“Ironing board” seats on some commuter trains will get extra cushioning, the transport secretary has said, more than a decade after the government spent £1.6bn of public money building the fleet.

Heidi Alexander announced that more than 60,000 seats on all 115 Thameslink trains would get new cushions and backrests, replacing much-criticised thin and hard seats.

She said the work, set to begin in 2027 and last two years, was “public ownership of our railways in action” as part of the new Great British Railways programme.

However, some have criticised how the Department for Transport (DfT) awarded a £1.6bn contract for the trains despite being warned of the seat discomfort at the time.

The seat upgrades are part of wider improvements planned for the Thameslink network after Greater Thameslink Railway came into public ownership in May 2026.

Other measures included an increase in Gatwick Express services from December and a programme to refurbish train toilets and remove graffiti across the fleet.

Alexander said: “We’ll start getting rid of the dreaded ‘ironing board seats’ so passengers can enjoy comfier, more pleasant journeys on some of Britain’s busiest commuter routes.”

She said wider rail reforms would continue under the planned Great British Railways organisation, which is intended to oversee rail services across England.

The class-700 Thameslink trains were heralded by the DfT as “state-of-the-art” and “a fantastic deal” for taxpayers when they were rolled out between 2016 and 2019.

That followed the DfT spending £1.6bn of taxpayers’ money for German manufacturer Siemens to build the trains in 2013, following a bidding process which began in 2008.

DfT’s own procurement guidance document for the fleet, seen by the BBC, stressed that they should be “high capacity” and “reduced weight”.

It said the new electric fleet would have a design that “must cater for [about] 1,000 people to board or alight at one time” and a “2+2 seat layout to ease flow and provide standing space”.

Some have claimed that this aim to maximise capacity and standing space for commuters led to the seats being so thinly cushioned.

Responding to Alexander’s post on X praising the new re-cushioning project, Graeme Pickering, senior correspondent at Railway Magazine, wrote: “Might have been wise not to frame this as ‘public ownership fixes private sector mess’ when it was the DfT which procured said trains.”

Two years before the Thameslink trains were rolled out to the public, a prototype was unveiled at London’s Excel centre in 2014.

Sensex lost 183 points to close at around 77,473 while Nifty 50 dropped 127 points or more than half a percent to end the session below 24,208. Broader markets ended mixed, with Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.8% while Nifty Midcap slipped into the red.

Infosys, Bharti Airtel and L&T shares dropped around 2% each to lead losses on Sensex, while Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, M&M and Reliance Industries shares fell over 1% each. Meanwhile, Kotak Mahindra Bank shares soared over 3.5%, while UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank and Tata Steel shares jumped 1-2%.

Among the sectors, Nifty Realty and Nifty Consumer Durables dropped around 1% each, while Nifty Metal and Nifty Private Bank soared more than 1% each. The overall market breadth favoured the bulls, with NSE seeing 1,967 advances against 1,548 declines, while 130 stocks remained unchanged.

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The domestic market ended lower, giving up early gains as sectoral divergence weighed on benchmarks through the session, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments. He noted that inflation concerns receded on tempered US sanctions on Iran, easing domestic bond yields and lifting banking stocks, while metals gained on better realization prospects.
However, these gains were largely offset by weakness in IT stocks after the US paused visa appointments amid an immigration crackdown which rekindled margin pressure concerns, according to the analyst. “Investors now await the US Core PCE print for greater clarity on the rate trajectory. A contained core reading would indicate that the recent energy-led inflation spike is transitory, easing rate concerns and supporting flows into emerging markets,” he further said.Technical view on Nifty

Nifty formed a dark cloud cover pattern on the daily timeframe, raising the possibility of a bearish move in the coming days, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. He however noted that the broader trend remains positive as the index continues to trade within a rising channel. Today, the index found support just above the 50 EMA.

“Overall, range-bound trading continues, with sellers emerging at higher levels. The RSI has once again entered a bearish crossover. A fall below 24,130 could trigger a serious correction, potentially dragging Nifty towards 23,900 and 23,700. On the higher end, a rock-solid resistance is placed at 24,350. Only a sustained move above 24,350 could change the current perception; until then, choppiness is likely to prevail,” according to the analyst.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Nate Baxter spent much of his career in technology. Now, just weeks into his tenure as CEO of ScottsMiracle-Gro, he’s betting that artificial intelligence, e-commerce and faster product innovation can help reshape one of America’s biggest lawn and garden companies.

“I’ve told this company that we need to behave more like a technology company and not think of ourselves as just a basic materials company supplying dirt and fertilizer,” Baxter told FOX Business.

Baxter, who joined Scotts more than three years ago, said his decades of experience in technology have shaped his approach to the lawn and garden business, even as he has had to learn the consumer products industry.

“Leadership is leadership,” Baxter said. “And I believe good leadership translates across all sorts of categories.”

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Nate Baxter became CEO of ScottsMiracle-Gro after spending more than three years with the lawn and garden company. (Courtesy of ScottsMiracle-Gro Company)

That technology mindset is already showing up in the company’s use of artificial intelligence.

Scotts has about 40 AI use cases spanning consumer-facing tools and back-office operations, according to Baxter. Rather than making large investments upfront, he said the company has taken a cautious approach, starting small and investing more when an application generates a return.

One of the first tests came in consumer services, where employees traditionally needed extensive lawn and garden expertise to answer customers’ questions. Scotts digitized that knowledge and built an AI-powered assistant.

“And now nearly 100% of our incoming calls are dealt with by an AI agent and not a human agent,” Baxter said.

A person empties a bag of top soil in a flower bed in Tennessee. (Getty Images)

Scotts is also deploying AI in demand planning and on its website, where consumers can use an AI assistant to ask more complicated lawn and garden questions.

Baxter said the technology is already generating revenue growth, cost savings and productivity improvements, but he pushed back on the idea that AI’s primary value will come from eliminating jobs.

“My view, there’s a lot of CEOs out there that think we’re going to be able to just eliminate a lot of jobs. I don’t see it that way,” Baxter said. “I think we are going to be able to make our people more productive and so that’ll allow us to maybe hire at a slower rate than we would as we grow.”

SCOTTS MIRACLE-GRO IS MAIN FINANCIAL SUPPORTER OF PUSH TO LEGALIZE WEED IN NEW JERSEY: REPORT

Reaching new customers is another major piece of Baxter’s strategy.

Scotts estimates the lawn and garden category it competes in is worth roughly $12 billion, while its household penetration averages only about 10%, leaving significant room for growth.

Part of that opportunity lies with younger consumers who may have different expectations than the homeowners who traditionally bought Scotts products.

A woman gardens at her home. (Getty Images)

“We are pivoting hard into naturals and organics and biologicals not only is it just better for the Earth, but we know there’s a whole cohort of consumers out there that really want safe and effective organic solutions, but they also need to work,” Baxter said.

Scotts is also changing how it reaches those consumers.

Baxter said the company is moving away from large-scale advertising campaigns centered on traditional television and toward an “always on” model that produces thousands of pieces of creative tailored to different groups of consumers.

E-commerce is also becoming a testing ground for products before Scotts commits to nationwide distribution.

A person gardens their home lawn. (Getty Images)

Baxter pointed to a product the company launched through TikTok Shop last year that sold out almost immediately. While the initial volume was relatively small, he said the launch demonstrated demand and gave Scotts an opportunity to learn how to operate through a new sales channel.

“That product is now Nationwide and Brick and Mortar, so that’s another lesson for us, which is test it in e-com first with a limited audience, learn from that, and then maybe the second season you bring it into Nationwide Distribution and Bricks and Mortars.”

Product innovation represents another pillar of Baxter’s growth strategy. He said Scotts introduced more than 80 new SKUs that accounted for more than $75 million in revenue, a figure he hopes the company can double over the next year.

“I do believe there’s a lot of organic growth,” Baxter said.

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The growth push comes as Scotts continues to strengthen its balance sheet following financial challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic and the collapse of the cannabis industry. The company has divested the remaining pieces of its cannabis-related business and refocused on consumer lawn and garden while paying down debt.

Baxter said Scotts’ leverage is currently in the high threes, with a medium-term target of between three and 3.5 and a longer-term goal of getting below three. Reaching that level, he said, could free up cash for additional investment in the company and more shareholder-friendly uses.

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For Baxter, the next phase will come down to whether Scotts can turn its technology investments, new products and push for younger consumers into sustained growth.

“There’s a lot of excitement at the company,” Baxter said. “Change can always be good. We’re trying to improve on the culture that we have, which is already an amazing and fun culture. And at the end of the day, we’ve got a lot of excitement and enthusiasm here in the building about what’s next for Consumer Lawn& Garden.”

Tiger Woods broke his silence Tuesday on a major upcoming change to the PGA Tour’s season-ending competition, expressing enthusiasm for the new format just as Scottie Scheffler enters the Tour Championship on the verge of surpassing one of Woods’ longest-standing career records.

The PGA Tour announced Aug. 25 that its season-ending competition will shift to a new format beginning in 2028, culminating in a two-week, 32-player match play competition. Woods, who has played a significant behind-the-scenes role in shaping the Tour’s future competitive structure, reacted quickly to the announcement on social media. “The conclusion of the season should be worthy of the journey it takes to get there,” Woods wrote on Instagram. “Today’s announcement is a result of the hard work and passion of our players. Excited to usher in a new era of match play on the PGA Tour.”

Under the new format, the PGA Tour’s Championship Series Finale will become the season’s final 72-hole stroke play event beginning in 2028, featuring the top 90 players in the season standings. The top 32 finishers from that event will then advance to the two-week match play competition to determine the overall champion, according to details reported by Golfweek’s Adam Schupak following the Tour’s announcement.

The shift toward match play carries a notable personal connection to Woods, who owns a career record of 54 wins, 20 losses and two ties in professional singles match play competition. The PGA Tour leaned into that history in its promotional materials for Tuesday’s announcement, including a throwback reference to Woods’ memorable 2006 WGC Match Play matchup against Stephen Ames. Before that match, Ames was asked about his chances against Woods and offered a notably modest assessment. “Anything can happen, especially with where he’s hitting the ball,” Ames said at the time. Woods went on to defeat Ames decisively, 9 and 8, in the match. Reflecting afterward on the exchange, Woods offered a pointed response to Ames’ earlier comment. “I think he understands now,” Woods famously said.

Woods’ influence on the new format extends well beyond his public endorsement of the announcement. PGA Tour Chief Executive Brian Rolapp has repeatedly credited Woods for his leadership of the Tour’s Future Competitions Committee, a body that has helped develop the new competitive structure and given Woods a meaningful role in shaping the PGA Tour’s direction even as he has remained largely absent from competitive play in recent years. Woods’ statement Tuesday specifically credited the broader group of players involved in developing the new format, rather than framing the change as his own individual initiative.

While Woods celebrated the Tour’s future format, a separate and more immediate piece of his competitive legacy faces potential change much sooner, as Scheffler enters this week’s Tour Championship within close reach of breaking Woods’ PGA Tour career earnings record, a mark Woods has held since Feb. 13, 2000, more than 26 years.

Scheffler currently sits just $608,505 behind Woods on the PGA Tour’s all-time official career earnings list. The world No. 1 golfer earned $426,250 for a tied-12th finish at the BMW Championship, pushing his career earnings total to $120,390,661. Woods remains atop the list at $120,999,166, a position he has held continuously since establishing the mark in February 2000.

Scheffler moved into second place on the career earnings list following an eight-shot victory in Memphis, passing Rory McIlroy in the process to set up his current pursuit of Woods’ longstanding record. Scheffler now has a genuine opportunity to overtake Woods at this week’s Tour Championship, the PGA Tour’s season-ending playoff finale, which features an official $40 million purse, including $10 million awarded to the tournament winner and $5 million for the player finishing solo second. According to the report, Scheffler would need to finish approximately 13th or better at East Lake to move ahead of Woods on the all-time earnings list.

McIlroy also remains in contention for the record, entering the Tour Championship with $117,848,372 in career PGA Tour earnings, giving him a mathematical path to potentially surpass both Woods and Scheffler depending on how the tournament’s final results unfold.

The overlapping timing of Tuesday’s format announcement and Scheffler’s pursuit of Woods’ earnings record has added additional narrative weight to a week already carrying significant historical stakes for the PGA Tour. Woods’ public statement, delivered as his own record faces a realistic threat of falling within days, reflected a notably forward-looking tone focused on celebrating the sport’s evolving competitive structure rather than dwelling on the personal significance of a milestone he has held for more than a quarter-century.

With the Tour Championship now underway at East Lake Golf Club, attention is likely to remain closely divided between Scheffler’s pursuit of the career earnings mark and the broader excitement surrounding the newly announced 2028 match play format, a change that Woods, through his continued involvement with the Tour’s Future Competitions Committee, has helped bring to fruition even as he continues to watch from the sidelines of full-time competitive golf. Whether Scheffler ultimately claims the record this week or McIlroy overtakes both players instead, Woods’ influence on the PGA Tour’s competitive future appears set to extend well beyond his own playing career, formalized now through a new tournament format explicitly designed to honor the kind of high-stakes, head-to-head match play competition that helped define his own dominant run through the sport.

Two unvaccinated residents of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, have died from measles, the Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed Tuesday, marking the state’s first measles-related deaths in 35 years and the first reported measles deaths in the United States this year amid the country’s largest outbreak of the disease in decades.

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen confirmed the deaths during a media briefing held at Lancaster General Health’s Women & Babies Hospital, declining to provide additional details about the victims, including their ages, in order to protect their families’ privacy. “My deepest sympathies are with the loved ones who are facing this unimaginable loss,” Bogen said in a statement.

Both individuals who died lived in Lancaster County, which has served as the epicenter of Pennsylvania’s growing outbreak this year. As of Tuesday, the state had confirmed 393 measles cases across 28 counties, with roughly half of those cases concentrated in Lancaster County alone, according to Bogen. Of those, 86 cases were diagnosed within the past week, and approximately 20% of confirmed cases statewide have required hospitalization, with at least 70 people hospitalized so far for measles-related complications. Bogen noted that none of the confirmed cases in Pennsylvania this year have occurred in people who had received both recommended doses of the MMR vaccine.

Dr. Jeffrey Martin, a physician at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital, addressed the significance of the deaths during the briefing, emphasizing the disease’s genuine potential severity. “These tragic deaths remind us that measles is not a harmless illness,” Martin said. He also explained the choice of venue for the announcement. “It’s appropriate that we’re having this press conference at our Women & Babies Hospital. Pregnant women and children are vulnerable to measles if they are not vaccinated,” he said. Officials declined to answer questions regarding whether either of the two people who died was pregnant or an infant.

Bogen emphasized that the state’s relatively low familiarity with measles, following decades without local transmission, has contributed to public underestimation of the disease’s risks. “Because measles was largely eliminated in the Commonwealth for more than three decades, people are not familiar with this disease and don’t fully understand the potential severity of the illness,” she said. “We want to ensure every Pennsylvanian has the information they need to protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities.”

The federal government responded to the deaths as well. A spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a statement extending condolences. “HHS and CDC extend their condolences to the families and communities affected by two measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,” the spokesperson said. “CDC is working closely with state and local health” officials in response to the outbreak.

The deaths arrive amid a broader, historic resurgence of measles across the United States. According to CNN, the country has recorded more than 2,700 measles cases so far in 2026, surpassing last year’s total and marking a second consecutive record-breaking year for the disease. Measles was officially declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, largely as a result of the nation’s sustained vaccination program, a status public health officials have warned is now under genuine threat given the scale of this year’s outbreak.

The circumstances surrounding the deaths carry added political weight given recent federal vaccine policy changes. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at reducing the number of vaccines recommended for children, a move backed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that drew sharp criticism from pediatricians and public health experts. According to Axios, that order specifically called for splitting the childhood MMR vaccine into three separate shots administered at separate medical visits, a change health experts warned would make children less safe by decreasing overall vaccination interest and leaving more communities exposed to future outbreaks.

Kennedy has a documented history of anti-vaccine rhetoric, including a 2021 appearance as a keynote speaker at an event in Lancaster County, where he made unsubstantiated claims regarding vaccine safety, according to local reporting from that time. However, amid the current outbreak, Kennedy has more recently described the MMR vaccine as safe and encouraged people to get vaccinated against measles.

Bogen echoed that message directly in response to the two deaths, emphasizing the vaccine’s protective value despite the broader political controversy surrounding federal vaccine policy. “As a physician, I want to make sure that people understand that the MMR vaccine is safe and provides the best protection we have against measles,” Bogen said, according to CNN.

Pennsylvania has taken several steps in recent months to reinforce vaccination guidance amid concerns about shifting federal recommendations. According to Pennsylvania Capital-Star, the state’s Board of Pharmacy has moved to accept vaccination guidelines from established nongovernmental medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians. Last year, Pennsylvania also joined the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, a multistate initiative developed alongside neighboring states specifically to coordinate public health and vaccination guidance amid what officials described as concerns over politicization within federal health agencies.

Measles remains one of the most highly contagious diseases known to medicine, spreading through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or breathes. Lancaster County has historically recorded lower vaccination rates compared with the rest of Pennsylvania, a factor health officials have cited as contributing to the county’s outsized share of the state’s confirmed cases this year.

Pennsylvania health officials have urged residents who believe they may have been exposed to measles, or who are currently experiencing symptoms consistent with the disease, to contact the state health department’s dedicated hotline at (877) 724-3258 for guidance. As the outbreak continues to expand statewide, officials indicated the response effort would remain a top public health priority in the weeks ahead, with the Post-Gazette characterizing the situation as requiring an “all hands on deck” approach from state and local health authorities.

This story includes information about an infectious disease outbreak involving fatalities. If you have questions about your own or a family member’s vaccination status or potential measles exposure, consult a health care provider or contact your state or local health department for personalized guidance.

The company, formerly known as ITD Cementation India Ltd., has been meeting institutional investors and could launch the qualified institutional placement in the coming days, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. ICICI Securities Ltd. and SBI Capital Markets Ltd. are working on the transaction, they said.

Deliberations are ongoing and details including the timing and size of the offering could change, the people said. Representatives for Cemindia Projects and the banks didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The company’s board on July 23 approved raising as much as 50 billion rupees through the issuance of equity shares via a qualified institutional placement.

India’s equity capital market is on track for its strongest month on record despite a lackluster stock market, fueled by a flurry of block trades and institutional placements. Almost $10 billion of deals have priced in August, led by the government’s $3.2 billion sale of shares in Life Insurance Corp. of India, as ample domestic liquidity continues to support demand for new stock.

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Adani Group, through its Renew Exim DMCC unit, acquired control of Cemindia Projects in 2024 and subsequently increased its holding through an open offer. The group held a 67.46% stake following the transaction.
Cemindia Projects focuses on heavy civil, infrastructure and engineering, procurement and construction projects in India, according to its website.

Airline says older workers bring invaluable life experience and skills

Budget airline easyJet has launched a new recruitment drive, with a specific focus on attracting older workers to join its cabin crew.

Since rolling out an initiative to bring in older workers back in 2022, the number of cabin crew members aged over 50 has more than doubled, while the number of those over 60 has almost quadrupled, the airline said.

EasyJet’s own research indicated that the majority of adults who had switched careers after turning 50 reported feeling happier as a result.

Many prospective applicants assume cabin crew roles are geared towards younger workers, and feared they would be the eldest member of the team, easyJet noted.

Michael Brown, director of cabin services at easyJet, said: “It’s been incredibly encouraging to see the numbers of cabin crew over 50 more than double since 2022 – evidence that many are increasingly viewing cabin crew as a fantastic career pivot regardless of age.

“We want more over-50s to apply as they not only bring their existing skills to excel in a career at easyJet, but also a wealth of life experience that is appreciated by our customers and colleagues alike, which is at the heart of the fantastic service our crew are known for.”

Employment minister Andrew Western said: “Supportive employers like easyJet know the breadth of experience over-50s can bring to the workforce and it shows what can be achieved when this is valued.”

Applications open from September, with vacancies available across the airline’s UK bases.

To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.

A consortium led by Karbon Homes, plus Thirteen Group, are part of a major housebuilding initiative announced by the Government

Housing associations and a council in the North East are to deliver thousands of new homes in the region after securing multimillion-pound Government funding.

Northumberland housing group Karbon Homes has led a consortium that also involves believe housing, Bernicia, Durham Aged Miners Homes Association and Livin to deliver 2,533 homes with Government funding of £350m. And Middlesbrough’s Thirteen Group has received £349.2m to build 2,750 new properties.

The funding is part of a national programme worth almost £10bn announced by the Government following Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s pledge to have the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period. Newcastle City Council is one of three local authorities in England to get direct funding, securing £141.4m to build 966 houses in the city.

Sarah Robson, executive director of development and asset management at Karbon Homes, said: “Alongside meeting customer needs and strengthening local communities, working collaboratively will also enable us to strengthen procurement, share expertise and support the development of a more resilient construction supply chain.

“We’re delighted to receive the maximum available allocation for our partnership bid which reflects our track record and ambition. Although we recognise the financial constraints the Government is operating within, this first wave of funding is critical to ensure we can continue to deliver the much-needed affordable homes our region needs, and we hope further funding will follow in due course.”

Thirteen Group will build properties in the North East, the Tees Valley, and in Yorkshire and Humber.

Chief executive Matt Forrest said: “This is fantastic news for Thirteen and the communities we serve, and will enable us to build thousands more social and affordable new homes over the next 10 years. These homes are very much needed – our new builds attract more than 200 applications each and we really need to close that gap between supply and demand as quickly as possible.

“Developing is in our DNA at Thirteen and securing this funding – the largest sum we’ve ever been allocated – is a huge vote of confidence in our ability to deliver quality new homes at pace and scale. We have a long-established and successful partnership with Homes England and these homes will be in addition to the 1,763 we’re currently developing under the previous funding programme.”

John Johnston, chief executive of housing group Bernicia and chair of the North East Housing Partnership, said: “We very much welcome the announcement of £445m in funding to build 3,400 new social and affordable homes across the North East.

“The North East Housing Partnership is ready to mobilise and begin delivering these much-needed homes for people across the region to support the North East mayor’s Plan for Homes. And with over 50,000 people on housing waiting lists in our region, we know demand is huge, so we will continue to work alongside the mayor to develop the case for additional, long-term funding that matches our shared ambition for new homes and the housing need in the region.”