Network Rail

A MAJOR airport in the UK is launching new overnight weekend trains for the first time.

Late-night airport passengers no longer need to break the bank to hail a cab.

Thousands of travellers heading to and from London Stansted Airport will soon be able to catch trains through the night.

Stansted Express is launching a trial overnight service that will run every Friday night into Saturday morning from July 3.

The new service is aimed at passengers travelling on late-night and early-morning flights during the busy summer holiday season.

During the summer trial, trains will run every 30 minutes between 11.30pm and 5am, linking Stansted Airport with Tottenham Hale and London Liverpool Street.

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Most of the overnight trains will operate between Stansted Airport and Tottenham Hale, where passengers can connect with the Victoria line Night Tube to continue their journeys across London.

A handful of early morning services will also start from, or continue to, London Liverpool Street.

The journey from Stansted Airport to Tottenham Hale takes around 36 minutes, providing a quick link into the capital.

Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy, said: “These overnight Stansted Express services will make a real difference to people arriving late or travelling for early flights – connecting them straight into London via the Night Tube.

“Alongside contactless ticketing at every London airport, we’re building a railway that works for passengers and drives growth across the country.”

The trial will be running until September 25, giving flyers more transport options during the busy holiday season.

Stansted Express will evaluate how many passengers use the late-night trains during the trial before deciding whether to make them permanent.

TWO London train stations will close to commuters and tourists for nearly three weeks over the summer.

The hubs will undergo a huge £20million renovation which will begin later this month.

Between July 26 and August 16, both Charing Cross and Waterloo East Station will be closed with absolutely no service.

Across the 22 days, Network Rail will conduct major improvements to both hubs like replacing the track that was last changed in the 1990s.

Other upgrades will be to the ‘country end of the platforms’ which will be rebuilt with new foundations and surfaces.

There will be structural repairs to the 175-year-old Hungerford Bridge too which takes the railway over the River Thames.

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It’s also the pedestrian bridge between Waterloo East and London Waterloo.

Network Rail said that the improvements should reduce the number of recent faults which “have caused over 21,000 minutes (350 hours) of delays to customers.”

As well as the closures between July and August, the stations will also shut on June 7.

Then there will be two full weekend closures later on in the year.

These dates will be August 22 to August 23 – and again on both October 10 and October 11.

During the closure, Southeastern services that normally run into Charing Cross will be diverted to London Victoria, London Cannon Street, London Blackfriars or terminate at London Bridge.

Passengers will be able to use their ticket an no extra cost on alternative rail routes as well as on the London Underground and buses.

Scott Brightwell, train services director at Southeastern Railway, said: “The £20 million investment we are delivering will see 1990s track and platforms upgraded to make journeys safer and more reliable, and Victorian era structures strengthened to remain fit for the future.  

“By consolidating the work into 22‑day closure, supported by preparation and follow‑up weekends, we can complete the work more quickly and with less disruption overall than the alternative options of 60 weekend closures or four to five 9-day closures.”

He added: “We have planned the closure for the summer, when passenger numbers are around 20 per cent lower and schools are closed, to help manage the impact on customers.”

And urged passengers to “plan ahead and check before they travel”.

A NEW UK train station has finally opened following a £183million building project.

The transport hub has been in the works since 2023 and opened to the public on June 28.

Cambridge South is the city’s third train station and will expand transport links for passengers.

The station will be run and managed by Greater Anglia.

Thameslink, Great Northern, CrossCountry and more services will also run from the station.

This is set to connect passengers to the likes of London, Brighton and Birmingham.

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A direct route from Cambridge South to London Stansted Airport is also set to run.

The station is located next to the famous Cambridge Biomedical Campus and boasts four platforms that will see up to nine trains per hour pass through.

The site also offers over 1,000 bicycle parking spots, ticket vending machines and lifts that provide step-free platform access.

The arrival of the new station will “deliver better transport options and connectivity for 1.8 million passengers”.

It’s also hoped the transport boost will “grow and level up the economy” by increasing employment opportunities.

Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said: “With up to nine trains per hour and all passing services stopping, Cambridge South will make a real difference from day one. 

“Cambridge South will bring London, Stansted Airport and international markets closer, supporting the investment and skilled people we need, and creating opportunities locally too.”

TRAIN passengers have been told to expect significant delays and cancellations over fears of rails ‘buckling’ in the hot weather.

Hundreds of journeys have been affected as temperatures of up to 40C could be recorded in the UK this week.

Railway operators have begun cancelling services, as red weather warnings have been issued in parts of England and Wales for the coming days.

Network Rail has urged passengers to only take essential journeys to, from or within areas affected by extreme heat, and to prepare for the conditions ahead of time.

They added: “For safety reasons, trains will operate at reduced speeds and to amended timetables, meaning journeys will take longer and there is a heightened risk of delays, cancellations and last-minute alterations.”

Several operators, including Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway and South Western Railway, have planned to run reduced services during the hottest days.

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Between Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Chiltern Railways has also ceased more than half its services “to ensure the safe operation of the railway”.

This is over fears of rails “buckling” – a term used to describe steel rails expanding and curving as they heat up – which can occur as temperatures reach 30C.

Lineside fires create another risk to railways, as vegetation near tracks may be set alight from a combination of train sparks and dry conditions.

A number of tube lines, namely the Elizabeth and Mildmay Lines, have been further affected by flooding as a result of overnight thunderstorms as well as the hot weather.

This follows record-breaking temperatures expected this June.

Met Office spokesman, Grahame Madge, said: “The Met Office is flagging 39C as a headline maximum temperature on Thursday, most likely for somewhere in London or the South East.

“It is possible we could see temperatures higher than the 39C.”

FOR the past eight years I’ve wasted hours on busy, overpriced trains, travelling between London and my hometown of Devon.

But I recently discovered I could skip the sweaty crowds and do the journey in my sleep for the same price.

While you might have heard of the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Scotland, I bet you aren’t familiar with Great Western Railway’s Riviera Sleeper from London to Cornwall.

The full journey from London to Penzance in Cornwall takes eight hours overnight, compared to the daytime five hour journey.

With the normal route being popular (and often packed with chaotic carriages where I arrive home disheveled and sweaty) I thought I would opt for the overnight option to Devon instead.

It takes just over five hours compared to my usual 2hr30, departing at 11:45pm and arriving at 5am.

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I booked the cheapest seats on offer, paying £47.50 with a railcard, although the cheapest without a railcard is £43.

This got me an upright seat – if I had opted for a sleeper berth with a single or twin cabin, this would have set me back an extra £49 or £59, respectively, on top of the ticket price.

(Although for my journey, I couldn’t find any for less than £200).

The major benefit of booking a cabin is that you can use the fancy lounges – which have showers – at Paddington, Penzance, and Truro, with breakfast also included onboard.

I, however, was not one of the lucky ones, and instead boarded my seat shortly after arriving at London Paddington Train Station at around 11pm.

The train itself is weirdly clean – quite different from your standard daytime Great Western Railway train – and devoid of the usual crowds as well.

Replacing the loud beeping mechanical doors are retro-style doors you need to lean out of the window to open.

Then it comes to the part I was both dreading and anticipating – the seats.

The operator claims they are similar to airline seats and at first glance, look a lot nicer than what you find on Ryanair.

But when it comes to the actual comfort – I think I would have preferred a budget flight middle seat.

It felt like sitting on a stack of squashed cardboard boxes, and bizarrely even more uncomfortable than the daytime GWR seats.

The head rest is annoyingly high, and the promise of extra legroom was unfounded.

Just the same as a daytime carriage you get a tray table, and then you’ll find plug and USB sockets by your feet.

Additions that you don’t get on the daytime trains include an overhead reading light and swish curtain on the window.

So, how did I sleep? Well, I didn’t.

I simply couldn’t get comfortable as the seats are too small to lie across comfortably.

The minutes I did manage to get some sleep was when I put my feet on the seat next to me, I was quickly awoken by someones shouting “FEET” as they walked through the cabin.

I may be just 5″1, but the headrest didn’t help either – I knocked my head a few times just fidgeting and ended up slumping down in my seat to avoid it.

And all of this is without mentioning the disruption of passengers boarding at half-midnight, with the football playing on their phones at full volume.

Even though I saved money compared to a cabin, I definitely would only book this seat again if it was a last resort – I’d rather just stick to the daytime trains (which even in the noise I manage to get quick naps on).

There was one perk to trying this overnight train, however.

My train got into Exeter St David’s around 4:37am and because this was the stop before mine, I was starting to stir.

I also knew what was coming – a section of the track which I believe is home to the most beautiful train journey in the UK.

From Exeter, the train runs past Starcross, Dawlish Warren, Dawlish and Teignmouth with beaches and red cliffs on the left side of the train.

And at this time in the morning, a beautiful summer sunrise adds washes of orange, red and yellow.

While getting up early to see this might not be attractive and of course it depends on the time of year you are on the sleeper train, I would definitely recommend it.

The sea was perfectly calm, with only a couple of people entertaining their dogs on the beach, the sand was untouched and the water reflecting all the bright colours of the sky made it look like something from a postcard.

It almost made the seriously uncomfortable seat worth it… almost.

SINKHOLES found under a railway bridge have caused all trains to and from Gatwick airport to be suspended leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

The holes near Purley Bridge in South London required “urgent repairs”, engineers from Network Rail have said and the line isn’t expected to open until tomorrow morning.

All services between Purley and East Croydon were closed while an inspection was carried out by a structural engineer.

This has put a stop to all trains heading to Gatwick Airport and Brighton from London Bridge or London Victoria and left thousands stranded.

Travellers lined the road outside the airport while others waited hours for a rail replacement bus service.

The rail disruption has forced many passengers to drive to the airport resulting in major congestion as hundreds of cars try to get to the terminals.

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Many have taken to social media to express their fury and fear as tempers in the gathering crowds start to flare.

One user said: “Absolute shambles at Gatwick airport! People queuing for over 2 hours to get network replacement coach into London. Tempers flaring amongst crowds. I’m scared!!!”

Others said they were having to fork out for inflated Uber fares back to London.

They posted: “@uber why on earth do you think it’s acceptable to charge people £250 to get from Gatwick Airport to Croydon with all the trains being cancelled? Absolutely criminal!,”

Network Rail explained: “Sinkholes were spotted on the bridge, meaning that ballast, the stones that the track sits on, was falling through the gap, making the track unstable.

“We’ve since carried out a thorough inspection of the bridge and are working to safely plug the gaps so that trains can safely run again.”

Sinkholes appear when rock at the surface collapses and leaves a big hole.

They are often saucer-shaped and can form for many reasons.

A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “There are currently no trains running between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria or London Bridge due to blocked rail lines at Purley.

“Passengers travelling to the airport are advised to consider alternative routes and allow extra time for their journey.

“For those travelling from Gatwick Airport into London, rail replacement bus services are operating between the airport and East Croydon. 

“Due to high demand, passengers at the airport may experience longer waiting times for rail replacement services, and we appreciate your patience while alternative transport is in place.”

Network Rail later took to X to apologise for the disruption and said the lines had to be closed “for the safety of passengers”.

“Over the course of the afternoon our engineers have carried out thorough inspections on the bridge and have worked to plug the sinkholes, allowing trains to safely run again,” they said.

“Though trains are now running we do expect there to be disruption into the night so we’re urging passengers to check before travelling.

“We will be accepting today’s tickets on tomorrow’s services due to the disruption today.”

However, Southern Rail still urged passengers not to travel, saying: “You are strongly advised to delay your journey. A very limited service is now able to run, however these services are expected to be full.”