RAILDATE 2024.02.16

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

• Trains delayed by ballons caught on overhead wires
• North Norfolk Railway railcar wins HRA award

London

• 80% of new Piccadilly line trains will be assembled in Yorkshire, Siemens Mobility confirms
• New London Overground Names
• TFL cracks down on fare dodgers
• Colindale tube station to close for 7 months for major rebuilding works
• Former District line tube train to start GWR battery-train trials in west London
• Improving step-free access at tube stations with miniature ramps
• Full list of new London Overground line names and what they mean from Lioness to Liberty
• Considerations of extending the Metropolitan to Watford Jn and increasing the service over Watford North Curve.
• What the new London Underground map looks like now with new Overground lines
• New Names For London Overground Rail Lines Revealed
• Tube train shortage blighting Central line could spread across network, TfL chief warns
• London Overground: new names and colours for six lines revealed
• Rebranding London Overground lines

Midlands

• New railway stations proposed for three areas
• New electric train fleet unveiled
• HS2: Footage of demolished M42 bridge in Solihull
• New electric West Midlands train fleet to carry first passengers
• Birmingham to London landslide disruption to continue
• Bridgnorth Cliff Railway reopening date revealed - but leaking sewer pipe could still derail plans
• Severn Valley Railway steams into tough times ahead as it appoints boss to permanent position
• Coventry - Rugby line blocked by landslide

North East

• County Durham railway station changes as major upgrade continues

North West

• Refurbishment of Manchester Oxford Road station
• Memorial unvieled to accident during engineering works at Tebay 20 years ago
• Ravenglass & Eskdale wins HRA award
• RMT Marks 20 Years Since Tebay Disaster

Scotland

• Line blocked between Brora and Helmsdale due to sea wall damage
• The chilly train service dubbed Scotland's 'polar express'
• Electrifying Scotland
• Looking back with Ian Scott on the end of the Falkirk trams
• Consultation on a second tram route for Edinburgh

South East

• Full service restored on Bedford - Bletchley from 19th February
• Bluebell Times February 2024
• Volks Electric Railway wins HRA award
• Chiltern Trains invite tenders for new rolling stock
• Campaign to reopen Guildford - Horsham line

Wales

• A singing conductor/Guard on Transport for Wales services
• Recycled plastic sleepers used for track renewal on Welshpool & Llanfair
• Near miss near Fishguard in January - RAIB notes
• New General Manager appointed to Brecon Mountain Railway
• Railway worker near Fishguard nearly hit by passenger train

West

• Bristol's Forgotten Marvel: The Clifton Rocks Railway and Its Secret Past
• Looe branch blocked by flooding
• Former station at Cirencester to be repaired

Yorkshire

• Award for Todmorden station volunteers
• Landslip-hit railway to be closed until mid-March
• Footbridge to be installed at Horton in Ribblesdale
• Major accessibility and safety upgrade at Horton-in-Ribblesdale station
• Earth slip at Baildon to be repaired by mid March

International Rail News

Mauritania

• Riding an Iron Ore train in Mauritania

Switzerland

• Hostage taker shot dead on Swiss local train near Yverdon

USA

• CSX sign contract with WABTEC ro modern ise 200 locos

Other Transport Modes

Air

• Why British Airways Is Relaunching Tel Aviv Flights With A Stop In Cyprus
• Appeal to move Blackburn Beverley to Carlisle Airport
• CMV-22B Osprey “Not Operationally Suitable” According To Test Report"
• Hop-A-Jet Challenger 604 Crash Naples Fla. 9 Feb 2024

Bus

• New bus service using electric buses between Blaenau Ffestinion and Porthmadog

Marine

• Ferguson Marine: Abandoning LNG will stop Scots ferry fiasco delay

Road

• Garnier Road bridge reopened in Winchester

Credits

Thank you to this week's contributors.

• Alan Rushworth
• Matthew Shaw
• Mike Price
• Neil Kearns
• Paul Hopper
• Paul Tambini
• Richard Buckby
• Robert Forsythe
• Simon Moppett

The Weekly Poser: Where is this?

Can you work out which route(s) this May 2020 timetable covers? Please identify stations 1, 2, and 3. Some extra clues:

1. Most trains reverse here, except for the 07:53.
2. This station is a junction and was named after a pub.
3. This station is reached via two alternative routes, but the shorter route takes far longer.

My other website Timetable World provides free downloads of the timetable to check answers. You still have to find the right page though ... May 2020 Electronic Timetable

Last week's Where is this?

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

Answer: Grangemouth and Falkirk. Congratulations are due to the following for their correct answers: Neil Kearns, Dave Goodyear, Andrew Treves, Bryn Pitcher, Paul Hopper, Simon Wass, Colin Penfold, Richard Maund, Martin King, Andy Foster.

Scotland had a substantial shale oil industry from the late 19th century south of Falkirk, with refining carried out at small inland sites such as Pumpherston. Cheaper imports after WW1 led to Grangemouth being founded in 1924, tapping the skilled workers already available. It started small but post-WW2 developed as a major petrochemical complex, later processing North Sea oil. Jim Radcliffe's Ineos now owns the site. Although important to the Scottish economy, declining North Sea production and weak local markets have meant the site has been under threat of closure for some years.

Canals are important to the area. The Forth & Clyde from the west terminated at Grangemouth, and Falkirk is the junction with the Union canal to Edinburgh. The original connection was a flight of 11 locks but these were filled in in 1933. The two canals were later reconnected by the Falkirk Wheel - a boat lift.

The Scottish Railway Preservation Society operates the Bo'ness and Kinneil line, on the left of the picture.

Repeated from the UK News section: Looking back with Ian Scott on the end of the Falkirk trams

Bus manufacturers Alexander Dennis are headquartered at Larbert. Bus manufacturing is split over several UK sites inherited from other companies, but Larbert is important for the new electric Enviro400EV series.

SMALL PRINT

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©  Matthew Shaw 2024