services

ANDY Burnham is set to nationalise Avanti West Coast next year as Labour pledges to start “delivering for passengers”.

The Government will take control of the private operator from March 7 as the PM said passengers had been failed “time and time again”.

An extra £10million is set to be invested in power and signalling maintenance in addition to £840million earmarked for infrastructure on the West Coast Main Line, reports ITV.

The government hopes timetable changes will also improve services for passengers as well as boosted WiFi connectivity.

It was also announced that Euston station in London will receive a £50million upgrade.

Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander said: “For years, we’ve heard stories of Avanti underperforming, with passengers left paying the price. Enough is enough.

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“That is why we will bring Avanti into public ownership at the earliest opportunity, in March next year.

“This Labour Government is committed to putting essential services back in public hands, connecting people to opportunity and delivering growth in every postcode and this move reflects that commitment.

“We will also introduce a comprehensive improvement plan, focused on delivering for passengers, not shareholders.”

Avanti West Coast’s contract is due to come to an end on March 7, 2027.

That will leave East Midlands Railway and Cross Country as the only train operators yet to be nationalised.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham blasted Avanti, saying they had failed passengers “time and time again”.

In a post on X he said: “We’re putting essential services back in public hands and building a railway that actually works for the people who use it.”

It comes as Avanti West Coast recorded the highest number of cancellations in the UK this summer, according to analysis by The Times.

That is double the national average as they made 1.4million delay repay claims in the year to March – around a million more than in 2019, according to the outlet.

Andy Mellors, managing director at Avanti West Coast, said: “We’re proud of what we’ve achieved over the last six years – from refurbishing our Pendolino fleet and introducing our new Evero trains to running more services than ever before.

“Together, these improvements have given customers greater choice, more capacity and better connectivity, while we’ve continued to innovate to shape the future of the West Coast and wider rail industry.

“Over the coming months, we’ll work closely with the government to ensure a seamless transition into public ownership while remaining focused on delivering for our customers and communities.”

The Sun reported earlier this month how Avanti had cut back hundreds of its journeys in the run-up to Christmas.

A reduced timetable will also continue between Christmas and the new year due to engineering works, with the scheduled change aiming to “save taxpayers money“.

RIYADH: The Hedayathon event — a hackathon organized by the Presidency of Religious Affairs in partnership with the University of Jeddah — recently concluded. Participants were asked to come up with ways to enhance services for visitors to the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque.

The Hedayathon aimed to foster innovation and harness scientific and technological capabilities to develop solutions that enhance religious services and enrich visitors’ experiences, according to a report by the Saudi Press Agency.

The event brought together innovators, developers, students, academics, startups, entrepreneurs, and people interested in outreach (da’wah) and religious guidance.

There were three winning projects. First place went to the Madaar team for their Maqam Platform project, which won SR30,000 ($8,000). Second place — and SR20,000 — went to the Tala team for Every Signal is a Recited Verse, an idea aimed at serving people with special needs. Echo Tech’s Sanctuary Translator — a project designed to develop legal translation — took third place, winning SR10,000.

Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais, president of Religious Affairs at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque, stressed the importance of leveraging technology and innovation to develop religious services and make them accessible to visitors.

In remarks shared on the presidency’s X account, Al-Sudais said: “Serving pilgrims of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque is a tremendous responsibility. It requires intensified efforts and mobilized capabilities to facilitate their access to religious services, enabling them to perform their worship with ease and tranquility.”

Obaid Al-Mudhaff, the university’s president, said the partnership with the presidency represents a model of integration between field expertise, scientific research, and innovation, helping develop quality solutions to serve the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors.

Salem Areej, general supervisor of the Hedayathon event, said the initiative was launched not only as a tech competition, but also to use technology to better serve pilgrims.

The hackathon’s objectives included enriching visitors’ religious experience, developing religious translation solutions, maximizing communications and media impact, developing religious guidance tools, building platforms for teaching the Holy Qur’an and delivering scholarly lessons, answering worshippers’ questions, and facilitating access to religious services for people with disabilities.

Activities included panel discussions, an exhibition, workshops, and consultations.

The presidency also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Translation Association to enhance cooperation and develop multilingual religious content.

A 31-year-old British man has been charged under the National Security Act over alleged contact with Russia’s military intelligence agency.

Joshua Cammidge, from Swindon, allegedly received instructions from an individual believed to be linked to the GRU Volunteer Corps, a group controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the Crown Prosecution service said.

He has been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service and preparatory conduct.

He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Cammidge was arrested at an address in Swindon on Friday by Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) London officers, supported by officers from Wiltshire Police.

He was taken to a London police station and searches were carried out at a different address in Swindon, the Metropolitan Police said.

He was further arrested and detained under the National Security Act on Saturday.