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Plans to change HS2 train size could reduce capacity and speed in north, says expert | HS2

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Plans to change the size of HS2 trains to maximise capacity are likely to inflate costs and mean fewer seats and slower services north of Birmingham, a senior government and rail industry figure has warned.

The £2bn order for 54 high-speed trains, to be built in Britain by a joint venture of Alstom and Hitachi, is under review as HS2 Ltd seeks to cut costs and renegotiate contracts.

The order was placed by the government in 2021, before the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 by Rishi Sunak in 2023. The 200m-long eight-carriage units were expected to double into 16-carriage trains, the size of a Eurostar. But that will now only be possible on the new line between London and Birmingham, with existing stations such as Manchester Piccadilly unable to accommodate a 400m-long train.

Limited to eight carriages, HS2 services will reduce capacity on the conventional railway line north of Birmingham, where the Pendolino trains currently operating are faster and longer – a situation the Department for Transport (DfT) and HS2 Ltd officials are seeking to avoid, potentially by ordering longer trains.

An option under consideration at HS2 is to order about 43 longer trains, at 250m-long, which could run to most stations.

However, Chris Gibb, a non-executive director of DfT Operator (DFTO), the state-owned rail operating company, has broken ranks to warn against varying the train order, which he said could pile on extra costs and still leave HS2 unable to match west coast main line fleets.

The Hitachi-Alstom trains would not be able to tilt like the Pendolinos used by Avanti West Coast, limiting their speed on curved conventional tracks, Gibb said.

He told politicians and industry representatives at the all-party parliamentary rail group in Westminster that despite his role and being a “keen advocate of HS2” for 18 years, he was speaking out in a personal capacity “because I feel obliged to offer leadership by example and to act in the public interest”.

Gibb said there could be “no doubt that if HS2 opened by replacing 11-coach Pendolinos with eight-coach trains these would be full and leave people behind on day one”.

But to change the contract, he said, would cost time and money – and each of the potential contract variations had downsides, including wasting work already done on HS2 stations and depots.

Gibb said the government should instead retain the original train order with Alstom and Hitachi, avoiding contractual penalties and delays. But it should also plan to replace the current Pendolino fleet with longer, faster, modern versions, ready for when HS2 services start running to the north around 2040.

He said this would “give a significant increase in capacity, revenue and a reduction in journey times on all routes, with no further railway construction needed for now”.

Lord McLoughlin, who was transport secretary when HS2 was voted into law, said “it’s a tragedy where we are now”, but questioned whether Gibb’s plan would also incur significant cost. Gibb said that he would “anticipate it’s a cost saving” as the railway would require fewer Pendolinos overall.

Lord Berkeley, a long-term HS2 sceptic, backed Gibb’s idea, saying: “It could be 2040 or 2050 [when services began]. Let’s have one consistent type of rolling stock so you can keep using them in any circumstances.”

Gibb said he did not know if the order would be varied. But there is widespread speculation that the contract could be amended at the long-awaited “reset” of HS2’s schedule and budget by chief executive, Mark Wild, which is now under discussion with ministers.

A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd said: “The Hitachi-Alstom joint venture is contracted to deliver a fleet of 54 new trains for HS2. No changes have been made to the original order.”

HS2 said they were still working closely with the manufacturer and the DfT to finalise train designs ahead of production. The trains will be built in Derby and Newton Aycliffe.

The DfT was approached for comment.



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London braces for second day of Tube strike disruption | London Underground

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A London Underground drivers’ strike will bring another day of transport disruption to the capital on Thursday, after the RMT union confirmed its action would go ahead.

Transport for London (TfL) urged the union to call off the strike, the second 24-hour stoppage this week in a dispute over the introduction of a four-day working week.

While passengers have been warned to check before they travel, with little or no service expected on some lines, TfL said that Tuesday’s strike did not close most of the network, after more drivers than expected reported for work.

The proposed change to the drivers’ working week has been strongly welcomed by the rival Aslef union, which represents just over half of Tube drivers in London, but blocked by the RMT.

TfL said that 60% of drivers worked on Tuesday, a figure that suggests many RMT members also did not go on strike.

A tired commuter on the Elizabeth line during the first of two 24-hour strikes. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The union has accused TfL of trying to force through working changes, although TfL has said the proposals are voluntary. No further talks have taken place since negotiations at Acas ended without resolution on Monday.

No service is expected on the Circle line, Piccadilly line and central sections of the Metropolitan and Central lines on Thursday, with other lines due to start later and finish earlier with less frequent services than usual.

However, other rail services including the Elizabeth line, London Overground, national rail and DLR services will run as normal. Buses will probably be crowded and slowed by more congested roads than usual.

A TfL spokesperson said: “We are grateful to our customers for their patience while they made their journeys on Tuesday in spite of the disruption on our network caused by the RMT’s industrial action.

“Oyster and contactless card taps were only down by around 10% across the whole day, showing that Londoners and visitors to the city were still able to travel despite the strike action.”

Contactless ticketing data showed that, while Tube journeys were down by 41%, passengers numbers were significantly higher than normal on buses, the Overground and Elizabeth line.

The spokesperson added: “We managed to run services on most lines, with the Jubilee line in particular running almost 90% of normally scheduled kilometres. We continue to urge the RMT to work with us to resolve their questions on the proposed four-day week.”

Services returned to normal without any residual impact from the strike on Wednesday morning, TfL said.

The RMT declined to comment. It has not scheduled any further strikes on the underground. Talks between the union and TfL are expected next week.



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London tube strike to go ahead after 11th-hour talks fail to find resolution | London Underground

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The strike on the London Underground will go ahead on Tuesday after a day of talks failed to avert industrial action.

About half of London’s tube drivers will take action, bringing widespread transport disruption to the capital. A second strike is planned for Thursday.

Hopes of a resolution were high after previous threatened action was suspended in May. However, despite 11th-hour negotiations at Acas between RMT union representatives and Transport for London (TfL), RMT drivers will strike on Tuesday and Thursday in a dispute over the introduction of a four-day working week.

TfL urged customers to check before travel, although it hopes to run about half of all tube services. Drivers in Aslef, a slight majority of those working on the tube, have welcomed the four-day week proposals and will not be on strike, limiting the impact of the RMT’s action.

Nonetheless, no service is expected on the Circle or Piccadilly lines, or in central sections of the Metropolitan and Central lines, during the strike. Tube services will also finish earlier and later than usual on functioning lines.

Other rail services, including the Elizabeth line, the London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway, will run as normal. Buses will operate as usual but are likely to be very busy and slowed by additional traffic on the roads.

The RMT union blamed TfL’s “refusal to engage meaningfully” with concerns over the proposed working patterns. A spokesperson said: “Despite our best efforts in ACAS talks, TfL have failed to provide assurances on our members deeply held concerns around fatigue, reduced flexibility, shift lengths and the impact these proposals could have in a safety-critical role like tube driving.

“We remain available for meaningful talks, but strike action tomorrow will now go ahead.”

A TfL spokesperson said: “It is bitterly disappointing that despite five hours of meetings with the RMT at ACAS and repeated assurances that the four-day working week proposals will remain voluntary, RMT has chosen to continue with its disruptive strike action. We will do all we can to provide as much service as possible during this action.”

TfL’s chief operating officer, Claire Mann, said: “Our proposals are, and have always been, clear. The completely voluntary four-day week has been designed to improve work-life balance and any of our tube drivers who do not wish to take up the new proposed way of working and associated changes to working arrangements can remain on a five-day working pattern.”

The strikes will take effect for 24 hours from 00.01 on both Tuesday and Thursday – potentially slightly less disruptive than the previous walkouts that ran over two 24-hour periods starting from midday, affecting four days in April.

Business groups said that even the threat of strikes had already been disruptive. Ed Richardson of BusinessLDN said: “For many businesses that rely on people visiting in person, the impact of these strikes will have already been felt through cancelled bookings and people changing their plans.

“We urge both sides to reach a sustainable agreement to put an end to the damaging uncertainty hanging over businesses and London’s economy.”



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London tube strikes to go ahead on Tuesday and Thursday, RMT says | London Underground

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Strikes by drivers on London Underground next week will go ahead, the RMT union has announced, paving the way for more days of transport disruption.

Two 24-hour stoppages are to take place, from 00.01 to 23.59 on Tuesday 2 June and Thursday 4 June, because of differences over a planned four-day week.

An RMT spokesperson said: “Strike action by London Underground drivers next week is scheduled to go ahead following TfL’s continued refusal to engage meaningfully with the union’s concerns over the proposed compressed four-day working arrangements.

“Our members have raised serious concerns around fatigue, longer shifts, reduced flexibility and the impact these proposals could have in a safety-critical role.”

Transport for London said it expected services on most tube lines during the strike, but has told commuters to expect disruption. It added that other services including the Elizabeth line, London Overground, DLR and tram would run as scheduled, but would be busier than normal.

TfL has said its proposals for a four-day week would be trialled on a voluntary basis. Its proposal has been endorsed by the Aslef union, which represents a slight majority of tube drivers.

Claire Mann, the chief operating officer at TfL, said it was disappointed that the RMT was continuing its industrial action.

“We still believe that the points they have raised can be worked out in time, through more detailed discussions and we are continuing to talk to the union’s representatives to find a way to avoid disruption to London,” she said.

She urged the RMT to work with TfL to resolve the dispute, adding: “A significant number of drivers have indicated that they want us to progress plans for the pilot of this new working pattern on the Bakerloo line, bringing benefits both for our colleagues and our customers.”

The RMT’s opposition to London Underground plans for a voluntary four-day week has already led to industrial action, most recently in April.

Hopes were raised that differences between the two sides might soon be resolved when the RMT called off at the last minute a two-day strike planned for mid-May.

However, at the same time the union also moved forward further strikes planned for 16 and 18 June to 2 and 4 June, saying the dispute was not over and that it was prepared to take more industrial action if the two sides failed to make sufficient progress.

The RMT said it remained “available for meaningful talks” with TfL, but cautioned London Underground against carrying out what it called a change to drivers’ working conditions “while refusing to properly address legitimate safety and workplace concerns”.

Previous waves of industrial action by the RMT over the four-day week proposals had found little public sympathy and had also mystified Aslef, which felt the proposal presented a significant improvement in working conditions for tube drivers.



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