Taken from our huge The Railway Magazine archive, check out what happened in world of railways in April, 20 years ago!
Green returns
ONE of the ‘stars’ of the late BR era, Chris Green, has made a remarkable return to mainstream railway management.
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The man who created Network SouthEast and revolutionised ScotRail and InterCity has been headhunted by Virgin Trains to take charge of its troubled West Coast and CrossCountry franchises. He replaces Brian Barnett as chief executive.
125mph diesels dropped
AMBITIOUS plans by First North Western to run diesel trains at 125mph have been dropped. The order placed by the TOC with Alstom for nine 125mph three-car sets has been amended and it is now understood all 70 new units will have a maximum speed of 100mph.
Speculation is rife that this is due to conditions under the West Coast Main Line’s passenger upgrade scheme, which gives exclusive fast line access to Virgin Trains, restricting other operators to the slow lines.
Carlisle Kingsmoor remains to undergo works
AFTER more than ten years of dereliction, the remains of Carlisle Kingmoor depot – which at one time Railtrack wanted to pull down to sell the land – are under restoration. The MPD has been sold to Direct Rail Services (DRS) as a northern outbase for its expanding fleet of Class 20 and 37 locos.
The refurbished shed should be complete in time for opening in May or June, when it is expected many of the locos which have outgrown DRS’s two-road Sellafield shed will be moved to Carlisle.
