Railways Illustrated August 2022

The country spent the first few days of June celebrating The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, an event none of us are likely to ever see again. Whether you are a supporter of the Royal Family or not, the long weekend was certainly a time to recognise longevity and achievement. As with the rest of the country, the railway got in on the act of celebrating, with a number of operators applying the official jubilee crests to their fleets, while others went a little further – creating a predictable division between those who approved and those who didn’t. First up was GB Railfreight, which unveiled its 100th Class 66, the ‘new’ 66734 in royal purple and grey. GBRf is no stranger to applying special paint schemes to its locomotive fleet, and 66734…

A WEEK after The Queen visited Paddington’s Elizabeth line to officially mark its completion, Transport for London welcomed the first fare-paying passengers onto the new line between Paddington and Abbey Wood. Services were launched from each end at 06.30 on May 24, with TfL estimating that about 1000 passengers were waiting to travel on the first service from Paddington, with a further 600 turning up for the first Elizabeth line service from the Abbey Wood end of the new route. The first morning saw services operating generally well and running to time, with good passenger loadings observed. A fire alarm at Paddington at around 8am saw the new station temporarily evacuated, with trains terminating at Tottenham Court Road for about 20 minutes until the all-clear was given. The new railway…

Transport for London chief operating officer Andy Lord confirmed to Railways Illustrated that the delayed opening to Bond Street station – the only new station on the Elizabeth line not to have opened alongside the other nine new stations – is expected to take place in the autumn. Work on the construction of Bond Street was previously running 18 months behind schedule following problems with the original contractor appointed to work on its construction. However, intensive work has seen that delay significantly reduced – although not sufficiently to allow it to be handed over to TfL. The station can be used for train evacuations, should it be needed. Mr Lord said: “Work is progressing well and a lot has been done to catch up the delays we previously had at…

→ Northern commemorated the fifth anniversary of the Manchester Arena terror attack on May 22, with a minute’s silence at 12.00pm and 10.31pm (the exact time of the attack) at Manchester Victoria. The names of the victims were read out prior to the silence by station announcers, and the station exterior was illuminated yellow in the evening as a mark of respect. The station is situated below the arena where the attack happened in 2017, killing 22 people who had been attending an Ariana Grande concert at the venue. → Passengers travelling to and from Manchester Piccadilly will be offered stress-relief sessions and self-care kits to support mental health. The project, being supported by Avanti West Coast, has been developed by South East Lancashire Community Rail Partnership and aims to…

NETWORK RAIL and train operators issued ‘Do not travel unless absolutely necessary’ messages throughout the lead-up to the first of a series of strikes organised by the Rail Maritime and Transport workers union (RMT), which took place in late June as this issue of Railways Illustrated closed for press. The walk-out – which is the biggest stoppage of rail services since strikes were held on British Rail in 1989 – involved up to 40,000 rail workers who are members of the RMT and employed by Network Rail, and 13 separate train operators. The dispute centres around pay, changes to working conditions, and protecting staff from the threat of redundancy. The train operators with staff involved in the dispute were Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, Cross-Country, c2c, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia,…

THE SCOTTISH Borders village of Reston in Berwickshire has rejoined the rail network with the opening of a new station on May 23 – providing a regular rail service for the villagers for the first time since the original station was closed in 1964. The first train to call at the station was the 06.16 TransPennine Express service from Edinburgh Waverley to Newcastle, worked by 802212 (newly named St Abb’s Head), where the train was welcomed by dignitaries and Border Piper Sandy Mutch, who played Scotland The Brave as the Nova 1 arrived. The station, built as part of a £20 million investment from the Scottish Government, is located on the East Coast Main Line. The station has two 270-metre long platforms, each capable of accommodating 10-coach trains and linked…