Business
Train timetable revamp takes effect with more services promised
A revamp of train timetables has come into effect across the country, involving some of the most significant changes for more than seven years.
Rail operators are promising more services across the network and faster journeys on some routes as a result of the changes, with the East Coast Main Line to benefit the most.
Passengers are being advised to check the new timetables before travelling.
The level of change has not been seen since May 2018 when an update sparked major disruption and cancellations on some routes.
Rail timetables are changed every May and December, but rarely to this degree.
Network Rail is promising quicker journeys and thousands of extra seats every day, following a £4bn investment over the past decade.
The changes promise a cut of 15 minutes to journey times between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh, and 10 minutes between Edinburgh and York.
Network Rail says the rail line, which is used by several operators, will have improved connectivity between Scotland, North East England, Yorkshire and London.
One of the companies using the line, LNER, called the changes “transformational” and said it expected to run 10,000 additional services per year.
Ellie Burrows, Eastern regional managing director for Network Rail, said: “The industry has been preparing for many years for the new timetable.
“Our priority now is to continue working together to deliver the long-term benefits of this timetable change, the biggest in over a decade, for our passengers and the communities we serve.”
The changes will also see Northern launch a new hourly fast service between Leeds and Sheffield.
Transport for Wales is introducing more services for Chester, Wrexham and Swansea.
Another operator, Avanti, says there will be more trains between London and Liverpool.
However, there will be cuts to some routes as well. Avanti is cutting the number of services between Blackpool and London from four to two.
The changes are the biggest since May 2018 when a timetable update led to weeks of chaos on the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and Northern networks.
The number of trains cancelled each day by GTR and Northern hit up to 470 and 310 respectively.
That led to a full review and eventually the Labour government’s decision to create Great British Railways and bring the industry under state control.
Travel expert Simon Calder said he was “pretty confident we won’t see the complete collapse of a network, as we did when the Thameslink line had its timetable completely reconfigured in 2018 – that was an absolute shambles”.
“There has been an awful lot of thought and time that has gone into this and the whole idea is to extract the maximum possible capacity from Britain’s Victorian rail network without jeopardising reliability.”
Rail industry expert Tony Miles told the BBC’s Broadcasting House programme that the changes in May 2018 had been based on “using every available slot for a train on the network, and that was the mistake”.
“You need to have some wriggle room” for when things go wrong, he added.
However, Monday morning would be the “real challenge” for the new system, Mr Miles said.
“Obviously Sunday morning services aren’t quite as stressful for the system as a peak time on a weekday.”
After the drop in gold price, Bitcoin price also fell.
Bitcoin fell below $77,000 in the global market, Bitcoin price fell by more than 13% in a week.
Bitcoin’s highest price in 6 months fell below $126,000, Bitcoin price has dropped by more than $49,000.
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The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 371 points, or 0.47%, at 81,090.24, while the NSE Nifty rises by 70 points to trade above 24,850 at 24,889.25.
Stock Market Today.
Market Updates Today: A day after the market crash following the Budget’s provision to hike Securities Transaction Tax (STT), the domestic equity market on Monday saw heightened volatility. After opening nearly flat, the NSE Nifty rose to the day’s high, then touched the day’s low before sharply recovering to trade at the day’s high of 25,093.
As of 3:16 pm, the BSE Sensex surged by 932 points, or up 1.13%, to 81,641.87 in the afternoon trade and the NSE Nifty rose by 267 points, or up 1.07%, to trade above 25,000 at 25,093.27. After opening nearly flat, the NSE Nifty rose to the day’s high, then touched the day’s low before sharply recovering to trade at the day’s high of 25,093.27.
Among the 30 Sensex shares, 25 stocks were trading in the green. Among the top gainers were PowerGrid, Adani Ports, BEL, Reliance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, and IndiGo, rising by up to 7.91%. The laggards were Axis Bank, Infosys, Titan, TCS, and Trent, falling by up to 1.97%.
After opening nearly flat, at around 9:30 am, the BSE Sensex jumped by 350 points to 81,112.03 in the opening trade, while the NSE Nifty rose 91 points to trade above the 24,900 level at 24,910.85. However, the benchmarks gave up all gains and declined to day’s low amid heavy volatility.
Aakash Shah, technical research analyst at Choice Equity Broking Private Ltd, said, “Near-term sentiment remains cautious despite some support from domestic technical indicators. The broader market direction will largely be influenced by global equity cues, crude oil price movements, and institutional fund flows.”
On Sunday, the Nifty saw an aggressive sell-off after the Budget 2026 announcement to hike STT, plunging nearly 870 points from 25,440 to an intraday low of 24,571, before staging a partial recovery to close at 24,825.
“A strong bearish candle was formed, with the index closing decisively below the 200-day EMA, indicating a deterioration in trend strength. Immediate resistance is placed at 24,950–25,000, while key support lies in the 24,650-24,700 zone. The RSI slipped to 31, reflecting oversold conditions, while India VIX surged 10.73% to 15.09, highlighting elevated market volatility,” Shah said.
On Sunday, February 1, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 588 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also remained net sellers, offloading shares worth Rs 682 crore, adding to the pressure on the market.
V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd, said, “Yesterday’s market selloff resulting in 495 point crash in Nifty was a knee-jerk reaction to the sharp increase in STT on F&O trades. This was not a revenue-raising measure, but a decision to discourage retail traders from complex F&O trading, in which 92% of them were losing money. This decision is in the interest of retail investors. But this decision impacted the market sentiments, which were already impacted by the decision to make no changes in the LTCGs tax, which a section of the market was expecting rather unrealistically.”
It is important to understand that the Budget is a growth-oriented Budget with fiscal prudence. The 10% nominal GDP growth projected in the Budget is achievable and has the potential to deliver around 15% earnings growth in FY27. The market will soon start discounting this positive. But it is possible that FIIs may continue to sell impacting the market. Retail investors should keep their cool and remain invested and continue to invest systematically. A significant upturn in the market may take time; perhaps a retreat from AI trade globally. We don’t know when this will happen. But we know that an earnings rebound is imminent in response to this growth oriented Budget. That is a clear positive, he added.
February 02, 2026, 09:34 IST
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Gold and silver prices have continued to drop sharply in a “brutal” sell-off after hitting record highs in recent weeks.
The precious metals began falling on Friday in response to US President Donald Trump’s nomination for the incoming chairman of the Federal Reserve.
His choice for former Fed governor Kevin Warsh to replace current chairman Jerome Powell when his term ends in May soothed some investor nerves, which boosted the US dollar but saw appetite for safe-haven investments gold and silver slump in response.
Gold and silver suffered their worst trading days for decades on Friday and were down heavily again on Monday, with spot prices off by another 7% and 11% respectively at one stage.
Silver had plunged by nearly 30% on Friday and gold dropped over 9% in its worst one-day drop since 1983.
Gold and silver had been enjoying a record breaking rally as investors sought refuge amid global geopolitical uncertainty, conflict and tariff woes.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said: “The sell-off has been far more brutal than I, and many, expected.”
He added: “For silver, the rally on the way up was faster than gold’s, so the correction on the way down is faster too.”
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, added: “If the sell off continues, then gold and silver are at risk of eroding their losses for the year so far.
“The historic move lower in silver prices has not stemmed a fall at the start of this week.
“Traders have not yet found a level that they are happy to buy the dips, and the timing of Chinese Lunar New Year in mid-February could accelerate the sell off, as Chinese traders reduce risk ahead of the holiday.”
UK and US stock markets are expected to open in the red on Monday, as the gold and silver rout has a knock on effect on mining giants, while Brent oil was also 5% lower.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Mining stocks are likely to feel the heat as metal prices scramble to find a floor.
“Oil prices are also trending the wrong way for investors in commodity-focused companies.”
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