Latest news with #NetworkRail
BBC News
8 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Station relocation for Waterbeach new town moves step closer
Proposals to relocate a train station to accommodate the building of a new town have moved a step closer.A full business case for Waterbeach station has been recommended for approval by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP).The station is to be moved a mile and a half (2.4m) north along the track towards the Waterbeach new town plans will now go to the executive board, which is due to meet next month. The assembly also heard that construction is expected to finish by the end of 2027 but it will be up to Network Rail to decide when the new station will become joint assembly discussed details of the construction, including plans for car parks and travel also heard that a separate consultation on closing the existing station to the south of the new town would be undertaken by the Department for GCP has already committed £20m towards the project, with a further £23m coming from Homes England, which will eventually be recouped from the developers of Waterbeach New the station is important to the developer as the second phase of 4,500 homes cannot go ahead until it is executive board is due to meet on 10 July. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Telegraph
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Maintenance isn't sexy, but Farage on the other hand ...
There was an odd conjunction of stories in Thursday's papers as the European Space Agency declared its goal of establishing a 'plentiful habitat' for humans on Mars within 15 years, while the UK Government admitted that it had stopped trying to guess when trains will ever run on HS2, a project that began (check notes) 15 years ago. Perhaps by 2040, the visions will merge and passengers in London will be able to buy plentiful Mars bars as they wait for a cancelled train. But the past 15 years have not been wasted: they managed to move the departure boards at Euston and put them back again when people complained. One small step for man, one giant leap for Network Rail. Despite Britain's recent track record, Darren Jones bounced into the Commons to announce a new 10-year plan for infrastructure. It will cost £725 billion, so with the usual overshoot we can expect that to pass £2 trillion and involve three potholes being filled and a new light in the gents at Victoria. Yet the chief secretary to the Treasury was full of aspiration and ambition. He is fond of alliteration and promised to go 'further and faster' and act more 'effectively and efficiently' than the Tories. Tall, bespectacled, with a neatly parted hairstyle and a slightly unsettling grin (imagine him played by Mark Gatiss), Jones is not a man who lacks belief. Asked by Jerome Mayhew, a Norfolk Tory, how he could be confident of delivering better value than the last Labour government got under PFI (private finance initiative), he merely replied: 'I am usually confident in my abilities.' He is armed with a 'new online infrastructure pipeline' (not quite ready) and a new acronym: Nista, which stands for the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority. I noted that it was formed on April Fool's Day. 'That's a very shiny title,' sneered John Cooper, Tory MP for Dumfries and Galloway, who said it would be met with an 'eye-rolling sigh'. Jones replied that he had closed two bodies before creating it. 'So it's actually down one,' he said, flashing his fingers to show that he can count. A rare moment in infrastructure planning when a number falls. As more attacks flew in from Welsh and Scottish MPs, who felt they weren't getting enough of the pie, the suave chief secretary showed a touch of exasperation. 'You might want to be a little more grateful,' Jones told David Chadwick, a Lib Dem from Brecon. Generally, though, he was tiggerish, not only about building things but keeping them from falling down. 'Maintenance isn't sexy,' he said, 'but it's really important.' Maintaining a Labour government especially. Speaking of sexy, Richard Tice had risen during the business statement earlier to cry 'phwoar' about his party leader. This is the weekly session when MPs can ask for a debate on any topic under the sun and the Government will pretend (or not) that it cares. Its purpose is to generate tweets and press releases for MPs to send to their local papers about whatever is dominating their postbag. The Skegness Standard will note, therefore, that of all the subjects that its Reform MP could have brought up, he chose Nigel Farage being named Britain's sexiest male politician in a poll for an infidelity dating website. Tice asked Lucy Powell, the leader of the House, to join him in congratulating Farage on being the philanderers' pin-up and also Angela Rayner, who won the women's category. 'Does she recommend that they have dinner together?' he asked. Powell pursed her lips and replied that, tempting offer though it was, she suspected that the Deputy Prime Minister would be washing her hair every night from here to eternity. There's more chance of getting a bypass built on time.
Spectator
2 days ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Portrait of the week: War in the Middle East, drought in Yorkshire and a knighthood for Beckham
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, announced a full national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs (which he had previously opposed) on the recommendation of Baroness Casey of Blackstock, who had been asked to audit the matter. His announcement came after four men born in Pakistan and three Rochdale-born taxi drivers of Asian descent were convicted of offences against two teenage girls who were repeatedly raped and assaulted in Rochdale from 2001 to 2006. The Casey report said that Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire had 'disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds amongst suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation'. At the G7 summit in Canada, Sir Keir managed to sign a limited agreement on tariffs with President Donald Trump, who left early. British Steel secured a five-year, £500 million contract to supply rails for Network Rail. A London Underground driver was sacked after knitting and watching videos while operating a train. Blaise Metreweli is to head MI6. MPs voted 379 to 137 for Tonia Antoniazzi's amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, decriminalising abortion at any stage. Taxpayers discovered that the spending review assumed council tax will rise by the maximum allowed of 5 per cent a year and that police funding assumed a rise in the police precept added to council tax. Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, said that a priority of the spending review was 'to grow Britain's economy so that working people are better off'. Gross domestic product fell by 0.3 per cent. Inflation remained at 3.4 per cent. Rioters set fire to a leisure centre in Larne, Co. Antrim, used as a refuge for migrants from previous days' violence – and live-streamed on TikTok the burning of a house in Ballymena. The government said it would phase out the use of hotels for asylum-seekers by building state-owned accommodation and cutting small-boat crossings. In the seven days to 16 June, 1,733 migrants arrived in small boats. Among the 1,215 recipients of the King's birthday honours (48 per cent women), Roger Daltrey of the Who and David Beckham, the ex-footballer, were made knights. Penny Mordaunt, who carried the Sword of State at the Coronation, and the ceramicist Emma Bridgewater became dames. The darts player Luke Littler, 18, was appointed MBE. Alfred Brendel, the pianist, died aged 94. The waiting list for routine hospital treatments in England fell from 7.42 million in March to 7.39 million in April. A drought was declared in Yorkshire. Abroad Israel went to war with Iran, launching dozens of strikes on long-range missile sites and targets related to the nuclear programme. The first attack killed General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran's chief of the military staff, and Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as leading nuclear scientists. Benjamin Netanyahu urged Iranians to overthrow their rulers. Iran retaliated with missiles and drones, some hitting near Tel Aviv and Haifa, as Israelis took to shelters. In the first three days, 24 people were killed in Israel and 224 in Iran. During a bulletin from the Iranian state broadcaster, debris fell and dust filled the studio. 'This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us,' Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor, said. Mr Trump posted a message on social media: 'Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran.' Russia carried out a missile and drone attack on Kyiv, killing at least 21 people. Mr Trump made a speech on his 79th birthday at the military parade in Washington, DC, to mark the 250th birthday of the American army; thousands demonstrated against him in several cities. Mr Trump called on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to carry out 'the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History'. On the way to the G7, President Emmanuel Macron of France visited Greenland. A London-bound Air India plane carrying 242 people, including 53 Britons, crashed shortly after take-off at Ahmedabad, falling on accommodation at the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy medical college; one passenger survived, a man from Leicester. Fire engulfed the 67-storey Marina Pinnacle in Dubai Marina; all 3,820 residents were rescued. A Chinese captain was jailed for three years by a Taiwanese court for damaging an undersea cable to the Penghu islands. Brian Wilson, the songwriter with the Beach Boys, died aged 82. CSH
Rhyl Journal
2 days ago
- Business
- Rhyl Journal
Speedy Hire warns over ‘challenging' conditions amid depot closures
Shares in the equipment hire firm dropped on Wednesday morning as it also reported weaker revenues and swung to a loss for the past year. The Merseyside-based business said it was impacted by 'challenging market conditions' after the Government delayed spending on major infrastructure projects, such as Network Rail's development programme. Speedy Hire said these challenges underpin its commitment to its accelerated transformation plan in order to return to growth. As part of its turnaround efforts, the company said it shut eight of its depots, leading to a reduction in staff numbers. It said its headcount dropped by 74 at the end of March compared with a year earlier. On Wednesday, the company reported that revenues for the year slipped by 1.2% to £416.6 million for the year to March 31. It said its hire business saw sales edge up 0.6% for the year. Meanwhile, the group also swung to a £1.5 million pre-tax loss from a £5.1 million profit a year earlier. It also saw its net debts grow by £11.8 million to £113.1 million. Dan Evans, chief executive of the business, said: 'Despite the macro-economic challenges, we have remained committed to, and in parts accelerated, the implementation of our velocity transformation strategy during its latest phase, which is setting the foundation for growth opportunities for the benefit of our customers and people, whilst maintaining shareholder returns. 'We are focused on what we can control, and we will continue to manage our cost base and balance our investment decisions through the economic cycle. 'Our transformation is key to our business, ensuring service excellence, innovation and ease of transacting for our customers, from an efficient and systems driven operating model.' Mark Crouch, market analyst for EToro, said: 'It's been anything but a smooth ride for Speedy Hire. 'Grappling with spiralling costs and softening demand, the tool and equipment rental firm has found itself under mounting pressure as challenging economic conditions have pushed the business close to its limits. 'With both revenue and profit falling short of estimates, Speedy Hire's full-year results will have done little to shore up investor confidence. 'The broader trend of businesses tightening their belts is already troubling, but Network Rail's decision to delay spending on its £45.4 billion five-year infrastructure programme has delivered yet another hammer blow.'
North Wales Chronicle
2 days ago
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
Speedy Hire warns over ‘challenging' conditions amid depot closures
Shares in the equipment hire firm dropped on Wednesday morning as it also reported weaker revenues and swung to a loss for the past year. The Merseyside-based business said it was impacted by 'challenging market conditions' after the Government delayed spending on major infrastructure projects, such as Network Rail's development programme. Speedy Hire said these challenges underpin its commitment to its accelerated transformation plan in order to return to growth. As part of its turnaround efforts, the company said it shut eight of its depots, leading to a reduction in staff numbers. It said its headcount dropped by 74 at the end of March compared with a year earlier. On Wednesday, the company reported that revenues for the year slipped by 1.2% to £416.6 million for the year to March 31. It said its hire business saw sales edge up 0.6% for the year. Meanwhile, the group also swung to a £1.5 million pre-tax loss from a £5.1 million profit a year earlier. It also saw its net debts grow by £11.8 million to £113.1 million. Dan Evans, chief executive of the business, said: 'Despite the macro-economic challenges, we have remained committed to, and in parts accelerated, the implementation of our velocity transformation strategy during its latest phase, which is setting the foundation for growth opportunities for the benefit of our customers and people, whilst maintaining shareholder returns. 'We are focused on what we can control, and we will continue to manage our cost base and balance our investment decisions through the economic cycle. 'Our transformation is key to our business, ensuring service excellence, innovation and ease of transacting for our customers, from an efficient and systems driven operating model.' Mark Crouch, market analyst for EToro, said: 'It's been anything but a smooth ride for Speedy Hire. 'Grappling with spiralling costs and softening demand, the tool and equipment rental firm has found itself under mounting pressure as challenging economic conditions have pushed the business close to its limits. 'With both revenue and profit falling short of estimates, Speedy Hire's full-year results will have done little to shore up investor confidence. 'The broader trend of businesses tightening their belts is already troubling, but Network Rail's decision to delay spending on its £45.4 billion five-year infrastructure programme has delivered yet another hammer blow.'
