Future Government rail plans were thrown completely off track today after ministers scrapped a deal which would have seen Richard Branson’s train company lose its West Coast franchise

David Cameron, the British prime minister, must intervene in the row over the West Coast Mainline contract to “get some sense” into the Department for Transport over the controversial deal, Richard Branson urged yesterday.

Some main line trains were not stopping at the Olympics-serving station of Stratford today....because of the heat.

Plane arrivals and take-offs at Britain's two biggest airports were largely unaffected by today's strike.