The Railway Magazine

IT is a sad fact that loco-hauled passenger trains have all but disappeared in Britain. They have been slowly drifting away from widespread use since at least the 1980s, and more so since Privatisation, being replaced by multiple units and other fixed formation trains. But it is only a few years ago that TransPennine Express used Class 68s and Mk.5s, CrossCountry had HSTs, Chiltern ran more hauled trains than it does now, and LNER had an almost full fleet of Class 91s and Mk.4s. Going back a few more years further, there were Class 68s on the Fife Circle, Class 90s in East Anglia, and Class 37s on the Rhymney line. Today, Chiltern and LNER do still have a few loco-hauled diagrams, and there are the sleeper trains from London…

FOLLOWING completion of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) legislation last year, a consultation process called‘A railway fit for Britain’s future’has been launched, about policies to be adopted by Great British Railways. The conclusions will be formulated into a new Railways Bill, which will establish the statutory powers for GBR and give it the authority and autonomy needed to run the network. Although previously there have been strong denials that GBR would effectively be an enlarged Network Rail, this is exactly what will happen as Network Rail Infrastructure Limited as a corporate body is to become GBR. This action is being taken to avoid the delay that would occur in the transfer of assets such as stations, people, and contracts to a new entity. The consultation states the country needs…

NEWSHAM station, the first of two serving Blyth to open as part of the £298.5 million Northumberland Line project, which has restored services between Newcastle and Ashington after a gap of 60 years, welcomed its first passengers on March 17. The 06.12 departure for Newcastle was the first train to call at what is the largest of the six new stations on the route and the third to open, Ashington and Seaton Delaval having been brought into use on December 15 last year. Close to the A1061 (for which a new bridge was built over the site, replacing the previous level crossing to its north), the two-platform station, which has a lift-accessible footbridge, ticket machines and car park, is around half-a-mile south of the previous one. Situated on the junction…

THE rail network has a finite capacity in terms of train paths, and the exponential growth in demand seen since Privatisation in the mid-1990s continues. The latest quarterly ORR report published on March 20 reveals a 7% year-on-year growth to 446 million passengers between October and December 2024, which is close to the figure recorded immediately prior to the Covid pandemic. Managing capacity has become critical in making the best use of the rail network and prioritising the economic benefit to be achieved. One of the concerns in the industry as a whole is that if, as intended, Great British Railways has control of the timetabling process, then it will give preference to its services over those of other operators. Competition benefits have been demonstrated over many years on the…

Rhymney line electrification TRANSPORT for Wales has announced that the Rhymney Valley line will undergo major enhancement work from the end of March, as part of the next phase of the South Wales Metro scheme. An eight-month programme will electrify almost 10 miles (15km) of railway line from Caerphilly to Rhymney, which will allow Stadler tri-mode Class 756s units to be used on the line to replace the current Class 231 DMUs. The work will include two six-week closures from April 12 to May 23 and July 19 to August 31. There will also be track and signalling upgrades, plus station and siding improvements at Rhymney where the trains will be stabled. Tyne & Wear Metro resignalling progress FOLLOWING its submission at the end of last year to ministers, and…

Hinckley freight site refused permission THE Government has refused permission for the proposed £750 million Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange in Leicestershire. Detailing the reasons for denying a development consent order to applicant Tritax Symmetry, a March 10-dated letter on behalf of the Transport Secretary, who delegated the decision to Transport Minister Mike Kane, identified highways issues as weighing “substantially against” it. The letter drew attention to a potential safety risk posed by lorries rerouting through the village of Sapcote as a result of slip road construction on the M69 related to the project. It also concluded that the proposals showed inadequate modelling of the impacts of motorway junction traffic and did not fully comply with national planning guidance. The decision can be challenged by judicial review if a claim…