Britain’s biggest train company has warned passengers to expect disruption due to “widespread IT issues”. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) – parent company of Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern – issued an alert on the brands’ social media channels. Photo: Doug Peters/PA Wire The message stated: “We are currently experiencing widespread IT issues across our entire network. “Our IT teams are actively investigating to determine the root cause of the problem. “We are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice cancellations, particu ..read more

Press release issued by: Department for Transport The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill has been introduced to Parliament today (18 July 2024). A passenger is about to enter the carriage at Hereford railway station, May 2023. Polina Yenal/iStock After years of unacceptably low performance, the bill is a landmark change that will allow the government to bring rail passenger services back into public ownership, amending legislation to make appointing a public sector operator the default, rather than a last resort. Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, said: “This is a clear signal ..read more

Several newly-elected Labour MPs have criticised the reliability of train services after suffering disruption during journeys to take their seats in the House of Commons. The politicians posted on social media about their disrupted journeys as they travel to London ahead of the Parliament sitting on Tuesday for the first time since the General Election. Paul Foster, MP for South Ribble, wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Day One on my way to Parliament and guess what… @AvantiWestCoast go and cancel my train just as I get to Preston station. “To make matters worse, the train actually pulls into th ..read more

Grab the brand-new August issue of Railways Illustrated magazine for the best coverage of today’s railway scene. Railways Illustrated reflects the energy and vitality of the present-day railway scene. Here’s what’s in the August issue: An asset, not a liability!  Our August issue is a celebration of the Class 14s, which are marking the 60th anniversary of their introduction into service with British Rail. Having written comprehensively about the history of the Class 14s in British Railways traffic and during their time in industry, Anthony Sayer presents a s ..read more

Music fans travelling to Glastonbury Festival by train on Thursday have been warned they could face disruptions. Great Western Railway (GWR) said shortly before 8am on Thursday that all lines were blocked at West Ealing in west London due to “the emergency services dealing with an incident near the railway”. This affected services to and from London Paddington, which is on the route serving Castle Cary, the nearest station to the festival site. Several trains were cancelled, including the 8.38am departure from the capital to Castle Cary. The lines reopened at around 9am but services continued ..read more

Train cancellations in England and Wales have risen by 8% in the past year, latest figures show. iStock The equivalent of 249,133 trains were cancelled in the year to the end of March, according to Office of Rail and Road (ORR) data, an average of 681 every day. During the previous 12 months, the total was 230,799 at a daily average of 632. The figures relate to what the rail industry describes as the cancellations score, which counts each fully cancelled service as one cancellation, and each part-cancelled service as half a cancellation. Average train fares rose by nearly 5% in England and Wa ..read more

Avanti West Coast said passengers can now travel to Keswick with a single ticket, despite the town not having a railway station. iStock Keswick has been added to train journey planners in an effort to encourage tourists to travel car-free, with passengers able to buy a single ticket covering travel by train and bus to and from Keswick, removing the need to make multiple transactions. The tickets can be used for train travel to and from Penrith station, which is connected to Keswick by 30-minute bus services – which have doubled in frequency this summer – operated by Stagecoach. Integrated sing ..read more

Roger Rounce’s new book presents a round-the-UK tour of diesel and electric locomotives, from Devon and Cornwall right the way up to Scotland and everything else in between. The new book ‘Diesel and Electric Locomotives Around the UK in the 80s and 90s’ will be published by Gresley Books later this month, with pre-orders now open. Informative and entertaining, the new book presents images of diesel and electric engines that many are lucky enough to remember seeing in their heyday and which many will wish they had. The locomotive names, liveries and locations featured will bring back many fond ..read more

Rail passengers were told to travel by taxi instead of train as a signal failure caused huge disruption to rail services on Tuesday. South Western Railway (SWR) said that, due to the signalling problem at Basingstoke in Hampshire, some lines were blocked. Passengers were warned of cancellations, delays of up to an hour, or alterations to services until late afternoon. A message to passengers said: “Due to the level of disruption to your journey, passengers are now able to source their own taxis and claim them back through the SWR website between Basingstoke and Woking.” SWR services into Londo ..read more

No mainline train services are able to enter or leave London’s Euston station on Wednesday morning due to a fatality on tracks in Hertfordshire. National Rail Enquiries said the incident is affecting passengers travelling with Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway and Southern. Disruption is expected to continue until 10am. British Transport Police said it received a report of a casualty on tracks near Watford Junction station, Hertfordshire at 6.04am on Wednesday. Paramedics attended but the person was pronounced dead at the scene. Affected passengers are able to use tickets on some ..read more