Sam Hewitt

THE Merseyrail third-rail network will see a series of phased engineering blockades take place between October 20 and June 16 next year, in a project to upgrade track and stations for the new Class 777 trains. Before the Stadler-built EMUs can enter service, track realignment and platform improvements are necessary, requiring 11 separate closures of…

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RESIGNALLING work as part of the £68million Wherry Lines upgrade will close the Reedham Junction to Great Yarmouth line for six months from late October. The route via Berney Arms will close on October 20 and is not expected to reopen until April 2019. Norwich to Yarmouth trains will continue to run during this period…

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NETWORK Rail engineering teams took full advantage of the August Bank Holiday weekend to deliver a large number of upgrades and renewals. The rail network was around 50% quieter than on normal weekdays, and various essential tasks were undertaken around the country. Some routes, including the West Coast Main Line into Euston, were closed, causing…

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NETWORK Rail Scotland is now using a track-based, three-dimensional scanner to quickly and precisely model its infrastructure ahead of the arrival of new trains. The Trimble GEDOScan system – operated by Network Rail’s team of absolute track geometry (ATG) engineers – has been deployed to collect detailed information about the track and surrounding features such…

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NETWORK Rail’s commercial estate portfolio has been sold to property companies Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners in a £1.46billion deal. NR says the sale will help to fund major improvements without placing an extra burden on taxpayers. Telereal and Blackstone will hold equal stakes in the estate of 5,200 properties, most of which are…

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LONDON Underground’s Victoria Line notched up 50 years of operation on September 1 – the line’s first service having left Walthamstow Central for Highbury & Islington at 06.30 on that day in 1968. The line was extended south from Highbury through tunnelling to the current terminus at Brixton in July 1971, while Pimlico station opened…

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ANOTHER £1.2million is needed for the Sheffield to Rotherham tram-train project, according to the Rotherham Business News website. The money is needed for upgrading the Supertram depot and to cover increased costs. The report quotes Sheffield City Region Combined Authority stating: “The estimated final cost of the SYPTE-led elements of the project have increased as…

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THE visit of Pope Francis to Ireland on August 25-26 provided logistical challenges for all of the Republic’s public transport providers as hundreds of thousands travelled to Dublin to attend a special mass in Phoenix Park on the Sunday. These pressures were particularly felt on the railways, with both Iarnród Éireann-Irish Rail (IÉ) and Northern…

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THE reopening of a section of the Western Rail Corridor between Athenry and Limerick appears to have been justified after figures revealed passenger numbers between Limerick and Galway have increased 57% over the past seven years. During 2017, some 352,706 Irish Rail passengers travelled over the route, a stark contrast to the 182,254 carried after…

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THERE was a slight sense of déjà vu at the Chasewater Railway’s September 8-9 steam gala as Bill Parker’s Kerr, Stuart 0-4-0WT Willy (3063/1918) once again took the ‘guest engine’ slot in the timetable. In fact the diminutive former National Shipyard, Chepstow, loco had not left the railway since its headline appearance at the Made…

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