Railnews Magazine January 2022 Back Issue

TIMETABLES are being reduced by most National Rail operators, who are trying to maintain a reliable service although many of their staff are self-isolating or ill with Covid.

Although the railway is under pressure, with regulated fares set to rise by 3.8 per cent in March, projects to restore lines and stations continue. The latest example of these was the reopening of Soham station in Cambridgeshire on 13 December, restoring a rail service which was lost in September 1965. TransPennine Express is also growing, because its trains started to call at local stations between Edinburgh and Newcastle as part of timetable changes. However, South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Bristol Temple Meads ran for the last time, marking the end of 16 years of operation.

Flytippers dumped 380 tonnes of waste on railway property on Merseyside, and Network Rail had to spend £76,000 to clear it. Infrastructure maintenance delivery manager Allan Gibbs-Monaghan said: ‘Our message to railway fly-tippers is clear: we will hunt you down.’

The new underpass at Werrington on the East Coast Main Line just north of Peterborough was opened by outgoing rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris on 9 December, who said: ‘This country’s railways have long been home to marvels of engineering’.

Financial support for Transport for London will now run until 4 February, but commissioner Andy Byford said discussions had to continue.

This month’s feature looks at one of the most dangerous parts of the railway – the level crossing. Describing level crossings as the ‘unwelcome legacy’, we reveal why automatic crossings were developed in Britain, and how the idea depended on ‘well behaved’ road users.

Finally, hedgehogs have been made welcome at Lanark station, because Network Rail has cut hog-size holes along the boundary fencing to make their lives easier.