Drivers’ strike ++ Train operators in England are warning of another day of severe disruption on Saturday, when ASLEF stages a 24-hour strike of drivers at 11 companies. There could also be some disruption on Sunday morning as a result of the previous day‘s strike. The Rail Delivery Group’s director of industry operations Daniel Mann said: ‘The strike by ASLEF brings more uncertainty for passengers and businesses by disrupting their weekend plans.’ Rugby fans who plan to see England v South Africa at Twickenham or Wales v Australia at Cardiff are being advised to check with train operators for travel updates. The operators affected will be Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, LNER, Northern, Southeastern, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Trains.
Bridge repaired ++ Network Rail said a bridge which was badly damaged by a lorry in Rutland on 5 November is set to reopen fully to trains on Wednesday, when passenger services between Leicester and Peterborough will be resumed. The bridge strike at Foster’s Bridge in Ketton closed one line, and freight trains have been worked bi-directionally over the remaining track while engineers rebuilt the other half of the bridge deck. Services between Birmingham and Leicester have been running normally, and an hourly service between Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport has also continued. The line is one of only two routes for freight traffic between the Midlands and the port of Felixstowe. Network Rail added that the road under the bridge should reopen by 18.00 on Friday. Network Rail told Railnews that when a bridge is damaged by a high vehicle it ‘always looks to recover the entire repair and train delay costs from hauliers’.