RAILDATE 2024.02.09

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

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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

• 60163 to visit Nene Valley Railway
• Fire damage to Harwich Town station
• Train hits tree and derails near Thetford leaving one person hurt
• Major engineering work at Keadby sliding bridge means train service changes in February
• Cambridge South station progress

East Midlands

• Duffield: Plan to divert railway around landslip
• East Midlands Railway releases list of most bashed bridges
• New footbridge installed at Dore for reinstated platform
• Repairs to Keadby sliding bridge

Isle of Man

• Work starts on Isle of Man electric tram crossing controls upgrade

London

• Refurbishment of Colindale station in June
• Is This The Oldest Surviving Poster On The Tube Network?
• GWR fast charge to be trialled on Greenford branch
• London off peak fares on Fridays
• Trial runs of TfL Overground into London Bridge
• Five tube stations now have new circular tube maps
• Former Crossrail building site earmarked for 1,500 new homes
• Heathrow Airport’s driverless shuttle pods get a colourful makeover
• King’s Cross rail tunnels get improved phone coverage
• London Overground trains will be calling at London Bridge on Easter Sunday
• Major upgrade of Pontoon Dock DLR station being planned
• Tackling the Tube’s Roar: TfL’s battle against tube tunnel noise
• Visit the abandoned remains of Spencer Road Halt railway station
• Consultation started on DLR extension to Thamesmead
• Resignalling work around Tulse Hill to be delayed
• Cubris To Provide New Energy Saving System For London’S Elizabeth Line
• 4VEP 3417 at Waterloo

Midlands

• Bridgnorth cliff railway to reopen
• West Midlands trial pay as you go tickets
• Bridgnorth Town Council take loan to repair cliff railway
• Alternative to HS2
• Bridgnorth Cliff Railway to Re-open in February, 2024
• RAIB notes on bridge wing wall  collapse at Yarnton
• Bridgnorth Cliff railway still awaiting sewer repairs
• Class 730 units introduced for West Midlands local services.

North East

• Signal boxes in North Seaton and Sleekburn set to be removed as part of Northumberland Line project

Scotland

• Proposals could mean end of the line for morning train direct from Motherwell to London
• Rutherglen Train Station footbridge reopens after ‘structural damage’ caused by Storm Ish
• Repair work planned to Kelvin and Yorkhill bridges in Glasgow
• Edinburgh Council to ask SNP ministers for £2bn to build new tram line
• Why is the Cairngorm funicular still not running?
• £11.2m railway upgrade at Dunblane nears completion as bridge works begin
• £500k project to rebuild Addiewell station platform to get underway
• Level crossing to temporary close in Blackford to enable improvement works
• Railway volunteers plant hundreds of trees in the Scottish Borders
• Temporary closure of West Highland Line will enable essential upgrades
• West Highland Line closure in March for work on Rannoch Viaduct
• Most readers think Inverness Airport’s train station was worth the wait
• Angus Railway group photo competition

South

• Incentive by port operators for customers to use railfreight instead of road haulage
• Emergency line closure near Fareham
• Earthworks completed near Fareham Tunnels
• Haydock joins Isle of Wight Railway from Penrhyn Castle

South East

• RAIB report into footpath fatality near Ashurst April 2022
• Southern Locomotives Limited update
• Ashurst (Uckfield Line) footbridge damaged
• Prairie 4555 to spend the summer at Chinnor
• Access for All footbridge to be built at Leatherhead
• Overhead Line failure near Ebbesfleet
• Leatherhead station in south London will soon benefit from two new 16-person capacity lifts and a new footbridge which will make the station fully accessible
• Closure of Wokingham Signal Box
• Go-Via Thameslink looking to replace class 171 diesel units
• Volks Electric Railway nominated for HRA award

Wales

• Campaign to reopen Caerleon station
• Cardiff: Singing conductor welcomes passengers to Land of Song
• Ebbw Vale to Newport train service returns after 60 years

West

• Clifton Rocks Funicular Railway
• Betton Grange to make maiden trip on heritage railway
• 6880 Betton Grange to visit East Somerset Railway openday

Yorkshire

• Funding agreed for a new platform at Bradford Foster Square
• York National Railway Museum launches young person's photo competition
• 46100 Royal Scot to replace 70000 at NYMR gala
• MEDLOC to operate Doncaster inland port
• Landslip blocks Ilkley branch
• Bradford: £24m station extension will pave the way for more trains to London by 2025

International Rail News

Denmark

• Talgo stock delivered to Danish Railways

Europe

• European Loco Pool acquiew another 10 Stadler Euro9000 locos

Germany

• Go-Ahead completes sale of German rail operations to ÖBB
• German Railways using windows 3.11 to run information systems

Italy

• Stadler to build hydrogen fuelled trains for Ferrovie della Calabria

Luxembourg

• Extension planned to Luxembourg tram network

Madagascar

• Antananarivo: urban train operational in early 2024

Netherlands

• HSL-line in the Netherlands in trouble
• NS plans to shake up services, add 1,600 journeys a week
• HSL-line in the Netherlands in trouble
• HSL-line in the Netherlands in trouble
• HSL-line in the Netherlands in trouble
• HSL-line in the Netherlands in trouble [2015 story]
• HSL-line in the Netherlands in trouble

Russia

• The abandoned Soviet 160mph ‘turbojet’ train that’s been left to rust

Saudi Arabia

• Stadler to build new rolling stock for Saudi Arabia Railway

Switzerland

• Increased service through under repair Gotthard Base Tunnel from March
• Service cuts due to shortage of drivers on Rhatische Bahn

Tanzania

• Chinese proposal to refurbish Tanzania - Zambia railway

USA

• Level crossing collission on Colorado
• Derailment in New York state
• Amtrak eyes possible dismissal of Gulf Coast rail case before May 1
• Canandian Pacific Kansas City steam railtour dates
• Landslide in San Clemente halts train service indefinitely

Other Transport Modes

Air

• Air Canada Boeing 787-9 Tires Damaged On Departure From London Heathrow
• Another Passenger Boeing 727 Retired at Kemble
• China Airlines Boeing 777F Reaches 826MPH Over The Pacific Ocean
• Ex-US Airways Airbus A319 Fuselage Driven To London Heathrow Airport
• Delayed flight due to emergency slide being activated at Heathrow
• Bolts missing from door plug on Alaka Airways Boeing 737
• Heathrow Express tickets now on track at City of Derry Airport
• Explorer thinks he found Amelia Earhart's lost plane
• Boom Supersonic Update: How Is The Overture Progressing?

Bus

• Fatal accident at Victoria bus station
• The Cambridgeshire bus route that costs £124 per passenger
• Cost of a rural bus service in Cambridgeshire
• Ex Hedingham and IDistrict bus becomes playbus for Ukraine

Marine

• New container service between Arabian Gulf and Europe via Cape of Good Hope
• Bookings open for Waverley paddle steamer's spring sailings
• Corran Ferry replacement cost £1.5 million last year
• Arran ferry may sale from Troon instead of Ardrossan.
• Problems with Red Funnel high speed service
• Red Jet Ferries suspended due to staff shortage
• A mysterious shipwreck appeares on the Newfoundland coast
• Houthi Attack Tanker Marlin Luanda
• Battleship Texas Will Be Leaving Dry Dock Shortly

Road

• Herring Bridge in Great Yarmouth crossing suffers technical fault
• Lifting Bridge in Douglas closed for overnight repair works

Credits

Thank you to this week's contributors.

• Alan Rushworth
• Andy Davies
• Matthew Shaw
• Mike Price
• Neil Kearns
• Paul Tambini
• Raymond van den Hoven
• Richard Buckby
• Richard Maund

The Weekly Poser: Where is this?

A UK aerial view inclduing a coastal industrial plant, various settlements, and a healthy network of railways. Where is it?

Last week's Where is this?

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

Answer: Norwich (Thorpe). Congratulations are due to the following for their correct answers: Colin Penfold, Bryn Pitcher, Simon Wass, Dave Goodyear, Neil Kearns.

Photo by David Caldwell [RCTS Collection]

Thorpe is the last survivor of three termini, with Victoria closing to passengers as early as 1916. The image shows two signalboxes just prior to electrification, which was completed from Ipswich by May 1987.

Much of Norwich suffered heavy damage during the Baedeker Blitz in April 1942, with the post-War city planners destroying much more. The rebuilt city is what we see in the background. St Peter Mancroft (from 1455) is an unusually-fine church, which suffered blast damage to the windows but no more.

We're going slightly off-topic - But just look (below) at the incredible light of St Peter Mancroft. Photo credit: Jay Hulme.

SMALL PRINT

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©  Matthew Shaw 2024