Tabla de contenidos para Issue 1014 en RAIL

rail@bauermedia.co.uk @RAIL ROYAL Mail’s decision to end its involvement with rail from October 10 (see Network News, pages 10-11) seems inevitable. Most of us might have been forgiven for thinking that it fizzled out a long time ago. Discussing how to keep the remaining 3% of Royal Mail’s total business on the railway is unlikely to warrant any discussion time in the new Labour government’s busy schedule. However, understanding the company’s £419 million loss last year, and getting its controversial £3.7 billion takeover by a Czech tycoon past the unions, surely will. The question is: can new fast parcels carrier Varamis Rail (and others) expand quickly enough to fill some of the gap created by Royal Mail’s withdrawal in a little over three months’ time? Varamis is a chink of…

LABOUR’S new team at the Department for Transport is a mixture of the familiar and the unknown. It includes veteran former transport ministers and local government leaders who have championed the cause of public transport. Despite rumours that the job might be given to someone else in government, Louise Haigh has been appointed Transport Secretary, the job she had shadowed in opposition. The MP for Sheffield Heeley since 2015, Haigh is on Labour’s ‘soft left’ and has links to affiliated trade unions since well before she entered the House of Commons. She is considered a pragmatist, accepting that rolling stock, freight and open access will continue to see private sector involvement in the railway. But her commitment to public ownership means that rail is the only major industry in which…

The Railway Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has released its report into an incident at St Philips Marsh depot in Bristol last September. The incident occurred when a Great Western Railway member of staff responsible for shunting locomotives was struck by a train that was exiting the depot’s main shed building. The employee had left the main shed via a roller shutter door and walked into the path of the train, which was accelerating more quickly than expected. Both the employee and the train driver were unaware of each other’s movements. RAIB recommends that GWR ensures it reviews the personal track safety training and assessment it provides for shunters, and manages the risk of staff being struck by a train in these locations.…

Ambitious plans in the North East to reopen the disused 21-mile Leamside Line and expand the Tyne and Wear Metro to Washington have been announced. North East Mayor Kim McGuinness pledged her commitment to the £8.6 million project, stating: “I pledged in my manifesto to bring the Metro to Washington and that’s exactly what we will do.” The Leamside Line runs from Pelaw to Tursdale, where it connects with the East Coast Main Line. A further spur runs from south of the Victoria Viaduct to South Hylton, where it would join the existing Metro line. Reopening the line, seen as crucial for the North East’s economic future, has garnered support from local communities, politicians and businesses. However, national funding has yet to be secured. McGuinness emphasised the transformative impact that…

The additional trains for the Elizabeth line, ordered to stave off closure of Alstom’s Derby Litchurch Lane Works (RAIL 1012), are to cost £2.45 million per vehicle, according to a newly-released letter. Setting out the funding settlement from the Department for Transport to Transport for London, former Transport Secretary Mark Harper told London Mayor Sadiq Khan on June 14 that £220.5m is being provided. The contract is for ten nine-car Class 345 electric multiple units. The total value includes maintenance and spares. The letter followed TfL’s submission of a business case to Harper on May 28, by which time the election had already been announced and the government was in the pre-election ‘purdah’ period when government announcements are tightly controlled. “My officials and I have carefully considered the consequences of…

MORE than one-quarter of trains have been suddenly axed by nationalised ScotRail, owing to worsening industrial relations that has resulted in a driver shortage with fewer drivers volunteering to work on their days off. “We want to resolve the pay dispute and remain fully committed to further discussions,” ScotRail Service Delivery Director Mark Ilderton told RAIL. ScotRail (and the state-owned Caledonian Sleeper) is facing industrial action by all its staff, after a formal pay offer made on July 5 was rejected by all four rail trade unions - ASLEF, RMT, TSSA, and Unite. ASLEF and the RMT have said that they are to ballot their members on industrial action, up to and including strikes. There is no suggestion that the lack of volunteers for overtime is being co-ordinated by unions.…

There has been no further movement in the national rail dispute between ASLEF and the Rail Delivery Group, affecting 14 train operators controlled by the Department for Transport. In the week after the General Election, new Transport Secretary Louise Haigh held individual meetings with the leaders of the ASLEF and RMT unions, plus each of the train operating companies. Attended by civil servants and formally minuted, each meeting allowed Haigh to be introduced to each of the industry’s major players, but was not designed to discuss matters in any detail.…

Accident investigators have made several recommendations to Northern Trains, following an incident where a passenger train started moving with several doors still open. The incident took place on May 3 2023, as the three-car Class 323 electric multiple unit was departing from Styal station, in Cheshire. The train had earlier been delayed at Alderley Edge by a fault which had prevented the driver from releasing the brakes and taking power, and the situation recurred two stations further along, at Styal. Here the train stood for 25 minutes while the driver and conductor dealt with the situation in consultation with Northern’s maintenance controller (MC). The MC instructed the driver to isolate safety systems relating to the doors, to allow the train to move. This did not resolve the issue, but after…

Ben Woods is joining Porterbrook as Engineering Business Development Director, having started his railway career with the company in 2004 as a Graduate Technical Support Engineer. He has accrued a wealth of experience at East Midlands Trains, Arriva Trains Wales, Network Rail, IPEX Consulting, and most recently at FirstGroup. Porterbrook has more than 4,000 vehicles in its portfolio. Woods will be responsible for co-ordinating early-stage workstreams with customers and suppliers.…

The Branch Line Society has advertised a series of charity fundraising trains for Martin House Hospice, with the first a railtour for August 3 using GB Railfreight as operator and with traction provided by GBRf and DC Rail. The ‘Cappagh Capital Campaigner’ starts at Derby behind a GBRf Class 69. It heads first to Chaddesden Yard, before then heading south along the Midland Main Line to Bedford, and west along the Marston Vale Line to Forders Sidings. Next stop is Wembley Yard, where top-and-tail DC Rail Class 60s take over to Waterloo. Then it’s off to Chessington South Coal Depot and then Brighton for a 90-minute break. The Class 60s then head back to Waterloo, where they are replaced by a pair of DC Rail Class 56s for a return…

A Direct Rail Service Class 66 failed spectacularly at Blair Atholl in the Scottish Highlands on July 5, when one of its axles seized. 66122, one of five ‘66s’ on long-term lease from DB Cargo, was hauling the 1340 Inverness Needlefield Yard-Mossend Up Yard intermodal train. 68005 Defiant was sent from Motherwell to return the wagons to Needlefield Yard in Inverness. Engineers then arrived by road to fit a wheelskate to 66122. On July 6, 68005 then returned to haul the locomotive to nearby Dunkeld sidings, to await further movement. Several trains had to be cancelled, while the 2045 Inverness-Euston Caledonian Sleeper, hauled by 66303 and 73967, was diverted to run via Aberdeen and was 67 minutes late arriving at Edinburgh. A swift locomotive change to 92014 saw it leave…

SOME 37 years after the first Class 90 25kV AC electric locomotive was accepted into traffic by British Rail, a start is being made on scrapping withdrawn examples of the class. 90022 now holds the dubious distinction of being the first of the 50-strong fleet to be broken up, when it was dismantled on July 9/10. Next in line for scrapping was 90038. It is one of eight ‘90s’ that was sold to Sandbach Dismantlers, along with 90017/023/027/030/031/033/038 which are all set to follow in being broken up. Additionally, 90025/031 were sold to European Metal Recycling and are also likely to be scrapped. Of the other 40 Class 90s, 25 are in use with Freightliner, two are with Locomotive Services Limited, DB Cargo has 12 for sale, and one (90050)…

Reid Freight has collected more of the 12 scrapped Class 60s bought by Land Recovery from DB Cargo. The moves run from Toton to Uttoxeter, where the lorry waits in a parking area on the central reservation of the A50 until they can be moved forward to Alsager (RAIL 1013). This recess is to wait for the Staffordshire Police to escort the 200-tonne loads to Radway Green. The site now has track panels laid out for the locomotives. On June 28, 60089 was collected. It was followed by the sixth of the Class 60s (60052), which left Toton on July 5 and spent the weekend in Uttoxeter. On July 9, 60012 was collected. After an overnight in Staffordshire, it moved to Radway Green on July 10, while on July 11,…

WORK has started on finding ways to increase passenger capacity at St Pancras International station by 50% by the end of the decade, to cope with expected growth in travel to European destinations through the Channel Tunnel. Although only revamped 17 years ago at a cost of £800 million, HS1’s London terminus is already considered unfit for purpose, with long queues at passport control since Brexit. Operator Eurostar says it can solve these problems on its own, but adds that it wants to increase services in advance of threatened competition from new operators wanting to run trains further into mainland Europe. Eurostar, which has had a monopoly from the outset in 1994, is currently embroiled in controversy over its decision not to restart services to Ebbsfleet and Ashford International stations,…

It’s the middle of the night. You’re part of a permanent way team carrying out track repairs on a main line deep in the countryside. The only relief from the pitch black are head torches and maybe a couple of portable work lights. It’s tough, physical and tiring work at the best of times, but at night it’s even more dangerous. Now imagine doing it in a live war zone, ears pricked for the sound of missiles and shells streaking over your head, terrified about stumbling across unexploded live ordnance. That’s the scenario Ukrainian railway workers have had to face day in, day out since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. Many readers will have seen the widely shared images of unexploded bombs lodged into embankments and railway infrastructure…

THERE was no shortage of dropped jaws when news came through about the appointment of the recently ennobled Lord Peter Hendy as rail minister. This was certainly a left-field move, taking everyone (perhaps even himself) by surprise. And it raises numerous questions about how he will handle the change from Network Rail chairman and long-time transport manager to being the minister responsible for railways. However, as well as surprise, there was almost total support for Hendy, with many of my contacts in the industry praising Sir Keir Starmer for what they saw as an “inspired” appointment. Typical of the reaction was the comment in Passenger Transport, which said: “Nobody at a senior level understands the railways, and indeed public transport, as well as Peter Hendy.” At this point, I’d better…

TWO of Britain’s train operating companies are living on borrowed time. Greater Anglia and West Midlands Trains have contracts that contain core term expiry dates of September 15 2024. To bring them into the public sector, Labour Transport Secretary Louise Haigh need only serve an expiry notice that gives at least three reporting periods’ warning. Each reporting period is 28 days, so that makes 84 days. Such an expiry notice cannot take effect before the core term expiry date. But as we are now within 84 days of September 15, the Transport Secretary can trigger the end of private operations for those two companies whenever she pleases. Yet nationalising train operators is not a silver bullet, as the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has shown with its cancellation statistics,…

OpinionIndustry Insider ROYAL Mail is to cease using its dedicated fleet of electric units from October 10 this year, with traffic transferring to road operations. Rail services have already been scaled back from the time the Railnet postal system was conceived, and for which the Class 325 trains were built in 1995. Only a handful of terminals remain active. The decision is a policy change from an earlier announcement that the use of rail services would be increased. It reflects a loss of competitiveness as a result of the level of the EC4T (Electricity for Traction) tariff levied by Network Rail, which reflects greatly increased supply costs and will total £4.3 billion in the five-year Control Period 7 (2024-29). Increased traction current costs have resulted in a reversion to diesel freight…

WELCOME to the RAIL Crossword. In this issue, two successful solvers can learn more about the remarkable story of The Liberation Line: The Last Untold Story of the Normandy Landings, courtesy of Atlantic Books (https://atlantic-books.co.uk/). As featured in his column (RAIL 1007) and in a special feature (RAIL 1010), The Liberation Line: The Last Untold Story of the Normandy Landings (hardback, 372 pages, retail price £25) is the latest book by RAIL columnist Christian Wolmar. It tells the story of the thousands of enlisted men - around 10,000 Royal Engineers and three times that number of US servicemen -who were sent across to France to rebuild the railways of north-west Europe in the immediate aftermath of D-Day (June 6 1944). They were not soldiers, yet they suddenly found themselves in…

Some final thoughts from the team at RAIL @RAIL Send contributions to: mike.wright@bauermedia.co.uk Avanti West Coast and train manufacturer Alstom teamed up to give a group of schoolchildren a behind-the-scenes tour of a train depot, as part of its Feel Good Feel Trips initiative. Year 10 pupils from Meadow Park School in Coventry, who are studying Design and Technology, travelled by train for an interactive day out at Alstom’s Oxley facility in Wolverhampton. The depot is the home of Avanti West Coast’s new Class 805 Evero train, which entered passenger service last month (RAIL 1011). The students were challenged to design a new train livery, and then had the chance to build a model bogie (train wheel) and repair some brakes. They also explored an Evero, and were given an…

EXPANDING Manchester’s Bee Network forms a key part of the region’s wider plan for transport, with new Metrolink routes to surrounding towns including Stockport, Rochdale and Bolton. Great Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham also wants to bring eight rail lines under Bee Network control by 2028, with full integration intended by 2030. Launching the Rapid Transit Strategy, Burnham also confirmed that he would be asking new Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to green-light proposals as soon as possible for a new West Coast Main Line station at Golborne. It has been stuck at the approval stage for months. Another new station is planned at Cheadle. Both Stockport and Rochdale Metrolink extensions have been in the planning stages for years, with Stockport’s extension in the final stages of its business case…

NEW West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker has ordered an “urgent review” into the region’s transport policy, as delays and rising costs on multiple schemes create pressure on the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA’s) finances. Parker, who succeeded Andy Street in May after an extremely close race, was responding to a WMCA report that blamed the squeeze on finances on excessive inflation, supply chain issues, and contractor delays. Rail projects affected include the first phase of the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension, which was already over budget. WMCA has had to stagger development of the line to manage costs. Also affected is the Camp Hill Line (see story below), which is likely to be pushed back to autumn 2025, and the two stations currently being built at Darleston and Willenhall.…

A one-off bonus of “at least” £650 per employee for working during the Paris Olympics has been negotiated by the RMT with Eurostar. It means that following a ‘yes’ vote for strikes by RMT members, the dispute with Eurostar is now over. “This acknowledges the dedication of our members during this busy period, and we remain committed to securing the best possible conditions for our members across all roles,” said RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch. Initially, Eurostar proposed a shift-based payment system, which RMT rejected for being “divisive and insufficient”. Instead, the union proposed a one-off post-Olympic payment, encompassing a broader range of employees including assistant duty control managers, rostering/planning, and frontline contact centre roles. Head office support function staff will not be included, said the RMT, adding: “Eurostar will…

AFTER a record number of entries, the shortlisted nominations are in for this year’s National Rail Awards, so don’t delay: book your seat now. This year’s National Rail Awards ceremony takes place at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on September 12 and will be hosted by TV presenter and broadcaster Nick Knowles (pictured below). Although best known for his involvement in DIY and home makeover programmes, he has recently experienced the wonders of the world by train. As host of Amazing Railway Adventures with Nick Knowles, he went on a range of globe-trotting trips - from digging up ancient artefacts to swimming in the freezing Arctic Circle. His experience as an established presenter and his amazing railway adventures over the past three years make him the perfect host for this year’s…

GB Railfreight’s latest Class 69 to emerge from the Arlington Paintshop at Eastleigh is 69012, which has been repainted in the same British Railways green livery that was applied to the unique Brush/Maybach test locomotive D0280 Falcon in the 1960s. D0280 was built in 1961, and married a pair of the same Maybach MD655 engines used in the Class 52 Westerns with a diesel electric driveline - as opposed to a diesel hydraulic set-up. When it emerged from Brush’s Falcon works (after which it was named), it sported ornate nameplates and individual lettering. This has been replicated on 69012 (albeit named Falcon 2). D0820 was initially painted in a predominately all-over lime green with a darker green solebar and upper grille section. It was returned to Brush in late 1963,…

UK Railtours is planning to run the ‘Eastriggs Eloper’ for September 14, with the highlight being a trip to the railhead at Eastriggs (near Annan), just over the border in Scotland. The train is still being planned, but the aspiration is to run from the London area with GB Railfreight traction to Carlisle, and then head to Eastriggs, which has a complex layout of several miles of track. Meanwhile, Retro Railtours has announced its ‘Retro High Speed Scot’ for August 24, using the 125 Group’s main line HST set. The train starts at Crewe and heads via Manchester and Huddersfield to York, to then take the East Coast Main Line to Edinburgh. A four-hour break in the Scottish capital is planned.…

Class 52 D1015 Western Champion was back on its old Western Region lines on July 6, when it worked an East Midlands Parkway-Cranmore charter for UK Railtours (see Modern Images, pages 36-37). It headed south along the Midland Main Line as far as Bedford, before making a first passenger trip for a ‘52’ on the Bedford-Bletchley ‘Marston Vale’ line. After crossing London, it joined the Great Western Main Line to Westbury and then on to the East Somerset Railway.…

The return to traffic of Deltic D9015 Tulyar for the first time in more than 25 years edges closer, with the locomotive reunited with its original numbers on its two-tone green paintwork. Owner the Deltic Preservation Society, which is carrying out the full overhaul of the locomotive at its Barrow Hill depot, says D9015 is now mechanically complete. Everything is connected up, and it has fuel, coolant and oil with no leaks at present. Only a few minor jobs remain, with none of these critical to running. In late June, the BIS (battery isolating switch) was closed for the first time. A few faults were identified, and the electrical team is working through them. The next target will be starting the two Napier engines, after which everything that runs from…

Contributions for by far the UK’s most published column by the same author - now in its 43rd year - are most welcome from all sources. Personal observations, society magazines, website printouts and live links, transport group newsletters and media cuttings (with dates, please) are sought to maintain topicality. Please email your contributions direct to hj@howardjohnston.co.uk, or rail@bauermedia.co.uk WESTERN Didcot: The Great Western Society is raising £3 million to restore the Grade 2 Listed four-track steam shed to its 1960s layout. The roof needs replacing, and two rooms will be converted into a museum. Heyford: A start has been made on reconstruction of the GWR building removed from the Oxford-Banbury line station in 1986. Foundations have been laid at the end of Didcot’s demonstration line, and a steel frame has been…

TO some, Royal Mail’s decision to move its postal deliveries from rail to road, and in turn decommission its remaining fleet of trains (which currently stands at a fleet of six Class 325 electrics), was a long time coming. In some ways, those people would be correct - Royal Mail has for decades been moving slowly away from mail by rail. From its pre-Second World War boom of 130 Travelling Post Offices (TPOs) that sorted mail on the move, Royal Mail has slowly (but progressively) shifted its mail operations to other modes of transport. The flexibility of road deliveries, issues with timetabling, and fluctuating costs have combined to gradually diminish mail by rail’s importance to the company. By the 1980s, TPOs (operated by British Rail subsidiary Rail Express Systems) were…

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2 WAYS TO SEND RAIL YOUR VIEWS & OPINIONS WRITE TO US: RAIL, Bauer Media, Media House, Lynchwood, Peterborough Business Park, Peterborough PE2 6EA. EMAIL US: rail@bauermedia.co.uk A MANIFESTO FOR THE RAILWAY Andrew Adonis as GBR ‘guiding mind’ could put the railway back together… RAIL invited readers’ thoughts on what direction policy should take after the General Election (Comment, RAIL 1011). My first thought was to turn to your 1,000th issue back in January. This contained several excellent contributions from experienced railway managers and other experts, all of them with interesting points. But one in particular stood out for me - that from Chris Green. Often described as the best chairman BR never had, in two pages he expertly summed up exactly what is wrong with the present set-up… and…

ROYAL Mail has officially told DB Cargo that it will end the company’s rail freight contract in October, in favour of road haulage. DB Cargo has been running Royal Mail’s rail operations since 2010. But the postal business owns the Class 325 trains, which were built in the 1990s and are reaching the end of their life. In a letter to staff, DB Cargo UK CEO Andrea Rossi spoke of the company’s “profound disappointment” at the decision, which he said was a U-turn on Royal Mail’s previous commitment to increase the use of rail freight to meet net zero targets. Stressing that the decision was not based on any performance failings, Rossi warned that it raised concerns not only for DB Cargo, but also for the wider rail freight sector.…

Delivered as this issue of RAIL was going to press, the King’s Speech setting out the coming year’s parliamentary agenda included laws to deliver the new Labour government’s railway policies. As expected, there will be legislation to bring passenger rail services into public ownership as existing contracts expire, or if operators fail to deliver on their commitments. Legislation will also be introduced to establish Great British Railways as a new public body to oversee the country’s railways. Taken together, these moves are intended to end the fragmentation of the railway system, provide a better service, boost productivity, and save money by not paying fees to private operators. Speaking at the State Opening of Parliament, the King said: “My ministers will bring forward legislation to improve the railways by reforming rail…

Network Rail has been forced to delay the replacement of a bridge close to Oxford station, because “highly complex” utility diversion works in the road underneath cannot be completed in time. The Botley Road bridge replacement is a key element in the multi-million-pound Oxfordshire Connect programme. It will enable the creation of a fifth platform at Oxford station and increase capacity to support the introduction of East West Rail. It will also result in an improved and safer local road layout, so that buses, cyclists and pedestrians can more easily access the city centre. A five-day line closure was scheduled for the end of July to install the new bridge, but more time is needed. There will still be a shorter two-day line closure through Oxford over the weekend of…

Network Rail’s Southern Region has launched a level crossing safety campaign at the start of the school holidays. The messaging is supported by a compilation video of real-life near misses between people and trains. It shows children and young people rushing out of the way of approaching trains, but also adult dog-walkers ignoring basic safety precautions, and a worrying number of drivers attempting to ‘jump’ red lights and closing barriers. Latest figures across the region show there were 918 recorded incidents of crossing misuse in the last financial year (2023-24) and 90 near misses.…

Innovation of the Year Amey Discontinuous electrification of Core Valley Lines. LNER Automated deer detection system. Network Rail FELIX Automated Measurement Trolley. Purple Transform SiYtE Platform transforming rail safety & efficiency. Rail Electrification Alliance Static Frequency Converters. Siemens Mobility Variable Rate Sanding. Transreport Passenger Assistance. Infrastructure Achievement of the Year AmcoGiffen/Systra/Network Rail Ebbw Vale Earthworks Enhancement. GRAHAM Beaulieu Parkway Bridge Project. Keltbray & Network Rail LTS Mk 1 OLE Replacement. Morgan Sindall Infrastructure Parsons Tunnel Rockfall Shelter. Siemens Mobility/Network Rail/GTR Northern City Line ETCS Pathfinder Project. Stadler Rail Service UK/Nexus/ VolkerFitzpatrick Gosforth Depot Construction. Outstanding Teamwork Award Severn Estuary Earthworks Resilience Project. AtkinsRéalis Feltham Resignalling Programme Team. Carmichael UK & Elite Project Services Unique solutions to leave a lasting legacy. Network Rail/Balfour Beatty Rail/ Crouch Waterfall Nuneham Viaduct Emergency Works.…

WR acquires Class 47 The Wensleydale Railway has bought 47714 from Harry Needle Railroad Company for the 22-mile line from Northallerton to Redmire. It will mostly operate its annual Polar Express trains, which need an air-braked, electric train heat locomotive. Class 66s swap names After 66781 was renamed Ratcliffe Power Station, its Darius Cheskin nameplates were moved to 66770, which thus becomes the third GB Railfreight Class 69 to bear these plates after 66778 then 66781. WCR ‘47’ rewired West Coast Railway’s 47760 has been returned to the company after a rewire and overhaul at Nemesis Rail at Burton-on-Trent. ‘91’ for MML tests Europhoenix’s 91117 is being prepared for electrification testing on the Midland Main Line north of Kettering.…

The sole Class 89, Brush trial locomotive 89001 Avocet, is edging closer to undertaking its first main line runs in private ownership. Owned by the AC Locomotive Group, but on hire to Locomotive Services Limited, for the first time in 25 years 89001 has taken power on all six traction motors, as well as completing all required commissioning tests. With this first major part of the project now complete, the next step is to bring 89001 back to Crewe Depot for the first time to complete the first steps of driver training and locomotive testing. These will both be conducted at the depot, with much work still to be done until 89001 is given approval for main line operation. The 25kV AC Co-Co locomotive was built in 1985-86 by BREL…

On July 1, the Class 50 Alliance’s 50007 Hercules and 50049 Defiance ran light (without nameplates) to Arlington Fleet Services’ Eastleigh works for bodywork attention and a repaint. They will emerge in BR ‘large logo’ blue, the first time 50007 has worn this livery since 1984. On June 29, they worked Pathfinder Railtours’ ‘Mazey Day excursion’ from Dorridge to Penzance, taking Class 50s back to the old Western Region routes of the 1970/80s.…

Ex-ScotRail 156478 has moved to Northern, whose livery it now sports after an overhaul carried out by Brodie Rail Engineering. On July 8, it was collected by 156487 and moved from Kilmarnock to Heaton, via Airdrie and Bathgate. Brodie Engineering said it was “delighted to announce a five-year agreement with Northern for the lease of 156478”. It added: “Prior to going on lease, the unit has undergone substantial preparatory works including a full C6 overhaul, interior repaint and refresh, and exterior repaint and relivery. All works were successfully undertaken at Brodie Engineering’s Caledonia Works.” The two-car diesel multiple unit was delivered to BR in February 1989. In October 2000 it derailed near Craig, in Dumfries & Galloway. Then in December 2014, it was seriously damaged by floodwater near Mauchline, also…

Europhoenix is planning a number of repaints of its Class 37s into retro BR era liveries. The company has 18 months left on its contract with hiring the type to Rail Operations Group, and it has agreed to repaint some locomotives. 37601 Perseus is expected to be painted in British Steel light blue. In its previous guise as 37501, the Class 37 was the only BR locomotive to carry this livery, from February 1987 to August 1989. It was named Teesside Steelmaster in this colour scheme. 37800 Cassiopeia is expected to appear in the two-tone grey livery with Mainline Freight logos, while 37884 Cepheus is planned to have Loadhaul colours applied. More retro liveries could be applied, with 37510 Orion and 37901 Mirrlees Pioneer also in Europhoenix livery. Europhoenix also…

Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) is to appoint a Chief Operations Officer to help deliver a €5 billion (£4.2bn) programme of capital investment projects that aims to grow the current carrying capacity of the railway from 50 million to 80 million passengers by 2030. Reporting to the CEO and interacting at Board level, the newly created role of COO is planned to oversee all aspects of the integrated rail system’s day-to-day operational delivery of train services and infrastructure.…

Great Western Railway’s four Class 57/6s are nocturnal, going efficiently about their business six nights a week hauling the Night Riviera Sleeper service between Paddington and Penzance. Routine servicing and maintenance is carried out at either the home depot at Penzance T&RS TD (generally referred to as Long Rock) or at Reading Traincare depot, where the trainsets stable during the day. These four locomotives were converted from redundant Class 47s 20 years ago, when they were already nearly 40 years old. Last year GWR, in conjunction with the locomotives’ owner Porterbrook, decided to put the fleet through a ‘G’ exam programme -the most extensive level of work carried out on a locomotive. On January 21 2022, GWR owner FirstGroup had issued a tender notice inviting expressions of interest to design,…