Network
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Downpatrick completes Bulleid ‘Park Royal’ restoration
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PASSENGERS are once again able to experience travelling in one of Córas Iompair Éireann’s (CIÉ) Park Royal carriages after the Downpatrick & County Down Railway (DCDR) completed the restoration of 1955-built Brake Standard Open No. 1944. The vehicle emerged from the DCDR’s workshops on November 24 for its first gauging runs over the line behind GM…
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Llangollen line launches ‘infill’ appeal
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A TARGETED appeal to infill a 150-yard gap in an embankment just east of the new Corwen Central station has been launched by the Llangollen Railway (LR). The section of embankment was originally bulldozed to provide an alternative access point to the neighbouring sewage farm, but was subsequently widened in 2013 by contractors for the…
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Greater Anglia simulator gears up for new train fleets as ‘FLIRT’ makes first test run
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GREATER Anglia is making extensive use of ‘immersive’ simulator technology to prepare for the introduction of its new train fleets over the next two years. Housed at Ipswich station, GA’s ‘Mission Room’ features a simulator with wrap-around screens that are being used to check for issues needing to be resolved before the 169 new trains…
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Former Eurostar platforms in full-time reopening for Waterloo suburban services
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THREE former Eurostar platforms at London Waterloo reopened permanently on December 10 as part of the £800million project to increase capacity on the South Western Railway network. Apart from a brief period where they were used during engineering work in 2017/18, the platforms have been disused since international services switched to St Pancras in November…
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Waterloo is still busiest station – British Steel Redcar least used
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LONDON Waterloo station remains the country’s busiest station for the 15th consecutive year, even though the total number of passenger entries and exits fell by five million to 94.4 million. The figures for 2017/8 have been revealed by the Office of Rail and Road. Some of the reduction in use has been attributed to the…
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Worcestershire Parkway station shaping up
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CONSTRUCTION of Worcestershire Parkway station is at an advanced stage. The station, situated east of Norton Junction and close to the M5 junction 7, will have two platforms on the Birmingham to Bristol line, and a single platform on the Cotswold Line from Worcester Shrub Hill. The station will have three 265 metre platforms and…
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Options revealed for ScotRail Class 153 conversion
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SCOTRAIL is moving forward with its proposal to increase capacity on its West Highland Line (WHL) services during the summer months. One of the problems faced by the services to Oban, Fort William and Mallaig (and intermediate stations) which use Class 156 units, is the lack of space for luggage and cycles, and the re-use…
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First Class 397 arrives for TransPennine
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TRANSPENNINE Express took delivery of its first ‘Civity’ Class 397 five-car EMU on December 4. They are being built in Beasain, Spain, by CAF, with 12 sets having been ordered. They will replace the Class 350/4 EMUs currently used on Manchester to Glasgow/Edinburgh services. They are being branded ‘Nova 2’ by TPE. Set No. 397003 –…
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MPs savage “system-wide failures”for last year’s timetable change fiasco
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A CROSS-PARTY committee of MPs has severely criticised train operators, Network Rail, the DfT, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and the complex structure of the rail industry in a scathing report on last May’s timetable chaos, which affected around 20% of UK rail users. “The statistics cannot do justice to the severe effects on people’s lives,”…
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‘Pendolino’ painting at halfway mark
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THE massive task to repaint Virgin’s fleet of 56 nine- and 11-car Class 390 ‘Pendolino’ EMUs has passed the halfway point at the beginning of November. The work is being carried out at Alstom’s recently opened Widnes modernisation facility, each ‘Pendolino’ taking two weeks to strip down and repaint. Minor repairs and defects to the…
