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…
RAIL 745 Stop & Examine
Pwllheli remains cut from the national rail network Pwllheli is a town on the southern coast of Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales. It’s had a station since the Cambrian Railway…
RAIL 743 Stop & Examine
DB drops plans to run Channel Tunnel passenger trains DB’s decision to drop plans to run international trains to London is a bitter blow to those promoting European rail travel.…
RAIL 742 Stop & Examine
FGW sends Laira fitters to London First Great Western’s Old Oak Common on Sunday February 9 was a busy place. That morning Production Manager Colin Jeffery welcomed extra staff in…
Storms and bad weather
Senior Network Rail man Robin Gisby noted on February 6’s Today programme: “It feels like we’re having 1-in-100 year events every year or so.” With the battering Britain and its…
Do we really need the ‘Withered Arm’?
Destruction of an 80-metre section of sea wall at Dawlish has reopened the debate about the merits of finding an alternative rail route into Devon and Cornwall. The obvious alternative…