RAILDATE 2024.01.26

Your free weekly guide to what's happening and what's new.

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Raildate is a collaboration between the editor and a number of contributors. Please think about supplying links that you spot. The contact email address is: raildate.co.uk@gmail.com

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There are sections on:

• UK Rail News
• International Rail News
• Other Transport Modes
• The Weekly Poser (and the answer to last week's poser)

UK Rail News

East

• The quiet Cambridgeshire village with its own railway station which once almost had a royal palace

Isle of Man

• Isle of Man heritage Railways timetables published

London

• Passengers in north London face disruption as two Tube lines closed
• Derailment at Mitre Bridge Jn near Willesden Junction

Midlands

• Construction starts on HS2’s Birmingham Curzon Street Station
• Rail passengers walk along tracks near Longbridge station
• Lines blocked due to fallen tree near Kings Norton
• Trains cancelled due to icicles in Colwall tunnel
• University of Birmingham develops new points design

North West

• Private sector funding for HS2 North suggested
• Battery Trains to Headbolt Lane
• Steam engine returns to North Staffordshire 60 years after last Stoke-on-Trent journey

Scotland

• Wall collapses at Glasgow Queen Street Low Level
• Reconstruction of Troon station
• £1.7m station platform project to increase capacity on iconic West Highland Line
• Network Rail begins major enhancement work at East Kilbride station
• Peebles: Restoration hopes for key part of rail histor
• Project to reopen Edderton station on the Far North Line
• British rail regulator stands firm on safety regulations for 'Harry Potter' train

South

• Emergency earthworks near Fareham
• Air cleaning columns at Salisbury station

South East

• Update on Replica Brighton Atlantic
• New A4 No. 4491 Commonwealth of Australia breaks cover

West

• GWR statement after Swindon station doors cordoned off for weeks

Yorkshire

• Future of 60103 Flying Scotsman

National

• Direct Rail Services Announces Retirement of Class 37 Locomotives
• Ticket discount sale 23 - 29 January

International Rail News

Germany

• Strike by DB Cargo drivers in Germany
• German train drivers stage longest strike on record

Ireland

• Discounted public transport fares in Dublin to stay

Spain

• Project to create hydrogen powered high speed trains in Spain

Other Transport Modes

Air

• More Boeing 737-900's ordered to undergo inspections
• United and Alaska 737 Max 9: Boeing jets cleared to fly after mid-air incident
• B-21 Raider Flight Testing Now Underway

Bus

• First battey bus delivered as Fareham depot goes electric

Marine

• Why the hovercraft's time might have finally arrived

Credits

Thank you to this week's contributors.

• Alan Rushworth
• Matthew Shaw
• Neil Kearns
• Paul Tambini
• Richard Buckby

The Weekly Poser: Where is this?

A general scene from the mid-1980s. Where is it?

Last week's Where is this?

The BR schematic map looks a bit different. Which station is circled?

Answer: Purley Oaks. Congratulations are due to the following for their correct answers: Colin Penfold, Paul Hopper, Andrew Treves, Jeremy Harrison, Richard Maund, Phil Deaves.

Yes, the schematic was rotated. Purley Oaks is on the main London-Brighton line but stopping trains peel off for Caterham and Tattenham Corner at Purley. Platforms on the fast lines are not used. The station is just 400m from Sanderstead on the East Grinstead line, though the schematic suggests otherwise.

Croydon Corporation tramways operated on the nearby A23 Brighton Road.

The whole area was developed for housing from the 1920s for people escaping London. My in-laws met in the 1950s as long-distance commuters from Hove to London. Upon marriage, they moved nearer to London by setting up home in Purley Oaks. Children followed, they in turn got married (one to me), and the rest is history as they say.

SMALL PRINT

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©  Matthew Shaw 2024