Railnews Magazine February 2016 Back Issue

Passenger figures are rising again, and the latest regional totals reveal that more people are travelling by train now than at any time since the early 1920s. Railnews for February leads on this 90-year record, which seems set to be exceeded again in the near future if the current trends in passenger growth continue. The problems of this winter are also covered, with pictures of more weather-related damage to railways between Scotland and the south coast of England. In other news, a new station opened in the West Midlands in January alongside a sports stadium but it will not be welcoming sports fans, who are being advised to go by road. We explain why. Plans to close the ticket offices at more than 80 Govia Thameslink Railway stations have angered the unions, but openings also make the headlines, with both Edinburgh Gateway and Chiltern’s new link between Oxford and London expected to be welcoming passengers by the end of this year. Railnews also commemorates a significant anniversary, because the first franchised trains started running in February 1996. We look back at two decades of successes and setbacks. Finally, we have the story of a little boy’s Teddy who got lost on East Midlands Trains, and how this tale has formed the basis of a tv advertisement. Railnews for February is out now.