A QUESTION I find myself asking rather too often is: ‘Would the rolling stock crisis that is badly affecting the industry have occurred on BR’s watch?’ In excess of 22 Class 345 Crossrail EMUs –
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HAS anyone else noticed the large number of rail freight terminals in the Midlands which are under construction or in planning stages? At junction 15 on the M1, developers are aiming to construct five million
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THIRTY years ago, on December 12, 1988, a busy commuter train ran into the back of another packed train, which had stopped at a red signal outside Clapham Junction. Moments later a third train hit
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HAVING prompted readers to make comments, and just three weeks after the public consultation period ended, the Department for Transport has pulled the plug on one of the most crucial franchise renewals – CrossCountry. But
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THE announcement that Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has ordered a Rail Review comes as no surprise. It’s been very much overdue, given the increasing list of problems affecting passengers. The Transport Select Committee (TSC) announced
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IT’S been another summer of discontent for rail passengers. Strikes because of industrial disputes over driver-only operation are still affecting four train operators. Timetables remain in a mess on several routes, with passengers having to
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TRAVELLING into Birmingham New Street last month, I was shocked at the abundance of vegetation alongside the track around Grand Junction. Particularly prevalent was buddleia (Buddleja Davidii), an invasive plant which spreads easily if left
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IN the past six weeks we’ve seen a shambolic start to the new summer timetable with thousands of passengers unable to travel because of a lack of trained drivers, overcrowded services, while others were written
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IT’S BEEN a bad month for our railways. In fact a very bad month, with so much adverse publicity stemming from a variety of problems – some of them self-inflicted. The big news was the
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IN THE August 2016 issue of The RM we reported around 35 miles of siding space was needed to store the carriages being made redundant by new trains. Further new train orders, coupled with the
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