Sam Hewitt

VIRGIN Trains named Class 221 ‘Voyager’ No. 221114 Royal Air Force Centenary 1918–2018 at Holyhead station on August 22 to celebrate the historic links between the RAF base and railways. The nameplate carries the station crest of the RAF Valley and was unveiled at a ceremony by veterans Mary Roberts and Wing Commander John Wynne, both…

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THE failure of Class 47 No. 47580 at Weymouth on the ‘Dorset Coast Express’ train on August 23 saw main line-approved Class 33 No. 33012 summoned from the Swanage Railway to act as a ‘Thunderbird’ loco. With the errant 47 removed, the ‘33’ hauled the heavy 10-coach train, with ‘A4’ No. 60009 Union of South Africa on the…

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BRIDGE strikes caused by overheight lorries cost Network Rail up to £23million a year, with 2017/18 producing the highest number of incidents for five years. As a result, Network Rail has launched its latest campaign to educate professional HGV drivers about the risks of taking unsuitable routes. ‘Lorries Can’t Limbo’ encourages drivers to “wise up…

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By Phil Marsh DENNIS Howells, a railway signalling engineer and well-known owner of Hawksworth 0-6-0PT No. 9466, died on August 18. He was 78, and had been fighting cancer. It was on holiday in 1955, when aged 15, he was on the footplate with his uncle Bill, a Swansea Paxton Street driver, and they stopped…

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REVISED and improved training on emergency procedures will be provided for 3,500 Network Rail and Southeastern staff. This follows an incident on March 2 when hundreds of passengers self-evacuated onto live tracks after a number of Southeastern trains had become stuck on the approach to Lewisham station. The serious incident occurred during the evening peak…

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BALLATER’S historic ‘B’-listed railway station was destroyed in a fire just over three years ago, but on August 20, the rebuilt station was opened to the public. The station was a terminus on the Great North of Scotland Railway line from Aberdeen, and being close to Balmoral Castle, was used by the Royal Family until…

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FRENCH national operator SNCF has ordered 100 new double-deck 350kph high-speed trains from Alstom in an order worth €2.7billion, writes Keith Fender. The new trains will be used to replace older single-deck TGVs, dating from the 1980s/90s. The new train – branded the ‘Avelia Horizon’ by Alstom – is the first of the Avelia ‘platform’…

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SCOTRAIL has taken delivery of the first fully refurbished Inter City125 set. Power cars Nos. 43169 and 43183, along with four trailer cars, arrived from Wabtec Doncaster at Haymarket depot on August 18. ScotRail will eventually have a fleet of 26 HSTs formed of 17 five- and nine four-car sets, and used to connect Glasgow and…

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GWR has launched the first of its bi-mode Class 802 trains into service on August 20 between Paddington and Penzance. Two of the Hitachi-built five-car trains worked the 07.30 ex-Paddington and 14.00 from Penzance after a press launch between Penzance and Exeter on August 17. Testing of the trains has been on-going for a year.…

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RAIL fares are set to rise by up to 3.2% from January next year despite calls for a freeze following months of strikes and timetable problems. This is marginally lower than last year’s 3.6% rise. However, the Rail Delivery Group, which represents Network Rail and the train operators, says reforms are needed across the industry.…

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