TRANSPORT for London says a third of Underground services are running during a strike by members of the RMT and TSSA unions. The walkouts are connected with a dispute over job losses, but staff at three maintenance depots are also striking over pay.

A STRIKE by members of the RMT and TSSA unions has closed many London Underground lines today, although limited services are being maintained on some routes. Services began to deteriorate last night, when the walkouts began.

London Underground services are likely to be seriously disrupted tonight and tomorrow, but as crews prepare to walk out on strike Transport for London has denied a claim by the RMT that unqualified staff are being asked to do safety-critical jobs to keep some services going.

Transport Minister Norman Baker has revealed that the government is planning to create a national transport smartcard, which would cover trains, trams and buses. The Department for Transport has confirmed that it has already been making payments to Transport for London so that Oyster smartcard readers can be upgraded to accept the future national card.

Transport for London is warning that Underground services will be seriously disrupted as strikes begin tonight. 'Most journeys' will be affected, said TfL, although it would try to maintain limited services. The strikes are over job losses and reductions of hours at suburban ticket offices. Separate action started on Sunday night at three maintenance depots.

A new title launched by Railnews® can now be downloaded -- free of charge. From now on Railnews Focus (TM) will be published midway between the print editions of the rail industry's newspaper.

The Scottish government is trying to intervene following suggestions that daytime through trains between London and stations north of Edinburgh could be axed. Transport minister Stewart Stevenson is reported to be preparing to hold urgent talks with the DfT in London during September.

ScotRail has announced the creation of 130 posts across the central belt, in readiness for the opening of the Bathgate-Airdrie line on 12 December.

Moves to introduce train despatching by Eurostar train managers have prompted the RMT union to call for industrial action next month. However, Eurostar says it has ‘robust’ contingency plans to keep its services running normally.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has started an inquiry into an incident on the West Coast Main Line, in which it is said a DB Schenker freight train rolled backwards for more than 1.5km towards Tebay from Shap Summit last Tuesday. The RMT union is calling for secondary protection for all trackworkers.

I first visited Birmingham over thirty years ago, and at the time it shared the facets of many great Industrial cities with industry in decline, the financial services revolution still a glimmer in Maggie Thatcher's eye, and the oft-heralded 'White Heat of technology' had become a dull grey.

AT last, we have some political progress on an electrification programme with the announcement (hastily made on the day Gordon Brown chaired a Cabinet meeting in Cardiff) that the Great Western route will be electrified to Reading, Newbury, Oxford, Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea.

LAST month I published the National Transport Plan for Wales, which will guide the development of a genuinely integrated transport system for Wales and I see rail as a crucial element in this plan.

AS a minister who has used the train over 600 times since coming into Government, I have a real passion and enthusiasm for rail. Commuting to and from work on the train each day has given me a chance to experience the rail network at first-hand and those experiences have given me a clear vision about what I, and this Government, want to achieve in Scotland.

IN delivering a Sustainable Transport System, Geoff Hoon suggests we should tackle climate change by "preserving freedom of choice, facing people with the true carbon cost of those choices... helping people reduce their need to travel or switch to lower-carbon modes".

THE past month has been quite momentous for events that could signify the rail industry's future.

THE continuing effects of the recession have been revealed in the latest financial reports from owners of train operating franchises.

Government argues that the start of two years of gauge enhancement work from Southampton to the West Midlands to allow 9ft 6ins containers to be carried on standard flat wagons (W10 gauge) is a major milestone in the creation of a network capable of carrying these containers, not only from major ports to inland destinations, but also within the UK.

LAST month’s Railtex exhibition at London’s Earls Court was quite a show – not least because the three seminars sponsored by Railnews attracted larger crowds than any similar event. But, while Railtex helped draw attention to many of the industry’s present positive opportunities, it also highlighted serious difficulties ahead.

DESPITE suffering hopefully short-term difficulties of the economic downturn, the rail industry clearly has the confidence of a Government investing in new trains, route expansion and possibly further electrification for a bright future. What a pity if that confidence is dented by industrial unrest.

Join the festive fun north of the border and you are guaranteed more than a little extra Christmas magic.

If ever a city could claim split personality, it’s Brussels. French versus Flemish, historic versus hip, bizarre versus boring. Full of contrasts, contradictions and intrigue, this is a multicultural equation that goes deeper than just red tape and Eurocrats. An historic heirloom is closer to the mark. And in an age where so much is already discovered, Belgium’s capital seduces as one of Western Europe’s unknowns.

France’s northernmost bits have much more to engage the visitor than many people realise. True, a tan is easier to come by along the Mediterranean, but when it comes to culture, cuisine, shopping and dramatic views of land and sea – not to mention good old-fashioned friendliness – the far north can compete with the best France can offer.

Paris has almost exhausted the superlatives that can be reasonably applied to a city.