News

  • SEVERN VALLEY WINS HRA MODERN TRACTION AWARD

    SEVERN VALLEY WINS HRA MODERN TRACTION AWARD

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    The Severn Valley Railway has been presented with the annual Heritage Railway Association Modern Traction Award, which is sponsored by Rail Express, for the purpose-built diesel depot at Kidderminster that was officially opened in May last year. Jonathan Dunster (right) accepted the trophy from RE’s editor Paul Bickerdyke at the HRA Awards ceremony, held at…

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  • Bidding mania will create a glut of surplus stock

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    The practice of promising new trains to win franchise bids is set to make some existing stock redundant – including a number of relatively recent introductions. By ‘Industry Witness’ ANALYSIS of the new train orders promised by recent successful franchise bids indicates that a greater amount of new rolling stock is being purchased than is…

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  • Freight grant cut will mean reduction in rail traffic

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    Loss of financial support could see more short-run freight workings switch from rail, leading to increased pollution and more road congestion. By ‘Industry Witness’ OPPORTUNITIES for rail to compete in the movement of freight traffic over shorter distances have been reduced as a result of a cutback in the budget available to operators applying to…

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  • Major railway scrapyard calls it a day

    Major railway scrapyard calls it a day

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    THE Stockton-based firm T J Thomson and Sons has closed its metals processing business and from now on will only deal in metal trading. This means the end of railway vehicles being scrapped on the site just south of the town’s station, which has been open since 1932 and was once one of Europe’s largest…

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  • Lime Street closed by collapsed wall

    Lime Street closed by collapsed wall

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    ALL rail services into and out of Liverpool Lime Street were cancelled during the evening peak on February 28 after a wall collapsed in the cutting on the approach to the station. Network Rail said the wall at the top of the cutting had been loaded with concrete and cabins by a third party, which…

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  • New depots for Exeter and Manningtree

    New depots for Exeter and Manningtree

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    GREAT Western Railway and Greater Anglia have both announced new depots will be built to house some of their new stock now on order. The GWR depot will be alongside Exeter St Davids station, while the GA one will be just north of Manningtree on the Essex/Suffolk border. The £40 million depot in Exeter will…

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  • HS2 bill receives royal assent

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    Approval by Parliament means construction of the high speed line from London to Birmingham can begin. CONSTRUCTION of the first phase of HS2 is expected to start within weeks now that royal assent has been given following approval by Parliament. The bill for construction was first published on November 25, 2013, and a total of…

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  • Last days of the ‘Westerns’

    Last days of the ‘Westerns’

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    I AM writing to say how much I enjoyed the look back at the lovely ‘Western’ class in your March Issue. Unfortunately there was one error that crept in when it was claimed that No. D1010 Western Campaigner worked the 1E45/ 07.30 Swansea to Leeds throughout on January 20, 1977. It was in fact No.…

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  • Sectorisation and the focus on freight

    Sectorisation and the focus on freight

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    British Rail arguably took the first steps towards privatisation in 1982, over a decade before it actually began, when the company moved from a geographic structure based on regions to one focused on separate business sectors. The biggest impact was to be on freight operations, as ‘Industry Witness’ describes. British Rail made a dramatic and…

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  • Boost for freight following investment at Tara Mines

    Boost for freight following investment at Tara Mines

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    The future of zinc and lead mining near Navan has been secured through to at least 2026, the ore being moved by rail to Dublin Port. THE Swedish owner of Tara Mines at Navan, which is Europe’s largest zinc/lead mine, plans to invest €44 million at the site after new resources were discovered. Boliden will…

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