Transpennine Route Upgrade latest progress
These pictures show Network Rail’s progress with upgrading the railway line between Leeds and Manchester. The project aims to create more capacity for longer trains that can deliver quicker journeys.…
Transpennine Route Upgrade reaches Batley and Dewsbury
Trains are now running through Dewsbury and Batley following a 28-day blockade to let Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) upgrade the line. TRU renewed track as follows: Batley 615m, Dewbury 2,760m,…
Network Rail faces capacity challenge on its Settle-Carlisle line
When news broke earlier this year of extensive closures coming to the northern half of the West Coast Main Line for renewals of overhead wires and signalling, it naturally begged…
The long wait for a train…
The new Labour government has cancelled the previous administration’s ‘Restoring Your Railways’ project. This article from 2021 looks at Portishead, where the local council has been working since 2008 to…
NR creates London freight blueprint
In West London there’s a pair of tracks known as the Up Poplar and Down Poplar. They link the Great Western Main Line with the North London Line. A train…
Britain needs electric freight
Noel Dolphin is an enthusiast for electric trains. That shouldn’t surprise anyone because he works for Furrer+Frey, which is the Swiss company that developed the electrification system that Network Rail…
When will passengers return?
I woke early the other morning. Too early. All was black outside and time dragged. It seemed to be hours before the eastern sky slowly lightened and the sun hauled…
Queensbury Rules: The fight for old structures
Glance at a map of the West Riding’s rail network at its height and you cannot fail to be impressed by the sheer complexity of lines. Rather than share, rival…
Electrification sits at heart of Scotland’s transport agenda
Delve into the Scottish Government’s updated climate change plan and there’s a picture of an electrified railway on the title page of the chapter about transport. Look past the profusion…
Campaigners fight Highways England’s plans for old bridges
When Transport Ministers Ernie Marples and Barbara Castle swung Beeching’s axe across swathes of Britain’s railway in the 1960s, they left behind them isolated communities and gently decaying stations. Track…