Rail group deplores lack of industry improvements plan
The Railway Industry Association has criticised the continuing absence of an updated Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline, which the Government promised to publish annually but which last appeared more than four years ago. RIA points out that today marks four years, four months, four weeks and four days since a version of the Plan last appeared, accompanied by a promise of 12-month updates. As recently as last month, rail minister Huw Merriman was quoted as saying that he would give a ‘definitive view’ on the future of the Plan ‘in a very short timescale’.
Trains are set to start running again on part of the line between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury, which has been blocked since 8 March by a landslip near Oakengates. Network Rail said more than 5,000 tonnes of material had slipped beneath a 50-metre section of the railway after persistent heavy rain over the winter months weakened the earthwork. Its engineers have been ‘working around the clock’ since last week to clear the site to allow access for the materials and equipment needed to repair the embankment.
Alstom has published proposals to run a new open access service between London, Shropshire and Wrexham, echoing the former Wrexham and Shropshire operation which closed in January 2011. Alstom, which is one of the world’s major builders of rolling stock, has formed a partnership with SLC Rail and is submitting a formal application to the Office of Rail and Road today.
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