As one of Britain’s longest distance trains prepares for the arrival of new rolling stock, Ben Jones takes a trip on LNER’s ‘Highland Chieftain’ to experience the changing atmosphere onboard as it speeds north. The Up ‘Highland Chieftain’ is seen shortly after passing Dalwhinnie on July 10. The usual stacks of

Photo: Keith Fender/The Railway Magazine Today marks Holocaust Memorial Day, 75 years since 27 January 1945, when Soviet troops entered and liberated the Auschwitz death camp. The darkest episode in the history of world railways undoubtedly centres around the role they were forced to play in the transport of civilians to Nazi death

TRANSPORT SECRETARY Grant Shapps is reported to be preparing an announcement about the ending of the Northern franchise, which seems likely to be made on Thursday. The chances of the present Arriva Trains North contract being replaced by a shorter-term alternative are now being discounted in favour of a complete return

Minister has ‘gut feeling’ HS2 will go ahead A GOVERNMENT minister says he has a ‘gut feeling’ that HS2 will go ahead. Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay told the BBC that the project was essential because it would ‘level up’ the transport network in Britain. Meanwhile, speculation is growing that the Government

Photo: HS2/PA Wire HS2 is over budget and behind schedule because its complexity and risks were under-estimated, according to the Whitehall spending watchdog. The National Audit Office (NAO) warned that it is impossible to “estimate with certainty what the final cost could be”. It published a report urging the Government and HS2 Ltd

THE project to build high speed lines between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds is falling years behind schedule and costing a lot more than forecast, because both the Department for Transport and the government’s developer HS2 Ltd ‘widely underestimated’ the budgets and completion dates, according to a new report from

Staff vote in favour of more SWR strikes A STRIKE ballot which the RMT was legally obliged to hold again on South Western Railway has returned a vote in favour of continuing the long-running industrial action over on-train staffing and the role of guards. Around four out of five of those

Unrestored Collett ‘Castle’ No. 7027 Thornbury Castle is to be restored for operation at the Great Central Railway (GCR) following its sale to a private buyer by Jonathan Jones-Pratt. The 1949-built 4-6-0 was purchased by Mr Jones-Pratt’s firm, JJP Holdings, from music mogul Pete Waterman in 2016, but has not received

Channel Tunnel operator’s revenue hit by Brexit and French unrest CHANNEL TUNNEL operator Getlink has estimated that its revenue in 2019 was reduced by about 18 million Euros, because of the uncertainties surrounding Brexit and social unrest in France. Shuttle revenue was down by 2 per cent to 629.9 million Euros,

TRANSPORT secretary Grant Shapps has admitted that the South Western Railway franchise is ‘no longer sustainable’. There has been an immediate backlash from the rail unions, who are calling for SWR to be renationalised. In a written statement to Parliament Mr Shapps said: ‘South Western Railway’s recent financial statements have indicated