News

SWISS-based Stadler has beaten off competition from Bombardier, Siemens, CAF and Mitsui to win the contract to build 52 new EMU sets for Merseyrail. These will replace the 32 Class 507 and 27 Class 508 units that have been plying the two main Merseyrail routes – the Wirrall Line and Northern Line – since 1978-80.…

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Upgrade work has seen the loop and semaphore signals at Castlerock replaced. The latest phase of the Coleraine to Londonderry infrastructure upgrade was finished by November 21, including the completion of a loop at Bellarena and its associated signalling, the installation and commissioning of Track Circuit Block operation, and intermediate signals throughout the Coleraine to…

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Rolling stock heads to Weardale and Telford heritage lines for seasonal work. Eastern Rail Services is once again providing stock to British American Railway Services for use on its lucrative Polar Express trains at the Weardale Railway. On November 1, No. 31452 collected five coaches, Nos. 5866, 5906/60/89 and 9500, from the Mid-Norfolk Railway and…

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The results of the company’s final clear-out of Class 08/09 shunters were still largely awaited in late November. November was expected to bring the results of DB Cargo’s last shunter sale, the company having put its remaining 23 Class 08s and solitary Class 09 up for grabs to considerable interest. However, as the month ended,…

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Former ‘Wessex Electrics’ are put in store, but could they see further use on their old stamping ground with the next South West Trains franchise? As of late November, more than half of the Class 442 fleet had been moved to the Potter Group site at Ely for secure storage pending future use. One set…

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Western Champion will retrace the steps of 1977’s ‘Western Tribute’ farewell tour. February 26, 1977 is a date that will strike a chord for many enthusiasts, particularly those with a fondness for the hydraulics. It was on that day that Nos. D1013 Western Ranger and D1023 Western Fusilier (with its unique ‘domino’ headcode) double-headed the…

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An art installation has been unveiled at Piccadilly Circus station as a memorial to London Transport’s first chief executive Frank Pick, who commissioned much of the Underground that we recognise today. The memorial – which was unveiled on November 7, the 75th anniversary of his death – consists of eight words entitled ‘Beauty < Immortality’…

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Whoever wins the next Wales and Borders franchise will be a key part of developing an integrated transport system around Cardiff and Newport, as Robin Whitlock reports. In November 2015, Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said of the proposed South Wales Metro: “It is an ambitious project linking people and jobs across South Wales in a…

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