The Railway Magazine

IT was a decision eagerly awaited by the heritage rail movement and, thankfully, one that went the right way. I am talking about the award of a Transport and Works Act Order to rebuild the missing section of line between Bodiam and Robertsbridge, linking the Kent & East Sussex Railway with the Rother Valley Railway and thus effectively giving the KESR a main line interchange for the first time since the line was closed by British Railways in 1961. The significance of this decision cannot be overstated, not least because it includes new level crossings over the A21 and B2244 roads, but it was found that traffic would not be unduly impacted by the railway. Much work by supporters and campaigners had gone into making the best possible application for…

ALTHOUGH later trains in the order of 94 nine-car ‘Inspiro’ trains for London Underground’s Piccadilly Line will be assembled at Siemens’ new factory in Goole, the company is building the first units in Vienna, and testing them in Germany at the Wildenrath test centre. The first ‘Inspiro’ is expected to arrive at Wildenrath in July for static testing, with dynamic tests planned to begin towards the end of this year. To make this possible, Siemens has electrified both test rings at Wildenrath with London-style fourth-rail electrification. The smaller 2.5km dual (1000/1435mm) gauge test ring and adjacent tracks were previously equipped with side-contact third-rail to test new trains delivered to Berlin in recent years. This remains in place and new third/fourth-rail London Underground electrification has also been fitted using aluminium conductor…

EAST West Rail has announced the preferred route for the third-phase of the £5 billion project between Bedford and Cambridge. The line will run north out of Bedford Midland to cross the East Coast Main Line at Tempsford (between Sandy and St Neots), continuing on to Cambourne and then joining the existing line from Hitchin near Foxton to enter Cambridge from the south. EWR plans to rebuild the ‘Varsity Line’ (closed January 1, 1968) between Oxford and Cambridge, in three phases: the first, which is well-advanced, involves rebuilding and relaying the former mothballed section between Bicester and Bletchley/ Milton Keynes; the second will be an upgrade of the existing line between Bletchley and Bedford Midland; while the third, and most expensive, would be a mostly new route from Bedford to…

THE Talgo high-speed carriage that arrived for display at Barrow Hill Roundhouse in January 2020 has been donated by the Spanish train manufacturer to the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) test track, which is under construction at Onllwyn in South Wales. Talgo bid for the classic-compatible order for HS2 trains and was interested in other potential UK deals as well as export opportunities. However, the HS2 contract was awarded to a joint venture between Hitachi and Alstom, and Companies House records show that Talgo UK Limited, which had its registered office address at Barrow Hill Roundhouse, was dissolved on November 9, 2021. The sleeper vehicle now at GCRE had previously been used on overnight Paris-Madrid trains, with other coaches from those services being converted into Very High Speed Train…

THE relocation of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust from Hopetown Works to the nearby brand-new, purpose-built works within the Darlington Railway Heritage Quarter got underway in late May. Owned by Darlington Borough Council, the new £4.5 million two-road building will provide many of the facilities required for constructing and operating the A1SLT’s locomotives, including a main line rail connection and inspection pits. Following a detailed site visit by Network Rail, DBC and A1SLT personnel, a clear preferred layout has now been finalised for the trust’s new home. The plan will allow a full-length charter train to arrive into the site without being split. Expenditure has also been reduced by only using one span of the bridge over nearby Otley Terrace, while major signal cable movements have been avoided. Almost all…

No new Piccadilly platforms NETWORK Rail’s long-proposed plans for the construction of two new platforms at Manchester Piccadilly station have been withdrawn. The Department for Transport says it has asked the Manchester Task Force (a cross-industry group, including NR, train operators, Transport for Greater Manchester and Transport for the North) to “consider alternative options to better serve passengers and support the £26 million already injected to improve services at Manchester Piccadilly, Airport and Oxford Road stations.” Confirmation came in an announcement of £72 million of DfT funding for rail improvements, including a third platform and turnbacks for Salford Crescent station and additional platform entrances and exits for passengers at Manchester Victoria. The Government claims it will reduce delays, bottlenecks and overcrowding, but Northern Powerhouse Partnership chief executive Henri Murison said…