Railnews Magazine December 2013 Back Issue

The last edition of Railnews for 2013 leads with a key development for the railway industry, when the House of Commons gave the First Reading to the main Hybrid Bill which will authorise Phase 1 of HS2. But the closing weeks of the year are seeing other major developments too. The first 125mph running starts in December on the Midland Main Line and we have the details, along with a special Guest Opinion from East Midlands Trains managing director David Horne. There is controversy brewing on London Underground, after Transport for London announced that it intends to close all ticket offices by 2015, as well as introduce the first all-night tube services. We report reactions to this, and our feature this month also goes Underground, to take a wider view of the network’s past, present and future. In other news, Network Rail has been under fire from the ORR over performance, the details of the next ScotRail franchise have been published, Peterborough gears up for a major Christmas blockade and the first European Rail Congress, held in London, has given an award to a Belgian high speed scheme which could see trains from London calling at Brussels Airport. Our railway creature theme continues, too. After seagulls and peacocks, now it’s the turn of guide dogs. How are they connected with Caledonian Sleepers? The answer is in Railnews for December.