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  • Greater Anglia simulator gears up for new train fleets as ‘FLIRT’ makes first test run

    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…

  • Former Eurostar platforms in full-time reopening for Waterloo suburban services

    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…

  • Waterloo is still busiest station – British Steel Redcar least used

    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…

  • Worcestershire Parkway station shaping up

    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…

  • Last run for Parliamentary service

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    A DAILY parliamentary service from London Paddington to South Ruislip ceased operation on December 7,a casualty of developing parts of West London for the HS2 line. More than 190 people travelled on the last train compared to the usual handful of passengers. Operation of the Chiltern Railways service was used to maintain route knowledge for drivers to…

  • Rail Operations Group and Stadler in tri-mode loco plan

    Rail Operations Group and Stadler in tri-mode loco plan

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    THE creation of a tri-mode locomotive based around the Class 68/88 bodyshell and built by Stadler could come to fruition within two years if plans confirmed by the Rail Operations Group (ROG) take shape. ROG wants to combine the best elements of the mixed traffic ‘68’ and ‘88s’, but also add in battery technology to…

  • Options revealed for ScotRail Class 153 conversion

    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…

  • Wightwick Hall becomes 150th Barry Scrapyard restoration

    Wightwick Hall becomes 150th Barry Scrapyard restoration

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    HISTORY was made at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre (BRC) on December 11 when GWR Hawksworth ‘Modified Hall’ No. 6989 Wightwick Hall became the 150th ex-Barry Scrapyard locomotive to be restored and returned to steam. No. 6989 made its first tentative moves in preservation on the centre’s demonstration line with BRC commercial director Adrian Aylward on the regulator.…

  • ‘Superb’ 1903 NER autocar wins two HRA awards

    ‘Superb’ 1903 NER autocar wins two HRA awards

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    RESTORATION of the unique North Eastern Railway 1903 autocar No. 3170 has won two major Heritage Railway Association awards. The painstaking work by the NER 1903 Electric Autocar Trust, led by Stephen Middleton, to restore what was once a holiday home to a fully serviceable rail vehicle led a panel of HRA judges to award the…

  • Former President Bush taken to final resting place in Texas by Union Pacific

    Former President Bush taken to final resting place in Texas by Union Pacific

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    A SPECIAL train was used to take former US president George H W Bush to his final resting place in Texas. Mr Bush died on November 30, and following a state funeral service in Washington, his coffin was flown back to Houston, Texas, from where it was moved the 70 miles to the George H…

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