Railnews Magazine

The festival celebrating two centuries of railways was officially launched in Darlington in September, and the new edition of Railnews reports on progress with Railway 200.

There was less to celebrate when railways were the target of two apparently separate cyber attackers in September. The first affected data at Transport for London, while the second at Network Rail appears to have been less serious, only producing unofficial messages on WiFi systems.

Rail freight received a potential boost when a new bi-mode freight locomotive was unveiled, while transport secretary Louise Haigh moved ahead with railway reforms by launching a shadow version of Great British Railways. This month’s feature discusses the future of train operators, under the title of Where do we go from here?

There was good news on the industrial front, because both ASLEF and RMT members voted to end their long-running pay disputes.

A plan to replace the axed part of HS2 to Crewe and Manchester with a slower conventional line has been published by the city Mayors in the north west.

Further south, the Island Line has closed again for more engineering work, and railway ambitions in Scotland may have been dashed when a feasibility study into extending the Borders Railway to Carlisle was put on hold. Still in Scotland, a new station is to be built in East Renfrewshire.

Elsewhere, plans have been revealed for a new tramway from Cardiff Central station to Cardiff Bay, Transport for London is seeking to buy at least 24 trams, and the environmental charity Greenpeace has published proposals for a new flat-fare rail card.

Finally, a couple who were married 65 years ago have relived their special day with the help of GWR, and if you suspect a cake was involved, you could be right.

Railnews for October is out now.