Sam Hewitt

TRANSPENNINE Express has scrapped plans to use two short rakes of Mk3 carriages, hauled in top-and-tail mode by Class 68 locos, on Liverpool to Scarborough workings from July. The use of two four-carriage sets formed from the former Virgin West Coast and more recently Greater Anglia WB64 set was aimed at improving passenger capacity problems,…

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VIRGIN Trains, GWR and ScotRail have marked the annual LBGT Summer of Pride events by adding coloured vinyls to one train in each fleet as a public show of embracing diversity.‘Pendolino’ No. 390045 was renamed Virgin Pride and had a completed driving car appear in a revised livery with rainbow vinyls. GWR added stripes to the…

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GB RAILFREIGHT has confirmed it will buy 16 Class 56 locos from Leicester-based UK Rail Leasing, which will be used as part of its future expansion. In addition to the locomotives, GBRf has bought spare parts and other materials. GBRf says the locos are a mix of stored, serviceable and non-running donor locomotives, which GBRf…

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THE first of 19 Hitachi Class 802 Intercity Express Trains (IET) destined for use with TransPennine Express, was unloaded at Southampton on June 11. This followed a journey from Japan that began in April and included passage via the Pacific Ocean and Panama Canal. Set No. 802201 has been moved by road to Hitachi’s Doncaster depot…

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Edinburgh tram No. 265 has received advertising livery promoting windows and doors company CR Smith – the 20th of the 27-strong fleet to be sponsored by this firm, which is claimed to be a record for current British trams.No. 268 has also received vinyls for the Parabola development at Edinburgh Park, which means only No. 264 remains in…

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THE sixth large ‘Dampfspektakel’ event since 2000 was centred on the city of Trier, Germany, running between April 28 to May 1, and featured nine steam locos from museums in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Luxembourg. As in previous events, the federal state of Rheinland-Pfalz and local transport authorities contributed significant funding to make the…

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US CONGRESS has passed legislation which would prohibit public transport agencies funded by taxpayers from buying goods or services from Chinese controlled companies, even if the production facilities were located in the USA. The move is part of ongoing trade disputes with China. This could severely impact plans to buy new subway trains by operators…

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THE new 472km standard gauge line that opened in Kenya between the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa and capital Nairobi on May 31, 2017 is celebrating its first anniversary, just as ambitious plans to extend into neighbouring Uganda get underway. The new line, which was built in just 30 months at a cost of US…

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TURKISH Railways (TCDD) continues to modernise its network and has extended electrification to the country’s third largest city Izmir, on the Aegean coast. The first electric trains operated on May 15 on the 241km route from Izmir Basmane to Balıkesir, with modern Class E68000 electric locos replacing diesel locos. Electrification to Izmir is the first…

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A RECENT special train in Bulgaria saw one of Europe’s most unusual steam locos in action – a 2-12-4 tank engine. Bulgarian State railways (BDZ) bought 20 of the huge 2-12-4Ts in two batches: 12 two-cylinder locos in 1931 from Polish builder H Cegielski (Nos. 4.501- 4.512) and another eight three-cylinder versions during the Second World…

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