News

RECENT investment of around £5billion in refurbishing, expanding and improving Britain’s railway stations is promoting economic growth in the communities that surround them. Research by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) highlights railway stations as natural focal points for growth and regeneration, and says investment in those facilities can help to create jobs, stimulate property development,…

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PRIME Minister Theresa May officially opened a new £4.5million EMU stabling point in her Maidenhead constituency on June 30. The sidings are a key part of Network Rail’s electrification of the Great Western Main Line in preparation for Crossrail. In the short-term they enable Great Western Railway (GWR) to replace Class 165/166 DMUs with longer…

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NETWORK Rail and train operators are making plans to minimise disruption for passengers during the ‘once-in-a-generation’ replacement of track and signalling in and around Derby station next summer. A 79-day programme of engineering works will start on July 22, 2018 requiring significant changes to timetables through to October 7. The £200million project will require platform…

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SOUTHERN REGION ‘Hastings’ DEMU No. 1001 broke new ground for the class on July 1 when it visited the Lincolnshire coastal resort of Cleethorpes. The ‘Cleethorpes Clipper’ treated passengers to a 507-mile round trip from Hastings via Tonbridge, the West London and North London Lines, the East Coast Main Line, Spalding and Lincoln. The six-car…

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REBUILT ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35028 Clan Line continued its comeback with two visits to its old haunts – 50 years after the end of Southern Region steam in July 1967. The Bulleid Pacific powered a convincing re-creation of the legendary ‘Bournemouth Belle’ from Waterloo to Poole on July 5, hauling the Belmond ‘British Pullman’ set. Four…

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AFTER hot weather and dry conditions forced the use of a diesel loco on June 18, the ‘Torbay Express’ suffered more misfortune on July 2 when the booked steam loco – No. 60163 Tornado – failed before departure from Bristol. Injector problems discovered the previous day prevented the ‘A1’ from hauling the train, and it…

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A CHARITY rail event organised by A V Dawson and the Branch Line Society to celebrate the growth of the Teesside freight terminal raised thousands for local charities. More than 200 people joined a Class 08-hauled tour of A V Dawson’s 100-acre site in Middlesbrough on June 25, taking advantage of the rare opportunity to…

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UK RAILTOURS has obtained an agreement to run two railtours over the much-requested Old Dalby test track in Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire, five years after its initial efforts failed. Now known as the Rail Industry Development Centre (RIDC) Melton, the 13-mile Network Rail-owned facility is used to test a wide variety of new trains for use on Network…

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By Anthony Sayer SIX British Class 86s which were delivered to the Black Sea port of Varna, Bulgaria, on May 4 have been renumbered in the Bulgarian 85xxx range. Nos. 86213/231/701/702 were moved to Ruse, with 86234/235 transferred to Sofia for repair work to be carried out. Ultimately, all six locomotives congregated at the Express…

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ALSTOM’S new technology centre for train modernisation in Widnes was opened on June 29 by Lord Prior of Brampton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Alstom claims it is the largest rolling stock modernisation centre in the UK, with more than 13,000 sq m of space. Its…

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