate disputes over Olympics pay, conditions and bonuses. It has already announced strike action and other industrial action by staff working directly for TfL on July 1-2 and July 8-15.
FGW managing director Mark
Hopwood said the RMT demands amounted to ‘money for nothing’ in many cases for staff working in Cornwall and South Wales who would not be affected by the Olympics.
New South East franchise consultation launched by DfT
A public consultation has been launched to get people’s views on the new South Eastern franchise that will run from April 2014 to September 2020, with a possible extension of up to two years.
Rail minister Theresa Villiers said 4 | rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 12
But Greening told the Daily Telegraph there was “no wavering” and that both David Cameron and George Osborne are “four-square behind it”.
She compared it to the grand
Victorian railway projects, some of which faced scepticism at the time, but that we now look back on as “things of beauty”.
Penny Gaines, chair of Stop HS2, said: “We hope The Spectator is correct, and that Justine Greening is listening to the reservations of people outside the DfT and paying attention to the wider issues surrounding the HS2 proposal.
“David Cameron should do the right thing, switch off the life support for HS2 and scrap the project as soon as possible.”
At PMQs on June 13, David Cameron said: “I believe we should go ahead with HS2. I think it is very important for the economy of our country.
the new operator must improve stations, roll out smart ticketing and better passenger information offer punctual services. She added: “But we also want passengers and anyone else with an interest in the railways to tell us about other ways services could be improved.”
Metrolink line to Oldham opens
The new Manchester Metrolink line that extends the light rail network to Oldham has now opened. The line will eventually reach Rochdale and pass through Oldham town centre.
The service from Oldham Mumps reaches the city centre in 25 minutes, with trams every 12 minutes.
Cllr Andrew Fender,
chair of the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, said: “Today marks the latest stage of a massive expansion of the Metrolink network that will bring our trams to even more new destinations and open up even more opportunities for businesses and communities.”
But Lucy James, director of the Campaign for High Speed Rail, said: “This claim is nonsense. It is deluded and 100% Tory party internecine politics.”
Network Rail profits more than double
Network Rail has announced an increase in both profits and debts in its financial results for 2011/12, as well as progress on making efficiency savings and repaying money to the UK and Scottish governments.
Its post-tax profits increased by £441m to £754m: more than double 2010/11’s £313m. Capital expenditure was also
up, at £4.6bn, from £4bn the year before.
Staff numbers fell slightly to 35,253, from 35,606, though average salaries rose by 2.2%. Net debt rose to just over £27bn, up from £25bn in 2010/11.
Group finance director, Patrick Butcher, highlighted the reduction in operating costs of £120m on the year before and announced “clear and steady progress” in meeting efficiency targets.
“I think it is very important we get on board this high speed rail revolution.” Some saw this as less than a full-throated endorsement; “I believe we should” is hardly the same “we will”.
Crossrail 2 must come before HS2 phase 2, says Transport for London
Transport for London is insisting that Crossrail 2 – the proposed Chelsea to Hackney line – must be built or underway before the second phase of HS2 to avoid complete gridlock at Euston.
Both London’s transport commissioner Peter Hendy, speaking at the London Assembly’s
Transport
Committee in late May, and managing director of planning Michèle Dix speaking at the London Rail Conference on June 20, have said work needs to be done at Euston especially, and that provision for a Crossrail 2 station at Euston should be included in the HS2 Hybrid Bill when it goes before Parliament next year.
Hendy told the committee: “If [HS2] is built, and in particular if it is built beyond Birmingham, then certainly our very strong view is that you must have Crossrail 2 because otherwise all these people will turn up at this fabulous station at Euston and they’ll all have to walk down Southampton Row – because they won’t get on the Northern Line or the Victoria Line because they’re both full already. So we believe that a necessary precondition for HS2 – and certainly the second part of it – is that Crossrail 2 gets on the agenda and is built.
“It would be not much short of disastrous for the first part of HS2 to be developed without the necessary work at Euston to enable extra capacity at Euston, in due course, to be provided.”
© HS2 Limited
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