Green
trains
++


New
carbon
calculations
demonstrate
that
travelling
by
rail
from
London
to
Edinburgh
creates
only
a
tenth
of
the
carbon
emissions
produced
by
car
travel
and
13
times
less
than
by
plane,
according
to
the
Rail
Delivery
Group.
The
new
figures
use
detailed
rail
data
including
fuel
type,
journey
distance,
carriage
layout
and
occupancy
for
the
first
time,
to
create
an
industry
benchmark
for
carbon
measurement.
A
rail
industry
initiative,
Green
Travel
Pledge,
will
provide
carbon
calculations
which
are
to
be
released
to
businesses
in
Britain
by
the
end
of
the
year.

More
trains
++


An
option
to
purchase
11
more
trains
for
the
Docklands
Light
Railway
has
been
taken
up
by
Transport
for
London.
This
now
means
a
total
of
54
new
trains
will
be
introduced
from
2024. The
new
units
will
be
built
by
CAF,
and
have
been
funded
by
the
Government’s
Housing
Infrastructure
Fund,
in
line
with
an
agreement
in
2019.
The
first
two
new
trains
from
the
original
order,
with
a walk-through
design,
audio
and
visual
real
time
travel
information,
air
conditioning
and
mobile
device
charge
points,
have
been
delivered.
They
are
being
tested
overnight
outside
traffic
hours,
and should
enter
service
next
year.

North
London
closures
++


Major
engineering
work
to
upgrade
the
local
‘DC
lines’
between
London
Euston
and
Watford
Junction
has
been
arranged
for
this
summer.
The
tracks
mostly
run
alongside
the
West
Coast
Main
Line,
and
carry
London
Overground
trains.
Bakerloo
Line
trains
also
share
the
route
with
Overground
services
between
Queen’s
Park
and
Harrow
&
Wealdstone.
Various possessions
have
been
arranged
between
23
July
and
25
August,
and
there
will
be
some
closures
while
p-way
teams
install
18,000
concrete
sleepers,
replace
48km
of
signal
cables
and
upgrade
the
drains
between
Harlesden
and
Stonebridge
Park.
Six
stations
will
be
improved,
and
the
work
will
include
new
platform
surfaces
and
canopy
maintenance.
The
traction
supply
will
also
be
upgraded.

Depot
upgrade
++


A
multi-million
pound
signalling
control
suite
has
been
energised
at
Gosforth
Tyne
&
Wear
Metro
depot,
as
preparations
continue
for
introducing
a
new
fleet.
The
suite
will
control
movements
of
empty
stock
between
the
depot
and
the
main
line,
and
replaces
an
installation
which
dates
from
the
1980s.
Staff
in
the
new
control
suite
have
a
panoramic
view
of
the
depot
site,
and
computers
allow
controllers
to
signal
trains
with
a
few
clicks
of
a
mouse.