Customer News

Northern is launching a new TV advert as part of a major campaign designed to get more people out of their cars and back onto trains.

Network Rail releases a new fly-through video showcasing its ambitious plans to transform London Liverpool Street station into a transport hub fit for the future.

An Elgin Academy librarian has been named president of Scotland’s leading library and information organisation, becoming the first Moray-based school librarian to hold the position.

The third phase of Holbeck housing renewal is set to bring warmer, greener homes in 2026.

Sharp-shooting Illaria Knibb is heading for the European Indoor Archery Championships – and has described the achievement of representing Great Britain as a dream come true.

• Mitie has been revalidated as a Gold Award recipient on the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) for a further five years, reaffirming its commitment to supporting the Armed Forces community
• Since first receiving the Gold Level accreditation in 2020, Mitie has supported over 1,000 colleagues in its Military Network through career guidance, employment opportunities and charity initiatives
• Mitie’s Military Network provides a platform for its military community to connect with like-minded people and the tools to support ex-military colleagues

TransPennine Express (TPE) has joined a partnership dedicated to making public transport across Greater Manchester safe and secure. 

A ground-breaking study reinforces that flapper skates are beginning to recover in Scotland.

• Aglaja Schneider has been appointed Joint Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for Rolling Stock and Customer Services at Siemens Mobility UK and Ireland.  
• Appointment builds on strong momentum across rolling stock, digital rail and major UK infrastructure programmes.

Richard George and Sir Andrew Haines bring extensive experience to help improve passenger experience and operational performance we will see under Great British Railways.

Pembrokeshire County Council acknowledges the outcome of the recent Estyn inspection of Pembrokeshire Learning Centre (PLC) and accepts the inspectors’ conclusions.

A rogue roofer who scammed older residents out of thousands of pounds has been jailed, following a Trading Standards probe that uncovered deliberate scams and shoddy work.

• EMR is again joining Samaritans to tackle Blue Monday over a cuppa
• The operator will be running special Brew Trains, handing out free drinks and providing information on support
• Stands will also be in place at stations to promote Brew Monday
• A choir, helping to promote a sense of community and togetherness, will also be performing at St Pancras station as part of the day

Network Rail has successfully installed a new footbridge as part of a £7.9 million project to improve safety and long‑term reliability at Harlington station.

Used coffee pods can now be recycled at three household waste recycling centres in Leeds with a new trial underway.

Leeds City Council has partnered with Podback, a not-for-profit coffee pod recycling service, to trial coffee pod recycling at household waste recycling centres at Kirkstall, Wetherby and Yeadon.

The centres now include Podback containers at each site, one to collect aluminium pods and one for plastic pods. Coffee, tea or hot chocolate pods from participating brands can be recycled in the containers. To see the list of brands visit the Podback website at https://www.podback.org/about.

Used pods should be dropped into the containers loose and in their entirety, ready to be collected and recycled at dedicated Podback facilities in the UK. Any remaining coffee grounds or residue left in the pods will be treated by anaerobic digestion locally in Yorkshire to create renewable energy (biogas) and soil improver.

Leeds City Council executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space Councillor Mohammed Rafique said: 

“We are really excited to start the new year by working with Podback to recycle coffee pods at our household waste recycling centres. The timing is ideal, as people may have received a coffee-maker as a gift for Christmas so now they can recycle the pods easily and help the environment at the same time. We are very pleased to be offering this service to people in Leeds and working with Podback on this trial.”

Podback Executive Director Rick Hindley said:

“It’s great to be able to expand the Podback service by trialling it at three of Leeds City Council’s recycling centres. We want to make coffee pod recycling as easy as possible, and this new service enables residents to drop off pods when convenient, alongside other recyclables, and helping to reduce waste and increase recycling.” 

For more information on Podback visit https://www.podback.org/ or to see their video on how their recycling works visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-QQcAS1gPE.

Compostable pods cannot be recycled in the Podback containers or brown garden waste bins - they should be placed in a home composting bin.

Other pod drop-off points aside from the household waste recycling centres can be seen by entering postcodes and pod details into Podback’s recycling tracker at https://www.podback.org/recycle-checker.

ENDS

An additional £20 million of funding has been allocated this year to support essential capital repairs and maintenance across schools and colleges in Wales.

Cotswold District Council is taking action to improve its recycling collection service while making its biggest ever move to cut carbon emissions by replacing its waste vehicles with a new, greener fleet.  

Schemes across Wales which encourage children and young people to adopt healthy walking habits are going from strength to strength