A few minutes around Manchester Victoria
Manchester remains a major railway hub for passengers and freight. In common with many other towns and cities across Britain it once boasted several major stations as different companies fought…
Canary Wharf Crossrail station
Canary Wharf is probably Crossrail’s most eye-catching station. Or at least the roof over it is eye-catching – the station itself is some 30 metres underground with the space in…
Something different – German steam
You will not find much steam on this blog but I took a few days out to see the latest German Dampfspetakal held around Neustadt in late May and early…
New communications man for Network Rail
Welcome to Barney Wyld who has joined Network Rail as communications director, replacing former No 10 man Tom Kelly. He faces some challenges in debunking old railway myths, not least…
Poor work at Peterborough
I was back in Peterborough the other day to help make sure Steam Railway magazine reached the printers on time. The trip gave me a chance to have a look…
King’s Cross progress for Thameslink
Next time you’re heading north from King’s Cross be sure to grab a window seat looking west. Keep your eyes peeled as you leave Gasworks Tunnel (it’s the first tunnel)…
Nationalisation? I’m not convinced
Calls over the early May Bank Holiday weekend to nationalise Britain’s railways from a group of Labour candidates sounded alluring but I’m not convinced the figures behind their arguments stack…
Bright future for Channel Tunnel freight
Whisper it quietly, but perhaps the Channel Tunnel is finally coming good for railfreight. Eurotunnel’s figures for the first quarter of 2014 show a 24% increase in tonnage compared with…
Changing infrastructure is a challenge
A recent survey from the CBI has put into stark perspective the challenges that major infrastructure promoters face in convincing an often sceptical public that the improvements they propose are…
Little change for East Coast Main Line franchise
In terms of destinations, the East Coast Main Line franchise today is pretty much the same as when GNER took over from British Rail in 1996. The new company added…