Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2025 i The Railway Magazine

COVENTRY’S prototype battery-powered very light rail (VLR) vehicle completed a three-week programme of public demonstration runs on June 22. It carried up to 17 seated passengers and one wheelchair user during the trials on the specially-constructed 220 metres (240 yards) of line on Queen Victoria Road and Greyfriars Road in the city, but could accommodate up to 56 people in normal service. The type of track used was designed specifically for the Coventry project and sits just 30 centimetres (11.8 inches) into the road surface, avoiding the need to divert utilities and therefore making construction less costly than conventional tramways. The vehicle can also negotiate 15m radius curves. Coventry City Council told The RM that the demonstrations had proved the Coventry VLR concept was“working well”. The vehicle will undergo further…

IN 2025 we are celebrating 200 years of the modern railway, our present-day rail industry having been moulded through decades of progress, but also leaving behind a rich and diverse history. Fortunately, we have a good number of heritage railways acting as guardians of the past, with these in turn supported by many preservation groups that together help keep the history alive. One example is the 400 Series Preservation Group, which was set up in 2007 by main line train driver Peter Spokes. Despite now being employed in the industry and running a preservation group, Peter was not immersed in the railway as a youngster: “I didn’t have an interest at this level when I was a kid,” he said. “The madness of buying ‘1:1 gauge’ trains only started in…

100 YEARS AGO JULY 1925 LNER celebrations THE London and North Eastern Railway Company has arranged a three-day programme in celebration of the Railway Centenary. On July 1, the Duke of York who, with the Duchess of York will take part in the various ceremonies, will open at Darlington an exhibition of railway engines, rolling stock and material representing the development of railway transport during the past century. On the following day, July 2, there will be a procession over the old Darlington and Stockton route of old and modern locomotives and rolling stock, which will include Locomotion No. 1 engine, built by George Stephenson, drawing a replica of the passenger train that it hauled a distance of 26 miles to Stockton on September 27, 1825, at the opening of…

THE Bluebell Railway is set to mark its 65th anniversary with a gala weekend on August 8-10, celebrating both its own rich heritage and the nationwide Railway 200 initiative marking two centuries since the dawn of railways in Britain. As a recognised host for Railway 200, the Bluebell says it will collaborate with a range of contributors to offer an engaging and educational experience for all ages. There will be a packed timetable over the long weekend, showcasing much of the railway’s home fleet. Scheduled to appear are Nos. 72 Fenchurch, SECR Class O1 No. 65, H2 Atlantic No. 32424 Beachy Head, BR Standard tank No. 80151, BR Standard 5 No. 73082 Camelot, Bulleid ‘Battle of Britain’Class No. 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair, and Class 73 electro-diesel No. E6040. Six coaching…

THE Middleton Railway Trust has purchased 1931-built Hunslet 0-4-0T No. 1684 from the GWR 1338 Locomotive Trust. The locomotive is an important addition to the MRT’s Leeds Collection as it has outside Walschaerts valve gear and a Belpaire firebox, features that were common for exported locomotives but unusual for the British market. History No. 1684 was built for use in Coulsdon Quarry, near Redhill (Surrey), but was sold back to Hunslet in 1953 where it became part of the hire fleet. It was sold again in 1960 to the National Coal Board before finally ending up at Kilmersdon Colliery in Somerset. The loco has been stored at the Middleton Railway’s Moor Road base in Leeds for some time, but it requires a great deal of work and money to be…

AN appeal has been launched for funds to make improvements to the Riverside Miniature Railway (RMR) in Burton-upon-Trent. The railway, which has running days on the first and third Sundays of the month in addition to special events, consists of two separate systems (7¼ inch gauge ground level and 5 inch raised) both running a distance of around a third of a mile at Meadow Road. Its volunteers also look after a conservation area and operate a portable railway which is available for hire. “We’d like to extend the ground level operation by virtually doubling the size of what we’ve got at the moment, but like everything it’s down to pounds, shillings and pence,”explained Mike Davies, chairman of Burton-upon-Trent Model Engineering Society, which operates RMR.“We thought we’d try to get…

THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s annual diesel gala on June 12-15 proved to be a success, with five visiting engines attracting the crowds during the sunny four-day event. It was the first time on the line for 50021 Owners Limited’s No. 50021 Rodney, which had arrived at Pickering a fortnight before the event with some minor bogie issues that were soon mended. Another high-profile guest was the Deltic Preservation Society’s No. 55009 Alycidon, which made a welcome return by the class to the line. The‘Deltic’was out of use for the Saturday’s timetable (June 14), but made a recovery for the final day. Class 37s were well-represented by home-based No. 37264, being joined by D05 Preservation’s No. 37688 Great Rocks and Loram-operated No. 37418 An Comunn Gaidhealach. The appearance of ETS-fitted No.…

CONSULTANCY Mott MacDonald has been appointed by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport to work on the second phase of the case for investment (CFI) in the proposed Clyde Metro scheme. The company, which also worked on the first stage of the CFI, will develop Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG), as well as a preliminary engineering statement, which will be used to help determine the scope and delivery timetable for the project, along with routes and specific modes for the integrated mass transit system. Light rail, metro, tram-train and bus rapid transit are the transport types being considered. Envisaged as a multi-billion pound programme, likely to be developed over a period of decades and potentially incorporating a mix of transport modes, Clyde Metro was a key recommendation in Transport Scotland’s second Strategic…

CHANNEL Tunnel railfreight traffic has been a major disappointment. Loadings peaked at 3.12 million tonnes in 1998, then steadily declined to less than trainferry era levels. Wagons acquired by Railfreight Distribution (RfD) for the opening of the tunnel – FIA ‘Eurotwin’intermodal flats – have been stored, redeployed onto domestic flows, or moved to the continent following the loss of Jaguar Land Rover/Novelis aluminium traffic. Other flats, such as the IFA/B Transfesa wagons built for ‘Channel Tunnel Express’services from Dagenham to Spain for Ford automotive traffic, have also been rendered redundant. One constant has been the use of the tunnel for importing new passenger stock built in Europe. A new flow is the movement of ‘New Tube for London’ (NTfL) trains built by Siemens in Austria. In addition to the Dutchregistered…

THE Irish Traction Group (ITG) has relocated three of its four diesel locomotives from storage in Moyasta, County Clare, to the Downpatrick & County Down Railway (DCDR). This significant move, almost a year in the planning, involved locomotives Nos. 124, 190, and 152. Nos. 124 and 190 departed Moyasta on May 31 and arrived at Downpatrick the following day. No. 152 followed a week later, while No. A3R remains in Moyasta for the time being. The locomotives had been in store at the West Clare Railway since 2009 after their removal from Inchicore Works. The transfer marks a major milestone for ITG, allowing restoration work to begin in earnest. No. 190 was successfully started on June 7 after 16 years out of service, followed by No. 124 on June 14…

A WEEK before full details of the Government’s 2025 Spending Review were presented to Parliament on June 11, Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed it would include £15.6 billion for transport projects in English City Regions. At least a third of this funding appears to be destined for tram, Metro and other rail schemes. It will be shared between nine mayoral authorities in the form of five-year financial settlements beginning in 2027, although money has been brought forward into the current and 2026-27 financial years to enable preparation and earlier delivery of projects. West Yorkshire Combined Authority will receive £2.1 billion to enable it to start construction of its Mass Transit system. Two tram routes, a Leeds line (running from St James’s University Hospital via the city centre to the White Rose…

TRANSPORT for Wales is considering further expansion of its train fleet. TfW chief executive James Price pointed to year-on-year increases in passengers as a reason to examine possibilities for acquiring more units. Office of Rail and Road figures published last month showed 31.3 million passenger journeys were made with TfW between April 2024 and March 2025, an increase of 19% on the previous 12 months. The number is still below that seen in 2018-19, prior to the Covid pandemic, but reflects a fairly consistent rise over the last three years. A TfW spokesman confirmed to The RM that it was “assessing a range of different options for the procurement of additional units”and that this would include a review of its current rolling stock to work out“how best to manage the…

Toton recall SOME readers will have visited the ‘bank’ that stands to the east of Toton depot, behind which is the northern extremities of the settlement known as Toton, and it was here I was born in 1965. I was given a small bedroom at the back of the house, but room size was never questioned when the view outside was simply amazing. The ground fell steeply below us giving a clear view across the Erewash and Trent Valley below, and there were railways galore. This included the south end of the yards, the high-level goods line, and a section of the Nottingham to Derby railway. From the start of my school years, I was fully conditioned to this view and most significantly the trains. Whether it was wagons rolling…

SWINDON-BUILT 2-10-0 No. 92207, named Morning Star after it was rescued from Barry scrapyard in 1986, has had a new steel cab delivered to its base at Midsomer Norton station, home of the Somerset & Dorset Heritage Railway Trust. When built in March 1959, no one could have foreseen the engine would be withdrawn for scrap just six years later. After languishing at Woodham Brothers in Barry for 21 years, the engine was purchased by restoration project leader Keith Bottomley and eventually found its way to the East Lancashire Railway. Restoration was undertaken at a gradual pace, before the engine was sold on as a rolling chassis to the S&DHRT in 2022 for £150,000. S&DHRT chief mechanical engineer Barrie Papworth said: “This is a huge milestone for everyone involved in…

LONDON & North Eastern Railway Thompson Gangwayed Brake coach No. 70621 faced an uncertain future until plans were confirmed in early May for it to be restored and modified to fulfil a new purpose. Preserved in 1978, the North Norfolk Railway-based vehicle, part of the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society collection, served as a museum at Sheringham, prior to its replacement by the William Marriot museum at Holt in the early 2000s. No longer having a specific purpose and being a non-passenger vehicle, it was placed in storage with consideration given to its potential to form part of an LNER 1930s train at the NNR. There were plans to convert its interior to replicate an LNER cinema coach (none of which survived into preservation) and it was stored…

DESPITE no trams having been in operation at Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life for well over two-and-a-half years, North Lanarkshire Council remains hopeful that they can be brought back into use before work begins on a major revamp of the site. Museum managers are developing plans and funding applications for the transformation, which they estimate will cost up to £8 million and take at least three years. The currently envisaged time frame would see work get underway late next year, and be completed in 2030. “We have a museum that’s 23 acres. We have amazing things within it but we have a lot of underutilised places,”explained the council’s museums and collections manager Lu McNair. “When the museum was set up in the 1980s as a direct reaction to deindustrialisation,…

BELMOND is preparing for the launch of its newest luxury train, the Britannic Explorer, on July 4. The 10-carriage train is formed of former Irish Rail Mk.3 carriages that were previously used by Belmond on its Grand Hibernian train service which operated in Ireland from August 2016 until October 2019. Belmond has moved the carriages to the UK, rebogied them and fully refitted the train. It includes several luxury passenger suites (twin or double) and a wellness suite – a first on a UK train. Externally, the carriages have been repainted in a pale blue/grey, and one vehicle contains an enclosed observation saloon. Britannic Explorer destinations include the Lake District, Wales and Cornwall and luxury accommodation on board starts from £11,000 based on a double cabin. This includes a three-night…

A NEW £16 million station at Hairmyres opened on May 18, the same day as services resumed on the Glasgow Central to East Kilbride line on which it is situated, following almost four months of engineering work. Located around 650 yards west of previous Hairmyres station, which closed before the engineering blockade in January, the new site has modern waiting areas and step-free access. Station site Although slightly further away than its predecessor, Network Rail says the new facilities will be of benefit to patients, staff and visitors to University Hospital Hairmyres. In partnership with South Lanarkshire Council and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, a £7.2 million transport interchange incorporating a bus hub and around 500 spaces for motorists to‘park and ride’is to be constructed and linked to the station. The…

LOCOMOTIVES Allocations 60017 WQBA-WQDA60024 WQBA-WQDA60062 WQBA-WQDA60074 WQBA-WQDA66002 WQ/WQAA-TO/WBAT66004 WBAT-WBGT66006 TO/WBAT-WQ/WQAA66015 WBAT-WBGT66040 TO/WBAT-WQ/WQAA66041 WBAT-WBGT66068 WBAT-WBGT66079 WBAT-WBGT66080 TO/WBAT-WQ/WQAA66083 TO/WBAT-WQ/WQAA66095 TO/WBAT-WQ/WQAA66120 WBAT-WBGT66121 TO/WBAT-WQ/WQAA66170 TO/WBAT-WQ/WQAA66413 DFLS-DFIN66418 DFIN-DFLS66506 DFIM-DFLS66620 DFLS-DFHH66538 DFIM-DFLS66585 DFLS-DFIN67012 WQ/WQAA-CE/WAWC67020 CE WAWC-WQ/WQAA67028 WQDA-MBDL70014 DFGI-DFLS90026 CE/WQDA-CD/LSLO92011 WQ/WQAA-CE/WFBC92015 CE/WFBC-WQ/WQAA93005/08 newly delivered WS/ GROG99001-30 newly registered LR/ MBEL99001/02 newly delivered Renumbered 66793 – 66693 Named 66313 Lucie66314 Katie66501 Spirit of ’65 – Celebrating 60 years of Freightliner66728 Chartered Institution of Railway Operations Celebrating 25 years68012 Amy Owen69010 North Norfolk Railway 1975-2025 The Poppy Line91106 Swallow InterCity 225 since 1989 Names reapplied 45118 The Royal Artilleryman Names removed 60044 Dowlow66506 Crewe Regeneration66509 Josiah’s Wish66744 Crossrail Liveries Blue & white‘Police’: 69016 DB Cargo red: 66098, 66199 DB cargo red + TfW black: 67012 GBRf: 66745 Red + 200th logos: 66710/19 Sold Locomotive Services Ltd: 90026 Stored/stopped cations…

FORMER Great Western Railway High Speed Train power cars Nos. 43009 and 43192 and ex-CrossCountry classmates Nos. 43184 and 43239 were in service on the Lagos Metro’s Red Line in May. Including trailer cars, the formations were Nos. 43009 +49111+48113+48133+491 01+43192 and 43184+49107 +48125+48101+48103+432 39. All the Mk. 3 trailers have been given protruding external steps at each door since arriving in Nigeria. Power cars stabled at different locations in Lagos included Nos. 43008, 43010, 43172, 43304, 43040 and 43366. The HST stock shares depot and stabling sidings with the Lagos-Ibadan trains. Some Class 43s have an overall white livery, others have white with two red stripes and one has a single thicker red stripe as it was intended that they would be used with the two ex-Wisconsin Talgo sets…

PRIVATE sector operation of South Western Railway by FirstMTR ended in the early hours of May 25, when the Department for Transport Train Operator (DFTO) assumed control, adding the company to the portfolio of LNER, Southeastern, Northern, and TransPennine Express that were previously taken over. As the first former franchise to be nationalised as a result of Government policy not to renew contracts as they expire, it is a coincidence that the first scheduled train at the start of Privatisation in the 1990s was operated by Stagecoachowned South West Trains on February 4, 1996 as part of the same South Western franchise. The initial subsidy paid in 1996/7 was £62.8 million, which was to reduce to £34.1 million by the end of the seven-year contract. By 2015/16, however, Stagecoach was…

FULL-LINE services on the Severn Valley Railway are expected to return on July 25, with the occasion being marked by celebrity‘A3’No. 60103 Flying Scotsman. The 1923-built Gresley Pacific, part of the National Collection and operated by Northern Steam Operations, is expected to be paired with the railway’s operational Gresley Teak carriages as part of the line’s “Swingin’Sixties”weekend, from July 25-27. Three round trips are planned with the engine each day, including the first full-line trip since the major landslip occurred at Mor Brook, between Hampton Loade and Bridgnorth, at the end of January. The start of repair work had to wait for extensive planning permission and insurance paperwork to be completed. This was sorted by the end of May, allowing physical work on repairing the landslip to begin. Contracting firm…

ALSTOM has secured a £50 million deal to refurbish and maintain five Class 222 DMUs for FirstGroup’s new Lumo service between Stirling and Euston from mid-2026. Configured as five and seven-car sets, a total of 27 Class 222s currently form part of the East Midlands Railway fleet. But these will be displaced by 33 bi-mode Class 810‘Aurora’ units being built by Hitachi at its Newton Aycliffe factory in County Durham. Handback of the Class 222s to owner Eversholt Rail is expected to begin this September. The units to be leased to FirstGroup will be formed into six-car sets and receive what Eversholt describes as “extensive interior upgrades”, including new seating, improved wi-fi for passengers, and CCTV. An intelligent engine start-stop system (IESS) will be installed, reducing fuel consumption and emissions…

CONSTRUCTION of the six 450 metre-long (492 yards) underground platforms at HS2’s Old Oak Common station is under way. Configured as three islands, they are being built simultaneously more than 65 feet below ground in the 850 metre-long (930 yards) station box which was structurally completed earlier this year. The assembly process works inwards, from either end of the box to the middle of the platforms. Invert walls with a height of 1.59 metres (5.2 feet) were created by pouring concrete. A total of 1960 concrete slabs, the largest of which are 4 x 2 metres (13 x 6.6 feet) will be placed on top of the walls. The slabs are being made off-site by the Laing O’Rourke-owned business Explore Manufacturing at Worksop in Nottinghamshire. The finished platforms will have…

Guinness World Record: Longest-running railway series, established in 1901 THE dictionary difference between ‘exhibits’ and ‘exhibitionists’ depends on just how much ‘showing off ’ is being done, so let us look at a selection of Greatest Gathering static exhibits ‘back in the day’ when they were achieving their celebrity status across the rail network. The sold-out event is due to be held at Alstom’s Derby Litchurch Lane factory on August 1-3, and readers will have their own opinions about which one is the star of the show – but let us start with one that has an outstanding claim to fame: ‘A4’ 4-6-2 No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, named eponymously in tribute to its famous designer. There are six preserved ‘A4s’ but this is the one which possesses the accolade…

Send your letters to: The Railway Magazine, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR. Email: railway@mortons.co.uk I WOULD like to commend and welcome your article about the ‘Big Four’in the interwar years and the architectural impact (May issue). It is great that you reference the LMS investments in modernising Leeds City station and the adjacent Queens Hotel, the updating of the Midland Hotel in Morecambe, and the sadly never delivered proposed investment in rebuilding London Euston, all in Art Deco style. Girvan is another Art Deco station built to an LMS design, but was only rebuilt in 1949. WIrral electrics However, you make no mention of the LMS’s investment in the late-1930s expansion of electrification on Merseyside to West Kirby and New Brighton, including modernising the stations in Art…

VISITORS to Toddington during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway’s annual‘Cotswold Festival of Steam’on May 24-26 got chance to see the latest progress on BR Standard 4MT No. 76077. Having arrived at the GWSR in 1987, the last remaining ‘4MT’2-6-0 to be restored to working order was on display during the event. While work continues on the boiler at Leaky Finders, the rolling chassis was placed in the visitor’s car park for a shareholder event on June , before returning to Loughborough for further restoration work. Having previously reported additional boiler work being necessary due to the discovery of laminations and defects from its manufacture, the cost of boiler repairs is currently estimated at £300,000, with around £130,000 being raised so far. Engineering director Andrew Meredith remained positive about the prospect…

NEW talks have taken place between the owners of ‘Merchant Navy’Pacific No. 35011 General Steam Navigation, Leaky Finders and the Yeovil Railway Centre, regarding the next stage of the locomotive’s restoration. With recent notice given by the Swindon & Cricklade Railway to relocate from its Blunsdon base, the General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration Society has decided to move No. 35011 to a private site near Templecombe. The aim of this move is to store the locomotive while funds are gathered to place a contract for work on the rolling chassis. Meanwhile, the Yeovil Railway Centre has agreed to hold working parties for the overhaul of existing components and construction of new ones at its site adjacent to Yeovil Junction station. Work on the frames is being consulted between the GSNLRS…

THE Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust’s (L&BRT) planning application to extend from Killington Lane to a new terminus at Cricket Field Lane on the edge of Parracombe, submitted on September 20 last year (RM, December 2024), was refused by Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) on May 7. The ENPA’s reasons for refusal were“by virtue of the scale, mass, relative level, alignment and position of the proposed halt is considered to harm the scenic beauty and character of this part of the National Park.”The alignment and position of the proposed embankment and halt was also viewed as harming the significance of Parracombe Conservation Area and the listed buildings of Heddon Hall to a degree, “which would outweigh the public benefits of the scheme.” However, L&BRT’s application to amend two restrictive conditions…

FIFTEEN DB Cargo (DBC) drivers are expected to have transferred to rival operator GB Railfreight by the end of this month, as DBC focuses on recovering from an unsuccessful tender to retain seasonal duties for Network Rail (NR). Despite what it described as“exceptional performance” with weed-spraying, autumn leaf clearance and winter ice prevention operations, the company failed in its attempt to hold onto the work. NR announced in April that locomotive-hauled Rail Head Treatment Trains (RHTT) will be operated by Colas and GBRf from this autumn, while MPV-based trains will be handled by Freightliner and Balfour Beatty. GBRf will have responsibility for Snow and Ice Treatment Trains (SITT), with Colas taking charge of snow clearance. The decision is said by DBC to have “further compounded”issues with insufficient work available for…

LONDON Northwestern Railway put its first Class 730/2‘Aventra’ trains into service on Monday, June 9, three days after a launch event for invited guests which had included a return journey between London Euston and Milton Keynes. Nos. 730213 (leading) and 730233 (trailing) were the units which formed the inaugural public working, the 16.19 Euston-Northampton. It departed the capital 10 minutes late, recovering three minutes of the delay before arriving at its destination. The Class 730/2 fleet comprises 36 five-car units which will regularly operate in pairs, providing a total of 812 seats in a 10-car train. LNR says the new units will give an overall increase in capacity of 20% on its routes to and from Euston and provide a significant boost compared to current Class 350 workings. Depending on…

Avanti West Coast With engineering and track upgrades taking place on sections of the West Coast Main Line on Saturday, May 24, some Avanti West Coast workings followed a circuitous route. One service (1M06) operated by Class 390 No. 390141 left Glasgow Central at 05.33 running south to Preston then via Chorley (08.25), Manchester Piccadilly (09.06), Crewe (09.50) and Bescot (10.29) to arrive in London Euston at 12.10. A problem with overhead line equipment (OHLE) north of Preston on Thursday, May 29, resulted in many WCML services being cancelled. On that morning, Direct Rail Services Class 57 No. 57309 Pride of Crewe was seen running light southwards past Lancaster at 10.15. Later that afternoon at 14.20, No. 57309 was seen again passing north through Lancaster hauling AWC Class 390 No.…