Railnews Magazine March 2022 Back Issue

THREE destructive winter storms battered the railway in February, and the March edition of Railnews leads with a detailed report and pictures of the damage caused by the weather. Floods swamped stations, washed away ballast and blocked lines, while the very high winds felled many lineside trees, further hampering trains. One tree fell on the overhead lines and burst into flames, while others dragged down the overhead elsewhere. For a while London Euston was closed, and there were also no trains running in Wales or the West Country.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has reported that a rail cleaning train had been due to pass the site of the Salisbury crash before the collision occurred last October, but that it had been delayed by engineering work, while the Brighton Main Line reopened on 28 February after being closed for nine days to allow a £15 million scheme to go ahead.

Industrial unrest has also continued: there were more Sunday strikes on TransPennine express and two 24-hour stoppages on London Underground in early March.

In other news, Labour described the 3.8 per cent rise in fares as ‘brutal’, Eurostar offered free travel for Ukrainian refugees, two operators announced trains with greener power sources during February, Northern has offered £1,000 to achieve a conviction after a brick was thrown at a train, Northern Powerhouse Rail could be funded by ‘Hong Kong style’ land taxes and Network Rail has awarded a major Cambridge signalling contract to Alstom.

The tension over funding between Transport for the North and the Department for Transport has also continued, and this month’s feature asks if transport devolution is really working.

Finally, Hot Topic lifts the lid on a little-known organisation, the Railway Ombudsman, which works behind the scenes to resolve passengers’ complaints.

Railnews is out now.