News

NEWTON Abbot’s former GWR carriage & wagon repair shops are facing demolition after the local authority granted planning permission for a new supermarket on the site. The well-known buildings – the backdrop to thousands of railway photographs over the last century – date from the early-1890s and are considered by many to be integral to…

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RAIL access to Heathrow from the south should be central to any airport expansion plans, says Heathrow Southern Railway Limited (HSRL) – the private venture established to develop the rail network serving Britain’s busiest airport. Responding to the Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) consultation document on the controversial third runway, HSRL executive director Graham Cross said:…

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A LONG-STANDING speed restriction on the Peterborough to Ely line at Manea has been lifted following the completion of a £1.5m package of structural repairs to two Cambridgeshire bridges in December. Steelwork was repaired and track and 13 sets of rotting timbers replaced at two girder bridges that carry the line over the River Great…

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NETWORK Rail undertook its biggest programme of Christmas and new year engineering works between December 23 and January 5, delivering £160million worth of infrastructure renewals and improvements at 260 sites across the country. More than 32,000 staff worked throughout the holidays, with much of the work scheduled for December 25-26 in an effort to reduce…

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GLASGOW Subway will become the first in the UK to run without any staff on board its trains. Operator Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) previously announced the new trains would be driverless, but it now says no other staff will normally be in the carriages either. Staff will be kept on stations, however, plus ride…

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NEXUS, the public body that owns and operates the Tyne and Wear Metro, has started the £362million process to acquire a new fleet for trains. A notice has been issued in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) to find a rolling stock supplier to design and build the trains for entry into service…

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DUDLEY, Stourbridge & District single-deck ‘Tividale’ car No. 5 returned to operational service at the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM) on December 18 following a £120,000 renovation at the Llangollen Railway. The 1919-built car left Dudley for Wales in 2012, the refurbishment being funded through public donations and support from businesses, trusts and foundations, including both…

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RE-ROOFING of the three tram depots at Crich Tramway Village (National Tramway Museum) has been completed as the Derbyshire museum continues its project to safeguard the long-term condition of its historic collection. The work is being carried out in order to provide a drier, controlled environment in which to store the tramcars. This will hopefully…

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THE way has been cleared towards further new construction at Boston Lodge following the building of improved sea defences at the eastern end of The Cob (RM Jan). The work will be primarily concentrated on the ‘Bottom Yard’. Plans for redevelopment include building a new three-road carriage storage shed on the seaward perimeter (enabled by…

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SIX days of both steam and diesel haulage will make up the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s annual May railtour and associated fringe events, covering lines from the north east to the south west of the Emerald Isle. Central to the itinerary is the ‘Cork & Kerry Railtour’ from May 12-14, featuring GNR(I) 4-4-0 No. 85…

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