News

By Ben Jones FEBRUARY 8 saw the first two completed Class 802 bi-mode trains unveiled at the Hitachi Rail Europe (HRE) plant in Tuscany. Five-car AT300s Nos. 802003 and 802004 (T4/T5) are the first of 33 trains being built in Pistoia to replace Great Western Railway (GWR) InterCity 125s on the West of England route. A…

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RAIL watchdog Transport Focus (TF) has accused Network Rail of badly letting down passengers after it was announced confirmed timetable information, which allows the booking of advance tickets, would not be available for the next six months to the usual rolling 12-week window from the May 20 timetable change. Known as ‘T minus 12’, it…

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CLASS 88 bi-mode locos have been going ‘off the juice’, with Nos. 88009 Diana and 88010 Aurora making a trial run on diesel power from Carlisle Kingmoor to Seaton Carew, Teesside on January 12. A pair of locos can muster 1,900hp in multiple, and up to four FNA nuclear flask wagons should be within the capability…

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BEACON Rail and Govia Thameslink Rail have repainted the first-built second-generation EMU to its original BR blue & grey livery. Set No. 313201 was repainted at Wolverton Works as part of a planned C6 overhaul that has included body repairs and work on the door mechanisms. The units were built in 1976 by BREL York and…

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CREATOR and author of the Paddington Bear books Michael Bond has had a new GWR Class 800 IET named after him. The names Paddington Bear/Michael Bond were unveiled at each end of set No. 800010 by his daughter Karen Jankel at a ceremony at Paddington on January 10 that was also attended by Mr Bond’s widow,…

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DIRECT Rail Services has issued a tender for the sale of three Class 20 locos together with four ex-Virgin Mk2 carriages, used as barrier vehicles, and 12 Mk3 bogies. Nos. 20304/308/309 have been in store at Barrow Hill for around a year, and the sale will leave just five Class 20s – 20301-303/305/312 – on DRS’…

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THE first five carriages of an order for 75 new vehicles for the Caledonian Sleeper arrived at Dollands Moor on January 12 via the Channel Tunnel behind DB Cargo Class 92 No. 92042. Three days later, the five carriages, sandwiched between German barrier wagons, were moved up to Wembley Yard behind Rail Operations Group Type 3…

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REIGHT traffic increased slightly in the second quarter of 2017, once again led by growth in the construction and domestic intermodal sectors. Increases in biomass and international traffic via the Channel Tunnel also contributed to the positive figures, but freight tonnages are still at their lowest level since records began in 1996/97. Total freight moved…

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NETWORK Rail has awarded Siemens Rail Automation a contract to supply and install European Train Control System (ETCS) in-cab signalling on up to 750 British freight locomotives. The scope of the 10-year contract covers the addition of Siemens’ Trainguard ETCS 200 on-board system and the upgrade of the locomotive’s Train Protection Warning System (TPWS), as…

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Due to the inclement weather conditions the March 2018 issue of The Railway Magazine is running late. Subject to an improving picture with the weather we hope to see it posted early next week. We thank you for your patience throughout this extreme weather situation.

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