Railnews Magazine Sept 2020 Back Issue

THE tragic derailment near Stonehaven on 12 August leads Railnews for September, which includes a special news feature with map, timeline of events and a message to everyone in the railway industry from Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines.

In other news, the Retail Prices Index rose by 1.6 per cent in July. Criticism was fuelled by unconfirmed reports claiming that regulated rail fares would rise by the same amount. Train services are being increased ‘close to pre-pandemic levels’ from 7 September, although one victim of the pandemic has been the last of what was once a group of Railway Convalescent Homes. Bridge House at Dawlish had closed its doors in the spring and will not be reopening.

An £81 million project to replace out of date signalling at Hither Green in south east London was completed at the start of August, but heavy rain in mid-August left the Heart of Wales line blocked and damaged near Knighton, with buses replacing trains between Shrewsbury and Llandrindod Wells.

A business case for improving train services between Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich is to be developed by consultants on behalf of the East West Rail Consortium, new Bombardier-built Class 701s for South Western Railway are to be branded ‘Arterio’, while the first tri-mode trains in Britain are set to enter service with GWR early in the New Year. Converted from former Thameslink Class 319 units, they will be able to use OHLE, the third rail or their own diesel power.

Timber traffic returned to Scottish railways in early August, after a gap of more than a decade during which all timber was carried by road.

Finally, two veteran railway staff are celebrating the completion of a century of service between them. You can read about them and much more in Railnews for September.