News

A ROLLING stock storage crisis is looming that could get worse towards the end of the decade as more than 30 miles of sidings will be needed for surplus stock. Orders for many new trains of various types are now under construction, or soon to begin, and by the end of Network Rail’s CP5 in…

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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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