Table of contents for Issue 990 in RAIL

@RAIL THE debate about HS2/Euston has descended into foaming-at-the-mouth shouting: a near-toxic mix of barely understandable (to us mere mortals) molecular detail and ill-informed emotional claptrap. No one is served by the raised voices and bulging eyeballs. So, let’s all take a breath and re-focus on the important stuff. But, first, let’s clear the decks of nonsense. HS2 is not going to be cancelled. More than £20 billion has been spent. Over 350 worksites are achieving a great deal. Bridges and viaducts are appearing. The route is clear from the air. Miles of tunnelling under the Chilterns is advanced. HS2 has gone too far to stop… ‘end of’! So, HS2 is going to happen. It will therefore need a terminus of adequate size and scope at Euston to accept, disembark,…

The RMT union has warned that the Government will pay a “heavy political price” for ticket office closures, after passenger watchdogs reported a huge increase in consultation responses. RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said the news that more than 315,000 responses had been received to the ticket office closure consultation revealed “how strongly the travelling public feel about plans to dehumanise the rail network”, and the “mass public opposition” to the Government and operators’ proposals. Lynch added: “These damaging plans are not just about ticket office closures. They are a smokescreen for a widespread dehumanising of our railways. “Our railway stations are at the heart of communities around the country and if these closures go ahead the Tories will pay a heavy political price at the next election, with boarded-up…

The value of forward-facing CCTV has been highlighted by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), after two overhead line workers were almost killed on the West Coast Main Line at Penkridge, Staffordshire. At 2358 on July 10 2022, the pair jumped clear less than a second before being struck by a diesel-hauled GB Railfreight Class 66 travelling at 61mph. The driver spotted the track workers standing on the line and sounded the horn. One saw the approaching train and warned his colleague, and they both jumped clear. While the driver reported the near miss, the workers involved initially said they were standing clear ‘in the cess’ and made no mention of the ‘near miss’. It was only when RAIB obtained CCTV from 66732 that it was discovered how close the…

Next year’s regulated rail fares increase in England will be below the rate of inflation, the Government has confirmed. The commitment was made on August 16, after a Retail Price Index (RPI) of 9% was revealed for July - the monthly figure that has traditionally been used to calculate fares rises made the following January. It is not yet known what next year’s increase will be, although a statement from the Department for Transport said that ministers “would continue to protect passengers from cost-of-living pressures”. Last year, a similar intervention was made with fares increasing by 5.9% - well below July 2022’s RPI figure of 12.3%. The price rise was also delayed until March 2023 rather than commencing in January, as had been the normal procedure prior to the pandemic.…

North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has failed in her attempt to obtain an answer in the House of Commons from Rail Minister Huw Merriman on whether he will commit to reinstatement of passenger services between Oswestry and Gobowen. The Liberal Democrat MP was pressing for more news on the Restoring Your Railway programme, which she says has gone quiet since last September. Oswestry station site, disused since 1966 and now owned by the local authority, has been cleaned up since it was taken over as the headquarters of Cambrian Heritage Railways.…

Siemens Mobility has appointed Rob Morris and Sambit Banerjee as joint chief executives for the UK. Morris was managing director of rail infrastructure, and Banerjee headed rolling stock and customer service for the company. They will join the company board headed by chief financial officer and chair, Julie Owen. Siemens Mobility employs more than 5,000 people in the UK, manufacturing at Chippenham, Ashby and Goole. Almost one in four UK passenger trains is built by Siemens. The company is also involved in the East Coast Digital Upgrade, resignalling Birmingham New Street as well as Elizabeth line signalling, and the TransPennine Route Upgrade.…

The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) has developed a suite of metrics to help the rail industry measure performance across the circular economy, waste management, and resource management. Working with the industry and consultant Ricardo, RSSB has completed the first phase of the project to enable consistent measurement and to support widescale adoption of circular economy principles. The project has identified existing reporting, data flows and metrics to create a shortlist of metrics and developed data collection plans. Core metrics have been selected as being the highest priorities for the rail industry to adopt, based on stakeholder interviews. They include: ■ Station and depot waste generated. ■ Surplus food redistributed. ■ Recycled content in rail infrastructure. ■ Weight of materials in trains that can be reused or recycled at…

The first mile of HS2’s twin-bore Northolt Tunnel into London has been completed, with almost 6,000 concrete segments now in position. Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Sushila has been heading south since last November, while Caroline is heading in the opposite direction. The target date for completing the 8.4-mile structure is 2025. The spoil will be used to create a wildlife habitat and for landscaping. Early next year, two other TBMs will start out from the Victoria Road crossover box, close to Old Oak Common station. They will meet at Greenpark Way (in Greenford) to create the route for the initial opening of HS2 into London. Meanwhile, TBMs Florence and Cecilia have passed the fourth of five ventilation and emergency access shafts, three-quarters of the way through the ten-mile Chiltern Tunnel.…

Services on the London-Norwich route will be disrupted over six weekends between September 2-3 and early November, while points are replaced at both ends of Stowmarket station. They are used regularly in the autumn for the stabling of Network Rail’s leaf-blasting trains. Other track work will take place at the same time at Needham Market, which will affect trains to Peterborough. Passengers have also been warned of further disruption at the end of the year, when construction of the new Beaulieu Park station at Chelmsford gets under way.…

Turning plastic waste into usable products within a few minutes, through 3D printing, was one of the prize winners at LNER’s FutureLabs scheme that brings innovation into the rail industry. Judges selected Automedi from the six companies at its live demonstration at York St John University. SpatialCortex Technology was also praised for its research into injury risk assessment. Now in its fourth year, FutureLabs puts ambitious start-ups through a 12-week programme to develop and scale up their ideas. Other finalists included developing software that uses artificial intelligence to detect fatigue in the workplace, a sensor to monitor waste water levels, and software to analyse passenger behaviour and station maintenance.…

A new assisted travel lounge is open at Manchester Piccadilly. Network Rail invested £800,000 to create the dedicated waiting area by connecting a series of disused rooms behind the former passenger assistance waiting area near Platform 1. Designed in consultation with Manchester Piccadilly’s disability task and finish group, the new lounge includes accessible seating with integrated space for wheelchairs, an accredited Changing Places toilet facility, a staffed welcome desk, and a sensory space for people who find busy public spaces overwhelming. It is open from 0715-2100, Monday-Saturday.…

HIGHWAYS England has formally confirmed its policy U-turn and stated that no more decisions about work on redundant railway structures - including infilling bridges and tunnels - will be made without full public consultation. The statement, in the government-owned body’s annual report, says there will be no repeat of incidents such as 2021’s infilling of the Great Musgrave bridge in Cumbria, which is costing the taxpayer an estimated £431,000 to reverse. This reversal is taking a significant chunk of HE’s £9 million annual budget for the 3,100 unused railway structures for which it is responsible in the UK. There are 265 repair schemes currently in progress. The new policy follows pressure from protest groups and local councils. It includes the formation of a Stakeholder Advisory Forum, which will be more…

Contributions for by far the UK’s most published column by the same author - now in its 42nd year are most welcome from all sources. Personal observations, society magazines, website printouts and live links, transport group newsletters and media cuttings (with dates, please) are sought to maintain topicality. Please email your contributions direct to hj@howardjohnston.co.uk, or rail@bauermedia.co.uk WESTERN Charlbury: Repairs to flood damage at the Cotswold Line station are being completed, and external repainting is planned for this financial year. The Great Western Railway Community Fund and the town council are discussing providing better signage into the town centre. Meldon: Aggregates Industries, the owner of Meldon Quarry, has taken over the former Dartmoor Railway carriage and wagon shed to allow preservationists to put their rolling stock under cover. The nearby…

Ask any railway buff to name Britain’s three greatest railway engineers, and the names of George Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel will trip off the tongue with ease. Few will come up with Joseph Locke, who rivalled them both by building new railway lines, spreading railway technology to France, Spain and Holland, and completing the far more terrain-challenging West Coast line from England to Scotland. Statues of Stephenson and Brunel have been erected in London. Locke’s legacy is a park in Barnsley, donated by his wife Phoebe. No wonder some folk in Barnsley suspect a conspiracy. Joseph Locke was born the sixth of seven children on August 9 1805, into a mining family. But his was not to be the fairy-tale rags to riches story - his father was management…

GOVERNMENT-OWNED Northern Trains (NT) has begun its search for a new fleet of trains to replace its BR-era Class 15X diesel multiple units (DMUs), which are 40 years old next year. Publishing its procurement notice on August 4, Northern has called for manufacturers to submit expressions of interest by September 25. Invitations to Tender will be sent on October 26. It does not give potential contract prices, but says the cheapest will not necessarily be the winner. Initial specifications call for a minimum design life of 35 years (from the train’s acceptance). At this stage, Northern is hedging its bets as to the power source it wants. It has called for “conversion capability” to future-proof the designs, with one key requirement “demonstrable delivery of social value” - taken to mean…

Two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be lowered into an underground chamber at Old Oak Common next year, while HS2 Ltd awaits permission to extend the route into central London. It follows Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper’s announcement in March that work between OOC and London Euston would be paused for two years, after costs for the new terminus swelled from £2.6 billion to £4.8bn. Huw Edwards, HS2 Ltd’s project client for OOC, told the Press Association on August 10 that his team would do nothing to “preclude construction of the railway to the destination that we all want, which is Euston”. He added: “We will be dropping two TBMs into the HS2 box here towards the east end, in the Euston direction, during next year. “When we…

Plans to build a visitor centre and cafe at Bennerley Viaduct have been submitted to Broxstowe Borough Council. The Friends of Bennerley Viaduct said the building would be constructed alongside new pedestrian and cycling access at the eastern end of the viaduct, which closed to rail traffic in 1968. Opened in 1877 to span the Erewash Valley between Ilkeston in Derbyshire and Awsworth in Nottinghamshire, it is the longest wrought viaduct in the UK. The ‘Iron Giant’ was reopened as a footbridge following a £1.4 million project last year.…

Southern has launched a public engagement exercise on proposed timetable changes on routes between Brighton and Southampton and between the Hampshire ports and London, via Gatwick Airport. The most significant changes include a doubling of frequency between Portsmouth and London via Horsham and Gatwick, and between Brighton and Southampton, from one train to two per hour. Portsmouth trains would also be extended from Portsmouth & Southsea to Portsmouth Harbour, while a new half-hourly all-stations service from Brighton to Chichester via Littlehampton would also be introduced. The exercise is open to comments via the Southern website until September 27. Any changes would take effect from next year.…

THE Docklands Light Railway is applying for an exemption from some specific aspects of passenger accessibility regulations. Covering 54 platforms at 29 stations (not every station’s platform is affected), the application mainly relates to original parts of the network, which opened in stages from 1987. In total, the network has 45 stations. Only three major stations have staff. Although the DLR was built as an accessible railway, with lifts or ramps to all platforms, level boarding and wheelchair spaces, regulations have since changed. A consultation on the DLR application is now open, concerning the gap between the trains and platforms. It applies where platforms are curved, which means that not all door positions on a train meet the minimum standard. The discrepancy, for which the exemption is being sought, is…

Passengers want better information ahead of planned engineering works, says research from watchdog Transport Focus (TF). Feedback from passengers also gives a detailed picture of the impact of engineering works for the HS2 Old Oak Common station on the Great Western Main Line, and electrification of the Midland Main Line between London and Sheffield. The first research on the subject since COVID reflects the change in the use of the railway, with an increase in leisure travel and flexible working patterns, and with more home working on traditional commuting days during the week. Worryingly, those interviewed by the researchers had little awareness of future disruption on East Midlands Railway or CrossCountry for the Midland Main Line electrification work, or on Great Western Railway and the Elizabeth line for the HS2…

STEAM-HAULED ‘Jacobite’ services are running again, after the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) granted an exemption to its prohibition notice on West Coast Railways (WCR). The West Highland tourist trains ground to a halt on July 18 after the regulator concluded that WCR was putting passengers “at risk of serious personal injury” for “not implementing the controls… for rolling stock fitted with secondary door locking” (RAIL 989). However, the Fort William-Mallaig train, colloquially known as the ‘Harry Potter’ service, resumed on August 8 after the ORR declared itself satisfied that safety concerns had been addressed and strengthened following its third on-site inspection this year. Carnforth-based West Coast Railways is now employing dedicated stewards to monitor passenger safety. Previously, this role was carried out in a dual capacity by (safety-trained)…

RSSB has developed a health and wellbeing dashboard which gathers data on health and wellbeing from 19 companies across the rail industry. The dashboard provides the industry with an evidence base of health and wellbeing data which can then be used to prioritise investment. Without this evidence base, investment would be poorly targeted or the industry may not realise that it has an issue, said RSSB. It added: “The rail workforce is exposed to unique working conditions. Shift patterns, challenging demands and working conditions, and exposure to potentially traumatic events are some of the issues that make the management of mental health in the industry particularly important. “To support the workforce, it is vital for companies to take a structured and evidence-based approach to managing mental health.”…

Govia Thameslink Railway has agreed contracts with not-for-profit community climate group Energy Garden to install 6,000 solar panels on the roofs of three of its main depots at Bedford, Selhurst and Three Bridges. Spare electricity will be sold on for the benefit of local communities, and it follows successful trials at Streatham Hill depot, where over 500 panels were installed in 2021. There are installations at 20 other stations across London, including Blackfriars and Denmark Hill.…

Guidance for minor and heritage railways, to help them interpret and apply the specific requirements of Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006 (ROGS), has been published by the Office of Rail and Road. It applies to all railways greater than 350mm (13.78in) gauge. Smaller gauge (typically miniature) railways are exempt unless they cross a road (by a bridge or level crossing). ROGS has been subject to several amendments since its issue in 2006. The legislation.gov.uk website does not automatically show the effect of the amendments. ORR’s website has an unofficial consolidated version of ROGS that aims to capture the effects of all the amending legislation. All railways need to comply with ROGS, although some systems, including minor and heritage operations that only run up to 25mph, can…

Stuart Sellar, the former BR Scotland rail manager and enthusiast who played a key role in setting up the regular summer steam excursions between Fort William and Mallaig, died on August 1 aged 86. Stuart, a lifelong photographer who had a 60-year association with the Scottish Railway Preservation Society and helped run its main line tours, also played a major part in the creation of the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway and acquiring its exhibits. His railway career began as a booking clerk at Morningside Road station in Edinburgh 1955. After two years’ national service at Longmoor, he enjoyed the opportunity of doing summer relief work at a variety of stations on the Waverley Route - including Galashiels, Melrose and Hawick. He also served at Burntisland before a permanent switch to…

TPE backs key workers TransPennine Express is offering 20% discount on advance tickets that it sells to anyone working in the healthcare, education, and charity sectors, both First and Standard Class. NHS workers and others can book via their dedicated websites. Lumo flexi-ticket East Coast Main Line open access operator Lumo has introduced a new ticket that can be changed without a £10 admin fee, except on the day of travel. LumoFlex, which is digital only, includes a reserved seat. Adopters’ bee award Station adopters at Westerfield, on the Ipswich-Felixstowe line, have won a national Bees Needs Champions award from the Department for Food and Rural Affairs for their three wildlife-friendly gardens.…

Specialist trainer Morson believes it can fill part of the gap left by the closure of the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure at Doncaster at the end of July. It has entered into a four-year agreement with Network Rail to train staff in track safety, first aid, and the transport of mobile plant and machinery. Overall, the rail industry is conscious that some 120,000 additional skilled people will be required by 2030, with demand reaching its peak in around three years’ time.…

Decarbonisation. It’s a very modern preoccupation - a fixture of contemporary press releases and the catalyst for countless studies, design concepts and sales pitches. It shouldn’t need saying, but it is also an urgent priority -essential to limit the effects of human-induced climate change and to reduce the damage of air pollution caused by the burning of dirty fossil fuels. Electrification is the best tool we currently have at our disposal to decarbonise transport. While electric road vehicles are still a relative novelty, railways have been alive to the powerful benefits of clean, efficient electric traction for more than a century. Full electrification is demonstrably the best solution to eliminate diesel traction on the busiest and most densely trafficked routes, but we don’t yet have a ‘silver bullet’ answer for…

CLASS 150 diesel multiple units (DMUs) remain a stalwart of passenger services, despite approaching their 40th anniversary. The first prototypes appeared in 1984, with production examples following a year later. In squadron service, they allowed British Rail to withdraw many of its varied fleet of tired first-generation DMUs that dated back to the mid-1950s. Across northern England, the ‘150s’ would be employed alongside Classes 153, ‘155’ and ‘156’, which were all 75mph stock built along similar lines by different contractors. A few years later, 90mph Class 158 stock arrived, bringing air-conditioned luxury to Newcastle-Liverpool TransPennine Express services. Today, Northern still uses all these ‘Sprinter’ types, except for the single-car ‘153s’. And they rank as some of the oldest trains in Britain. For how much longer remains to be seen. In…

Railway hotels remain among the most enduring emblems of the rise of leisure and the romance of travel in the age of steam. And it’s a romance that continues into the current century, with the foreseeable future of many now-cherished railway hotels now seemingly assured. DR JOSEPH BRENNAN pays tribute to some of the grand buildings across Britain that are sadly already lost, as well as to gems that are still standing - some thriving, others under threat. Along the way are also select lessons for prevention and preservation. EDINBURGH Built for the North British Railway as North British Station in 1895, Edinburgh’s The Balmoral is today part of the Rocco Forte Hotels group and benefited from author J K Rowling choosing one of its suites to complete her Harry…

IN his excellent articles considering strategies for the future of the British rail network (RAIL 987-989), Jim Steer makes a multitude of very pertinent points - not least that in railway planning terms, 2050 is effectively tomorrow. To which I would add that anything we are building or renewing now will still be in service in 2050, so the future really is already upon us. But there are some difficult truths. Very limited new rail (or road) infrastructure will be built in city regions. It is simply too expensive or disruptive. Yet it is there that extra capacity will be needed. It is utterly pointless developing shopping lists of bigger trunk rail pipelines in the open country to go fast and furiously from just outside A to just outside B.…

Send contributions to: rail@bauermedia.co.uk A railway manager who had gone without a haircut since before the start of the Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 has had his long locks cut off, and donated them to make wigs for children with cancer. Network Rail Senior Programme Manager Stuart Hughes’s hair was gathered into ten ponytails, 18 inches in length. They are now being donated to Hereford-based charity The Little Princess Trust, which provides real hair wigs free of charge to children who have lost their own hair through cancer treatments or conditions such as alopecia. Each wig costs around £550, so Stuart also set out to raise that much - but has now comfortably exceeded that target. “While I may miss the long hair a little bit, I am really pleased…

Network Rail is preparing to deliver some £71 million worth of engineering projects across the August Bank Holiday weekend (August 26-28). Around 500 projects will involve the installation of 7,500 metres of new rail, 2,400 new sleepers, and 15,000 tonnes of ballast. While NR says that around 95% of the network will remain open, disruption will occur for signalling upgrades and track renewals at Wolverton and London Euston, with trains running on a reduced basis. Meanwhile, signal and crossings renewals at New Cross means that no trains can operate from London Charing Cross or Waterloo East, with all services terminating at Victoria or Blackfriars instead. Buses will replace trains between Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside (on August 26) and between Barnes, Twickenham and Windsor & Eton Riverside (Aug 27-Sep…

WEST Midlands transport bosses have declined to support proposals to close railway ticket offices across the region, despite agreeing - in principle - on the need to modernise the way stations are managed and staffed. In an official response to a public consultation on the changes put forward by train operators, the West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) say they “cannot support the proposed closures due to insufficient information around how passenger needs would be met”. Having also made a formal objection to plans to close the ticket office at Birmingham New Street station, they added that “too many issues remained unresolved”. The region’s operators are West Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway, Chiltern Railways and Avanti West Coast (AWC), Under the proposals, train operators running…

The RMT union says it “has been left with little choice” but to stage further strikes in its year-long national rail dispute over working conditions, pay and job security. Announcing two consecutive Saturdays of strikes, which are also expected to affect trains on the day before and after, RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “We have had to call further strike action as we have received no improved or revised offer from the Rail Delivery Group.” Around 20,000 RMT members working on every grade of the 14 government-controlled operators in England will strike for 24 hours on Saturday August 26 (the Bank Holiday weekend) and on Saturday September 2. “The mood among our members remains solid and determined,” said Lynch, who added that “the Government has not allowed RDG a…

THIS year’s National Rail Awards, held on September 14 at the prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel in London, will be supporting the Railway Benefit Fund as its chosen charity. RBF provides a support network to railway people and their families (current, former and retired), ranging from financial support and confidential advice to a legal helpline. And whether you plan to attend the awards ceremony or not, you can still enter this year’s raffle at £10 a ticket. And you can enter as many times as you wish, to win one of three incredible prizes. ■ Eurostar tickets: Two people will be able to travel in style with a Business Premier return on Eurostar to any of its core European destinations. You will have access to the exclusive Business Premier lounges, dedicated…

Network Rail has had to halt installation of new passenger lifts at Warwick station, after unexpectedly striking the foundations of the original 1852 buildings that do not show in any plans. It was already halfway through the work, and a complete redesign will now be needed to skirt round the unrecorded obstacle, which could be part of the station that was destroyed by fire in 1894. It cannot be disturbed as it is integral to the walls of the present building and platform. NR has warned that there may be disruption for passengers for some time, because the area will stay fenced off and the subway closed, A diversionary route is in place.…

Merseyrail services on the Kirkby line were partially reinstated from August 14, following six weeks of engineering work ahead of the opening of a new station at Headbolt Lane. Trains now run every 30 minutes and call at all stations between Kirkby and Liverpool Central. The operator says it expects the timetable to run for around three weeks to allow further driver training, before a full timetable of four trains per hour is restored “as soon as possible”.…

A 5,600-tonne concrete bridge that will take HS2 under the Coventry-Leamington line near Kenilworth has been rolled into place, in an exercise that took just five and a half hours from start to finish. It is the third giant structure to be positioned in the space of a fortnight, demonstrating the progress now being made with the project across the south and west Midlands. The rapid installation of the bridge, measuring 24 yards long and 12 yards wide, was made possible because it was manufactured close to its final position. The blockade of the Coventry line began on July 29, when it was severed by the removal of 125 yards of track and 188 sleepers, with a section of ground excavated to create the gap. The new bridge was then…

Transport for London, through its wholly owned commercial property company, has completed Blackhorse View - the first of its joint venture housing developments with Barratt London and London and Quadrant (L&Q). The development has generated an unspecified income for TfL’s commercial property company, which can be re-invested into the transport network to help minimise TfL’s reliance on fares income. It also marks another step in TfL’s ambition to deliver 20,000 new homes across the capital. Work on a second joint development between TfL and Barratt London, alongside Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing, is now under way by Wembley Park Tube station. The 1.6-acre Wembley Park Gardens development will deliver 454 new homes, including 40% affordable housing. Construction is expected to take four and a half years, with the first people moving…

NETWORK Rail has been fined £1.2 million following the “wholly avoidable” death of a long-serving employee who was carrying out maintenance work. An investigation found that NR failed to implement safe systems of work. It also failed to provide an adequate risk assessment for the work. Kevin Mauger (53) was crushed by railway track weighing six tonnes while working at the Long Welded Rail Depot in Eastleigh on November 30 2020. He was cleaning the inside of a butt-welding machine, which welds two sections of track together. The Health and Safety Executive found that the machine’s conveyor system was on the wrong setting, which meant a section of track entered the machine while Mauger was inside. He was crushed and died at the scene. Network Rail pleaded guilty to a…

Network Rail has declined to fund a study into building a walkway between Fratton station and Portsmouth FC’s ground at Fratton Park. The football club’s owner Michael Eisner had called on NR to contribute £15,000 towards the cost of assessing the feasibility of building a footbridge between the two sites, located less than a mile apart. An NR spokesman told BBC Sport that money had already been invested in early investigations “that would feed into this feasibility study and unlock the redevelopment of the stadium”. He added: “But the cost of redeveloping Portsmouth FC’s North Stand should not fall on the railway.” Eisner said he was “annoyed” at NR’s decision not to provide further financial support “to do something that is so obvious” to make it both safer and easier…

Fears have been raised about the future of rail operations in the Isle of Man, which are under review for the second time in six years. The consultation covers the Douglas Bay Horse Trams, Isle of Man Steam Railway, the Manx Electric Railway, and Snaefell Mountain Railway. Although operated by heritage vehicles, all four railways are owned and operated by the island’s government as part of an integrated public transport network. Infrastructure consultant SYSTRA has been tasked with “developing an understanding of who uses the heritage rail network and why, and what is considered the most important factor in their operation”. Local sources suggest that the government favours transferring the management of the railways to ‘arm’s length’ organisations with charitable status and potentially with greater volunteer involvement - similar to…

A partnership to deliver a joint vision for Manchester and Salford’s main railway stations has been signed between Network Rail and Transport for Greater Manchester. Part of TfGM’s city-wide transport and regeneration strategy, it is the next logical stepping-stone to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s stated desire for local stations to come under the TfGM/ Bee Network ownership and management (RAIL 986). The partnership will focus on transport upgrades and supporting regeneration, to allow the two cities to “meet the demands of future population growth and further support the regional economy.” NR and TfGM, working with key stakeholders, will “establish future regeneration opportunities” at Greater Manchester stations and “attract partners for delivery of projects”. Over the next 12 months, the partnership will work on proposals at six stations: Manchester Piccadilly,…

AUGUST is always a good excuse for inaction, but this dying Conservative administration has taken it to extremes. The railways are in a perpetual crisis. And yet paralysis and obfuscation are the order of the day, with no light at the end of the tunnel. It almost seems as if (Secretary of State for Transport) Mark Harper and (Rail Minister) Huw Merriman have left the railways in a state of limbo deliberately, while they go off on summer jollies, having lit the blue touch paper of booking office closures and run away before the fireworks went off. They have also stood by like disinterested observers while the industrial dispute which has dogged the industry for more than a year remains unresolved. They are presumably acting at the behest of the…

As the railway adjusts to post-COVID travel patterns and demand, a radical rethink of market segments and their needs is vital to reduce the £2 billion funding gap. Although the starting point of this article was the ’70 years before all stations are made accessible’ headline, it is self-evident that many of the requirements for disabled people will also make the railway a more welcoming place for families and the elderly. The Family Resources Survey indicates that there were 14.6 million people in the UK with a disability in the 2021-22 financial year - 28% of the population according to the Department for Transport. In the same year, there were 19.3 million families in the UK, 8.15 million of them with children. In 2022, there were 11 million people aged…

GIVE YOUR LETTER ITS BEST CHANCE... ■ Please keep letters concise and no longer than 300 words. ■ Please supply your full name and address with your letter or email. ■ We reserve the right to edit submissions. TICKET OFFICE CLOSURES Ticketing needs to be simplified… and the ticket offices need to stay I am a relatively experienced rail user, yet I still find modern ticket options and restrictions bewildering, to the point of being off-putting. For example, I recently booked tickets via an app, paid via the app, but had to collect them from a ticket vending machine (TVM). At the TVM, I needed my bank card to collect them, as I didn’t have the card (just my phone). I had no option but to buy the tickets again…

OpinionIndustry Insider WHEN HS2 was conceived, it seemed a really useful railway priced at £37.5 billion. It would enable direct international services by providing a link between HS1 and the new line, bringing a revival of the North of London services proposed as part of the Channel Tunnel project. This included providing sleeping car services linking a number of regions in Britain, reflecting the plans that have evolved to restore overnight trains covering much of the European continent. Heathrow Airport would also be served, allowing easy connection with high-speed trains and thus reducing the need for carbon-intensive internal air flights, as there would be faster journey times to larger population centres given the links between HS2 and the East and West Coast Main Lines. It also addressed West Coast…