RAILDATE 2024.03.01

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

The latest Raildate is always at https://latest.raildate.co.uk

There are sections on:

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

Raildate is being sent from India for the next three weeks

2' 6" gauge Cl ZDM-3 No. 713 is heading downhill from Shimla to Kalka on 28th February 2024. Image credit: Matthew Shaw.

UK Rail News

East

• North Norfolk Railway C&W blog
• Resignations from Mid Norfolk Railway managemet

East Midlands

• Work completed on Keadby sliding canal bridge

London

• Emergency timetable for Central Line
• TfL maximum journeys on the Underground
• Trespasser on Hungerford Bridge cancelled South Eastern services
• Kentish Town Tube station to remain closed until September
• Bakerloo Line Extension: Report urges swift action on building the railway
• London’s new battery train sets UK distance record
• Step-free access work to resume at Northolt tube station
• The only pub withdirect access to Underground platforms
• London Overground strike called off

Midlands

• New lease of life for Henley-in-Arden station as Network Rail’s Chair Lord Peter Hendy opens new community space
• 6880 Betton Grange updates
• Work on Midlands Rail Hub set to begin
• Re-opening for Monday 4th March, 2024
• Direct rail services between Shropshire and London to end soon
• New lease of life for Henley-in-Arden station as Network Rail’s Chair Lord Peter Hendy opens new community space (WMR)

North East

• Passenger trains to return to Northumberland Line after 60 years

North West

• Five months on: how UK’s first battery-powered trains are faring at Headbolt Lane
• Class 40 Andania throbs up Shap with The Whistling Highlander : Day 1 24/02/24

Northern Ireland

• Rising sea levels could affect Northern Ireland Railways network
• Northern Ireland Railways receive funding for researching Lisburn - Antrim reopening

Scotland

• Additional Prestonpans to Edinburgh morning rail service to launch
• New train service between London and Glasgow proposed
• 100-day countdown to Levenmouth rail return begins
• Plastic sleepers being installed in Moncrieffe Tunnel
• Scottish staycations: Make memories by the sea in Levenmouth with its new direct trains from Edinburgh
• Rail stations at Cove and Newtonhill to undergo detailed appraisal
• Lumo propose extending services to Glasgow
• Model Rail Scotland 2024 Some Highlights

South

• Timetable changes on Island Line for rolling stock repairs

South East

• Wokingham Level Crossing fails twice in first week of new signalling
• Reading-London Paddington route set for overhaul
• South East train cancellations apology issued by Network Rail
• Three Bridges Signalling Centre affected by power cut
• Embankment slip near Stoke Mandeville
• The Epping Signalling Museum reopens next week
• Earth Slip at Newington
• Cholsey and Wallingford update
• Earthslip in Sonning Cuting

Wales

• Bridge to be demolished for electrification at Global Centre of Rail Excellence at Onllywn
• Footbridge at Caerphilly to be demolished
• ‘Dukedog’ locomotive returning to Aberystwyth for first time in 60 years
• How the railway revolution began in Merthyr Tydfil
• How a £525 bet gave birth to your morning commute
• Trains between Cardiff and Rhondda resume after 10 months
• Porthmadog station café reopened by Purple Moose Brewery
• Dukedog 9017 going on loan to VoR museum in Aberystwyth

West

• Latest on Cornwall resignalling

International Rail News

Brazil

• Brazil : MRS orders 30 WABTEC ES44ACi loco

India

• Runaway freight train in India

Japan

• Media watch test of JR East hydrogen-powered train

Poland

• Polish orders for 100 Siemens electric locos

USA

• Steam Haulage dates on Grand Canyon Railway in 2024
• Expansion of Florida passenger services
• METRA (Chicago) to order 8 Stadler Battery Electric multiple units

Other Transport Modes

Air

• Ryanair warns of 10% fare rise as new Boeing planes delayed
• Additional checked baggage charges on North American airlines
• The Russian Air Force Has Lost Another One Of Its A-50 Radar Planes
• Is Airbus Hiding a REVOLUTION?!

Bus

• Catch a Routemaster bus to the Crossness pumping station
• AEC Reliance VMP10G on shuttle duty in Glasgow February 2024

Canal

• Falkirk Wheel is an enduring marvel of modern engineering

Marine

• CALMAC Arran ferry out of service until June for repairs
• Revamped pier reopens after almost year-long delay
• Wightlink overnight ferries cancelled due to technical issue
• Troubled Cowes Floating Bridge is unfixable - report -

Road

• Inside the long-abandoned tunnel beneath the Clyde

Credits

Thank you to this week's contributors.

• Alan Rushworth
• Andrew Cook
• Andrew Nummelin
• Barry Knapper
• Barry Knapper
• Mike Price
• Neil Kearns
• Paul Tambini
• Richard Buckby
• Richard Maund

The Weekly Poser: Where is this?

Three major stations and three secondary stations are visible in this 1920s map. A seventh had already closed and is not marked. A well-served city. Where is it?

Last week's Where is this?

We see a Class 40 in 1982 - at which station? Bonus question: Which platform is it on?

Answer: 40 044 at Manchester Piccadilly, Platform 5. Congratulations are due to the following for their correct answers: Dave Goodyear, Colin Penfold, Paul Hopper, Nigel Petre, Bryn Pitcher, John Musselwhite, Jason Matthews, Bernard Gudgin, Simon Wass/

Photo credit: David Caldwell, RCTS Collection

It's time to give the RCTS Digital Archive a little plug. The online archive contains 57,000 photos to search and buy, PDF downloads of important RCTS books, a complete collection of The Railway Observer magazine - and an opportunity for YOU to help with captioning another 52,000 work-in-progress photos, working from home. A lot of it is free to use. The Photo Collection was recently added, after setting up a scanning centre at the Society's library at Leatherhead station in 2023.

NB: David Caldwell's original image is 4000x2600px but is reduced to 800x560px for use here.

SMALL PRINT

We welcome links to publicly available online news items and videos from anywhere in the world.  Despite its name, Raildate covers all transport modes, including also bus, tram, air, and marine.  

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The main Raildate website https://raildate.co.uk includes a history of Raildate by the founding editor Howard Sprenger and archived editions from 1996 to the present.

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©  Matthew Shaw 2024