Railnews Magazine February 2019 Back Issue

RAILNEWS for February leads with an accusation from Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines that the lack of full delay investigation is ‘scandalous,’ while former HS2 chairman Sir Terry Morgan has said the project was misnamed, because the arguments in its favour are more about capacity and connectivity than high speed.

New railways and trains are in the news. Five possible corridors have been outlined for East West Rail between Bedford and Cambridge, while the first example of new-generation Caledonian Sleepers arrived at London Euston under test during January. It is hoped they will start to enter service in May.

Problems with new trains are affecting the Gospel Oak to Barking London Overground line in London, with Class 378 units set to plug the gap for the time being, but there is more positive news from Vivarail and Alstom. Both have unveiled plans for hydrogen-powered trains.

Tram-trains could be set to arrive in Manchester, according to transport secretary Chris Grayling. They were first introduced in Sheffield last year. Still with trams, the first automatic control system for trams in Britain should be introduced in London this year in the wake of the fatal derailment in Croydon in 2016.

A woman has been charged with arson after fire badly damaged part of Nottingham station just over a year ago. She appears in court later this month.

German operator Deutsche Bahn is trying to bridge a funding ‘black hole’ of 4 billion Euros, and could be set to sell its international subsidiary Arriva.

Three million compensation claims for late running trains were lodged between April and mid-October last year, according to the Office of Rail and Road, while news of the delay to Crossrail came too late for some diary publishers, who have included the Elizabeth Line in 2019 editions.