| 31/03/2010 | Big job cuts at troubled Jarvis [BBC News] |
| About 1,100 jobs are to be cut at Jarvis by the administrators who are now running the rail maintenance firm. |
View east over Shettleston PW depot on 13 May from Hallhill Road bridge. The link from the main line comes in on the left with Shettleston station behind the camera. The logo is that of STRC - the Scotland Track Renewals Co. (Part of the Jarvis rebranding).
[John Furnevel 13/05/2007] |
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| BBC News | |
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| 31/03/2010 | Strike ballot inaccuracies claim [Mirror] |
| Network Rail (NR) has claimed to have uncovered scores of 'inaccuracies and deficiencies' in a ballot of signal workers which it will challenge in the High Court on Wednesday in a bid to avert industrial action. |
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| Mirror article | |
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| 31/03/2010 | East coast rail service cancelled [BBC News] |
| Passengers hoping to use the East Coast main line between Edinburgh and Newcastle are advised to postpone their trip. |
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| BBC News | |
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| 31/03/2010 | Track to the past [Garstang Courier] |
| Today [31 March 2010] marks the 80th anniversary of the closure to passengers of the 11½ mile Knott End Railway in 1930. Railway historian MARK BARTLETT looks back at the Lilliputian line. |
On the 80th anniversary of its closure to passengers (310330) this is the view along the old GKER railway embankment east of Garstang towards the WCML. Just beyond the gate, part of the embankment has been removed for a flood basin scheme but beyond that the footpath joins it again as far as the cutting near the WCML. [See image 18535].
[Mark Bartlett 31/03/2010] | 
80 years to the day since its closure to passengers on 31st March 1930, this is the view west along the old GKER railway embankment east of Garstang towards the site of Garstang Town station. The station site itself has been built over. The railway bridge over the River Wyre was demolished after closure to goods in 1965 but a new bridge was installed as part of the water treatment and flood defence scheme seen here. My grandfather used to catch the Pilling Pig from Garstang Town to Garstang & Catterall to go to school in Lancaster but this was never a convenient journey for local residents and direct buses along the A6 later put paid to the train service.
[Mark Bartlett 31/03/2010] | 
An old picture of Nateby Crossing Cottage, on the Garstang & Knott End Railway, at the turn of the last century, [see image 18317] recently submitted to a local newspaper in North Lancashire. [Courtesy Mrs Soar of Pilling].
[Mark Bartlett collection //1900] |
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| Garstang Courier | |
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|
| 30/03/2010 | East Coast line hit by landslips [BBC News] |
| Train services on the East Coast main line have been suspended north of Berwick after two landslips. |
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| BBC News | |
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| 29/03/2010 | World's most powerful crane lifts in new footbridge [Network Rail] |
| A recent addition to the Durham skyline proved its worth this weekend as the world’s most powerful mobile crane was used to lift a new footbridge into place over the East Coast Main Line. |
Scene at Blanchland Avenue, Durham, in the early hours of Sunday 28 March 2010, as the world^s most powerful mobile crane lifts the new footbridge into position over the East Coast Main Line.
[Courtesy Network Rail 28/03/2010] |
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| Network Rail | |
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| 28/03/2010 | Red tape ties Edinburgh's trams down [The Times] |
| Companies hired to construct Edinburgh’s crisis-hit tram network have complained the project has become paralysed by interference from local authority bureaucrats. |
The mock-up static tram exhibit open to the general public alongside Jenner^s department store at the east end of Princes Street on 3 March 2009.
[F Furnevel 03/03/2009] | 
Beware of the signs! Information overload at Saughton on 5 December 2008.
[Bill Roberton 05/12/2008] | 
Princes Street on 5 December 2009... tram lines laid and the buses are back!
[Bill Roberton 05/12/2009] |
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| The Times | |
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| 28/03/2010 | Labour vows to put GARL back on track [The Times] |
| Labour will revive the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) project if it wins next year’s Scottish election. |
Looking out along platforms 12 and 13 at Glasgow Central on 9 September 2007. The short platform 11a can be seen in the centre background. This platform will eventually be realigned and extended back into the station through the arch on the left and will accomodate future Glasgow Airport Rail Link services. Work on the project is due to commence in 2009.
[John Furnevel 09/09/2007] | 
A Transport Scotland sign standing alongside the playing fields near Paisley St James in October 2009. This would have seen a new viaduct constructed as part of the now scrapped Glasgow Airport Rail Link project.
[Colin Harkins 06/10/2009] | 
What had two, then four, now has two again and will soon have three? View east from Hillington East showing the new gantries for overhead wires in connection with the additional line. Those masts in the foreground will be removed. An eastbound train approaches Cardonald in the distance.
[Ewan Crawford 10/05/2008] |
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| The Times | |
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| 28/03/2010 | Rail strike may be averted as talks resume [The Guardian] |
| Hopes have been raised that a looming strike by rail workers, which would cause travel chaos for millions of commuters, could still be averted. |
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| The Guardian | |
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| 28/03/2010 | Full steam ahead [Scotland on Sunday] |
| AT QUARTER to 11 yesterday morning, the Morayshire, an octogenarian steam engine, painted a smart deep green, is about to depart Bo'ness for Manuel, five miles down the line. Apologies for any inconvenience caused but the train is experiencing a slight delay – some 53 years, 10 months and 22 days. [From Andrew Wallace] |
There were two stations at Manuel, located between Polmont and Linlithgow. A high level station (closed to passengers in 1967) stood on the E&G main line, with a low level station (closed as long ago as 1933) located on the Monkland line. Both stations were situated on the north side of what became the village of Whitecross, built in the 1930s to house employees of the enormous Manuel brickworks (now abandoned) that stood alongside and to the west of the village.
[David Panton //] | 
In a scene reminiscent of the 1950s caley tank 55189 does a run past for a photo charter at Birkhill station.
[John Robin 24/02/2009] | 
A westbound Edinburgh - Glasgow shuttle passing the site of Manuel station in July 2007. Originally opened as Bo^ness Junction in 1842, the station was eventually closed in March 1967. The line to Boness, now owned and operated by the SRPS, can be seen on the left beyond the wire fence.
[John Furnevel 07/07/2007] |
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| Scotland on Sunday | |
| BBC News | |
| The Scotsman | |
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| 27/03/2010 | Rails to Grantown [Press and Journal] |
| PASSENGERS yesterday took a journey along a stretch of railway that has not been used since swingeing rail cuts in the 1960s. [From Sue Davies]
|
Strathspey Railway No.17 is seen nearing Broomhill. Nicely turned out in lined green and named Braeriach. A huge improvement on last year.
[John Gray 18/06/2007] | 
Reinstatement of passenger railway service. A delightful poster at Broomhill.
[Ewan Crawford 01/06/2002] | 
Drivers eye view of the approach to the site of Dulnain Bridge on 10 October 2008. [With kind permission of the Strathspey Railway.]
[John Gray 10/10/2008] |
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| Press and Journal | |
| Appeal website | |
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| 26/03/2010 | Jarvis collapses into administration with 2,000 jobs at risk [Scotsman] |
| Railway maintenance contractor Jarvis became the latest casualty of the recession yesterday, leaving some 2,000 jobs hanging in the balance.
The company was forced to call in administrators and request that trading in its shares was suspended, following a plunge in rail and plant work.
[Railscot note: Jarvis operates in Scotland as 'Scotland Track Renewals Company']. |
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| Scotsman article | |
| Jarvis | |
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| 26/03/2010 | New talks due over threatened national railway strike [BBC News] |
| Talks between unions and employers in a bid to avert the threatened national rail strike will begin on Monday, the conciliation service Acas has said. |
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| BBC News Article | |
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| 24/03/2010 | Prime Minister puts spotlight on rail investment [Network Rail Article] |
| Network Rail today welcomed the budget day visit by the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer to see one of London's biggest infrastructure projects. |
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| Network Rail Article | |
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|
| 24/03/2010 | Closure 'an option' for Glasgow’s outdated underground |
| Glasgow’s subway system could face being shut down if a £400 million modernisation programme is not approved. |
An outer circle train leaves Shields Road in February 2010.
[Ewan Crawford 11/02/2010] | 
Withdrawn Glasgow Subway stock at Beamish in 1979. The six redundant units had been obtained 2 years previously and were intended for use by the museum in the construction of replica tramcars. What eventually happened to the idea,... or the cars themselves, is not known.
[Colin Miller //1979] | 
A 3-car Subway train in SPT livery standing at the depot in Govan in April 2008.
[Colin Harkins 12/04/2008] |
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| The Herald Article | |
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| 18/03/2010 | Competition hots up for Borders Railway contract [Scotsman] |
| FIVE groups are to compete to build the Borders railway, with the number of initial bids appearing to confirm ministers' confidence of strong interest in the uniquely-funded project.
[From David Spaven] |
Photo-scramble at Galashiels on 5 June 1965 as 60027 Merlin poses with SLPF special 1X18 on its way back to Edinburgh from Carlisle. The outward journey had been via the ECML to Newcastle, thence the N&C to Carlisle. The reason 60027 is looking in less than pristine railtour condition is that the scheduled locomotive, A3 no 60052, Prince Palatine, failed at Carlisle and 60027 had been pressed into service as an emergency stand-in. [See image 21304]
[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) 05/06/1965] | 
Looking north along the future platform site at Newtongrange in Feb 2007 through the bridge which carries the A7, eerily named Murderdean Road at this point.
[John Furnevel /02/2007] | 
The last scheduled freight to Hawick photographed in April 1969 on the level crossing at Heriot
[Bruce McCartney /04/1969] |
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| Scotsman | |
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| 18/03/2010 | Subway cutbacks spell more woe for SPT [The Herald] |
| Amid the scandal that has hit the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) in recent weeks, a running theme has been its perceived inability to operate core services effectively. |
Partick UndergrounD station, one of the bigger stations which replaced Merkland Street station.
[Ewan Crawford //1988] | 
Cessnock Subway, view across Cessnock Street on 13 May.
[John Furnevel 13/05/2007] | 
The original St Enoch Subway building on 29th April 2009. The building is now in use as a Cafe Nero after SPT vacated the building and moved the travel centre into the current St Enoch subway station. The St Enoch Centre that replaced the main line station is in the process of expansion, and is currently creeping out into St Enoch Square
[Graham Morgan 29/04/2009] |
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| The Herald | |
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| 18/03/2010 | MSPs oppose new Hunterston plans [BBC News Article] |
| MSPs back calls for the Scottish Parliament to reject plans for a coal-fired power station at Hunterston in North Ayrshire. |
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| BBC News Article | |
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| 17/03/2010 | Bid to end rail dispute deadlock [BBC News Article] |
| Talks are due to be held between union officials and the Scottish transport minister in an effort to end the deadlock in a rail dispute. |
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| BBC News Article | |
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|
| 15/03/2010 | Fast train to open a year ahead of schedule [China Daily] |
| The highly anticipated Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway will begin operation next year, and is expected to cut travel time from 10 to four hours. |
High-speed trains wait for departure at one of Asia^s biggest railway stations, the new South station at Guangzhou, capital of south China^s Guangdong Province, on 30 January 2010.
[CRH /01/2010] |
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| China Daily | |
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| 13/03/2010 | Strike 'will not hit rugby fans' [BBC News Article] |
| Rugby fans travelling to the Scotland v England match at Murrayfield stadium should not be affected by the rail strike, First ScotRail says. |
Murrayfield stadium is on the left and Edinburgh Castle on the horizon as two trains head west in parallel shortly after leaving Haymarket station (centre background) on a November afternoon in 2006. The train on the left is on the line to the Forth Bridge with that on the right heading for Glasgow Queen Street.
[John Furnevel /11/2006] |
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| BBC News Article | |
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| 13/03/2010 | China plans bullet trains to 17 nations [Hindustan Times] |
| China is in global negotiations to spread its high-speed railway network to reach 17 nations and possibly India. By 2013, China will have the world’s biggest high-speed railway network and 800 bullet trains, compared to none until 2008. |
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| Hindustan Times | |
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| 13/03/2010 | Rail unions claim strike has solid support [BBC News] |
| Leaders of the RMT union have claimed there is 'rock solid' support for a 24-hour walkout by rail workers. |
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| BBC News | |
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| 12/03/2010 | Flying Scotsman tested on East Lancs Railway [BBC News] |
| One of Britain's most iconic steam trains will return to the rails with the help of Greater Manchester heritage railway enthusiasts |
Preserved Gresley ex-LNER A3 Pacific no 4472 Flying Scotsman stands at Carlisle platform 4 in the 1960s with a southbound special.
[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //] | 
4472 Flying Scotsman on the turntable at Ferryhill shed in May 1964.
[John Robin 16/05/1964] | 
4472 Flying Scotsman runs north through Tweedmouth station on 9 May 1964 with Pegler^s Pullman en route from Doncaster to Edinburgh. Tweeedmouth shed (52D) can be seen in the rear right of the photograph. The locomotive spent the following 9 days in Scotland on railtour duty and returned south light engine on 18 May. It was during this visit that the initial work on the Terence Cuneo painting of 4472 on the Forth Bridge was undertaken.
[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) 09/05/1964] |
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| BBC News | |
|
|
| 12/03/2010 | Rail maintenance workers vote to strike [libcom.org] |
| RMT members have voted strongly for strike action, in what stands to be the first national strike of rail workers in 16 years. Other workers including signallers and electrical supply controllers may also strike following their ballots in the coming weeks.
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|
| libcom.org | |
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| 11/03/2010 | 8 of the world's most popular high speed trains [Huffington Post] |
| The Obama Administration recently allocated money for high-speed train projects across the nation. Here at HuffPost Green, we think high speed rail is totally awesome, and we hope to see many great rail projects across the country. |
|
| Huffington Post | |
|
| 11/03/2010 | New high speed rail plan unveiled [BBC News] |
| Network Rail has proposed a new £34bn ($55bn) high-speed railway line linking Scotland and London by 2030. |
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| BBC News | |
| BBC Scotland | |
| BBC Scotland | |
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| 11/03/2010 | Train warning for football fans [BBC News Article] |
| Tayside football fans now risk losing their season tickets if they are involved in trouble anywhere on Scotland's rail network. |
A football match....really....step this way please... Quiet Saturday afternoon in Dundee in the 1990s on the occasion of a Dundee United v Aberdeen game.
[John Furnevel //] |
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| BBC News Article | |
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| 11/03/2010 | Preston station receives a £1m makeover [Network Rail Article] |
| Work is progressing well on two Network Rail schemes at Preston station worth over £1m that will make the station much more pleasant for passengers using the lifts and subways. |
A TransPennine Express Blackpool North - Manchester Airport class 185 service departs from Preston on 6 April.
[John McIntyre 06/04/2007] | 
DRS class 47 no 47501 creates a bit of a stir at Preston
[Michael Gibb 03/08/2007] | 
A busy Preston station looking South on 7th January 2009, with 156472 on a local service sandwiched between two Pendolinos, one Northbound and one Southbound
[Graham Morgan 07/01/2009] |
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| Network Rail Article | |
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|
| 10/03/2010 | Biggest rail strike since 1990s looms [Independent] |
| The threat of a national rail strike at Easter came closer yesterday as Network Rail revealed it had drawn up contingency plans to deal with a walk-out by thousands of workers. |
|
| Independent | |
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