WAGON REPORT

Eurostar service must not be sacrificed

AT A time when international travel is so

Supporting heritage in the pandemic remains crucial

AS WE enter 2021, with no sign of

Consultation into improving Manchester rail performance

IDELINES Freightliner in rail trials with Kraft Heinz

First Tube train trials begin on Northern Line extension

DECEMBER 19 saw the start of Tube train

Rail Operations orders 30 Class 93s from Stadler

RAIL Operations (UK) Limited and Swiss manufacturer Stadler

Concern grows over antics at crossings for social snaps

NETWORK Rail has voiced a growing concern over

ORR simplifies level crossing safety guidance

NEW guidelines aimed at improving the design and

Highways England demolition plans could ‘take wrecking ball’ to useful structures

A PROPOSAL by Highways England to demolish more

Bridge parapet failure occurs just a mile from Aberdeenshire crash site

THE failure on January 15 of a section

£794m funding for rail projects

FUNDING worth £794 million for two key rail

RAIB launches new enquiry

THE Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has launched

Bombardier Derby wins Egyptian monorail fleet contract

BOMBARDIER has been selected to build a monorail

HS2 eastern leg safeguarded

SUGGESTIONS the Government may scrap the eastern leg

1938 Stock finally bows out as Island Line prepares itself for new ‘D Train’ era

Class 483 set No. 006 arrives at Ryde

Celebrations kept low-key as Calbourne helps mark Island line anniversary

THE Isle of Wight Steam Railway (IoWSR) marked

Storm Christoph makes its mark on the network

ETWORK Rail staff spent much of the weekend

Eurostar nears collapse as passengers 94% down

Network Rail donates 8,000 laptops to schools WITH

OBITUARY: VIC MITCHELL, MIDDLETON PRESS FOUNDER AND AUTHOR, DIES AT 86

VIC MITCHELL, the founder and driving force behind

TOCs reduce services as national lockdowns bite

SEVERAL Train Operating Companies (TOCs) introduced reduced timetables

Khan confirms 2.6% rise for London fares

FARES on all modes of transport operated byTransport

Great Northern Atlantics return ‘home’ to Doncaster as centrepiece of exhibition

THE National Railway Museum’s two Doncaster-built Great Northern Railway

OPERATING THE ROYAL TRAIN

Geoff Griffiths is a former Royal Train manager who retired from DB Cargo 10 years ago. In the first part of an exclusive feature for The Railway Magazine, Geoff provides a fascinating insight into the operations and meticulous planning involved whenever the train goes out

To Hawick and beyond

the Borders Railway five years on

The Steam Engines of WWII in Europe

As part of the preparations for the Second World War, Germany, Britain and America built thousands of steam locomotives in order to move troops and supplies. Many locos went on to have further careers with national railway operators before a number were preserved. 

LITTLE TOWN FLIRT

The order from Greater Anglia for a large fleet of ‘FLIRT’ trains built by Stadler was a first for the UK. Having taken over many East Anglian routes,  John Heaton FCILT, analyses their impact

YEARS APART...

Over the years railway views change, some subtly, some more dramatically. Here are two ‘then and now’ views showing the different variety of change which can take place

Reviews

Great Central Railway – Sheffield Main Line Services

Readers’ Platform

TALKING POINTS Possible re-use for Moorswater line IWAS

Panorama

A trio of schoolboy ‘spotters’observe ‘Deltic’No. 9001 St

FROM THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE ARCHIVES

100 YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 1921 Railway Statistics THE

The RCTS: then and now

THUMBING through the pages of The Railway Observer,

Railways in Parliament

HS2 buys French steel RICHMOND Park MP Sarah

Reader Services

How to order a subscription Have your RM

Where is it?

Our pictorial quiz, for fun only

Wightwick Hall secured to run on Battlefield Line for two seasons

COMPILED BY GARY BOYD-HOPE Call: 01507 529589 email: gboyd-hope

Frames cut for LNWR ‘George the Fifth’ re-creation

THE LNWR George the Fifth Steam Locomotive Trust’s

Bodmin line seeks £80k to return flagship Small Prairie to steam

CORNWALL’S Bodmin & Wenford Railway has launched a

Gloucs-Warks facing challenging future after 2020 sees 77% fall in passenger numbers

A REFLECTION of the devastating impact Covid-19 has

2021 to see the return of the big steam gala?

The star guest at the Isle of Wight

Royal focus as NRM ‘Friends’ finance £500k revamp of Station Hall

YORK’S National Railway Museum is to undertake a

‘COUNTY’FRAMES IN ONE PIECE AT TYSELEY: Tyseley Locomotive

Works has wasted no time in assembling the

New bogie for ‘Patriot’ after assessor’s concerns

NEW-BUILD LMS‘Patriot’No. 5551 The Unknown Warrior is to

Rocks by Rail in bid to buy ironstone Avonside Stamford

COMPILED BY GARY BOYD-HOPE Call: 01507 529589 email: gboyd-hope

Pectin overhaul milestone reached as boiler returned

Peckett 0-4-0ST Pectin in the yard at Yeovil

Spring steaming planned for East Lancs’ Sentinel

SENTINEL 4wVBT Ann (7232/1927) is expected to steam

Isaac for sale on leaving Lynton & Barnstaple

COMPILED BY CLIFF THOMAS Call: 01507 529589 email: railway@

The Earl will return to service in GWR green

THE Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway’s (W&LLR) Beyer,

Loco operation to return to Glyn Ceiriog after Dutch purchase

THE New Glyn Valley Tramway & Industrial Heritage

£60,000 Linda overhaul appeal launched

THE Ffestiniog Railway Society has launched a £60,000

New general manager for Welshpool & Llanfair

THE Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway has appointed

Bonus as rebuilt Exmoor loco hauls December trains at Littlehampton railway

CHRISTMAS trains are normally a major source of

Stormy 2020 season for UK narrow gauge

Parts of the Cuckmere Valley tramway revealed last

Cosmetic restoration of Lord Granby progresses

ITH refurbished axleboxes in the horn guides, the

Work carries on to enhance Sittingbourne Viaduct

THE Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway is progressing

Stradbally looks beyond Covid with ‘Support Our Steam’ appeal

COMPILED BY GARY BOYD-HOPE Call: 01507 529589 email:

Pop-up in place... next stop Maam Cross

A TRAIN, albeit 3ft gauge, has run through

Study looks at DLR Thamesmead extension

COMPILED BY PAUL BICKERDYKE Call: 01507 529589 email:

Learning hub launches to share lessons of tram-train system

NETWORK Rail, South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and

Private trams evicted from Blackpool’s Rigby Road depot

COMPILED BY  GARY BOYD-HOPE Call: 01507 529589 email: gboyd-hope

Heaton Park relaunches ‘Stockport No. 5’ into service

THE last remaining former Stockport Corporation tram, Dick,

Freight more efficient and punctual, but volumes drop to record low

COMPILED BY BEN JONES Call: 01507 529589 email: railway

Preparation work starts on 450 acre Northamptonshire multimodal hub

PREPARATORY works are underway on the Segro Logistics Park

Embsay turns away a Type 3

COMPILED BY PETER NICHOLSON Call: 01507 529589 email: classic.traction @btopenworld.com

Restoration of repatriated ‘Chopper’ completed

CLASS 20 No. 20228 was moved from the

Cranmore DMU scoops annual railcar award

Immaculately turned-out, Class 108 DMU Nos. M51909 and

Vale of Berkeley ‘Pacers’ placed into storage at Wishaw yard

THE two Class 143 ‘Pacers’ destined for the

Aln Valley ‘Pacers’ arrive... and tested on same day

THE Aln Valley took delivery of a pair

SVR ‘Western Courier’ awaits a return to traffic

IT WAS hoped Severn Valley Railway’s Class 52

Chasewater ‘Santas’ did go ahead

Myfanwy, R.O.F. Pembrey No. 10, (Bagnall 3211/Robert Stephenson

Class 503 EMU stored, 4-SUB restoration started

THREE-CAR Class 503 (AM3), a 1938 LMS EMU

Diesels on the move

TWO Class 117 DMUs were moved from one

£1.2bn East Coast Main Line capacity upgrades gather pace

COMPILED BY BEN JONES Call: 01507 529589 email: railway

High level walkways built as Ilford Depot prepares for ‘Aventras’

LEEDS PLATFORM 0 COMPLETE: Network Rail completed a

Winter storms bring landslips and disruption to Southern lines

HEAVY rain and storms over southern England caused

Engineers take advantage of Christmas holiday break

Network Rail replaced two bridge decks carrying four

MML upgrade work completed at Wellingborough

AN EXTENDED footbridge and new platform have opened

Curzon Street building to become a feature of new HS2 terminus

SIDELINES Bidders shortlisted for £2bn track and systems

DB Cargo begins deliveries to Calvert construction hub

THE first of 180 freight trains delivering construction

Celebrity naturalist launches latest anti-HS2 petition

ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners led by TV presenter and naturalist

Gujarat narrow gauge network to shut?

COMPILED BY KEITH FENDER Call: 01507 529589 email: railway@

Two railways open in Afghanistan

LANDLOCKED Afghanistan now has new rail connections to

70 year old DMU for Argentina’s ‘University Train’

ARGENTINE national operator Trenes Argentinos is using a

DMUs move around New Zealand for preservation and secure storage

Glenbrook Vintage Railway’s DBR 1254 with three Class

Siemens deal for El Alamein connection

SIEMENS has signed a $3 billion contract with

CSX buys Pan-Am Rail

Pan-Am liveried EMD built SD40-2 608 in the

Making electrification progress in South Australia

THE 42km 1600mm gauge line from Adelaide to

French Z6400 withdrawn

THE last of French Railways’ stainless steel-bodied EMUs

After year out, RTC gearing up for the return of ‘Great Britain’

COMPILED BY GARY BOYD-HOPE Call: 01507 529589 email: gboyd-hope

Further tour cancellations revealed as lockdown continues to hit charter market

THE railtour market has once again been hit

Double-headed ‘Choppers’ set to feature for Vintage Trains this year

VINTAGE Trains (VT) railtours may be best known

Restyled Class 387s take over Heathrow Express

COMPILED BY CHRIS MILNER Call: 01507 529589 email: cmilner

Import could mean expansion of GBRf Class 66 fleet

A FURTHER expansion of GB Railfreight’s Class 66

EMR reveals further details of ‘Aurora’ trains

The proposed external styling of the Class 810

Ex-Grand Central ‘90s’ head back to Crewe

AFTER use for carriage-heating at Wembley, two of

Mendip Class 59 spend New Year in Leeds for repairs

IN ITS Aggregate Industries livery, Freightliner Class 59

Class 90s take a trip across country

OLIVER SMITHSON TWO unusual workings have led to

Freightliner 86 workings end for the moment

Welsh Class 143s get a stay of execution

First Class 707 transfers across to Southeastern

AHEAD of the introduction of Class 701‘Aventra’EMUs by

Traction Portfolio

No snow at Colton Junction, York, but a

Operations

COMPILED BY ASHLEY BUTLIN Call: 01507 529589 email: railway