Índice para Issue 1008 em RAIL

rail@bauermedia.co.uk @RAIL TO diotch an upgrade once might simply be misfortune. To do so twice suggests a more fundamental problem. So it is with the new East Coast Main Line timetable, after Network Rail walked away from efforts to bring new times into force from December 2024. At heart, NR’s problem exposes the tension between public and private operators on the busy rail route heading north from London King’s Cross, and between trying to serve passenger, freight and open access customers. But the line is more than just trains to King’s Cross. Along its route, it hosts many different operators. Thameslink runs no further north than Peterborough, but that’s where East Midlands Railway appears for the stretch to Grantham. EMR also features at Newark, where the flat crossing threads east-west…

Labour will bring all government passenger rail contracts into the public sector within its first term of office if it wins the next election, Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh was expected to say on April 24 (just after this issue of RAIL went to press). It says it will continue plans to create Great British Railways -“which will be led by rail experts, not Whitehall”. And it is pledging to create a new passenger watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to hold GBR to account. Haigh was expected to pledge support for open access and freight operators, which will be set “clear objectives and targets” for services and growth. Labour said it would “deliver significant savings to the taxpayer by eliminating fragmentation, waste, bureaucracy, and by stopping profits leaking out to…

West Coast Railways has restarted its Fort William-Mallaig steam-hauled ‘Jacobite’ operation using a mix of Mk 2 air-conditioned coaches and Mk 1 vehicles. The operator is banned from using the latter unless they are fitted with Central Door Locking (CDL), which WCR currently does not have fitted. However, it has locked these vehicles’ external doors out of use. The train started on April 15, in response to Locomotive Services Limited running a number of competing Class 37-hauled additional trains between Fort William and Mallaig. In light of this new operation, WCR initially ran empty stock train in its paths allocated to the ‘Jacobite (RAIL 1007). But on April 13 it ‘scrambled’ a rake of Mk 2s and dual-braked ‘Black 5’ 45212 to start its lucrative summer money-spinner two days later.…

Ince station is closing on June 2 until November, as Network Rail replaces Ince Green Lane bridge (under which the Wigan-Bolton/ Manchester line runs), extends platforms at the station, and builds a new access footbridge from the road to the platforms. Replacing the road bridge will allow NR to electrify the line, while the longer platforms will enable Northern to run longer trains. Trains will continue to run between Wigan and Manchester, but will not call at Ince.…

Translink in Northern Ireland and Iarnród Éireann have secured funding of €165 million (£141m) from the European Union to support their plans to replace their Enterprise fleet with tri-mode multiple units. Enterprise services link Belfast and Dublin. Today’s fleet of four sets will be replaced by eight sets. Translink Chief Executive Chris Conway said: “The flagship Enterprise service represents a tremendous opportunity for growth. Approximately 3.3 million people live within a 40-mile commute from the Belfast-Dublin railway corridor. This is projected to grow to over four million by 2030 and represents around half of the island’s population.” IE Chief Executive Jim Meade added: “This will enable more people than ever to travel sustainably along the Enterprise route and contribute to our economy, society and environment.” The money comes from the…

“WE won’t back down,” declared ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan as he announced the train drivers’ union’s 16th set of national strike action. With 96% of all train drivers being ASLEF members, a new series of three regional one-day strikes, coupled with a six-day overtime ban at the ‘DfT 14’ operators, will cause widespread disruption. The action is planned for the May Bank Holiday week. And despite being confined to operators in England, it will have knock-on effects in Wales and Scotland because five train operating companies run cross-border services. ASLEF’s action is the latest step in its 22-month pay dispute with the 14 passenger operators controlled by the Department for Transport. In April 2023, the union rejected what the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) described as “a fair and affordable…

GOVERNMENT-OWNED Transport for Wales (TfW) is making service cuts from the December timetable change, as it attempts to reduce its subsidy requirements. In a further bid to balance its budget, some previously committed service frequency improvements are being deferred to unspecified dates. “We have made some tough decisions to ensure we provide capacity where most needed, grow revenue, and ultimately reduce public subsidy,” said TfW. The operator added that it is “removing a small number of services that have very low passenger demand”. It admitted that a range of scenarios for cuts to reduce subsidy was examined as part of a major review started last year. “Differing levels of subsidy-saving options were considered, and it was agreed to proceed with a modest set of changes to the Wales and Borders…

The way the High Speed 1 route between London St Pancras International and the Channel Tunnel is managed and financed is to come under close scrutiny by the Office of Rail and Road. It comes after Virgin, Evolyn and possibly DB have announced plans to challenge Eurostar’s 30-year monopoly on the route. In its annual statement, the rail regulator has come up with a series of investigations. They include a promise to make it easier for newcomers to apply for all open access contracts, of which it is a keen supporter. As well as changes on HS1, ORR is enthusiastic about Grand Union Trains’ plans to compete with Great Western Railway on the London-South Wales corridor. A full report can be expected within six months. ORR says it will also…

SCOTLAND’S trade union movement has called for a “nationalised freight operator” to grow the sector north of the border - but the Scottish Government says it has “no plans” to consider this. At the annual meeting of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) on April 15, delegates unanimously endorsed a motion proposed by rail unions which argued that the move could “increase rail traffic in Scotland, optimise efficiency, develop the economy, and improve sustainability”. George Mitchell, a delegate at the Congress from drivers’ union ASLEF, said: “Despite the environmental, financial and social benefits that rail freight provides, the Scottish Government does not itself have a true stake in it, yet it is responsible for the infrastructure and has set a growth target of 8.7% across 2024-29. “This leaves the operation…

Network Rail says signalling in Scotland will become more resilient to bad weather as the track owner converts track circuits (particularly the Aster type between Blair Atholl and Dalwhinnie) to axle counters. NR says axle counters are more reliable during floods than track circuits, and that they are less susceptible to lightning strikes. It also plans to overlay axle counters on top of track circuits to give duplicated train detection on sections of track that are prone to flooding. Other signalling changes include modifying hydraulic point machines to make them more tolerant to low temperatures and adding miniature stop lights to user-worked level crossings, to make it easier for motorists to judge when to cross when fog obscures oncoming trains. NR revealed its plans as it published its Climate Ready…

The Scottish Railway Preservation Society is in the process of fitting central door locking to its Mk 1 coaches, to enable them to return to the main line. The coaches have been inactive for 12 months while undergoing a major overhaul. This has taken longer (and cost more) than anticipated for reasons including the need to keep vehicles operational in order to support an enhanced programme of events on the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway. The SRPS said it “remains committed to main line operations which provide a valuable income stream to support our charitable objectives”. It added: “Several vehicles are now approaching completion at Bo’ness. To speed up the programme, several vehicles will shortly be leaving Bo’ness for completion works or repairs at third party contractors. “We are committed to…

Preserved 50026 Indomitable has moved to the Swanage Railway for final shakedown tests. The locomotive, owned by Paul Spracklen, is then planned to have a main line test run before being signed off for full main line registration. It will bring the number of Class 50s registered for main line use to six. The others are: 50007 Hercules, 50044 Exeter and 50049 Defiance with the Class 50 Alliance; 50050 Fearless with Locomotive Services Limited; and 50008 Thunderer with Hanson & Hall. Other Class 50s that have had main line careers are 50017 Royal Oak and 50031 Hood. Both are now restricted to heritage line use only, although the latter is currently stopped for repairs. Spracklen also owns 50021 Rodney, which recently returned to use at heritage railways after a thorough…

THE painstaking overhaul of sole-surviving Class 28 Co-Bo D5705 is making good progress at Bury, with the pilot scheme locomotive, which dates from 1958 and is understood to have last run circa-1972, edging closer to a return to use. According to the restoration team, 99% of all internal walls, floors and roof sections has been restored. Some external bodywork has also been repaired or welded. The No. 1 end cab is also almost complete, as is most of the wiring. The heaters have been overhauled and wired in, and the seats are being renovated. The cooler group was restored a long time ago, as were all pipes and the radiator elements. The traction motor blower for the ‘Co’ bogie has been overhauled. The water pump does require some parts, but…

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 Bideford: Torridge District Council has responded to public pressure and revised its 2023-28 draft strategic plan to include a study to reinstate the railway. It had been absent from the initial documents. Gomsall: The Railway Heritage Trust is trying to locate the last resting place of Henry Wicks, a 52-year-old railwayman who died in a mishap between Gomsall and Chilworth on February 29 1892. He is commemorated by a piece of lineside…

IN the “coming weeks”, ScotRail and Transport Scotland will publish an analysis of the “interim data” showing how the removal of peak fares has affected passenger numbers and fare revenue since September last year. Scottish ministers are likely to use the report to justify whether or not they extend the pilot beyond June- or even decide to scrap peak fares altogether. Both the operator and the Scottish Government have been coy about what it is likely to say, but Alex Hynes, who left his role as Scotland’s Railway managing director last month, gave a strong indication to the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee back in March. “We know that the trial has made the railway busier and that it has cost us money in the fare box,…

“The question is whether we have become too risk averse. I think we have.” Martin Frobisher is Network Rail’s group safety and engineering director. So that’s quite an opening gambit. “I think you should refer to Carmont,” he adds, referring to the crash near Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire on August 12 2020, in which three people died. The derailment followed unusually heavy rainfall of two inches/51mm overnight. “When you look at the prosecution at Carmont, controlling the speed of the train was the issue deemed to be causal. There were lots of issues about the construction of the drain, lots about record keeping. But the direct link with the accident was controlling the speed of the train. “We should not skirt the issue of Carmont, because it has influenced what we…

WELCOME to the RAIL Crossword. In this issue, two successful solvers will be able to read about the compelling subject of Railway Travel in World War Two, courtesy of Pen and Sword Books (www.pen-and-sword.co.uk). The popular image of railway travel during the Second World War is that of a sparse service of dirty and overcrowded trains that were forever being delayed. The iconic ‘is your journey really necessary?’ poster campaign is credited with discouraging the public from travelling by train. Railway Travel in World War Two (hardback, 272 pages, retail price £17.50) questions these assumptions and examines the mobility requirements of the British public during the war years, aligning these to the level of service provided by the railways. Throughout the war, the railways were managed by the Railway Executive…

PASSENGERS will not be seeing major improvements to their East Coast Main Line journeys from December 2024, after Network Rail ditched a planned new timetable in a move that echoes a similar decision for May 2022. This means that principal ECML operator LNER has again been prevented from using the improved performance of its Class 800 units to benefit passengers, while government investment in extra capacity along the ECML, which includes recent power supply upgrades, will not generate full benefits. The decision prevents TransPennine Express returning services that it cut in December 2023 as it tried to arrest falling performance. It also prevents CrossCountry returning services it axed when the pandemic took hold over four years ago, and puts into doubt its aspiration to run a Cardiff-Edinburgh train for which…

Train cancellations have fallen at Avanti West Coast, after the operator signed a rest day working deal with drivers’ union ASLEF. For March 3-31 (Period 13), AWC was responsible for cancelling 6.1% of its services, down from 7% in Period 12 (February 4-March 2), with the drivers deal taking effect towards the end of the period on March 28. The highest proportion of cancellations remains with North Wales services at 19.1% (14.6% in Period 12), with Manchester’s cancellation rate the lowest at 3.3% (5.4% in P12). It has been Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham who has been particularly vocal recently about AWC cancellations, leading calls to have the Department for Transport strip the operator of its contract. For West Midlands services, Avanti West Coast’s cancellation rate fell from 10.3% to…

GOVERNMENT should order battery electric trains to replace the 1,100 oldest diesel units in service. That’s the call from the Railway Industry Association, which also wants to see the electric network increased from today’s 38% of all lines to 66%. It argues that this would allow all passenger and 95% of freight services to be decarbonised by 2050. Launching a new report on April 11, RIA Technical Director David Clarke said this would have flattened the boom-and-bust profile seen in rolling stock orders and electrification schemes. Siemens Head of Business Development Graeme Clark said it could take four and a half years from signing a contract to bringing a battery electric train into operation, with follow-on orders faster at two and a half years. Clark noted that Siemens had, a…

THE Government is under fresh pressure not to sell off piecemeal the route of the abandoned northern HS2 extension to Manchester until extra rail capacity has been clearly identified. The comments feature prominently in Transport for the North’s new Strategic Plan that sets out its stall for the next 25 years. TfN’s latest policy statement calls for a seven-day railway. It also pursues the ambition of trebling the share of freight carried by rail, by safeguarding sites for new terminals that it says are urgently needed. For passengers, TfN seeks across-the-board improvements in journey times, better integration between services, and easier access to other areas of the UK. It wants a network that is easy to navigate, accessible and predictable, with consistent and simplified fares that integrate with buses and…

Work to rebuild the Limerick to Foynes line for freight traffic is on target and on budget to allow trains to start running in early 2026, Iarnród Éireann (IÉ) has told RAIL. The line was mothballed in 2001. Work to reactivate it started in April 2022, when contractor John Sisk & Son moved on site to deliver €65 million (£56m) Work Package 1, which has focused on clearing vegetation, removing the existing track and sleepers to allow the installation of a new ballast bed, signal and electrical ducting, and renewal of bridges, lineside fencing and culverts. Two major structures were removed for refurbishment - the bridge decks over the River Maigue at Adare and the River Deel at Askeaton. On April 9, the refurbished 29.19-metre three-span bridge deck over the…

Network Rail suggests that the line at Baildon (West Yorkshire) will remain closed until the end of June, as it repairs a cutting that slipped to reveal the foundations of houses perched on its crest. The line closed on February 9 and NR initially thought that repairs would take until mid-March. Meanwhile, trains can run once more between Tonbridge and Redhill, after NR completed repairs to a landslip at Bough Beech near Edenbridge. The line reopened on April 15, having closed in late March. NR installed 91 sheet piles (each eight metres long) and strengthened 100 metres of the embankment with steel rods acting as soil nails.…

South Western Railway is complaining about Network Rail efforts to remove sidings and crossovers along the route through Wareham to Weymouth. Responding to NR’s proposal to remove Wareham East Junction and Wareham Down Sidings, SWR said: “There is an ongoing reduction in facilities along this section of route in which to berth rolling stock. This being particularly at Poole, as well as at Bournemouth (Middle Sidings) and Weymouth Jersey Sidings, where there are limited or no facilities to currently berth rolling stock.” SWR notes that NR resignalled the route in 2013, and says that it is disappointing that NR now wants to render brand new infrastructure as out of use. At Wareham in particular, SWR told NR that not being able to use Wareham East Junction meant that any trains…

The prospect of a reconnected 18-mile Great Central Railway between Nottingham and Leicester has moved closer, with the launch of a £500,000 appeal to go to the detailed design stage following submission of the formal planning application within the next few weeks. To bridge the current 300-yard gap at Loughborough, it has been decided that two-thirds of it will now be a viaduct instead of a complete embankment, which it is claimed will be slightly cheaper and simpler to construct. A pair of new steel bridge spans have been decided upon to cross a culvert and road, so the pair of decks donated by Network Rail from Reading in 2012 are no longer needed They will be disposed of. GCR General Manager Malcolm Holmes said the appeal for additional money…

GB Railfreight says its first Stadler Class 99 bi-mode locomotive (99001) should be ready for display at Berlin’s InnoTrans trade show in Berlin in September. After that, it is planned to move it to Velim in the Czech Republic for testing. It should be in the UK in early 2025. GBRf has 30 Class 99s Co-Co locomotives on order, with an option for a 20 further locomotives which it has already indicated it will probably take up. They are the latest version of the Class 88/93 platform and feature the ability to run on 25kV AC and a Cummins QSK50 engine rated at 2,415hp. Elsewhere in the GBRf fleet, 69012 is ready to be sent for painting and should be in traffic soon. 69010 is also due to go for…

Direct Rail Services has sold its last six Class 37s, leaving it with a fleet of four Class 57s, 19 Class 66s, 20 Class 68s and ten ‘88s’. Of the six locomotives offered, 37407 has been bought by Europhoenix, 37419/422/716 have been acquired by Harry Needle Railroad Company, and 37424/425 by Meteor Power. 37407 will join 37069/218/423 in Europhoenix’s spot hire pool, while HNRC says it will return its three to traffic with any interested parties. The sales mean Europhoenix now has 11 Class 37s in its fleet, six of which are typically on hire to Rail Operations Group. HNRC now has 14 Class 37s, four of which are on hire to Colas Rail, which itself has seven of the type. Meteor Power says it initially wants to look to…

Network Rail has dispensed with one of its four Class 97s, with 97301 collected from Rowsley and taken to Boden Rail Engineering on April 9 for stripping, prior to being despatched for scrap. The locomotive was one of four Class 37/0s overhauled by Harry Needle Railroad Company in 2008 and fitted with European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), and now European Train Control System (ETCS) for trials on the Cambrian line. However, the former 37100 had a different ERTMS system fitted for evaluation compared with the other three locomotives modified (97302-304). As a result, it has always been non-standard. It last worked in 2018.…

‘66/6’ enters traffic The first of DB Cargo’s regeared Class 66/6s (66651, ex-66221) entered traffic in mid-April on Wolverhampton-Boston steel trains. Nine more conversions are planned with work under way at Toton on the next Class 66/0s selected for modification. 26038 powers up Preserved Class 26, 26038, has run under its own power for the first time in two years at the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, following overhaul. It now sports ‘Inverness’ spot lamps, a feature fitted to 12 Class 26s in the mid-1970s. Locomotive repaints Locomotives repainted recently are DB Cargo’s 66002, now in the company’s red livery and its first repaint since the locomotive was built in 1998, and Harry Needle Railroad Company’s 08877, in the orange house colours of the spot hire company Freightliner Class 18 Freightliner…

The Class 50 Alliance has announced that 50007 Hercules and 50049 Defiance will be repainted back into BR ‘large logo’ blue livery this year. A Pathfinder Railtours charter from Dorridge to Penzance on June 29 will be their last planned outing in GB Railfreight colours. This will be the first time in preservation that 50007 has sported the livery, which it carried for less than a year before being repainted into GWR green in February 1984 for its controversial Sir Edward Elgar renaming. Both will appear with grey roofs, although they may later have black roofs applied. 50007 should be the first of the pair to be repainted. The locomotives were outshopped in GBRf colours in March 2019 as part of a hire deal with the rail freight operator, which…

Engineers’ school visit Pupils at Levenmouth Academy received a visit from engineers who have worked to rebuild the rail line into the town. They took part in railway safety talks and tried their hands at designing and building railway bridges using a construction toy. Alf’s birthday treat Great Western Railway treated former Newbury station manager Alf Wells to a First Class trip to London to visit Chelsea Football Club, as he turned 100. He worked for the railway for nearly 50 years. Service for Sevens ScotRail added a 1952 Tweedbank-Edinburgh service on April 13, and lengthened other services on the line to cope with crowds expected to attend the Melrose Sevens rugby competition. East Croydon coffee East Croydon station has filled two vacant retail units with coffee retailers. The Carriage…

Traditionally, weed control on railways has used both hand-held spraying and weed control trains, which blanket cover the ground and track with herbicide. Larger foliage and trees on the lineside are dealt with by manual methods. The weed control process involves two herbicide applications - a residual treatment between March and early June, followed by a contact application between June and September. With the multi-purpose vehicles that have been used to apply herbicide, spraying was sometimes random, irrespective of the weed cover. But now a new system offers much greater control. It targets plants directly, giving greater efficiency with less herbicide use, and thus a cost saving and better environmental protection. One of the UK’s premier heritage lines, the Severn Valley Railway, has recently hosted what is arguably one of…

Opinion ELECTRIC railways are cleaner and greener. That’s great. But they also demand considerable up-front spending. Which isn’t so great. Following the embarrassing curtailment of Great Western’s electrification programme in the 2010s (there are lineside masts but no wires in places such as Chippenham and between Didcot and Oxford), engineers have put considerable effort into making it cheaper to erect overhead line equipment (OLE). Some of this work makes electrification cheaper in itself (extending the distance between masts means fewer of them and fewer foundations to build), but it also cuts enabling work costs. This might mean that local authorities receive fewer new bridges for their roads than they’ve become used to. At a recent Railway Industry Association briefing, Atkins Réalis Head of Electrification Gary Keenor revealed that wiring work…

Opinion Industry Insider PRIOR to the devolution of responsibility for train services within Wales, Network Rail had developed an electrification project for the Cardiff Valley lines based on technology used in many urban settings. However, this was seen by the Welsh Government as lacking in ambition. As a result, an alternative Cardiff-based South Wales Metro was proposed. With integrated public transport services, it was costed at £734 million. In 2016, it received the go-ahead based on funding of £164m from the EU, £445m from the Welsh Government, with the balance of £125m provided by the Department for Transport in London. A part of the initiative was to transfer infrastructure ownership of the Core Valley Lines from Network Rail to the Welsh Government, and this subsequently took place in March 2020.…

@RAIL Send contributions to: mike.wright@bauermedia.co.uk To paraphrase Rupert Brooke’s famous wartime poem The Soldier, there’s some corner of an old fortress in Belgium that has been for ever LNER (well, at least for nearly 100 years). A former LNER wooden removals truck, which would have been used to carry people’s belongings when they moved house, has been unearthed in Antwerp, 500 miles from the train operator’s UK headquarters. A team from the Urban Archaeology department of the City of Antwerp unearthed the ‘Big Four’ company van body under a wall of an old fortress, known as the Northern Citadel. The archaeologists were excavating the area in collaboration with organisations building the ‘Oosterweel’ link - a ring road around Antwerp. “The wooden removals truck is thought to be around 100 old,”…

In a letter to the Office of Rail and Road on February 15, outwardly about Hull Trains’ application to run London King’s Cross-Sheffield services, Network Rail implied that the East Coast Main Line’s capacity problems will not be solved in the short term. It wrote: “In the short to medium term, the Department for Transport has an aspiration for an extra two-hourly service between London King’s Cross and Leeds to reach fruition. LNER hold firm access rights for this service and have placed an order for new trains in anticipation of this. “The decision by the UK Government in October 2023 to fully cancel HS2 Phase 2 will have long-term consequences for the ECML. The Industry Programme Director team expects the DfT will propose revised outcomes for the ECML that…

THE Government has thrown a lifeline to Alstom’s Derby Works, with an offer of an order for ten Class 345 nine-car electric multiple units (EMUs) for the Elizabeth line - but only if the ‘price is right’. The order would help to bridge the gap at the now empty factory, which delivered its last train on March 21, before the start of work on HS2 trains which Transport Secretary Mark Harper said will be in “early 2026”. It follows extensive public, industry and political pressure on Harper, after news that Alstom had started redundancy consultation for its 1,300 manufacturing staff at the Litchurch Lane site (RAIL 1007). Unless averted, Derby’s closure will also affect 12,000 jobs in the wider UK supply chain. An estimated 2,000 jobs have already been lost…

No trains will run on the Chingford branch in north-east London between July 20 and August 4, while Network Rail replaces a bridge immediately south of Queens Road tunnel by Hackney Downs station. Greater Anglia’s Hertford East-London Liverpool Street services will instead run to and from Stratford station. NR said that the bridge’s cast iron girders are in poor condition and that the 150-year-old structure needs to be replaced. The Great Eastern Railway opened the line through Hackney Downs in 1872. Separately, NR has reopened Kingsbury Road over the North London Line between Canonbury and Dalston, after replacing a bridge. The old bridge dated from 1916 and had corroded iron girders. It was demolished last Christmas.…

Services along the Conway Valley Line in North Wales were halted over April 9-13, after river flooding washed ballast from under the track near Dolgarrog station. It’s not the first time that flooding has closed the line. Network Rail spent four months in 2019 repairing six miles of track, and seven months in 2020 installing rock armour to protect the line. It said the 2020 work held firm during the latest floods, suggesting that had it not, then the line would have remained closed for another four months for repairs.…

Transport for London is offering a five-year contract, expected to be worth £150 million, to maintain the core East London Line route. The line is the responsibility of TfL subsidiary Rail for London. It runs from Dalston Junction to just north of Old Kent Road Junction on the Up and Down Silwood Lines, and just north of New Cross Gate North Junction on the Up and Down East London Lines. The winning contractor will be responsible for maintenance, repair and renewals of track, signalling, power supplies and stations along the core route as well as New Cross Gate Depot Sidings, Silwood Sidings, Wembley C Sidings and the 24 TfL stations between Bethnal Green and Enfield, Chingford and Theobalds Grove. The East London Line includes Marc Brunel’s tunnel under the River…

The RMT union has rejected a 3.5% pay offer for 2024 from Network Rail, claiming that “it has always been the case that pay offers have been based on RPI [Retail Price Index] for November the previous year. RPI was 5.3% in November 2023.” The negotiations cover 25,500 of NR’s 40,000 staff, including signallers and maintenance workers. The current rate of inflation is 3.2%. RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “NR is once again making an offer that represents a cut in living standards, as pay is not keeping up with the rising costs of rent, mortgages, energy, food, and other essentials.” NR told RAIL: “We have put forward a 3.5% unconditional pay increase offer, which also includes a range of other benefits for our employees. “This offer, which we…

Siemens has landed a contract to upgrade signalling on the entire 170km (105-mile) S-Bane suburban network in Copenhagen to pave the way for fully automated trains. The deal is worth around €270m (£232m) and will allow train operations to move to ‘Grade of Automation 4’ (GoA4), which needs no crews on board. Siemens said the upgrade would take place in five stages. It will start with the Danish capital’s F-Line between Copenhagen South and Hellerup, with passenger operations expected to start in 2030. A mix of GoA2 (automatic but with driver in cab) and GoA4 trains will run until 2038 as work progresses. The deal also involves equipping Hundige and Høje Taastrup depots with radio-based communication systems. The S-Bane’s core network has the capacity to handle up to 84 trains…

A new fast-track entrance and an express park-and-ride service are part of a revamped transport plan for a Rail Live that is expected to be bigger than ever. To be held at Porterbrook’s Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre on June 19/20, the UK’s premier outdoor rail show continues to receive record bookings. By mid-April, registrations to attend were up by more than 1,000 compared with the same stage in 2023. This year, dedicated coaches will run direct from Stratford-upon-Avon town centre, as well as from Warwick Parkway and Honeybourne stations for those travelling by rail. And a new express entrance to Rail Live - created specifically for the coach services - will allow passengers to be dropped at the heart of the show, adjacent to the Network Rail Village. Access…

Three new non-executive directors have joined Network Rail’s board. Dyan Perry, Steve Scrimshaw and Stuart Harvey all have extensive rail experience. Harvey is chief capital officer at Transport for London, which he joined in 1981 as a signalling apprentice. Scrimshaw is the former managing director for rolling stock at Siemens Mobility. Perry is the former chief executive of High Speed 1 and has also served as a Network Rail route managing director. Retiring from NR’s board is Rob Brighouse, who is a chartered engineer and former managing director at Chiltern Railways. Latterly, he has been NR’s senior non-executive director. In Scotland, Liam Sumpter has replaced Alex Hynes as NR’s managing director, while Joanne Maguire takes over Hynes’ MD role at ScotRail. Hynes has moved on secondment to become the Department…

After its overhaul and repaint by Harry Needle Railroad Company at Barrow Hill, Locomotive Services Limited’s 45118 Royal Artilleryman has been unveiled sporting split domino headcode panels. It will now undertake a main line test run. And all being well, it should return to traffic, thereby becoming the first ‘Peak’ to run on the main line since 2007. Meanwhile, at Arlington Fleet Services, LSL’s 73002 has been rubbed down pending a repaint, ready for its move to the Margate One:One Collection Museum. The electro-diesel, which dates from 1962, is not operational.…

Following Transport for Wales’ history-making April 3 run of a Class 756 under the wires to Pontypridd (RAIL 1007), the operator has been expanding the use of several of its other new fleets. It sent two Class 197s (197003/024) to Machynlleth to complete some final elements of European Train Control System (ETCS) technology-type testing, prior to their planned introduction on the Cambrian lines west of Shrewsbury. It is not the first time a ‘197’ has been seen on the routes - 197003 visited in May 2022 for gauge clearance trials. The 21 Class 197/0s being fitted with ETCS will be based at Machynlleth. The units will eventually replace 24 Class 158s (158818-841) which will then be handed back to Angel Trains. Another first for TfW took place on April 18,…

HIGH Speed 2 expects to award track contracts worth around £1.5 billion in the second quarter of 2024. The deals come in three lots: Urban, including the Birmingham section (value estimated by HS2 in 2020 as £434 million), Central (£526m), and North (£566m). Each deal has a different shortlist of the following contractors: BBVT joint venture (comprising Balfour Beatty, ETF and TSO); Colas Rail, Ferrovial Construction/BAM Nuttall joint venture; and Rhomberg Sersa/ Strabag joint venture. Other contracts expected to be awarded around the same time include the signalling and traffic management deal (estimated in 2020 at £540m with a shortlist of Alstom, Hitachi and Siemens), and the overhead contact system deal (£302m, BBVT and Colas shortlisted). In addition, HS2 Ltd is tendering for the construction of Washwood Heath depot and…

AS we approach the sixth anniversary of the timetable chaos that triggered the plan to restructure the railways, we are still nowhere nearer finding out what the industry will look like in the long term. The Conservatives’ plans set out in the draft bill, which places Network Rail at the top of the restructured railway, have not found favour with Labour despite much lobbying from NR Chairman Lord Peter Hendy and Chief Executive Andrew Haines. Rail Minister Huw Merriman has asked Labour to consider a bi-partisan approach to the restructuring, but has been rebuffed by Shadow Rail Minister Stephen Morgan. Labour is set to publish its own ideas ‘shortly’, which could mean anything from days to weeks. Meanwhile, the Conservatives’ proposals have faced some ‘friendly fire’ from their own side.…