Sam Hewitt

An overheated ‘big end’ followed by disruption to rail services caused by heavy snow in East Anglia prevented No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell from fulfilling all of its planned ‘farewell’ tours, as scheduled in March. Despite an unplanned inspection stop just short of its destination, the ‘Brit’ was able to make it to Norwich with February…

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Railway Touring Company will run two steam-hauled specials over the Settle-Carlisle Line on August 11 to mark the 50th anniversary of the legendary ‘15 Guinea Special’ of 1968. One of West Coast Railways’ Stanier ‘Jubilee’ 4-6-0s, either No. 45690 Leander or No. 45699 Galatea, will haul the ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ from Carnforth to Carlisle via Shap, returning…

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THE Midland Metro Alliance has started work on extending the tram route from Wolverhampton St George’s to the city’s railway station via Pipers Row. This follows the installation of a new triangular junction at St George’s, which was completed in December 2017 after a six-month closure of the stop. Initial work on the £33million extension…

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HEATON Park-based Stockport Corporation No. 5 has entered the final stage of its overhaul, with the finishing touches now being made ahead of its return to service. The Dick, Kerr open-top four-wheeler received a partial repaint by Heritage Painting last November (RM Dec). Manchester Transport Museum Society (MTMS) volunteers have undercoated and painted the platform canopy…

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BEAMISH Museum has published its annual tram mileage figures for 2017, with several members of the fleet surpassing the 6,000 miles mark and one topping out at more than 7,600 miles. The total combined mileage covered by the five cars during the year was 27,550 miles – the equivalent of a trip around the world…

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AROUND 15,000 Network Rail engineers and contractors were expected to work around the clock delivering improvements and repairs at more than 400 locations across Britain over the Easter weekend. In total, around £118million was due to be spent on major projects, including NR’s biggest resignalling scheme in Bristol, further preparations for Crossrail on the Great…

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PAN-regional transport partnership Midlands Connect has called for greater investment in the region’s railways to match the growth ambitions of its towns, cities and businesses. Maria Machancoses, of Midlands Connect, in giving evidence to the Transport Select Committee’s inquiry into rail infrastructure investment, said all available statistics show Government investment in railways outside London lags…

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PROPOSALS to transform Bradford’s city centre transport interchange as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail project could boost the city’s economy by £15billion, according to economic analyst GENECON. A redeveloped rail/road interchange could also help to boost the economy of the Leeds City Region by up to £15bn by 2060, if Bradford becomes part of…

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A NEW waiting room, modern toilets, a coffee shop and a microbrewery will open at Lincoln Central this summer as part of a £2million improvement scheme. The programme has already delivered a new cycle hub, refurbished roof, station forecourt and car park entrance, and work is now focusing on the restoration of the Grade-II listed…

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THE Department for Transport has granted Network Rail permission to proceed with the much-delayed scheme to increase capacity on the Hope Valley route in Derbyshire. The upgrade will start in 2019 and take up to three years, after which it will be possible to increase fast Sheffield to Manchester trains from two to three per…

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