RAILDATE 2024.04.05

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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

• Andrew Barclay loco working on the "Middy"
• BSC Scunthorpe rails to be used for new railway in Egypt
• Greater Anglia offering £12 return fares on train trips this spring
• Visit the restored 1938 tube train you can sleep in

East Midlands

• Redundancies at Alston Derby works
• Hilton level crossing due to reopen after gates damaged in crash
• Restoration of historic Papplewick Pumping Station under way
• All production stops at Derby's Alstom site and redundancies back on
• Work begins to reinstate railway test site in Leicestershire after a landslip forced line to close
• Alstom “out of time” to keep UK factory open

London

• Power supply fault affecting Tilbury Loop and GOBLIN lines at Barking
• From dusty bin to rail freight as passenger train removes lorries from London’s roads
• Commuters hit by train delays and mortgage bill hikes told by minister: 'You're being grumpy'

Midlands

• Twenty first and eighteenth centuries meet as HS2 traverses Grand Union Canal
• Electricity underwater: Grand Union Canal tunnel provides power boost for HS2
• HS2 railway to Birmingham passes over canal to Birmingham

North West

• Derwent river bridge in Workington repaired
• Battery rail car links proposed from Buxton to walking trails
• Near miss at Euxton Junction
• Furness line blocked at Grange over Sands until 21st April

Scotland

• Calls for inquiry into £25m repair costs for Cairngorm funicular railway
• Repairs to Glenfinnan viaduct
• North Clydeside services disrupted by bridge strike
• £4.8bn, five-year investment plan for Scotland’s Railway gets underway
• Multi-million-pound investment for world famous Glenfinnan viaduct
• Full steam ahead for restoration of Peebles building from railway age
• Highland shopkeeper fears for future as ‘Hogwarts Express’ train is suspended

South

• Southampton: Port incentives switch freight from road to rail

South East

• c2c train timetable to see an increase in off-peak service
• Endangered gull causes train disruption
• Tonbridge Edenbridge line shut
• Edenbridge-Tonbridge line to remain closed for at least two weeks
• West Sussex railway worker reaches end of marathon train journey
• Security alert at Basingstoke station
• Petts Wood station gets four new lifts to provide step-free access
• Redhill - Tonbridge closed by subsidence
• Endangered bird disrupts East Sussex trains
• 58%' of railway services to and from Gatwick Airport are delayed or cancelled, study suggests
• K&ESR guest loco 's for anniversary gala

Wales

• New road/railshunters for Celsa Steel works in Cardiff
• South Wales main line suspended due to power failure at Bridgend

Yorkshire

• Haxby level crossing closed for track renewals
• North Yorkshire Railway to feature on BBC 2 show

National

• Cross Country / DfT contract 2023 to 2031
• £45bn rail improvement plan puts climate change firmly in its sights
• Heritage Railway list of stolen/missing items

International Rail News

Egypt

• British Steel gain Egyptian rail contract

Ireland

• Proposal to end Rosslare-Dublin through trains 'short sighted'

Japan

• JR Tokai admits 2027 start of maglev line not remotely possible
• Furukawa Electric Group activities for railways

Other Transport Modes

Bus

• Battery ordered by Southern Vectis

Credits

Thank you to this week's contributors.

• Alan Rushworth
• Andrew Nummelin
• Mike Price
• Neil Kearns
• Paul Tambini
• Richard Buckby
• Simon Moppett

The Weekly Poser: Where is this?

This is probably Britain's smallest city railway terminus, which I visited yesterday. It's quite busy, with five trains per hour. A single car unit is circled, and the substantial recently-renovated station buildings are in the foreground. Where is it?

Bonus: There are two previous names for this station. Can you name them?

Last week's Where is this?

Please identify the railway yard in the centre of the picture.

Answer: Bescot. Congratulations are due to the following for their correct answers: Colin Penfold, Bryn Pitcher, Dave Goodyear, Paul Hopper, Peter Binnersley, Jim Allwood, Simon Wass.

The yard is now managed by DB Cargo and remains a strategic hub in the heart of the Midlands, well connected by mixed-use and dedicated freight lines. The M5 and M6 motorways are also shown. West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Walsall are all great manufacturing towns, as shown by the clustering of commercial buildings in the picture.

SMALL PRINT

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©  Matthew Shaw 2024