http://www.railscot.co.uk/ Scottish Railway News. Some items are aggregated from external websites and copyright lies with the name given in square brackets. en-uk Sat, Feb 4 4:51:05 UTC Sat, Feb 4 4:51:05 UTC http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html PHP script http://ccgi.ewanbeth.force9.co.uk/cgi-bin/pm.php?whoto=John%20Furnevel http://ccgi.ewanbeth.force9.co.uk/cgi-bin/pm.php?whoto=Ewan%20Crawford 120 http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#10518 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. Fri, 03 Feb 2012, 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:56 GMT http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#1051810518 http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#10521 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. Fri, 03 Feb 2012, 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:56 GMT http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#1052110521 http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#10522 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.^ Fri, 03 Feb 2012, 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:56 GMT http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#1052210522 http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#10512 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. Thu, 02 Feb 2012, 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:56 GMT http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#1051210512 http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#10513 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. Thu, 02 Feb 2012, 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:56 GMT http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#1051310513 http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#10514 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] Thu, 02 Feb 2012, 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:56 GMT http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#1051410514 http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#10515 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. Thu, 02 Feb 2012, 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:56 GMT http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#1051510515 http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#10517 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] Thu, 02 Feb 2012, 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:56 GMT http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#1051710517 http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#10510 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. Wed, 01 Feb 2012, 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:56 GMT http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#1051010510 http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#10507 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. Tue, 31 Jan 2012, 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:31:56 GMT http://www.railbrit.co.uk/news.php#1050710507