Sam Hewitt

MORE than 6,000 passengers travelled over the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway’s extension to Broadway over the Easter week as people flocked to be among the first to reach the village by rail in almost 60 years. The formal opening of the extension on Good Friday (March 30) was the precursor to a record-breaking few days,…

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By Keith Fender TRANSPENNINE Express presented its new CAF-built Mk5A ‘Nova 3′ push-pull trains to stakeholders and media in mid-April at the Velim test centre in the Czech Republic, where dynamic testing of the new train with Class 68 locos began on April 11. CAF is building 13 five-coach rakes of carriages as permanently coupled…

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HEATHROW Express Class 332 EMUs will become redundant as a result of a new 10-year agreement that guarantees the future of the fast airport service until at least 2028, with GWR running the operation under a management contract. The current Heathrow Express (HEX) operation and the 14 train sets are owned by Heathrow Express Operating…

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GWR has announced it will introduce Class 769 trains from spring 2019 that have three power sources. The deal between Porterbrook Leasing and GWR will build on the former’s development of fitting two MAN diesel power packs into a Class 319 (as a Class 769), adding to the unit’s third rail and 25kV capabilities. GWR…

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GREAT Western Railway named a Class 800 IET after two of Wales’ sporting greats. Set No. 800009 saw one driving car named after Leeds United and Juventus footballer John Charles in a ceremony at Cardiff on March 7. Also displayed is his nickname, Il Gigante Buono – The Gentle Giant. The 6ft 2in Charles made 38 appearances…

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THE switch from a DRS Class 37 to Class 68 on one of Northern’s Cumbrian Coast loco-hauled services took place from March 12. The change of loco, first highlighted in the February issue, stems from reliability issues with Class 37s, following a number of failures. Unlike the Class 37 diagrams, which worked in push-pull mode…

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THE first pair of Class 170 DMUs have been transferred from ScotRail to Northern. Set Nos. 170475 and 170478 were sent south from Haymarket to Neville Hill on March 6, still in Saltire livery, but with branding removed. This move was followed by a second pair – Nos. 170476 and 170477 – on March 8. Northern is…

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FRENCH Railways (SNCF) is part way through procurement of new multiple unit trains to replace all daytime loco-hauled Intercités (Intercity) services by the mid 2020s. Two more contracts for new Intercités multiple units were announced at the end of 2017. Bombardier will supply 32 eight-car R2N (or Omneo Premium) part double-deck, part-articulated inter-city EMUs for…

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BRIGHTLINE – the first privately operated inter-city passenger trains in the USA for several decades – started operation on January 13. The service will initially operate on the 74km section between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale in Florida, with 10 train pairs daily. This is the most intensive inter-city service in the USA away…

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