Railnews Magazine February 2025 Back Issue

The Chancellor’s investment plans for railways lead the February edition of Railnews. They have been mainly welcomed, but one transport campaigning group said it was ‘disappointed’ by a lack of commitment to electrify East West Rail between Oxford and Cambridge.

Engineers worked around the clock to repair the railway after Storm Éowyn, which caused 500 incidents of damage or obstruction in Scotland alone. We have pictures of GBRf helping ScotRail to restore the infrastructure, while a review has been ordered after winter weather caused disruption on Merseyrail, with passengers stranded in one train for more than three hours.

Other problems included a closure between Barnsley and Wakefield from 15 February so that engineers could investigate a gap in the track, while plans to double the frequency of trains on the Newquay line have been delayed until later in the year because the project to upgrade the railway for Mid-Cornwall Metro is running behind schedule.

In other news, Jamie Burles has been named as Network Rail’s first deputy managing director for the Eastern region, work to install digital signalling on the East Coast Main Line continued in January, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is planning to integrate train services with trams and buses, and the DfT said Great British Railways will be selling tickets on its own website, reversing a decision made by the previous government to let third-party retailers deal with all inquiries and bookings.

Business headlines also include the sale of the Harry Needle Railroad Company to an Austrian rail contractor, Transport Focus is urging a rethink by train operators over how they deal with irregular travel, Eurostar is planning to acquire up to 50 more trains following a year of growth, and
the RSSB has unveiled two principal climate change scenarios for railways.

Railnews for February is out now.