News

CURRENTLY stored in a siding at Leicester depot are five Class 56s which could form the basis of a refurbishment by GB Railfreight. Should GBRf buy Nos. 56081, 56098, 56104, 56311 and 56312, it is likely they will be moved to Longport, where they will be refurbished and re-engined with EMD power units. A further five…

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THE first of six vehicles which will form the three Class 230 DMUs ordered by West Midlands Trains for use on the Bedford to Bletchley ‘Marston Vale’ line returned by road to Vivarail’s site at Long Marston on May 10 after painting in Derby. The former LT D78 car for set No. 230 003 has a…

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By Gary Boyd-Hope SIEMENS has begun testing of Govia Thameslink’s (GTR) new dual-voltage Class 717 ‘Desiro City’ EMUs at its test and validation centre in Wegberg-Wildenrath, with just six months to go until the December delivery deadline. Twelve of the six-car units have been transferred from Siemens’ manufacturing plant in Krefeld, near Duesseldorf, to the…

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GREATER Anglia (GA) has shown the trade press the first bi-mode multiple unit (BMU), which is being built by Stadler in Switzerland. When Abellio won the re-tendered franchise it announced a major fleet upgrade comprising of 1,043 new vehicles that would be formed into 169 multiple units to be in service by 2020/21. This is…

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KILSBY Tunnel’s Grade II-listed Great Northern Shaft has been restored by Network Rail, making it fit for many more decades of use. The £3.5million refurbishment took nine months and included soot removal, brickwork repointing and repairs. A large scaffolding structure was installed around the inside of the shaft, which was built in the 1830s to…

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SCOTRAIL Alliance has completed the first stage of its work to electrify the Stirling-Dunblane-Alloa route in central Scotland. Overhead power lines between Greenhill Junction, Polmont Junction and Grangemouth Junction to Larbert Junction went live on May 1, with erection of masts and portals advancing quickly between Larbert and Dunblane, and wiring completed on the Stirling…

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On THE night of May 14, Virgin Trains (VT) Class 390 No. 390152 Virgin Knight became the first electric train to visit Blackpool North under its own power. The ‘Pendolino’ was used to test the new 25kV AC overhead line equipment along the 17-mile route between Preston and Blackpool North ahead of the May 20 timetable…

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PASSENGER services ran on May Day on part of the large industrial rail network in the Czech city of Ostrava as part of a public holiday tradition to have open day events at industrial locations in the city. There were free hourly shuttle trains for visitors, operating between the Vítkovice Doprava loco depot (close to…

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BELGIAN heritage railway Stoomcentrum Maldegem (Maldegem to Eeklo), located between Bruges and Ghent, held a successful gala on May 5-6, with the theme being the centenary of the end of the First World War. The location of the line was occupied by the German Army from 1914 to 1918 and some Belgian historical re-enactors came…

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THE Haapamäen Museoveturiyhdistys ry (HMVY) railway museum, at Haapamäki, central Finland, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. And at the start of the anniversary year, an ambitious five-day rail tour ran in late-April, covering many freight and secondary lines in central Finland. The tour was run as a joint venture between the HMVY and…

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