News

Nuneaton’s multi-million pound north chord is being used by an average of less than two trains every day. The chord, just under a mile long, was opened in November 2012 at a cost of £28million. It was constructed using finance from Network Rail, the Department for Transport and the European Union’s TEN-T programme to allow…

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VIVARAIL, the company behind the conversion of former London Underground ‘D’ stock carriages for use on the mainline, has secured the backing to run the prototype train on London Midland’s Nuneaton to Coventry service. The three-car Class 230 has been converted in workshops at Long Marston, Warwickshire, and will be deployed from the autumn for…

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OLIVER Cromwell is a ‘runner’ again. The engine’s previous in-steam appearances were in late January 2015, but the ‘Britannia’ Pacific is now operable again at the Great Central Railway, having undergone a major schedule of work ahead of its next overhaul, which is due in 2018. Following a successful steam test, No. 70013 began a three-weekend series…

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IRONSTONE, coal, steel and power generation were among the industries represented at the Foxfield Railway’s (FR) summer steam gala on July 16-17 as ‘Austerities’ rubbed shoulders with Avonsides for this annual piece of steam theatre. Two visiting locomotives had been brought in for the event, one of which – Avonside 0-6-0ST Cranford – has a…

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SOUTH West Trains and train manufacturer Siemens have given a preview of their new Class 707 EMUs to a small party of railway journalists. SWT has ordered 30 five-car EMUs from Siemens, which are part of the ‘Desiro City’ family and similar to the Class 700 units being built for Govia Thameslink. Although the units…

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BELMOND’s all-new luxury train for Ireland, the ‘Grand Hibernian’, is set to take to the rails on August 9. After three years in the making, preparations are well underway at Iarnród Éireann-Irish Rail for accepting the train into traffic. The ex-Irish Rail Mk3s acquired have all been fully overhauled and cosmetically restored externally at Brodie’s,…

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A TEN-year contract to deliver biomass to Lynemouth power station has been won by GB Railfreight, securing drivers’ jobs in the North East. The power station opened in 1972, then owned and operated by Alcan to provide energy for the production of aluminium at the nearby Lynemouth Smelter, which closed in March 2012. Power continued…

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PREDICTIONS of a 49% increase in demand for rail travel across the West Midlands and Chilterns regions by 2023 have led to proposals for longer trains, an increase in services, extended platforms, and upgraded stations. Both regions, covering the areas around Birmingham, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, already cater for in excess of 50million passenger journeys…

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THE month-long upgrade of Glasgow’s Subway system is taking longer to complete, and is now expected to be finished in mid-August – two weeks after the planned reopening. The Subway, which forms a circular route through the centre and west of the city, closed on July 2 for track renewal works. The work centred on…

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TALYLLYN Railway’s The Grand Finale gala lived up to every expectation. The July 1-3 event specifically celebrated the 150th birthday of TR’s Fletcher, Jennings 0-4-0WT No. 2 Dolgoch, while rounding off the series of events marking TR’s 150th anniversary. Bluebell Railway’s standard gauge Fletcher, Jennings 158/1877 Captain Baxter, steaming at 2ft 3in-gauge Talyllyn Railway’s Wharf…

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