Averting a crisis

AS Chris Milner so aptly puts it in

OUR WRITING TEAM

GARETH EVANS Deputy editor CHRIS MILNER Contributing editor

The RAILWAY Magazine

VICTORIAN POWER: Aspinall 0-6-0 No. 52322

‘Slam-door’ VEP relaunched at London Waterloo

£50,000 needed to complete third-rail EMU’s mainline return.

More HSTs for export

THE export of the next batch of HST

HSTs ENTER SERVICE IN MEXICO:

HST sets shipped to Mexico have entered service

SIDELINES

All year DalesRail PLANS by Northern for a

Drivers’ strike action stalemate

Negotiations remain deadlocked 18 months after strikes began, but train operators opt not to use the new ‘Minimum Service Levels’ legislation.

Simplified fares trial could make some journeys more expensive

OFF-PEAK and Super Off-Peak fares were due to

SIDELINES

Eurostar ‘back to pre-Covid levels’ PASSENGER numbers on

Two heritage line halfcenturies to be celebrated

East Somerset, and Kent & East Sussex railways to mark milestones this year.

Summer opening after all for Northumberland Line

AMONTH after its leader warned of a likely

HISTORIC ICON SHOWCASED IN ABERYST WYTH:

Britain’s oldest narrow gauge loco, 1848-built Fire Queen,

Teen army tackles charity ‘Tubeathon’

A 17-year-old is set to take on anew

Final call for entries in the RCTS photo competition

Free-to-enter contest has a fabulous range of prizes up for grabs.

Railways in Parliament

IET fleet hitches LORD Bradshaw asked what steps

SIDELINES

Delta Junction viaduct starts to take shape THE

Year-long viaduct deck operation gets underway

Pioneering composite structure reaches critical stage at Buckinghamshire bridge.

10-mile Chiltern tunnel drive nears completion

AFTER a two-and-a-half year drive under the Chiltern

WASHWOOD EARTHWORKS:

Over one million cubic metres of earth had

West Coast loses legal battle – then door exemption revoked

Popular ‘Jacobite’ service set to go ahead with central door locking fitted.

Flying Scotsman to be static – but main line return on the cards for the autumn

No. 60103 Flying Scotsman arrives at Locomotion, Shildon

VISUAL AIDS:

Markings are being applied to ScotRail vehicles denoting

Tees Valley ‘keen to lead’ on greener trains

FIVE years after initial plans were set out

Are we heading for a rolling stock crisis?

Despite the rapid return to almost pre-Covid passenger numbers, 2023 saw several fleets of trains withdrawn and placed in store.

2023 A year of change

Ashley Butlin looks back over the major stock changes that took place in the last 12 months.

Viaducts of the West Highland Line

Armed with a copy of the 1894 Murray’s Handbook for Scotland, Dr Joseph Brennan takes a trip along the West Highland Line to highlight some of the key structures along the way.

Waiting for the Tube

A snapshot from the very early British Railways era in West London shows the local passenger service at Northolt about to give way to an extension of the Underground’s Central Line.

In search of variety

John Heaton FCILT uses a two-day, multi-leg journey from Devon to Oxford via York, Warrington, Carlisle and Birmingham to gauge how our current railway service is performing.

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Colonel Stephens Light Railway Locomotives

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THIS is an excellent survey of the wide

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TRACK RECORD

MAKING THE GRADE: SECR ‘O1’ No. 65 battles

SIDELINES

Cylinder ordered for ‘Q6’ A REPLACEMENT cylinder has

SVR beats January blues

Severn Valley delight as revenue and passenger numbers

GWR ‘King’ locomotive preservation group dissolved

THE 6024 Preservation Society, the organisation which once

Nene set for Danish tank and Tornado!

PACIFIC PULLING POWER: Newly-overhauled SR‘Battle of Britain’No. 34059

Big numbers and perfect running for Telford’s ‘Polar’

A TOTAL of 23,000 people were carried on

Pendennis prepared for centenary celebrations

GWR‘Castle’No. 4079 Pendennis Castle is to celebrate its

SIDELINES

GCR overnight trains GREAT Central Railway is planning

Redundancies at Great Central as costs are cut

Heritage line aiming to balance the books, but stresses there is no financial crisis.

Erlestoke Manor to go out on tour

GWR ‘Manor’ No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor will again

Rother Valley trackbed secured under TWAO powers

A POWERFUL COMBINATION: Bagnall ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST The Duke

Performance of LSWR ‘T3’ transformed with tweaks

THE haulage capability of LSWR‘T3’4-4-0 No. 563 has

DIARY

FEBRUARY Feb 9-11 Spa Valley Railway: Winter Steam

Fitted freight plan moves forward

Nene Valley Railway’s Wagon Group progresses its express goods train plan.

New future in store for England’s oldest Peckett

Sittingbourne donates standard gauge steam locomotive to Quainton.

Beamish catching up after Covid-19

SNOW AND STEAM: Early December snowfalls covered the

Astbury railway shuts

End of the line for popular Cheshire family attraction.

Cranmore gears up for growth

Built in 2017 by P Horner from a

Fire Queen to be displayed at VoR

Britain’s oldest surviving narrow gauge loco leaves Penrhyn Castle after more than half-a-century.

Prince to return in 2025 following overhaul

As reported last month, FR’s Hunslet 2-4-0STT Linda

Ex-Darjeeling Himalayan loco could return to steam this summer

DARJEELING Tank Locomotive Trust (DTLT) has concluded formal

Golden Valley launches carriage shed appeal

WITH planning permission secured (in the form of

Big new shed for small FR locos at Boston Lodge

The inside of the new ‘Small Locomotive Shed’

SINGLE LINES

■ THE Talyllyn Railway plans to launch perhaps

DIARY

FEBRUARY 12 Lappa Valley New Loco Naming Day

More stock developments at Welshpool

W&LLR evaluates Countess, receives upgraded carriage and sends Dougal to Sittingbourne on loan.

Recent arrivals at Steeple Grange

COSMETICALLY COMPLETE: Former Woolwich Arsenal Avonside 0-4-0T Woolwich

Winter repaints for two Ff/WHR diesel locomotives

FFESTINIOG & Welsh Highland Railway (Ff&WHR) Hunslet 4wDH

Standard gauge wagon and narrow gauge van form early Christmas delivery to Talyllyn Railway

THE standard gauge open wagon acquired by the

Carriages boost for Mountsorrel quarry line

FOLLOWING its donation of the four‘Lynton’carriages to the

Cylinders and springs ordered for new Gowrie

THE patterns for the cylinders of new-build Hunslet

Mr Hallworth steams into action at Perrygrove

PERRYGROVE Railway’s new 0-6-0ST Mr Hallworth was delivered

SINGLE LINES

■ TALYLLYN Railway’s Barclay 0-4-0WT No. 6 Douglas

TR mourns Dave Scotson

DAVE Scotson, long associated with the Talyllyn Railway,

Hayling line is rocked by late December theft

HAYLING Light Railway’s Eastcote station suffered a break-in

STEAM PORTFOLIO

1 THE LOW DOWN: BR Standard Class ‘9F’

‘Rapid progress’ made on Chester tram restoration

Attention turns to upper deck of city’s last

Temporary heritage base at modern Starr Gate depot

HOME to Blackpool Transport’s fleet of Bombardier‘Flexity 2’

Blackpool No. 708 arrives at Sandtoft

Prior to being moved to Sandtoft in December,

SIDELINES

Grid issues with No. 634 FYLDE Transport Trust

SIDELINES

Fundraiser for ‘313’ AN appeal has been launched

‘Wizzo’ main line test

No. D1015 passes Gossington, near Cam and Dursley,

GLORIOUS SET FOR RETURN

Maintenance work on Class 50 No. 50033 Glorious

DIARY

FEBRUARY 10 East Lancashire Railway Winter Diesel Day

‘GOYLE’ TO THE RESCUE

As part of the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway’s Winter

S&D shunters head for pastures new

Andrew Barclay No. 349 is seen preparing to

Recognition for Worth Valley Class 101 DMU restoration

THE 2023 Railcar Of The Year award has

Severn Valley DMU returns

THE DMU Group (West Midlands) based at the

‘Deltics’ set for return in 2024

ALL THREE Class 55s owned by the Deltic

CLASSIC TRACTION PORTFOLIO

1 ‘CROMPTON’ ON THE BALLAST: Swanage Railway resident

New year, new tour programmes

Main line railtour promoters announce their planned itineraries for the year ahead.

SIDELINES

Hastings Diesels trips for 2024

DB ‘TUG’ FINALE

The last booked main line passenger working for

‘Thunderbird’ for Branch Line Society tour

ELECTRIC SPECIAL: LSL Class 87 No. 87002 Royal

SIDELINES

Maritime hopeful of further growth JOHN Bailey, the

Government sets 2050 rail freight growth target

A 75% increase in net freight tonne kilometres is envisaged over the next 25 years.

Preparations under way for iPort Phase 2

APROJECT to develop a second phase of Doncaster

Minding the gap in TfL’s latest capital funding

London’s transport officials set out revised plans after £250 million injection gives them half of what had been hoped for this year.

First new Subway trains enter public service in Glasgow

AFTER an extensive period of testing, which included

RVLR CONTRACT SIGNED

Over two years after plans to manufacture them

SIDELINES

Financial restructuring completed TRAMLINK, which operates Nottingham Express

TransPennine project leads long list of festive upgrades

‘Orange army’renews and enhances network during Christmas shutdown.

Oxford-Bristol services could make a return

GWR says it hopes to introduce two daily

Progress at Beaulieu Park station

THE construction of anew station on the north-eastern

Crew training underway on revived Levenmouth line

AMASSIVE step towards the re-opening of the Levenmouth

ORNATE CANOPIES RESTORED

A project to restore the Victorian platform canopies

Levelling Up funding for Mid-Cornwall Metro scheme

AN OFFER of £50m Levelling Up Funding towards

Developers are chosen for ‘York Central’ project

NETWORK Rail and Homes England have selected McLaren

SINGLE LINES

ScotRail increases fares by 9% TRANSPORT Scotland has

SWR’s long overdue arrival

More than four years later than anticipated, the

CLASS 319 SWANSONG

Originally intended to be withdrawn by the start

Tri-mode pioneer undergoes static testing

Between barrier vehicles hauled by Class 37 No.

Thameslink’s Bedford depot solar panel installation gets under way

A TOTAL of 932 photovoltaic panels are being

Four ‘Tractors’ and spares for sale in latest DRS disposals

CLASS 37 Nos. 37407, 37419, 37422, 37424, 37425

LATEST AVANTI ADDITIONS ARRIVE AT OXLEY

January 8 saw Avanti West Coast Class 805

SINGLE LINES

Fallen tree rips through HST cab ASLEF Scotland

SINGLE LINES

New trains role for Heaton depot NORTHERN’S Heaton

Replacement Chiltern Main Line stock sought

Operator considers leasing up to 70 existing vehicles

IPSWICH NAMING

GBRF Continuing GB Railfreight’s extension of a long

Wagon Report

STOKE wagon works, now part of the DB

STOCK UPDATE

POOL CODES WBHT DBC Class 66 Re-geared WBVT

The network’s notable moves

RHTT The RHTT season along the southern section

Fresh hopes for further rail reopenings

Two mothballed lines to be included in the EU’s TEN-T network, significantly boosting reinstatement prospects.

Power station peat haulage trains end

No. LM303 and its train arrived onto the

Foynes to reopen in December 2025, as funding for Works Package 2 is finalised

THE Irish Department of Transport has confirmed it

Northern Ireland gets £4.8 million in rail funding for infrastructure enhancements

NIR CAF built Class 4000 No. 4001 arrives

Hydrogen demonstrator train travels to Saudi and Canada

Alstom ships its hydrogen trains around the world

New Nightjet in service

AUSTRIAN national rail operator ÖBB introduced the first

Namibia reinstates 1Co-Co1 diesel

NAMIBIAN rail company TransNamib has reinstated one of

New line from Albania to Kosovo?

A rare view inside Albanian Railways locomotive works

Tren Maya opens

MEXICAN president Andrés López Obrador has opened the

‘RegioFox’ enter service

‘RegioFox’ No. 847010 in the new ‘pid’ livery

200 more Vectrons for ELL

In mid November ELL supplied DB Regio with

Global shipping container movements switch from ships to trains

DROUGHT and conflict have caused shipping firms to