RAILDATE 2025.01.17

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)

UK Rail News

East

• Discounted train tickets between Ipswich and Norwich
• No services between London and Peterborough/Royston for two weekends as East Coast Main Line receives important upgrades
• 60103 Flying Scotsman to visit Nene Valley in February and March

East Midlands

• £22m Leicester station revamp rethink after one bid
• Harry Needle Railroad Company purchased by Sweitelsky

London

• New platform shelter to be installed at Northumberland Park Station
• AI tech trial launches at London Underground stations to boost safety
• Refurbishment of Hungerford Bridge
• London Overground Mildmay line closures until end of March
• Part of Waterloo station evacuated due to fire alarm
• More reliable journeys ahead for Southeastern customers as £90m re-signalling begins across the Lewisham area
• Network Rail slammed over tree felling near Overground line

North East

• Tyne and Wear Metro new trains update as Nexus confirms how many of Stadler fleet due in 2025
• Memorial planned for Catterick Bridge ammunition train explosion
• Signal Box Demolition at Newsham
• Great milestone' as Northumberland Line registers 50,000 passenger journeys in first month

North West

• Trains CANCELLED between Manchester and London amid emergency incident
• Major timber and glazing overhaul unveiled at Stoke-on-Trent station
• Closures begin as £21m Salford Crescent works commence
• M6 railway bridge set to be replaced, with railway and motorway closures planned
• Widnes firm completes major upgrade of railway operator's fleet of trains
• Millions of railway passengers face decade of disruption as key UK line to shut for weeks every year

Scotland

• Millions of people have sat on my old Glasgow subway couch'

South

• MP secures meeting over Wareham rail crossing plans

South East

• Southeastern trains to be fitted with toilets
• Toilets to be fitted to Southeastern class 707 units
• Southeastern trains to be fitted with toilets
• Theale footbridge to open after 10 years work
• Campaign to fund bridge replacement on Spa Valley line
• Southeastern announces upgrade of fleet
• Bluebell Times January 2025
• Young c2c fan gets special train driver experience
• c2c apology after faults led to network disruption
• AI and LiDAR technology to maximise level boarding on potential new Southeastern trains
• BR Blue & Grey 1001 “Hastings“ On A Test Run 8 Jan 2025

Wales

• UK Government acknowledges rail funding shortfall in Wales
• Welsh railways underfunded, UK government admits
• North Wales railway line reopens after storm damage repairs
• Welsh heritage railway shows new signal box frame interlocking

National

• Discount sale of advance booking tickets
• Train firms urged to give 'yellow cards' to passengers without tickets
• Rail passengers face disruption from Avanti strikes every Sunday until June
• UK rail firms urged to issue ‘yellow card’ warnings instead of penalty

Rail Industry

• Siemens Mobility (Chippenham) win HS2 signalling contracts
• Standardising time between differences sources

International Rail News

Canada

• Over run of engineering works on Toronto Metro

Europe

• Virgin Group interest in running new services through the Channel Tunnel

France

• Dozens injured after Strasbourg tram collision

Japan

• JR East consults priest over mystery illness plaguing drivers

Portugal

• Art on the Lisbon Metro

South Africa

• Sandstone estates

Switzerland

• Cheman de Fer du Jura to install Stadler produced digital interlockings
• SBB ordering new wagons

Other Transport Modes

Air

• 2024 busiest year for London's Heathrow Airport
• Play Airlines closes Canadian route
• Jeju Air Fatal Crash - Data recorder failure

Bus

• Strangest' items left on buses in 2024
• Free hospital shuttle bus to be axed due to costs
• A256 Eastry: Bus blaze causes closure of main route
• Main route reopens after bus blaze caused closure
• Bus franchising: What does it mean for passengers?
• Free weekend bus journeys offered as thank you

Marine

• Holyhead sailings resume following closure in December
• Plans for Ardrossan Harbour on hold
• Germany says Russian 'shadow' ship stuck in Baltic Sea
• Why was Glen Sannox so hard to build?
• Panama Canal will remain Panamanian and open to all nations, says official
• Progress made to ensure SS United States can leave Philadelphia waters safely

Credits

Thank you to this week's contributors.

• Alan Rushworth
• Andrew Nummelin
• Bill King
• John Oliver
• Mike Price
• Neil Kearns
• Paul Tambini
• Richard Buckby
• Richard Maund

The Weekly Poser: Where is this?

This area of Yorkshire was transformed in 1963 into major railway centre. Where is it?

Please send your answers to raildate.co.uk@gmail.com

Last week's Where is this?

A Class 58 hauls coal past a Class 56. Where is it?

Answer: Clay Cross Junction, near Chesterfield, looking south on 27th May 1992. The locos are 58030 and 56003. Congratulations are due to the following for their correct answers: Colin Penfold, John Czyrko, Phil Drake, Simon Wass, Blair Robinson, Jim Allwood, Richard Weller, Paul Hopper

Image credit: M Southwell RCTS Collection.

The Toton line is on the left, Derby on the right, heading towards the mile-long Clay Cross tunnel. Between the two was the Clay Cross colliery and works, founded by George and Robert Stephenson, which supplied house coal to London. The polluted site was cleared (and thoroughly dug out) around 2010 and lay dormant for a while but is now being developed for housing. Maybe train watchers will buy houses there?

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 2025