|
| 03/02/2012 | Sickie train strike is off [Sun] |
| RAIL union chiefs have axed plans for a strike ballot over a train driver carpeted for pulling a sickie to watch Rangers.
Aslef leaders ditched the vote for industrial action in support of James Foster following a backlash among staff.
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| Sun | |
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| 03/02/2012 | ScotRail conductor returns to work after YouTube video [Rail.co] |
| A ScotRail conductor has returned to work after he featured in a YouTube clip which has since been watched by millions.
The video showed an incident on board the 21.33 Edinburgh Waverley to Perth service at Linlithgow on Friday 9 December 2011.
Alan Mitchell, 63, said he was delighted to be back after being on leave since the incident.
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| Rail.co | |
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| 03/02/2012 | Bletchley derailed train 'going too fast' says Network Rail [BBC News] |
| A freight train engine which derailed on the West Coast mainline at Bletchley may have been going too fast, Network Rail has said.
The line has partially reopened after being closed for more than 12 hours, causing major delays.
Rail passengers are warned to expect further delays, which could run into the weekend.
The Freightliner locomotive appeared to have approached a set of points at high speed, a Network Rail spokesman said.
He said that this caused the tracks to buckle, damaged wooden sleepers and brought down some overhead cables.
'You are meant to approach points at a relatively low speed,' the spokesman said. 'But it looks like that move was taken at a high speed and, as a result, the train has derailed.'
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A down 350 calls at Bletchley in June 2011. The viaduct in the background was built about 1960 for access to Swanbourne yard - which was never built, due to the rapid decline in wagonload traffic. The viaduct may yet be used for a revived East-West link, if they can afford to attach a platform and lifts to it.
[Ken Strachan 10/06/2011] |
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| BBC News | |
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| 02/02/2012 | Anger as Network Rail boss requests bumper bonus just 48 hours after apologising for teenagers' deaths [Daily Record] |
| THE boss of shambolic Network Rail has asked for a £336,000 bonus – days after apologising for the deaths of two teenagers at a level crossing.
Sir David Higgins – who earns £560,000 a year – and two other chiefs will seek the 60 per cent pot at a special meeting of the £4billion state-funded company next week.
Last night, former transport minister Tom Harris said it would “outrageous and insulting” for Sir David – who picked up his knighthood last Thursday – to profit while the firm face criminal charges over the deaths of passengers and poor management.
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| Daily Record | |
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| 02/02/2012 | Alford Railway history to be told [Donside Piper and Herald] |
| Preparations for a new exhibition on the history of the Alford Valley Railway (AVR) are well underway at the Grampian Transport Museum (GTM) in Alford.
The life of this long-closed branch line from Kintore from Alford will be illustrated usind drawings and plans from the Great North of Scotland Association’s collection held at the museum as well as many historic photos, along with their present day views for comparison.
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Original AVR shed at Alford now refurbished and put back into use by the narrow gauge Alford Valley Railway Company.
[John Furnevel /11/2006] | 
Restored ex Aberdeen Gas Corporation locomotive No 3 sheltered from the rain (lucky for some) outside the Grampian Transport Museum, Alford in November 2006 (the museum was closed for the winter)!
[John Furnevel /11/2006] | 
Alford-Kintore train at Alford. GNSR 4.4.0 2270 (34). Driver G Birnie.
[G. H. Robin collection by courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow. 05/08/1947] |
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| Donside Piper and Herald | |
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| 02/02/2012 | Campaigners press case for new stations [Herald] |
| CAMPAIGNERS are urging ministers to add 12 new stations to Scotland's rail network as the Government puts the finishing touches to a £1 billion investment programme in the central belt.
.
Councillors and a number of MSPs have also called on Government agency Transport Scotland to consider building the new destinations into the Edin- burgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) before detailed plans are put out to consultation in summer.
When complete in 2016, the project aims to increase the number of trains between Glasgow and Edinburgh from 10 to 13 an hour while journeys on the newly electrified route will be cut from 50 minutes to 37.
The only new station currently planned as part of EGIP is Edinburgh Gateway, which will connect Glasgow and Fife ser-vices with trams going to the city centre and airport.
However, a number of local campaigns have sprung up to demand the benefits of project –arguably the biggest investment in Scotland's rail network since the Victorian era – extend to key commuter belts as well as ser-vices between Scotland's two biggest cities.
Of the proposed new stations, four are on the main Glasgow-Edinburgh line and a further four on commuter routes into those cities. [From Andy Ball] |
Glasgow-Aberdeen Express at Robroyston. C.R. 4-6-0 14655. Circa 1934.
[G. H. Robin collection by courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow. //1934] | 
A class 101 DMU nears the site of Winchburgh Station with an Edinburgh bound service in 1975.
[Bill Roberton //1975] | 
Abronhill tunnel, a mile north of Cumbernauld. This tunnel was removed circa 2000.
[Brian Forbes /04/2002] |
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| Herald | |
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| 02/02/2012 | Minister says Montrose railway station improvement work starts this month [Montrose Herald] |
| Years after an upgrade scheme was first mooted and following false starts to the project in more recent times, Scottish Transport minister Keith Brown has confirmed that the programme to install access lifts and a new footbridge at the Angus stop is set to begin later this month.
The news came after an approach to the minister by Montrose councillor Mark Salmond, one of the local politicians who had grown increasingly exasperated with Network Rail over a lack of communication on the improvement scheme.
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Heading to Montrose in January 2007. The south box and signals can be seen beyond the various gatherings of sea birds. Montrose is about to be resignalled.
[Ewan Crawford 27/01/2007] | 
170410 rolls into Montrose station with a Glasgow Queen Street - Aberdeen train on 11 October 2007.
[Sandy Steele 11/10/2007] | 
170 417 pulls into Montrose with a service for Edinburgh on 18 June, while the lofty MN [Montrose North] 44 is set for a northbound train.
[David Panton 18/06/2009] |
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| Courier | |
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| 02/02/2012 | Crossrail outlines new approach to refurbishing the Connaught Tunnel [Crossrail] |
| Crossrail today announced that it has adopted a new approach to restoring and enlarging the Connaught Tunnel which is safer and more efficient.
Connaught Tunnel in the Royal Docks was built in 1878 and was part of the North London Line until 2006. The tunnel will be extensively refurbished as part of works to construct Crossrail’s new Abbey Wood branch.
Sections of the existing tunnel are in a poor structural condition. In 1935, larger ships began scraping the bottom of the Royal Victoria Dock which sits above the Connaught Tunnel. As part of work to deepen the dock, the central section of the tunnel was narrowed with brickwork removed and steel segments installed.
Crossrail originally planned to strengthen the central section of the tunnel by removing the existing steel linings and back filling the entire section with concrete foam. These tunnels would then have been enlarged by boring through the concrete to create tunnels that are large enough for Crossrail trains to pass.
Crossrail will now place cofferdams in the Connaught Passage between the Victoria and Royal Albert Docks, pump out the water and create a dry construction site allowing workers to dig down to the tunnel to undertake the enlargement work through a ‘cut and cover’ approach. [From Richard Buckby]
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Recovered track panels from the now closed Stratford – North Woolwich section of the North London Line standing alongside the 1994 Docklands Light Railway station at Prince Regent on 21 March 2008. View west towards Canning Town with the Victoria and Albert Docks behind the camera.
[Michael Gibb 21/03/2008] | 
The abandoned Silvertown station in East London looking towards the Connaught Tunnel and North Woolwich on 21 March 2008, with North London Line trains now terminating at Stratford. On the right stands the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery.
[Michael Gibb 21/03/2008] |
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| Crossrail | |
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| 01/02/2012 | School posters on display at Uphall station [Railscot] |
| Posters designed by the pupils of Pumpherston and Uphall Station
Community Primary School now grace the westbound platform at Uphall.
These have been placed there on the initiative of British Transport
Police. The Rotary Club of Livingston selected the winning designs
with ScotRail seeing to production and display requirements. |
Pumpherston and Uphall Station Community Primary School. Poster 1 - see news item.
[John Yellowlees 01/02/2012] | 
Pumpherston and Uphall Station Community Primary School. Poster 2 - see news item.
[John Yellowlees 01/02/2012] |
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|
| 31/01/2012 | Work has begun to repair a heritage railway line embankment in Gloucestershire [BBC] |
| Work has begun to repair a heritage railway line embankment in Gloucestershire which collapsed in January 2011.
The embankment just north of Winchcombe on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (GWR) suffered a landslip caused by bad weather.
The volunteer group which operates the line has now embarked on the £670,000 repair project.
The work is expected to take about four months to complete.
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Stanier 8F 2-8-0 running in its Turkish Rail configuration as No. 45160 at Winchcombe on 29 December. Due to landslips, the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway is only running steam-hauled services between Winchcombe and Cheltenham (Racecourse) at present.
[Peter Todd 29/12/2011] | 
EE Type 3 37215 brings up the rear on a service leaving Winchcombe for Gotherington where G&WR services are temporarily terminating whilst a landslip is dealt with. The locomotive is in excellent condition and, apart from looking a little ex works, is just how I remember the Class 37s when in regular service [See image 29977].
[Mark Bartlett 17/07/2010] |
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| BBC News | |
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| 31/01/2012 | Rail staff may strike over sackings [PA] |
| Members of the RMT union are to ballot for strikes over the sacking of two workers.
RMT members employed by ScotRail will also ballot on action short of a strike over the dismissal of Darren Brander and Karin McLean.
They are demanding the 'immediate reinstatement' of both workers who they say only defended themselves against an attack by a gang which had 'waged a two-year campaign of abuse and violence against them'.
But ScotRail said the pair's action is 'unacceptable and inexcusable' and their investigation suggests the case is different to what was described by the union.
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| PA | |
| Daily Record | |
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| 30/01/2012 | Waverley Steps: Walk this way for Edinburgh’s new rail gateway [Scotsman] |
| THE train may take the strain, but getting to the station has been a daunting struggle for generations of Edinburgh passengers.
The Waverley Steps, the notorious principal entrance to the capital’s railway hub, provided a 72-step nightmare – especially in the wind and rain.
However, weary travellers will heave a sigh of relief on Monday when they are able to glide up to Princes Street on escalators under a glass roof for the first time in 145 years.
The year-long construction is being completed on time, albeit five years after it should have originally been finished because of delays caused by objections to the scheme.
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Waverley Steps (and escalators) taking shape on 17 January 2012.
[Bill Roberton 17/01/2012] | 
Hmmphhh!!! Sunday morning guard duty! With the Waverley Steps entrance to the station closed off, a temporary entrance to Waverley station has been opened up through Princes Mall. View from Princes Street on 14 May 2006. [See image 9657]
[John Furnevel 14/05/2006] |
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| Scotsman | |
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| 30/01/2012 | Former SNP leader describes rail consultation as an 'embarrassing failure' [Courier] |
| SNP Government proposals for the rail network will be a ''nightmare'' for commuters in Tayside and Fife, the party's former leader has warned. |
An Aberdeen - Kings Cross HST service passes Wormit on 11 March 2009 shortly after crossing the Tay Bridge.
[Brian Forbes 11/03/2009] | 
A2 Pacific no 60525 A H Peppercorn about to get The Aberdonian underway at the start of its 530 mile journey to London Kings Cross. Thought to have been photographed around 1957. [With thanks to Donald Hillier and Rob Ferguson]
[Robin Barbour Collection [Courtesy Bruce McCartney] //1957] | 
Deltic 55016 Gordon Highlander at a sunny Newcastle Central on 22 June 1981 about to head north with train 1S12, the 0550 Kings Cross - Aberdeen.
[Colin Alexander 22/06/1981] |
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| Courier | |
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| 28/01/2012 | Rail group calls for reopening of small stations [Berwick Advertiser] |
| A RAIL interest group has made fresh calls for the reopening of small stations such as Beal and Belford as a means of increasing tourism and inward investment.
The South East Northumberland Rail User Group (SENRUG) has long campaigned for improved local services along the east coast main line.
Dennis Fancett, SENRUG chairman, writing in the organisation’s latest newsletter, said: “Unfortunately, the local service run by Northern Rail offers just one train in the morning and evening peaks.
“Not only is this too early for tourists and holidaymakers (the train leaves Morpeth at 6.15am), but the service terminates at Chathill, thereby excluding beautiful stretches of the coast between that station and Berwick.
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The afternoon Chathill service calls at Alnmouth in 2004.
[John Furnevel //2004] | 
A CrossCountry Voyager heading North at Beal on 7th July 2010
[Graham Morgan 07/07/2010] | 
A K3 about to take a train under the signalbox and over the level crossing at the south end of Belford station, Northumberland, around 1959. [See image 16267]
[John Alexander //1959] |
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| Berwick Advertiser | |
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| 27/01/2012 | National Railway Museum to repatriate A4s from US and Canada [NRM] |
| The National Railway Museum can today confirm that a formal agreement has been reached with transatlantic colleagues to temporarily repatriate two A4 class locomotives to play a part in the celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of Mallard's world record breaking 126mph run down Stoke Bank on 3 July 1938. [From Richard Buckby] |
Star attraction at Shildon on 3 November 2010 is no 4468 Mallard, seen here in the main exhibition hall. The record-breaker arrived on loan from York NRM in June (having made the journey behind A1 Pacific no 60163 Tornado).
[John Furnevel 03/11/2010] | 
Gresley A4 Pacific no 60008 Dwight D Eisenhower prepares to leave the Doncaster stop on 1 September 1962 with the 9.08am Kings Cross - Leeds Central service.
[K A Gray 01/09/1962] | 
It didn^t get much better than this.... Lineup of top-link locomotives being made ready at Kings Cross shed in October 1959. The four Pacifics holding centre stage are, from the left, A3 60039 Sandwich, A4 60010 Dominion of Canada, A4 60033 Seagull and A3 60038 Firdaussi.
[Robin Barbour Collection [Courtesy Bruce McCartney] 04/10/1959] |
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| NRM | |
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| 27/01/2012 | ScotRail still guilty of keeping travellers in dark over delays [Scotsman] |
| PASSENGER satisfaction with the way ScotRail handles delays has slumped, with barely one in three happy with how they are treated during disruption.
The Achilles’ heel which has long dogged Scotland’s main train operator took the shine off near record overall satisfaction ratings in the latest official watchdog survey yesterday.
The National Passenger Survey, conducted by Passenger Focus, showed 34 per cent of passengers questioned last autumn were happy with delay handling – 11 percentage points fewer than the previous year.
That left ScotRail fourth-worst among 19 train operators, after three in southern England.
The firm has already been warned about the urgent need to improve communication with passengers.
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|
| Scotsman | |
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| 27/01/2012 | 89% of rail travellers say train firm is on right lines [Evening Times] |
| ScotRail has been praised by passengers for improving its services – but travellers want better and more up to date news about delays.
The train operator achieved an 89% overall satisfaction rate for its services in 2011 in a national survey conducted by Passenger Focus, the independent watchdog.
That was 3% up on 2010 and 5% above the national average.
Punctuality and reliability came in at 86%, which was also five points more than the UK average.
Passengers also said they were more than happy with train cleanliness, up 8% to 84%.
Punctuality and reliabilty came in at 86%, five points more than the UK average
The views on toilet facilities rose 11% – but still reached only 51% satisfaction. However, that was still 13% better the UK average.
Staff were also praised for the way they deal with customers, with a satisfaction score of 92% – a jump of 15% on 2010 and 6% higher than the national average.
ScotRail managing director Steve Montgomery said: “These results are a tribute to our workforce.”
But passengers were not impressed with the way the company handled delays. The satisfaction rate was 34% –meaning two in three people were unhappy.
The survey was held from September 1 to November 18 and ScotRail attributed most of the delay complaints to a 48-hour spell in August when Scotland had more rain than the average for the entire month, severely affecting services.
Mr Montgomery said: “We have given smartphones to more than 800 on-train staff to pass on real time information.
“We have also seen a massive increase in customers accessing our website’s new disruption information and JourneyAlert registrations.
“We will continue focusing on driving this score back up.”
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|
| Evening Times | |
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| 26/01/2012 | Train operators cashing in on delays [Telegraph] |
| Train operators are pocketing millions of pounds in compensation for delays without passing the money onto rail passengers, it has emerged. |
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| Telegraph | |
|
| 25/01/2012 | Kilted haggis puts station on red alert [Press and Journal] |
| A kilted model of a haggis caused a minor security scare when it was sent on a solo rail journey to seek a Highland welcome at a Burns Supper. |
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| Press and Journal | |
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| 23/01/2012 | Network Rail plans 'alliance' with South West trains [Independent] |
| Network Rail today announced moves aimed at working more closely with
rail operators under a 'deep alliance' with one of the UK's biggest
train firms.
Officials said a single, senior joint management team could be established between NR and South West trains to look after train and track on the route out of London's Waterloo station.
NR has already announced plans to form alliances with a number of rail operators, saying they would cut costs and deliver a more 'passenger focused' operation.
|
A South West Trains service for Basingstoke boarding at Fleet on 5 October.
[Graham Morgan 05/10/2011] | 
South West Trains 159005 departing Westbury on 8 December for Bristol Temple Meads.
[Peter Todd 08/12/2011] | 
A South West Trains service for Waterloo standing at Vauxhall station in July 2005 in front of a ...well... a certain government building ...errr ...^nuff said...
[John Furnevel 23/07/2005] |
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| Independent | |
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| 23/01/2012 | Strike by rail signal workers in Glasgow suspended [BBC News] |
| A strike by rail signal workers in the west of Scotland has been cancelled.
More than 30 staff based at a control centre in Glasgow had been due to walk out in a row over career progression.
The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) Union said the action had been suspended after talks with conciliation service Acas.
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|
| BBC News | |
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| 21/01/2012 | Railway signs set to fetch £40,000 at auction [Scotsman] |
| Historic railway signs from the former Deeside line could fetch more than £40,000 today when they go under the hammer, half-a-century after being bought for just a few pounds each.
A set of 12 station signs, charting the former branch line’s route between Cults, in Aberdeen, and Ballater, will be among almost 400 lots on offer at a Railwayana Auctions UK sale in Stafford.
Auctioneer Neil Booth said the mementos of the railway line which carried generations of the Royal Family from Aberdeen to annual holidays at Balmoral Castle would be sold individually.
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What is now ^The Deeside Way^ passing the former station at Cambus o^ May in November 2005. The view along the old trackbed is east towards Aberdeen.
[John Furnevel 18/11/2005] | 
View across the platforms at Dinnet station in June 1963 looking towards Aboyne.
[Colin Miller /06/1963] | 
An oft repeated afternoon scene at Banchory station on the Royal Deeside line in the summer of 1965, where an Aberdeen - Ballater DMU has just arrived at the westbound platform. Pupils from the nearby Banchory Academy wait to board the train and make their way home, while a Royal Mail van is parked further along the platform to the right. Note the mail tarriffs of the day displayed on the side of the van, showing postcards at 3d and letters at 4d. Banchory station closed along with most of the branch line in February 1966. [See image 12407]
[Frank Spaven Collection [Courtesy David Spaven] //1965] |
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|
| 21/01/2012 | £3.8m project to bring Perth railway station into the 21st century [Courier] |
| Plans are in place to install a multi-million-pound lift system to give disabled passengers more freedom to move between platforms.
The project, estimated to cost around £3.8 million, is part of the Department of Transport's Access for All scheme.
It is hoped the footbridge and three lifts will be in place by the end of the year and is part of a wider initiative to modernise the station.
Designed by Sir William Tite of London and built between 1847-48, little has changed at Perth station since then. Existing track crossings have also proven to be unsuitable for passengers with disabilities or limited mobility, as they involve steps or a steep ramp.
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Perth inside the station extension in July 2003. This area was once the station forecourt and the station proper was beyond the building. The platform seen here is now the main Inverness platform.
[Ewan Crawford 13/07/2003] | 
The bay window of Perth station^s down centre signal box, and the famous clock are ignored by an intending passenger anxiously looking at the timetable in January 2007.
[Brian Forbes 14/01/2007] | 
A railtour to remember! The BR Grand Scottish Tour No 1 stands at Perth on 25 March 1967. The train, which loaded to 18 coaches, is double headed by Black 5 no 44997 and A4 Pacific 60009 Union of South Africa. [Editor^s note: Roving railtour reporter and raconteur John Robin was on this trip and recalls particularly the swing of the Black 5 as it was pushed through Stonehaven at 75 mph and out onto the viaduct. (He also remembers the whole tour only cost £5!)] Another notable feature is the warm and natural smile on the face of the unknown young girl in the centre of the picture... which seems to light up the whole scene... could almost be a descendent of The Fair Maid herself! [Details of the complete tour route, together with timings logged by JR that day, appear on the SBJ website.]
[Robin Barbour Collection [Courtesy Bruce McCartney] 25/03/1967] |
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| Courier | |
|
| 21/01/2012 | Thousands expected to attend Railfest 2012 at York’s National Railway Museum [The Press] |
| THE organisers of “Britain’s biggest rail celebration” say they are expecting many thousands of people to attend the summer event at York’s National Railway Museum.
Railfest 2012 will see an outdoor space the size of 11 football pitches to the back of Station Hall filled with locomotives from the museum’s collection and from around the country.
The nine-day festival, which starts on June 2 and is being presented as part of the York 800 celebrations, will bring together more than 30 record-breaking locomotives which have made their mark on rail history.
|
The Elsecar Heritage Railway is located at the southern end of the freight only branch that ran south west from Elsecar Junction on the Wath - Barnsley line. Peckett OQ class 0-6-0ST no 2150 of 1954 Mardy Monster - the most powerful steam locomotive built for industrial use in the UK - is seen at the centre^s ^Rockingham Station^ on 1 May 2011. [The station is located at the rear of Elsecar Heritage Centre.]
[Bruce McCartney 01/05/2011] | 
Beautifully turned out ex-Furness Railway 0-4-0 No 20 on display as part of Railfest at the NRM, York, in 2004. Built by Sharp Stewart & Co in Manchester in 1863, No 20 is the oldest working standard gauge steam locomotive in Britain.
[Colin Alexander //2004] | 
Tornado emerges from the Calton Tunnel with the Auld Reekie on 28 February 2009
[Norman Bews 28/02/2009] |
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| The Press | |
|
| 21/01/2012 | Train ticket from Carlisle to London could cost more than flight to New York [News & Star] |
| A peak-time train ticket from Carlisle to London may soon cost more than a flight to New York.
Government proposals could see an ‘Anytime’ standard-class return from Carlisle to London, currently £319, rise to £450 by 2014.
That is £4 more than a return flight from London to New York with US Airways.
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|
| News & Star | |
|
| 20/01/2012 | Councillors hear Dounreay-Sellafield nuclear rail plan [BBC News] |
| A Nuclear Decommissioning Authority boss has given a presentation to councillors on plans to move nuclear material from Scotland to England.
The NDA has sought approval for its scheme to transport breeder material from Dounreay in Caithness to Sellafield for reprocessing.
The first of about 50 movements could start this summer. [From Richard Buckby]
|
DRS 37059 with an unidentified partner heading south near Braidwood on 14 March 2006 with nuclear flasks from Hunterston PS bound for Sellafield.
[Bill Roberton 14/03/2006] | 
Last user of the route to the Solway Viaduct, Chapelcross nuclear power station, which stands on the east side of the former Solway Junction Railway route to the north of Annan, seen here on 12 October 2006. A pipeline from Chapelcross currently carries waste water along the old trackbed through the former Annan Shawhill station and down to the Solway Firth [see image 11600].
[John Furnevel 12/10/2006] | 
This is the actual nuclear flask used in the Old Dalby crash test in 1984, when Peak Class 46 No. 46009 and four coaches were deliberately crashed into the flask at 90mph. The loco and coaches were destroyed and cut up on site but the damage to the flask was limited to the bent cooling fins seen here and the sealed load area remained intact. The flask is now on display outside the Training Centre at Heysham Power Station. More information and pictures of the crash test can be found at http://www.old-dalby.com/crash.htm
[Mark Bartlett 26/08/2009] |
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| BBC | |
|
| 20/01/2012 | Railway history under the hammer [Knutsford Guardian] |
| A PLAQUE detailing the 100th anniversary of the world’s first intercity passenger railway will go under the hammer in Knutsford next week.
The solid brass and coloured enamel plaque, commemorates the centenary of the first Manchester railway station – close to where the Museum of Science and Industry now stands in the city today.
It was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Lawrence Durning Holt, and Lord Mayor of Manchester, Robert Noton Barclay, on September 15, 1930.
The plaque features the coats of arms for Liverpool and Manchester, and is a unique reminder of the first intercity passenger railway in the world.
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|
| Knutsford Guardian | |
|
| 20/01/2012 | Open Train Times |
| We're using Open Data to bring you train information. Right now, we have timetables, and we're working on real-time running information and historical data. This site is designed, built and maintained by Peter Hicks. The source code is available on GitHub and you're free to use it for non-commercial purposes. [From Richard Buckby] |
|
| Open train times | |
|
| 19/01/2012 | Osborne confirms Newton Aycliffe Hitachi plant on track [Northern Echo] |
| CHANCELLOR George Osborne tonight confirmed that plans to bring a high-speed train manufacturing plant to County Durham were on track.
Mr Osborne's comments, made during a visit to Japan, came after concerns were raised last month that the plans for the factory in Newton Aycliffe could be in jeopardy.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond announced in March that the Hitachi-led Agility Trains consortium was the Government's chosen bidder for the Intercity Express Programme. [From Richard Buckby] |
|
| Northern Echo | |
|
| 19/01/2012 | Station has 2,000 people every week [Lancashire Evening Post] |
| More than 2,000 passengers a week are passing through the doors of one of Lancashire’s newest train stations.
The long-awaited Buckshaw Parkway railway station opened in October.
And officials say 335 people are boarding at the £6.8m station every day.
Gemma Colley, public relations manager for Northern Rail, said a ticket vending machine had been added.
She said: “We are delighted with the success of Buckshaw Parkway station, which has exceeded our expectations in passenger footfall and ticket sales.”
[From Mark Bartlett] |
Progress at the new Buckshaw Parkway station on 25 July 2011. The footbridge and lift towers are now in place and some of the concrete platform slabs have been laid. The FTPE service passing the site will split at Preston with the leading class 185 going on to Edinburgh and the rear unit to Barrow-in-Furness. [See image 33909]
[John McIntyre 25/07/2011] | 
The first train to call at the new Buckshaw Parkway station was 150269 on the 0619 Blackpool North to Manchester Victoria on 3 October 2011. With representatives of Network Rail, the train operator Northern, local radio and a group of photographers, passengers boarding were outnumbered - but at 0658 in the morning and with a little uncertainty over the opening of the station it was hardly surprising. (The balance was restored for the following service.) [See news item]
[John McIntyre 03/10/2011] | 
A Pendolino being dragged south on 28 September 2008 past the site of the former Royal Ordnance Factory at Euxton, Lancs (also known as ROF Chorley). The large factory stood to the left of the tracks with office and administrative facilities to the right. The location boasted its own station, opened in 1938 as Chorley ROF Platform and renamed Chorley Halt by 1942. The station was closed by 1963 and subsequently demolished after the majority of the site had been redeveloped for housing and commercial use. Island platform remains can be seen to the right of the tracks on the weed covered mound.
[John Mcintyre 28/09/2008] |
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| Lancashire Evening Post | |
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