if network rail could do it, how about some other big tax payer funded agencies, as well.e of this? tenner there is a real danger that some will go out of business as a result of this. many look extremely unlikely to get the money back that was owed to them, but that is why at least in the short—term, if there is financial support to these tight people over, whilst they can then continue doing contracts, now, continue doing contracts, now, continue taking up golf and that they were panning to do in the near future, those that they have been, is by carillion, at least that im proves is by carillion, at least that improves the chances of them is arriving —— chances of them surviving. oligarchs suspected of corruption will be forced to explain how they fund their luxury lifestyles in britain. the security minister, ben wallace, has told the times that he wants to crackdown on criminals and fraudulent politicians who use britain to launder money gained through corruption. dal babu, a former chief superintendent at the metropolitan police, explained some of the thinking behind

rail. last week the government said it may have to take back east coast service so is it time to turn the clock back and renationalise the network railways were originally private companies. then 70 years ago there were nationalised and became british railways. in 1994, john major's government privatised them again. i am looking back at the history of rail to see what lessons we can learn for the east coast line today. this station closed to passengers in 1968, now the mid norfolk railway is a tourist attraction and proof that railways are still very popular. i am going to discover how our railways have been affected by nationalisation and in turn privatisation. once there were 120 private lines, by the 1940s these have become four big companies which were nationalised. why were the railways nationalised in the first place? after the second world war, railways are hugely worn out. we don't have any money. there are big railway companies, great western, southern, lms and lner, two of them are particularly struggling, lms mostly, they will go bankrupt. one reason for nationalisation is to stop that happening. in 1994 it was all ch

that's network rail. 0bviously, they have thanked them for their patients. i've been here throughout the day. i think over two days, there have been about 300 services cancelled. a fair number this afternoon reinstated, including this afternoon reinstated, including this afternoon reinstated, including this afternoon many of the rural connections to places like norwich and ipswich. and talking about few places like felixstowe, lowestoft, great yarmouth, that sort of thing. the other predictions for tomorrow for this area are still pretty extreme, it is all really dependent on the weather. they are hoping to runa on the weather. they are hoping to run a much more normal service tomorrow, before getting back from london tonight quite smoothly, but it will depend on the weather and the big advice to everyone is, check before you travel. scotland's transport secretary has said this upgraded amber hill over many parts of scotland tomorrow and beyond could be extremely serious and pose a dangereven to could be

trains that are running often have to run more slowly because of speed restrictions imposed by network railat manages the rail infrastructure, the tracks and the power supplies to the trains that are running. difficulties for commuters and decisions were taken early. perhaps, you might think the snow hasn't been as bad as forecast, but nonetheless, the companies cannot take any chances. thank you very much. we will have more on that throughout the morning. we will be speaking to someone the morning. we will be speaking to someone from greater anglia trains later. who can guide us through everything going on. there is only one person! carol has the very latest on those weather warnings for us now. we're looking at part of east anglia, kent, heading down towards the channel islands and locally, more than ten centimetres, but generally looking at up to three centimetres. because the showers are aligned, if you are in that alignment, that is when you will see the heaviest snow. north—east in particular, towards the midlands, ten centimetres, but we could see more than that. it will be a windy d

actually, if you take some of the work that network rail have been doing on its roots, some of it haselements have not been delivered. but you must acknowledge that there is an awful lot of rail projects, not all of them, but a high percentage, very high percentage, that don't deliver on time. then it got personal. mr griffiths, did you get a bonus payment this year? i don't decide my bonus payment. bonus payments are for shareholders and remuneration committees. i think we can safely assume that in light of what's going on this year, even if they had given me one, and i wouldn't think they would, i wouldn't expect to be taking a bonus this year. so if you were offered a bonus, you will refuse it? yes, i wouldn't take a bonus this year. so would you get offered a bonus as a managing director? sorry? do you get offered a bonus? yes, i do. do you expect to get one? i don't expect to get one, no, this year. would you give it back if it was offered? to have the armed forces this country requires. in orderto maintain our independence, not just our sovereignty but our freedom of action and

well, if network rail can do that, what about some of the big tax payer funded agency, as well.go out of business because of this? you low there is a real danger that some of them will go out of business. many of them look extremely unlikely to get the money back. at least in the short—term, if there is more financial support, that will at least people ever, when then you can then continue contacts. now, continue taking up contacts that they were planning to do in the near future, including those promised by carillion, it will improve the chances of them surviving. thank you very much. it is good to talk to you. the headlines now: the head of the fbi has defended its work after it classified memo was released accusing it of bias against president tom's abusive power. northamptonshire county council has suspended spending. six migrants have been injured after a gunman opened fire in the central italian city of macerata. the gunmen has been arrested. —— gunman. 0ligarchs suspected of corruption will be forced to explain how they fund their luxury lifestyles in britain. the securit

network rail has apologised to passengers tonight, after it closed rail lines in areas where heavy snow but then didn't. 0ur transport correspondent victoria fritz is at london bridge. victoria. hello, sophie, yeah, there has been some widespread anger from commuters today who had their services cancelled, only to look at the window and see belly a snowflake. here at london bridge, south—eastern have cancelled more than 100 trains between london and kent. now, sudden and gatwick express were operating a reduced service earlier on today. —— southern. they have largely gone back to normal, but it has been the east of england that has borne the brunt of the disruption on the train network. we are talking great northern, for example, greater anglia, and c2c. when it comes to greater anglia, they have now lifted all distractions on the line after the snow fell about 20 miles further south than was originally predicted. when it comes to tomorrow, scotland is likely to see the heaviest snowfall, and that means that scotrail is now advising passengers that they could be last—minute changes to t

when the disruption on the track runs by the network rails. it was not a result of their doing but actually a result of something that the network rail is doing. the compensation is available to those who suffer from the disruption. in automatic payments are available. but not everybody can be automatically refunded but we are operating delayed scheme. they can have access to the compensations that they deserve. i've asked the prime minister to reinforce her competence. on the legal attacks report. will the prime minister confirm that she will never a great any bit of borders between northern island and the rest of the kingdom. we continue to stand behind all of the commitments that we made and my negotiating team will work with the commission to agree how they should be translated into legal form. if implemented what it implement -- impact the market. and no uk prime minister prime minister could ever agree to this. i will be making it crystal clear that we will never do so we far committed to ensure that we have no hard border between northe

network rail said the issue has now been resolved.ty's streets last year. thames water has given a portion of the 250m, 130 ton mass of oil and grease to the museum of london. it already displays objects from when the capital's victorian sewer system was built. it says this fatberg will give visitors an insight into how modern london is changing. let's have a look at the travel situation now. 0n the tube, there is a part suspension for the district line between richmond and ealing broadway and earls court. and the piccadilly line is suspended between hammersmith and acton town, and from hammersmith to king's cross. 0n the roads: northbound traffic on the blackwall tunnel southern approach is slow from blackwall lane. there are northbound delays on the m25 heading towards j1b, the princes road interchange for dartford, where a lane is blocked following a breakdown. let's have a check on the weather now, with elizabeth rizzini. hello, good morning. it is a very cold and a frosty start to the day. we've got temperatures below freezing ac

network rail are also putting up a helicopter when possible which will do thermal imaging to work outoblems are the worst. but there are certainly some significant delays when it comes to the trains. the moral of the story is to check before you go out. yes, the southern trains website actually crashed under the weight of all of that small. it is best to go on national rail inquiries if possible, do check out your local radio because they will be very plugged in to what is happening in your local area, particularly with the roads and the delays. check before you go out and if you can stay at home, i would urge you to do that. many thanks, victoria. as these pictures show, much of kent in southern england has been blanketed in snow and some of the biggest disruption has been in the county. there have been delays on the m20 in both directions adding up to two hours to journey times, that is according to highways england. more than 230 schools and nurseries are closed in kent. schools across sussex and surrey have also been affected. jonny may now is chris fawkes from the bbc weather cen

the difficulty for the rail network is they need to plan for the worse.can cause signals and points to fail and all sorts of difficulties and they can't run as many trains and those that do run as many trains and those that do run have to run more slowly. they are looking to reinstate some services, particularly to rural lines. they are aware that tonight the forecast is for more snow and there could be more disruption to come over the next few days. staff here have been helping out. there have been engineering workers, people who normally work in administration coming down to help passengers. although passengers were frustrated most appreciated the fact that there was an early warning of problems and they could plan accordingly. they understood pragmatically that there were difficulties. thank you very much indeed. our transport correspondent victoria fritz is at london bridge station. one of the busiest stations in the country. how are things there? it has been a busy day at many of the main hotspots for travel because resource has been chucked at the a

network rail had to apologise to passengers after it closed rail lines in areas where heavy snow wasthen didn't fall. our transport correspondent victoria fritz is at london bridge station. those cancellations and severe disruptions were met with incredulity and even some anger from commuters trying to get into work today. perhaps not even seeing a single snowflake when they started their day. in terms of the amount of disruption on the network, south—eastern, for example, operating trains in out of london bridge here saw cancellations of more than 100 services between kent and london today. southern also had and london today. southern also had a reduced service. and the real big pa rt a reduced service. and the real big part of the transport story today was on the east of england, talking about greater anglia, great northern, c2c, they are all focusing their efforts on trying to get as many people as possible through the arterial train routes and into london and into cambridge. we are going to see lots more disruption coming up later on this week. there isa coming up later on this w

network rail, the track operator, was hoping to get a bit of a breather today so that they could sendblems from yesterday, but in fact it is set to get worse. we have the beast from the east and also, storm emma hitting from the west side, heading wales in the south west so stations like this, london waterloo, which is the busiest train station in the uk, will be affected the most. 100,000 people come through here every day. so expect more delays and disruption. thank you all very much. and you can keep up to date with the weather and travel situation wherever you are, by visiting the bbc news live page. that is continually updated with all the information. theresa may says that no british prime minister could ever agree to plans published in the eu's first draft of the treaty for britain leaving the eu. she was responding to text proposing a common regulatory area in ireland which would mean that if no agreement was made, the "backstop" option would effectively create a customs border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. the european union's chief brexit negotiator michel

network rail has published its 5—year plan for the railways with spending on the network set to reachto—day improvements will go up by 25% to cope with an expected rise in passenger numbers and train services. the cost of living is still close to its highest in nearly six years according to the latest figures forjanuary. it underlines the challenge facing the bank of england and supports calls for a rise in interest rates in may. last week, the bank of england indicated interest rates might rise sooner than expected when it said it wanted to get inflation closer to 2% within two years rather than three. investors have been pricing in a good chance that rates would rise in may, with a second rise later this year, probably in november. earlier, we spoke to liz martins, senior economist, at hsbc told. we have been at or above 3% for the last five months now and that is continuing to reflect that big fall in the value of sterling we had opposed the referendum. we think that takes some time and will continue to be felt over the coming months, so unfortunately ambulation will remain elevate

backin back in the real world, last year network rail paid out £181 million in conversation to trainperators benefit financially from failure to deliver a decent service when it's the passengers who suffer the aggravation, inconvenience and cost? what is she planning to do to make sure the money goes to the rightful place, the passenger? can i say to my honourable friend, that yes, she is right, the rail opposite dot—macro operators are compensated when there is disruption on the tracks run by network rail. compensation has happened not as a result of their doing but as a result of something network rail is doing. we do ensure there is also compensation available to those who suffer from the disruption, to the passengers who suffer from the destruction, and disruption, to the passengers who sufferfrom the destruction, and i'm pleased to say that automatic payments are available to many rail operators but not everybody can be automatically refunded. we are operating a delay repay scheme which means everyone regardless of the ticket i can have access to the compensation that they deser

network rail insists the scheme will benefit the entire community.d is also part suspended willesdenjunction to richmond. clockwise m25 has two lanes closed due to a collision involving two lorries at j1b dartford. congestion is to j30 for lakeside. an earlier overweight lorry is causing queues for the blackwall tunnel in both the northbound and southbound directions. all lanes have reopened. good morning. it was a cold night last night so we've got a widespread frost this morning. maybe one or two slippery surfaces. the met office has issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice. now, the snow showers moving in from the east, falling as a wintry mix at lower level. over higher ground, you're likely to see a bit of snow mixed in there. that chilly north—easterly wind though making things feel cold — three or four celsius is the maximum temperature. now, overnight, those showers become a bit fewer further between. you may still see one or two out towards the east. further west, though, a dry night and clear skies, then the temperature drops right

that is because network rail had to make decisions based on forecast.ecision to offer the service they felt the infrastructure could cope with. trains do not cope well with low temperatures as points can freeze and signals can fail and trains need to run more slowly. going forward, greater anglia who won trains from here and othertrain greater anglia who won trains from here and other train companies are looking ahead and they'll sing forecasts with more problems. and they are seeing that network rail is suggesting further disruption to services are likely that they will have to run a reduced service overnight. the finishing earlier tonight here certainly than normally would and tomorrow it is likely that there will be further disruption, of course, there will be further disruption, of course , passengers are there will be further disruption, of course, passengers are urged to check online to see what the latest information is. more now on the travel situation. let's talk to my league who was at london bridge. we have had reports in from essex police, w

disruption for schools and travellers, many rail services were cancelled in the south—east and network railine in areas where the snow never fail. victoria for closing line in areas where the snow neverfail. victoria fritz reports. it wants to provide the safest a nd reports. it wants to provide the safest and most reliable network for the trains that do run to run and that means that compacted snow can turn into ice, back in fact the points and stop them working. we could see freezing temperatures, we do not need any snow at all that can make the rails freeze which means that the signals do not change, so that the signals do not change, so that all these problems, despite effo rts that all these problems, despite efforts to try and counteract this, we are talking about europe's busiest railway network so more disruptions are expected tomorrow. still to come here on outside source... coming up soon, more about that. the film director lewis gilbert, the man behind some of the classic bond films has died at the age of 97. we will look back at his life and career. the primers to's office has d

network rail have told the train operating companies they can run more trains.is not bad going. they are hoping to run a normal service tomorrow. that is the plan right now but there could be more snow overnight and that could change. at the moment, they are hoping to run a normal service on the basis of things today haven't been as bad as they have worried. encouraging news. quite rightly, conditions could change in the next couple of days. tom is at london bridge. the rush hasn't quite happened yet. tell us what the services looked like at the moment. it is just services looked like at the moment. it isjust beginning here. at services looked like at the moment. it is just beginning here. at the main entrance to the station, a lot of people coming in but it is relative normality. encouraging signs. looking up at the board, nine trains and two of which were cancelled. there is some disruption. delays looking at the board but every train on that board is running. the picture is not looking bad tonight. there have been cancellations on south western trains, southe

many of those trains had to be cancelled because network rail told the passenger train companies likelia, tfl oi’ companies like greater anglia, tfl or great northern that they would have to be running slower trains, there would be speed restrictions and may be problems with points freezing up, all of these things mean the service has to be reduced. the message seems to have got through. there have been plenty of people coming to catch trains but certainly not as many as normal and so certainly not as many as normal and so by planning ahead and letting people know there would be problems, it seems that perhaps some of the difficult scenes with people barging to get onto trains have been avoided. going forward, the company says they hope to reinstate trains is possible because certainly, the snow has not been as bad as forecast but the freezing temperatures are continuing to cause difficulties and that looks likely to be the case, especially with more snow forecast later on. ben ando in essex, there are, robert hall in kent and phil bodmer in yorkshire, many thanks. we will bring you t

that the solid private sector participation we can develop a multi-rail network with strong links and the potential to connect us to our westbors to the north, the , and to the east. apart from prosecuting their building at least one factory in each district of ghana, the time has come for ghana to develop strategic industry out of its abundant natural resources. we shall shortly establish an integrated aluminum development authority to assemble the relevant financial resources, the systematic exploitation and development of our deposits. havee same token, we decided to exploit our substantial iron ore and deposits situated in the northern and western region of our country to build a steel industry to serve the needs of our country and region. interestsg systematic to develop our new oil and gas industry into which exxon mobil signing inpeared, january a major offshore oil and gas exploration and production agreement with ghana. to establishined the relevant petrochemical industry to take advantage of the growth of our oil and gas industry. there is a lot of opportunity for american c

to argue dot com the kaiser report is next week looking at the expansion of china's high speed rail network and from watching in the u.k. stay with us for the financial news in the black. oh hello again maxed as her hair was day zero. zero zero it's going to be some interesting. and i threw a mispronounced my second name her bet and it's actually her birthday my god but you know on the ride over to the studio this morning you mentioned that during the last vacation period in america which is thanksgiving the baby the great migration of america you know when everybody goes on holiday they go visit their family they have thanksgiving dinner they usually fly that actually went from twenty three percent took road trips like last year and twenty sixteen and then in two thousand and seventeen it was something like thirty nine percent and why did they take road trips instead of flying to their destination well they didn't want the hassle of the u.s. dilapidated airports and the t.s.a. you know the whole security apparatus which is now kind of defunct because nobody actually even talks about the wa

we are hopeful that the solid private sector participation we can develop a multi-rail network with stronginks and the -- strong production center linkages and the potential to connect us to our neighbors to the north like working out faso like burkinarth faso, to the west like the ivory coast and to the east like togo. apart from prosecuting their agenda of building at least one factory in each district of ghana, the time has come for ghana to develop strategic industry out of its abundant natural resources. we shall shortly establish an integrated aluminum development authority to assemble the relevant financial resources, the systematic exploitation and development of our bauxite deposits. by the same token, we have decided to exploit our substantial iron ore and manganese deposits situated in the northern and western region of our country to build a steel -- an integrated steel industry to serve the needs of our country and region. we are making systematic efforts to develop our new oil and gas industry into which exxon mobil on just appeared, signing the 18th of generating this year,

network rail has published its five—year plan for the railways with spending on the network set to reachout it today? it was 3.1% in november, but 3%. we hoped it would come down more. the reason it came up in the first place over the last couple of years, of course, the devaluation of the pound, making imported goods more expensive. we were hoping, it was well over a year ago now. we were hoping to see that work out. at the moment, wages are lagging behind the inflation rate. if they were to start to catch up with the inflation rate, that would prove slightly inflationary. therefore, you are looking forward to what is happening with interest rates, will the bank of england put up interest rates? we thought two times this year, it may be more and faster. we spoke to lucy martins at hsbc to ask her about what she expected to happen with inflation. we've been at 3% or above 3% for the last five months now, and really, that's continuing to reflect that big fall in the value of sterling that we had post the referendum. we think that path through takes some time and will continue to be felt o

now, septa estimate about 400,000 people will ride on it rail network to head into this parade. about 100 to 150,000 people may, and that's a strong may, may be able to get close to the parade through the septa bustlines. now, anyone riding the regional rail will have to purchase a special independent bus or rail pass for thursday. that's going to be $10. and about 50,000 of those passes will be available, you can purchase them on line through septa website. and as you mentioned, jim, anyone riding the market frankford line or the broad street line, the trips will be free. that's sponsored by blue cross and blue shield. >> really understanded that we can carry about hundred to- 550,000 people to the parade in the ceremony. soy if we have about a 2 million people at the parade , that means we can carry about one in four. >> that means 75% of the people trying to head into this parade will have to find another way. but for those planning on that 25% planning on getting to the parade route with septa, the biggest thing stressed in this news conference was to make a plan now. you kno

traffic amall this all these people have moved onto the rail network and the metro system, which hasn over the used this wednesday morning. the suburban paris trains, the rer, has been heavily delayed and the metro as well in this scenario. as for the national french rail operated, -- operator, they have announced -- asked people to postpone travel plans because they are expecting heavy delays on national lines. it seems, however, the airports have managed to stay open. they will have more on their plate because it's expected to be more snow today and overnight and as well, another episode of snowfall friday night. tooelle: i hope it's not cold for you. i will leave you to get your skis out just in case you brought them with you. thanks for now. time for the business roundup. i am joined by brian. i am glad we are in the studio. look, we are starting in -- with our business roundup in the u.s. where a major trial is on the way and it could decide who takes the lead on self driving cars. >> two of silicon valley's biggest names going head-to-head with google claiming ober broke the la

it says around 11 million passenger trips were made on china's rail network on wednesday.ing the winter olympics, you'll know how the sport of curling has captured the imagination. so much so in fact that some people have been having their own go at the sport — and posting the results online. floor mops, robot vacuum cleaners — anything lying around can be pressed into service! iam sure i am sure there is a leading to a lot of very clean floors! experiments by nasa to grow wheat in space are inspiring scientists in australia to see if it'll work on earth. by changing how much light plants get, they can speed up crop cycles by over 50%. it's of massive importance since the world has to produce up to 80% more food by 2050. to feed 9 billion people. nasa experiments to grow wheat in space were the inspiration for university of queensland scientists to develop the world's first ‘speed breeding‘ procedures here on planet earth. uq queensland alliance for agriculture and food innovation senior research fellow dr lee hickey said the nasa experiments involved using continuous ligh

head to our team dot com the kaiser report is next looking at the expansion of china's high speed rail network and from watching in the u.k. stay with us for the financial news in. the mug.

it says around 11 million passenger trips were made on china‘s rail network on wednesday.portunity for families to spend time together and enjoy themselves. but in the province of hebei, not farfrom beijing, that enjoyment was for hardier souls only, as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. snaking through the mountains of northern china, for some people, this is there idea of fun. the world‘s longest glass suspension bridge has only been open a matter of weeks. this is the first time it welcomed guests for the lunar new year. a vertical drop of more than 200 metres. it is supposed to represent a dragon flying through the valley. translation: it is like an adventure jimmy. you the valley. translation: it is like an adventurejimmy. you look down and you see such a beautiful landscape —— to me. and you see such a beautiful landscape -- to me. translation: it is scary, very scary. it is four metres wide and made of 1077 glass panels. each one is only four centimetres thick. the whole thing weighs 70 tons. it is designed to ta ke weighs 70 tons. it is designed to take up to 2000 peopl

trump he's pointed to its accident record as reason to push for more spending to refit the network of roads rails and airports united i'm calling on congress to produce a bill that generates at least one point five trillion dollars for the new infrastructure investment that our country so desperately needs but trump's budget proposal to congress to be submitted this week calls for slashing amtrak's operating budget and rail investment grants by almost half tom ackerman al-jazeera washington. israel says it plans to make they have to gail out outposts in the occupied west bank an official settlement prime minister benjamin netanyahu tell his cabinet the move is in response attack to an. that last month a rabbi was shot and killed by palestinian and israeli forces have conducted raids in the west bank in search of all israeli west bank settlements in the under international law meanwhile a funeral has been held for a teenager who was killed in one of those ranges carried out by israeli forces a nineteen year old man was shot in janine on saturday another palestinian man was shot dead and several ot

people —— country that many people in the united states travel by air, how widely used is the rail networkly in certain parts of the country on the west and east coast. 30 million people a year, more than that in fact, travel by train. and amtrak in saying that based on, its safety record is good. but i have to say the national transportation safety boa rd, say the national transportation safety board, the federal authority that looks into accidents of the kind that happened today, found a deficient culture as it put it, when it look into a recent derailment at the end of last year. and there is concern about safety levels given this being the third fatal incident of its kind within as many months. thank you. mps have warned that cuts to the royal marines would significantly weaken britain's defences. the government, which is reviewing defence spending, is said to be considering axing two thousand marines and the royal navy's two amphibious assault ships. daniela relph reports. it is a warning to government over the future of the royal marines. they're among britain's elite fighting forces

how widely used is the us rail network? very well used, especially in certain parts of the country.is closed as well 30 million people a year, more than that in fact, travel by train —— and the east coast. amtrak says based on that its safety trek —— record is very good but the national transportation board, the federal authority which looks at accidents of the type that happen in south carolina today, found a deficient culture, as it put it, when it looked into a recent derailment back at the end of last year and there are certainly concerns about safety levels given, as i say, this being the third fatal incident of its kind women many months. —— in as many months. the top six officials from south africa's governing anc have arrived at president zuma's official residence in pretoria to discuss his future. elections are not due until the middle of next year but pressure has been growing on mr zuma to step down as he faces allegations of corruption. a short time ago, i spoke to our africa regional editor will ross. he said the political uncertainty could have an impact on the ruling

how widely used is the us rail network?icularly in particular parts of the country, such as the east and west coast. 30 million people a year, more than that in fact, travel by train. amtrak says that based on that its safety record is pretty good. i must say, the national transportation safety boa rd, say, the national transportation safety board, the federal authority that looks into accidents of the kind that happened in south carolina today, found a deficient culture, as it put it, when it looked into a recent the railmen back at the end of last year. there is concern about safety levels, given, as i say, this being the third fatal incident of its kind in as many months. south africa's president jacob zuma has reportedly refused to step down during talks with senior figures from his anc party. many officials would like to replace him after allegations of corruption and to avoid a long power struggle before elections take place next year. 0ur southern africa correspondent andrew harding reports. he's swamped by scandal.

the southeastern rail network — which serves kent and sussex — is advising passengers not to travel at absolutely necessary. it's warning of huge disruption, with 50 stations closed and in some areas, entire lines not functioning at all. across the uk, police forces are urging people not to drive overnight. danny savage reports from durham. day three of this siberian blast and things just got worse. this was cumbria early this morning, but it could have been virtually anywhere in northern and eastern britain. hundreds of vehicles — on many different routes — ended up getting stuck. the a46 lincoln bypass was blocked by stranded lorries. further south, in norwich, it was gridlock in rush hour, as the journey to work took hours. the poor night girls are still on shift. they've been there since half past seven last night and no—one can get in. we should have just stayed at home really, but someone's got to keep the world running, haven't they? 0n the east coast main line, linking london and scotland, there were numerous cancellations and delays. the snow, the travel, it's been a nightmare

china now possesses the largest high speed rail network in the world with a length of twenty thousand kilometers three hundred billion dollars was invested in ten years that corresponds to almost the entire annual budget of a country like france. the root of the new silk road is among the newest it's been in operation since two thousand and fourteen. the high speed route to cian jiang swallowed a lot of money and it'll never be cost effective but for beijing the benefit lies elsewhere firstly it's political because this route really affirms the desire to connect shane jiang more closely to the rest of the country. and it also sends a message to neighboring states because china sees itself as a v. builder of an international high speed network to run from russia to central asia and iran. the route currently ns at the cutting edge railway station in autumn cheat the provincial capital the station has very strict security measures in place. but. that's because she is not a conventional chinese province. there are frequent tensions between the leaders the local muslim minority and the han

trump he's pointed to its accident record as reason to push for more spending to refit the network of roads rails and airports united i'm calling on congress to produce a bill that generates at least one point five trillion dollars for the new infrastructure investment that our country so desperately needs but trumps a budget proposal to congress to be submitted this week calls for slashing amtrak's operating budget and rail investment grants by almost half tameka. al-jazeera washington. the palestine liberation organization has moved to cut ties with israel p.l.o. leaders made the decision during their meeting in ramallah in the occupied west bank on saturday they voted the palestinian government to draft a plan to cut off political economic and security contacts and it's been growing tension since december when u.s. president all chump recognize jerusalem as israel's capital and israel says it plans to make the have a gilad outpost in the occupied west bank an official settlement minister benjamin netanyahu told his cabinet the move is in response to an attack that last month where a rabbi was

makes up a lot of the rail network we made progress. >> we did issue that recommendation. we close that recommendation, closed to on except election. >> how come there was no action mr. reyes? >> at this point when there are safety issues we believe ptc is helpful in many situations. >> when you are talking about dark territory are you talking about something that's going to to -- these are the areas where ptc would help. i believe it's helpful around many in the situation. >> if i might john penn positive train control in dark territory switch indicators are being installed and will be part. >> they will show up on the screen. >> i don't know that we the way it is working but it is signed to achieve what you want to achieve and that is to not give the authority if the switch is in the wrong alignment. >> if i may speak to that switch boarding indicators could be radioed transmitted to a dispatcher that would tell the train that the switches open and improperly aligned. that could have happened when they took that track out of service. they could have had a switch point in

being transformed by the country's push into the world of high speed rail china already has the globe's longest bullet train network but it is plowing three point five trillion un or five hundred fifty six billion dollars into expanding its railway system by eighteen percent over the next two years to one hundred fifty thousand kilometers or more than ninety three thousand miles underground thousand miles of the two years that's amazing those chinese people are ready to rock n roll the twenty first century high speed trains home of grandma's house is just two hours for the whatever they are they're delicious stuff jim so my guess grandma's got the best in time of all yeah so here we have you know america's needed an infrastructure plan for the last twenty years a lot of it you know some of the network actually has not been replaced for one hundred years if you look at new york subway system like the train under the hudson the tracks under the hudson they are one hundred years old so nothing's been touched so. this infrastructure plan that we have in america is just to replace some of the old stuff not to expand any

makes up a lot of the rail network. have we made progress? >> we did issue that recommendation and closed the recommendation, closed, unacceptable action. >> how come there was no action , mr. reyes? >> at this point when there are safety issues we believe ptc is helpful in many situations. >> we are talking about dark territory are you talking about . we are talking about something that will prevent train collisions, problems in work zones or switch problems, these are the areas where ptc would help. i believe it is helpful through many situations. in, positiveump train control in dark territory switch indicators are being installed and will be part. >> it will show up on the screen. exactly the technical way it is working, but it is designed to achieve what you want. that is to not give the train authority if the switch is in the wrong alignment. >> if i may speak to that. switch boarding indicators could be radio transmitted to a dispatcher that would tell the switch is open and improperly aligned. that could have happened when they took t

. >>> construction of an 85-mile-long section of california's high-speed rail network linking san jose to the central valley has been centered on the fresno area. >> that is about to change. the first physical work has begun in silicon valley and abc 7 news reporter david louis shows you where. >> reporter: nearly three years ago, construction started on high-speed rail near fresno. this 4,700-foot viaduct will carry trains over the san joaquin river into fresno. now ground is being broken for the first physical work in the bay area. crews are boring into the ground to extract soil samples for analysis. understanding the geologic and hydrogeologic composition will help the high-speed rail authority to select the alignment for the tracks that will link san jose's diridon transit station to the central valley. the first passenger service to link the two valleys is projected to be in 2025. this is only the first step. environmental review and land acquisition will follow. so it will be one to two years weave a final alignment is determined. the same steps were taken before construction go

. >> there is a whole new rail network being built in california. it is going to be important not only to alleviate housing crisis in silicone valley but to go the other way, allow them to invest in facilities in central valley which is in need of it. >> jerry brown, he will be moving on. with him there goes your patron saint of high speed rail. >> i would say there goes america's greatest infrastructure advocate. it doesn't mean we won't have more in the future. >> i looked at the gubernatorial candidates and i am not sure that you have a real winner on the team. >> we have reached out to them. >> the point being if it stops or slowed down what would we as california still get out of it? >> i don't think that's going to happen. if it did, if it did you would have electrified cal train, improved local services. you would have better passenger and freight rail in the central valley, higher public safety. and you would have connections to things like ace train. but i think when you will see our business plan coming out, we have a path to get there to

. >>> nearly three years passed since the construction on the rail network.n the fresno area. now the very first round is being broken here in the bay area. but it's a baby step. abc 7 news reporter, david explains. >> reporter: that is the sound of progress. the first physical work to be done in the bay area. crews have been drilling for about a month to conduct geo technical analysis. they're to connect silicon valley in several years. about 50 sites will be drilled. this crew is working along busy monterey road. it's working along the shoulder that necessitates a lane closure. other sites in median strips. land acquisition is a next step. it will be a year or two before it makes a decision on the exact right-of-way. this particular site is adjacent to the union pacific railroad tracks. while work here is at the earliest stage, progress is dramatic at the central valley. 4700 viaduct is highly visible in north fresno. the viaduct will cross the san joaquin river. a separate structure routes it over union pacific railroad tracks and into fresno. altogether,