Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Monday, 26th February 2024.
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Monday, 26th February 2024
Go-Ahead Group’s chief executive has denied reports that the UK’s largest rail operator could be up for sale as part of a wider sell-off by its pension fund owner according to an article on the City A.M. website.
It comes after The Sunday Times reported that the Canadian pension fund OPTrust had brought in advisers and was looking to offload public transport interests including Go-Ahead.
The report said the firm had hired investment bankers at RBC and Macquarie to explore a potential sale of those holdings.
However, a statement from the chief executives of Go Ahead Group and its Spanish and Australian owners said the reports were “misleading” an created an “incorrect impression” that the firm was for sale.
The government has outlined further details of how it would redirect funding from the scrapped northern legs of the HS2 rail line.
An article on the BBC website says around £4.7 billion from cancelling the high-speed routes is due to be handed to councils outside big cities in the Midlands and northern England.
Councils would be responsible for allocating funds to specific projects, in line with government guidance.
But Labour said the “reannouncement” was just a “back of a fag packet plan”.
Rail services across Sussex, Surrey and Kent have been severely disrupted due to a major signalling fault.
An article on the BBC website says Thameslink Govia said on X, formerly Twitter, that no trains would be running on its Thameslink and Southern lines.
Services to and from Gatwick Airport have been affected, but trains are running between Brighton, Hastings and Eastbourne.
Network Rail is examining the track and will provide updates.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop has switched on an official countdown clock at Edinburgh Waverley, marking 100 days until the return of rail services to Levenmouth.
Countdown clocks have also been installed at the new stations in Leven and Cameron Bridge, ahead of ScotRail services starting on June 2.
Funded by Scottish Government, the £116 million Levenmouth Rail Link project will see a new six-mile double-tracked line reconnect the Fife communities to the railway after a gap of 55 years.
