Table of contents for Issue 1001 in RAIL

@RAIL I watched from afar the problems at Paddington in early December, when fallen overhead lines left passengers and trains stranded, almost within sight of the Great Western Railway’s London terminus. It’s clear that all is not well on Brunel’s old line - once so effectively run by Felix Pole, who coincidentally received a knighthood for his railway work 100 years ago. Those stranded trains came only a few days after the Office of Rail and Road announced an investigation into poor performance across Network Rail’s Wales and Western Region. A few days later, Wales and Western Region Managing Director Michelle Handforth resigned. One of the stranded passengers was Handforth’s boss, NR Chief Executive Andrew Haines. Writing about the events of that evening, he said: “For once I had the…

Around 150 employees face redundancy after TXM Plant Ltd, the UK’s biggest supplier of road-rail vehicles, entered administration. Teneo Financial Advisory Ltd has been appointed as administrators after the Wigan-based company reportedly faced “challenges” in recent months, with falling customer demand in the face of industry-wide budgetary constraints. As well as being the UK’s largest supplier of road-rail vehicles in the UK, TXM Plant also provides consultancy and training, plant operations scheme work, and contract lifts. RAIL understands that discussions are under way between the RMT union and TXM Plant’s administrators, to understand what steps are being taken to find a new buyer or to fund for the company. RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch told union members: “I have written to Network Rail over this matter and asked the company…

A key section of the West Coast Main Line between Rugby and Stafford has been closed over January 20-21 to enable the commissioning of new signalling that has taken seven years to fully install. The inter-city route was scheduled to reopen on Monday January 22 (after this issue of RAIL went to press), at which point Rugby Control Centre was set to gain responsibility for 39 new signals and 124 axle counters in the Colwich and Rugeley Trent Valley areas. The project has cost £85 million. During the closure, Avanti West Coast was unable to operate long-distance services out of Euston, and trains to and from Liverpool ran two-hourly only as far as Crewe. Buses replaced trains between Rugby and Stafford and Crewe and Stafford via Stoke-on-Trent. Elsewhere across the…

There is no mention in the Business Plan of replacement of the Croydon Tram fleet. However, this is already being lined up by Transport for London, which issued a notice to intending bidders on January 3, ahead of planned publication of a tender document on June 27, with bids to be valid until June 24 2026. TfL is looking to replace its original 24-strong Bombardier CR4000 fleet - in service since 2000, and which is coming to the end of its design life - with 24 new vehicles. They could enter service from 2027-29, depending on the contract and TfL’s financing. There is an option for a further 16 trams to replace the 12 Stadler Variobahn trams that entered service in two batches in 2012 and 2015. The total value…

LNER passengers can now buy semi-flexible tickets offering travel up to 70 minutes before or after their original booked journey. The advance-purchase ‘70min Flex’ tickets will be valid from February 5, at which point LNER will withdraw off-peak and super off-peak fares. Anytime and Advance fares will remain. Fare expert Mark Smith described the changes as “a significant reduction in flexibility”. He said existing off-peak fares were refundable and valid on any operator and any permitted route.…

CANCELLING High Speed 2’s second phase between Birmingham and Manchester could cost over £800 million, according to HS2 Ltd Chairman Sir Jon Thompson. Giving evidence to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee on January 10, Thompson said the company had already spent £728m on early works for Phase 2a (Birmingham-Crewe), and now expected to spend £92m-£107m on closing down 41 early works compounds and restoring land at the 1,184 investigatory boreholes along the 2a route. Previous estimates had put the cost of building Phase 2a at £5bn-£7bn in 2019 prices. HS2 Ltd had been set to fund signalling renewals on Network Rail’s tracks approaching Crewe. But Thompson said that Phase 2a’s cancellation (by the Prime Minister last October, RAIL 994) meant the costs of this work would now revert…

Siemens Mobility has failed in its High Court bid to overturn HS2 Ltd’s decision to award its train building contract to a Bombardier/Hitachi Rail joint venture (JV). The Court also rejected Siemens’ application for a Judicial Review and told Siemens it is not entitled to any damages. In a 180-page judgement, Mrs Justice O’Farrell DBE ruled that Alstom’s subsequent takeover of Bombardier was not a conflict of interest and that HS2’s ‘scoring’ basis to assess the bids was within the law. She also decided that a post-award review of the JV bid, carried out due to its “abnormally low” tender price, was also legal. In its summary, the High Court ruled that there was “no manifest error in the rolling stock procurement” by HS2 and that it had not “breached…

TSSA, the biggest union across Transport for London (TfL), has called for “urgent talks to avoid further escalation” after reports that an additional £30 million has been “found to resolve the pay dispute” - in a reference to the RMT’s new talks with TfL. The union is planning to ballot London Underground members for industrial action after rejecting a 5% pay offer. “It is now up to London Underground - together we can strike a deal, or we will be forced to move to sustained industrial action,” said TSSA General Secretary Maryam Eslamdoust. Meanwhile, a Tube strike planned for January 5-11 by the RMT was called off on January 7 after the RMT “made progress in discussions with TfL”. The strikes would have featured different grades (drivers, controllers, signalling, stations,…

Network Rail is seeking permission to demolish a three-bedroom bungalow on the Isle of Wight, after ground movement led to concerns that it could cause a landslip onto Island Line tracks. The empty home at Sandown sits on an embankment above a cutting on the route between Ryde and Shanklin. Consultant AECOM advised that the property is becoming more structurally unsound, with extensive cracks running through it. It reported that the condition is worsening and it would be more cost-effective to demolish it, rather than repair. NR already owns the bungalow, and says it has been unoccupied for some time. It had previously purchased the house next door and demolished it after earthworks above the railway failed.…

Senior UK rail industry leaders visited Kyiv on January 11 to express their support for Ukrainian Railways (UZ) colleagues. Rail Partners CEO Andy Bagnall and new Chairman David Brown (Managing Director of Arriva’s UK rail division), as well as First Rail MD Steve Montgomery, joined representatives from Europe and the USA to present a cheque for more than £106,000 to Ukrainian Railways management and trades union leaders. The money - donated by rail industry companies including Arriva Trains, FirstGroup, Direct Rail Services, GB Railfreight, Freightliner, MTR, Porterbrook, Angel Trains, Govia and Serco via the Global Ukraine Rail Task Force (GURTF) - is already being used to provide emergency food packages for UZ staff and their families displaced from front-line communities in eastern Ukraine by Russia’s illegal invasion. The current batch…

DIRECT Rail Services has confirmed that the 14 Class 68s it had on hire to TransPennine Express will all be returned to their owner, Beacon Rail, officially from May. A start has been made on moving 68019-032 and the Mk 5 stock to store at Long Marston. No new users for the locomotives and the 13 sets of Mk 5 coaches, also owned by Beacon Rail, have yet been identified or divulged. Chiltern Railways has been suggested as one operator to take them, and RAIL understands that conversations have taken place between the rolling stock owner and the train operator. Chiltern already uses DRS 68008-015 with older Mk 3 stock on the Marylebone-Kidderminster route. A DRS spokesman told RAIL: “The Class 68s are in the process of returning from their…

DB Cargo will be operating a four-day charity train to Cornwall in May, to raise funds for Martin House Hospice. Promoted by the Branch Line Society (BLS) and set for May 3-6, the charity train will use the Class 50 Alliance’s 50007 Herculesand 50049 Defiance. The train starts at Doncaster with a DB Cargo 66 and will run via Sheffield, Derby and Tame Bridge Parkway to Bescot. Here the Class 50s will take over and run to Plymouth, where the train will be based for three nights. On arrival on the Friday (May 3), the train will have a break and then there will be an evening run to Falmouth and back. On the Saturday, the plan is to cover Fowey, Parkandillack and Penzance and then return to Plymouth for…

The end of the annual Railhead Treatment Train season in mid-December was commemorated with a photoshoot on December 16 at the former Thrall works at York, which is one of the RHTT operational centres. Direct Rail Services 37407 Blackpool Tower, 37419 Driver Tony Kayand 37425 Sir Robert McAlpine/Concrete Bobwere cleaned and lined up alongside each other, each in their retro BR liveries of BR Large logo blue, Mainline and Regional Railways colours respectively. On the other side of the yard, 37422 Victoriousand 37716 in their DRS liveries were also available for photography. The future of the Class 37s with DRS is still undecided. A spokesman for the operator told RAIL: “We’re in the process of evaluating which circuits will take place with which locomotives. That should be concluded by spring…

WITH signalling tested and commissioned over January 6/7, driver training is now under way on Fife’s new branch to Levenmouth. The first trains ran over the £116 million, six-mile line on January 8. Passengers can expect to use the line from the start of 2024’s summer timetable, which takes effect on June 2, according to Scotland’s Railway Managing Director Alex Hynes. ScotRail consulted passengers last autumn for their views on two interim timetables. Timetable A has two trains per hour running from Edinburgh via Dunfermline as extensions of current trains running to Glenrothes with Thornton. Timetable B gives Leven one train per hour running via Kirkcaldy, which gives a faster journey into Edinburgh. Neither ScotRail nor Network Rail would say if the timetable decision favours A or B. From 2025,…

Online ticket seller Trainline is teaming up with a national charity to locate missing people and bring them home faster, with a new phone app that shows their faces. The image will reach anyone who uses the Trainline service. Any information from passengers will be shared with the Missing People charity, with instructions on what to do. The one-year trial of the app will take place at four London stations - Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Clapham Junction and London Bridge - plus Manchester Piccadilly, Liverpool Lime Street, Leeds, Birmingham New Street, and Edinburgh Waverley.…

THE draft rail reform bill seems to have been stuck in the wastes of Whitehall. Transport Secretary Mark Harper has admitted that there are differences between ministers over precisely what powers the new body it is supposed to create (Great British Railways) will have. Of course, this is really a theoretical exercise. The Government has already conceded that there will be no rail legislation in its final Parliamentary session, but rather that instead MPs will get the chance to discuss a draft of the bill they had to bring in. Just to remind readers about the draft rail bill and explain why we are here. The reform process was kicked off by former Transport Secretary Chris Grayling in the wake of the May 2018 timetable fiasco, and was supposed to…

WELCOME to the RAILCrossword. In this issue, two successful solvers can indulge in The Scottish Railway Scene 1973-2000, courtesy of Pen and Sword Books (www.pen-and-sword.co.uk). The Scottish Railway Scene 1973-2000(152 pages, hardback, retail price £30) takes the reader on a pictorial journey north of the border, featuring previously unpublished images from less well-known locations such as Prestongrange and the Isle of Mull Railway. Images range from the blue diesel era with semaphore signals, through sector liveries, to privatisation and the modern era. They include rolling stock, liveries and infrastructure that can no longer be seen on today’s railway - offering nostalgia for some readers, a chance for others to see how the railway used to look, and information and inspiration for modellers. From a base in Edinburgh, travel to locations…

MORE than four years behind schedule, the first Alstom-built Class 701 Arterio carried South Western Railway passengers on Tuesday January 9. A Department for Transport promise to have trains operating in 2023 was missed by nine days -one of many failed deadlines since the trains were due in operation in 2019. The first train was the 1025 from London Waterloo’s Platform 19 to Windsor & Eton Riverside, arriving at 1119 and returning ten minutes later. The journey did not appear in any published timetable. This “soft launch” was an additional service, with the single train (701037) due to operate one round trip, once a day, for just four days. Several previous attempts to run the train during December and early January had been called off. The train was launched without…

A second landslip at Crewkerne tunnel in Somerset closed the West of England line on January 4, with all services suspended between Yeovil and Exeter for two days. It followed an earlier landslip at the same location in December (RAIL 999). Pictures of the landslip above the tunnel portal show the new earth movement was directly beside previous repairs, which had been carried out one month earlier during a closure of more than a week when no trains could run. It happened despite the site being closely monitored by Network Rail’s Wessex Route, with remote sensing earth movement detectors installed on both sides of the cutting, and sandbags placed alongside the track to shore up the fragile ground. Network Rail warned that “more landslips are inevitable”. The impact on passengers…

School pupils aged between 11 and 14 are to be given free online information to encourage them to consider a railway career. They are needed because an estimated 75,000 staff are expected to leave the industry or retire by 2030. Information on the Rail Forum’s website is designed to be complemented by personal visits from industry volunteers. Subjects include problem solving, manufacturing, accessibility, sustainability, and engineering tolerance. There is also a practical exercise to locate and design a new main station. The materials have been developed with support from Rail Forum members AtkinsRéalis, Alstom, Porterbrook, Morson Group, Bridgeway Consulting, Story Limited and Resonate. The Rail Forum also hopes to reinstate the iRail Challenge Days during the next academic year, after a pause during and since the COVID pandemic.…

The surprise removal of West Coast Railways’ exemption certificate to operate slam-door stock does not mean that it could not be reinstated, the Office of Rail and Road has confirmed to RAIL. With its 2024 season due to start in two weeks, WCR had asked the ORR to continue an exemption that allowed it to operate until February 29, while it works with the regulator to find a long-term solution. However, the ORR decided to revoke the exemption on January 10, meaning that WCR is no longer able to operate slam-door coaches on the main line. WCR is urging the ORR to “reconsider its revocation” and has reaffirmed that it is keen to work with the regulator to “identify solutions to enable its services to continue to operate, protecting jobs…

ENTRIES are now open for RAIL’s 2024 National Rail Awards, Britain’s biggest and most respected rail awards which recognise and reward people, companies and initiatives that demonstrate innovation and excellence. The National Rail Awards (NRAs) celebrate achievements and excellence across every aspect of the railway, from senior management to individuals on the front line, as well as safety triumphs, major engineering successes, and environmental sustainability. They recognise outstanding accomplishments over the past year, but particularly look to highlight initiatives which deliver measurable improvements in performance. By doing so, the rail industry ‘Oscars’ seek to promote the industry’s longer-term success and sustainability, which relies on a highly skilled, diverse, motivated and engaged workforce, and exceptional leaders. Network Rail Chairman Lord Hendy said: “The National Rail Awards is a brilliant event -…

HS2 Ltd has promoted Technical Services Delivery Director Emma Head to be its chief railway officer as part of a wider senior restructuring. HS2 Chairman Sir Jon Thompson said the new role would focus on integrating all the different elements of HS2. Other changes include splitting the post covering railway systems and stations into two positions, and merging the managing director roles for Phases 2a and 2b. In due course that managing director post would be deleted, Thompson said. He told MPs on January 10 that he hoped a new chief executive would be in place in late spring, with the only decision in the way of headhunters recruiting being a decision from ministers on what salary to pay. While Thompson is holding the chief executive role as executive chairman…

A fresh set of one-day strikes by ASLEF train drivers, co-ordinated on a regional train operator-by-train operator basis on different days, will run for seven days from Tuesday January 30 to Monday February 5. Drivers will also refuse to volunteer for overtime from Monday January 29 until Tuesday February 6. It is the latest move by the union in its long-running dispute with the 14 train operating companies (TOCs) in England controlled by the Department for Transport. ASLEF’s previous set of strikes concluded on December 8 2023. The first strike in the dispute was in July 2022. The DfT called the action “disappointing”. ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan accused ministers of not wanting to resolve the dispute, calling for the Government to “come to the table with a realistic offer”.…

Passengers who travelled on the Kirkby line in 2023 will receive their money back, as a gesture of goodwill announced by Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram. It applies to season tickets bought in 2023 for Fazakerley, Kirkby or Headbolt Lane stations. “Further announcements are planned” for ordinary ticket holders. The move follows problems with Stadler’s new £500 million train fleet. A three trains per hour service has now been introduced, with Merseyrail hoping to restore the 15-minute timetable “as soon as possible”. “We anticipated some teething issues, but services on the Kirkby line have fallen short of the standards passengers deserve,” said Rotherham, who met Stadler in November 2023 and “made clear, in no uncertain terms, his dissatisfaction” with the disruption.…

Great Western Railway hopes to run direct services between Bristol Temple Meads and Oxford from September 14 until December, subject to approval by the Department for Transport and Network Rail. The trial acts as a test of the growth in demand for leisure travel by train. If given the all-clear, the two cities would have a direct rail connection for the first time since 2003, with the fastest journey times expected to take 71 minutes. GWR said it is “specifically targeting the leisure market - the long weekend, short-stay city breaks, and the kind of cultural events which Bristol, Bath and Oxford are so well known for”. If the trials are deemed a success, permanent direct services between the cities would be re-introduced, although the return of weekday Bristol-Oxford services…

FIRSTGROUP has submitted an application for a new open access Sheffield-London service to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The company plans to extend its existing Hull Trains business, using different branding. Hull Trains was established as an open access operator in 2000 and now runs eight trains a day to King’s Cross. Services could begin in the “second half of the 2025 calendar year”, says FirstGroup. If approved, it will give Sheffield the first regular service from King’s Cross since 1968 and Worksop its first regular direct London trains in decades. A statutory consultation follows, and discussion with Network Rail to secure the required approvals. Options for trains will also be worked up with rolling stock leasing companies, says FirstGroup. The application comes in the wake of an…

More than 1,000 tickets were sold for a one-day diesel event at the Severn Valley Railway on December 29, with nine diesel locomotives in use and all trains running with heating. The SVR was able to take full advantage of a time when people are often on leave or just looking for ‘something to do’ during the festive period. Three rakes of stock and a diesel multiple unit were in use, hauled by any available, non-winterised home fleet locomotives, plus Michael Owen’s 20007/142 which were at Kidderminster for contract repairs. Two of the sets were steam-heated by 40106 and Class 46 D182, while Pannier Tank 7714 was used to heat the third set of stock but was piloted by diesels. The line’s two-car DMU was hauled by 20142 and 37263…

There has been another mass exodus of Class 319s from Northern, with ex-Thameslink four-car electric multiple units removed from its fleet. On December 20, Rail Operations Group 37800 Cassiopeiamoved 319366/383 from Allerton Depot to Sims Metals at Newport Docks. Two days later, it hauled 319361/370, and it then took 319372/385 on their final journey to Newport Docks on January 9. Following on January 11 were 319368/381. Earlier, on December 18, 37800 had taken Merseyrail’s 508120/131 as the 0650 Birkenhead North-Newport Docks, for disposal by Sims Metals as the rundown of Class 507/508s continues in Merseyside.…

DB Cargo is offering ten of its withdrawn Class 67s and its remaining 12 Class 90s for sale, as it begins what is expected to be a mass clear-out of redundant locomotives. The locomotives are 67001/009/011/018/026/028 at Crewe IEMD and 67003/004/019/030 at Toton, and 90019-021/024/026/028/029/034-037/039 which are also all withdrawn at Crewe IEMD. The Class 90s are all in operational or nearly operational condition and will probably attract far more attention than the 12 other Class 90s the operator recently offered for sale (90017/018/022/023/025/027/030-033/038/040), which are all heavily stripped. No buyers for these vehicles have yet been announced. These are the first Class 67s offered for sale since November 2016, when DBC advertised 67023/027 for sale, although a deal had already been agreed with Colas Rail for the pair and…

Contributions for by far the UK’s most published column by the same author - now in its 43rd 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 Nancegollan: A £350,000 appeal has been launched to return the Helston Railway over the 373ft Lowertown Viaduct to what was once the largest station on the branch. Theale: The new station footbridge has finally opened ten years after it was approved, at a cost of £9.5 million - almost eight times the original estimate. Spanning three tracks and four platforms has proved more complex than first thought. Truro: The 1899 GWR 54-lever…

Opinion Industry Insider AT the time of privatisation, a policy was adopted to protect the newly formed franchises from the threat of new operators disrupting the market. This was the result of a ‘moderation of competition’ regime, whereby stage one imposed by the Rail Regulator allowed franchised operators protection from competition on flows that contributed at least 2% to their total fare box revenue. A lower threshold was set for the Cross Country franchise that had a more dispersed network. The plan was for the stringent condition to be relaxed on a phased basis, with stage two lifting the protection level to nominated flows that accounted for 80% of revenue. The first new entrant to make an application under the new rules was Hull Trains, backed by GB Railways.…

Thousands of Great Western Railway passengers were left stranded as police began a murder investigation that involved the railway at Pangbourne in Berkshire. Some travellers were stuck on a train without access to food or water for more than five hours, finally leaving the train in the early hours of the morning, in heavy rain. GWR said initially that services on Thursday January 4 were suspended at 1745 “due to a person being hit by a train”, and noted that Thames Valley police were investigating - rather than the British Transport Police, which would normally take charge. As passengers and the operator expressed frustration about being stuck, on a day when the railway was also affected by widespread flooding, details slowly emerged. Officers had been called to a collision involving…

Four weeks after a major landslip shut Network Rail’s Leicestershire test track, it remains closed and is not expected to fully reopen until the end of March, disrupting ongoing train testing and acceptance trials. A 50-metre section of embankment slipped in the incident on December 17 2023. No trains were running at the time, but the incident rendered the 13-mile route out of action after it was severed near its halfway point. Part of the Rail Innovation and Development Centre (RIDC) near Melton Mowbray, the track is used for testing trains and other equipment in a safe environment. It is not used by passenger or freight trains. RIDC Melton provides two separate test tracks: a high-speed section between Melton Junction and Edwalton (near Nottingham), with 13 miles offering up to…

PUSHING back delivery - and therefore payments to Siemens Mobility - of new Piccadilly Line trains means that Transport for London has managed to deliver a balanced £10.4 billion budget for the 2024-25 financial year. TfL also says it is on course to ‘break even’ operationally where the day-to-day costs of running trains, Tube, buses and cycle scheme is covered by fares and other revenue. Approving its 2024 Business Plan, the TfL board’s three-year plan identifies a funding gap that remains for the final two years (2025-26 and 2026-27) for major capital projects. In a letter to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, announcing that the Department for Transport will provide a £250 million major capital funding grant for the 2024-25 financial year, Transport Secretary Mark Harper re-affirmed its commitment to part-fund…

Infrastructure faults on the Great Western Main Line between London Paddington and Reading disrupted passengers on 361 of the 365 days to November 30 2022. Incidents attributed to the train operator disrupted passengers on the route on 363 of the 365 days. No GWR services run on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which means there was a problem on every other day of the year. The startling statistics were revealed by Network Rail, in a request made under the Freedom of Information Act by passenger Matt Strachan, who commutes from Didcot. During the 365 days, there were: 200 days of disruption due to points failures; 175 days of disruption due to broken or damaged rails; 97 days of disruption due to signal failure; and 90 days due to damaged overhead…

The number of incidents of theft on the London Underground has risen by 83% in a year, despite a fall in passenger numbers by a tenth, according to a new report. Figures released by Transport for London for the six months between April and September last year show that overall crime has risen by more than half. King’s Cross St Pancras, Leicester Square and Oxford Circus are the worst Underground stations for theft, while the highest number of incidents were reported on the Northern Line, followed by the Jubilee and Piccadilly. There are now 18.6 chances in a million of being a victim. The total number of offences on all TfL services - including the Elizabeth line, the Overground and buses - has risen from 17,160 in 2022 to 22,294.…

VTG Rail may have to make changes to the design of its Ecofret triple container flat wagons, following a Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) inquiry into a derailment at the London Gateway freight terminal on December 24 2021. The company must also examine all the existing fleet currently on lease to GB Railfreight, which has also to change how it uses the vehicles and brief its staff. RAIB recommends that all freight operators better understand the risks of using Ecofret-style flats, which were introduced in 2020 to increase the number of containers a train can haul. The slow-speed derailment, which did not result in any injuries, occurred in the early hours when wheels on one wagon in the middle part of the train suddenly lifted off the track, and others…

All staff at Northern Ireland’s rail, bus and coach operator Translink were set to strike on January 18 (after this issue of RAIL went to press). It is the fourth day of strikes to affect the state-owned operator. Previous strikes were on December 15/16 and 21, in the dispute over pay. There were also no cross-border rail or express coach services. The action, taken by members of the Unite, GMB and SIPTU unions, includes employees working for the state and councils in Northern Ireland. The latest strike involved 150,000 workers in education, health, transport and the civil service - the biggest day of strike action in NI’s history. In total, 15 unions are involved in the dispute. Translink said: “We remain fully committed to entering constructive pay negotiations. However, this…

A reduced train service ran on the Island Line in early January, because of faults with the Class 484 trains that were introduced just over two years ago in November 2021. Island media reported that only one of the five Vivarail two-car former London Underground trains was in working condition and able to carry passengers. Operator South Western Railway told RAIL: “We have two trains in long-term maintenance following damage during the severe flooding last year, and they require some significant repairs before they can go back into service.” Two others developed minor faults that could be mended inside a week. All vehicles are maintained at Ryde St Johns Road depot. Although the trains were originally built in the late 1970s, they were delivered to the Island in as-new state,…

US high-speed deal Network Rail Consulting is to continue as a systems engineering services provider to California’s High-Speed Rail programme, with a new contract worth £57.5 million through to May 2029. Construction is under way on 800 miles of railway, with 24 stations. Cowley reopening bid Oxford City Council is working with SLC Rail to investigate reopening the Cowley freight branch to passengers. The work should help Network Rail produce a full business case for the line, to attract funding later this year. Landslip repaired Normal services resumed on January 16 for Chiltern Railways, after Network Rail repaired a landslip at Launton (near Bicester). The work involved driving 65 piles into an embankment and dropping 3,000 tonnes of ballast.…

The Midland Main Line has long been a victim of stalled investment. In 1981, British Rail’s electrification document listed it as “high priority”. In July 2009, the Labour government published a document saying it was “looking at” electrification, but no funds were committed. This on-off promise of MML electrification to Sheffield was one of the reasons that almost 15 years ago, a similar bid to run Sheffield-London trains via the ECML was rejected. In 2009 Ian Yeowart, then MD of open access operator Grand Central, made a bid for new open access by Alliance Rail Holdings. Four trains a day would operate between Sheffield and King’s Cross via Alfreton, Nottingham and Grantham. The proposal was refused in 2010, because NR’s Rail Utilisation Strategy, said the MML north of Bedford would…

Varamis Rail has increased its fleet of Class 321 units to three, with the addition of Eversholt Rail’s 321407/419 alongside 321334. The company has now been operating high-speed overnight freight trains on the West Coast Main Line from Mossend to Birmingham International for over a year. It started in October 2022 with its single unit and has aspirations to increase the operation from four- to eight- and ultimately 12-car sets. The two extra 100mph 25kV AC units will allow Varamis to strengthen trains as well as providing operational contingency.…

THE only main line-registered Class 52, D1015 Western Champion, returned to the main line on January 10, undertaking a test run with GB Railfreight. The locomotive ran light from Kidderminster to Avonmouth. On arrival it attached to 66714 Cromer Lifeboats and worked the 0920 Avonmouth-Penyffordd cement train. A points failure caused the train to lose an hour before D1015 was uncoupled (as planned) at Gloucester Yard, before returning to Kidderminster. After January’s test run, D1015 will next undergo a test run with a 13-coach train on a route that offers plenty of scope for sustained 90mph running and “plenty of hills”, such as Burton to Bristol. All being well, should it pass its second test, it would then be fit to work its first main line charter- most likely on…

Arlington Fleet Services has repainted Locomotive Services Limited’s 37409 into the 1984 ScotRail livery - a livery never before seen on a Class 37. It has also been reunited with a set of Loch Awe nameplates that it carried from 1986 to 2000. Meanwhile, LSL has been quick to put 37401 Mary Queen of Scotsand 37402 (the latter owned by Andania Engineering) into traffic. On January 11, they ran light from Crewe to Kidderminster to pick up 73951/952, which have been acquired by Harry Needle Railroad Company. The folllwing day, they took the ex-Network Rail Ultra EDs to HNRC’s Worksop base.…

The Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) in South Wales is to join forces with rail engineering and consulting company Xrail, and with Getzner - a European specialist in vibration isolation technology. GCRE expects Xrail to provide strategic advice and knowledge about operating in overseas markets, to enhance GCRE’s export potential. Meanwhile, Getzner will support innovation in elastic components for the railway. The GCRE research, development and testing facility will showcase rolling stock, infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies. The £400 million project has secured £70m in seed funding (£50m from the Welsh Government, and £20m from the UK Government), although a GCRE spokesman said that private investment in the project has been slow, due to elevated interest rates and economic uncertainty. The spokesman added that GCRE’s role will be “to support…

AS engineers lay the final track on East West Rail’s central section, the National Audit Office is questioning whether the UK government remains committed to a project designed to deliver economic growth and jobs across an arc between the cities of Oxford and Cambridge. In a report published in mid-December 2023, the NAO notes: “The project aims to improve rail connections between the two cities, Milton Keynes and intervening towns, creating new connections and stations along the route and reducing journey times. “The improved connectivity is intended to make more of the region attractive to businesses and new housing development, supporting growth and jobs.” But since government created the East West Railway Company, it has changed its mind about crucial aspects of the overall project. Back in 2017 and 2018,…

WHEN British Rail and the Health and Safety Executive investigated problems with train doors in the early 1990s, they found - on average - over 200 incidents for each weekday (spread across the whole year) with open slam doors in 1991. Back then, most of BR’s InterCity services used trains with slam doors - not least the High Speed Trains that plied the East Coast and Great Western Main Lines. On Network SouthEast’s South Western, South Central and South Eastern Divisions, the vast majority of trains were Mk 1 electric multiple units (EMUs) with slam doors. That’s a lot of trains. Indeed, when the HSE published its 1993 report into train doors, it recorded that BR had, in 1990, a total of 7,973 slam door coaches (it had been 11,899…

Another year … and another annual Stop & Examine quiz for you to tackle. This year, we’re combining a little bit of UK stations knowledge with a smattering of general knowledge that will hopefully get your 2024 off to a fun start. This year, we have two fabulous prizes on offer for three lucky winners. ■ The Clapham Train Accident. The Clapham Train Accident by Greg Morse (hardback, 256 pages, retail price £25) considers the 1988 rail crash in its wider context, using official reports and expert interviews to describe both the causes and the terrible effects. It looks beyond the railway to the external factors acting not only on British Rail, but also the government of the time, and considers the safety improvements that came about as a result.…

Some final thoughts from the team at RAIL @RAIL Send contributions to: mike.wright@bauermedia.co.uk Lowestoft station has welcomed back an original piece of railway heritage. The double-sided enamel British Railways platform sign, reading Lowestoft Central and dating from the late 1940s/early 1950s, was one of a pair. It was removed as part of a modernisation scheme in the early 1990s. Thirty years on, the running-in board was discovered as part of a sale at Lowestoft Auction Rooms and purchased by local railway manager and industry sign collector James Steward. James has now loaned the sign to the Lowestoft Central Project and Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership. And it is now on public display in a window of Lowestoft station’s restored Parcels Office Exhibition Space. Often, rare signage such as this goes…