Updated 12.25Arriva’s Northern franchise ‘will only be able to continue for a number of months’, transport secretary Grant Shapps has warned.In a written statement to Parliament published today, Mr Shapps says: ‘On 16 October 2019 I informed the House, through the Transport Committee, that I had issued a request for

Avanti West Coast have secured a major seven-year deal worth £642 million with Alstom to upgrade all 56 of their electric Pendolino trains on the West Coast Mainline. As well as covering a £127m upgrade of the Pendolinos, which is believed to be the biggest train upgrade programme ever

THE rail franchising crisis has deepened in the past 24 hours, with West Midlands Trains now joining the list of contracts in doubt. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also confirmed that contingency plans are being developed to replace Northern.The Prime Minister was answering a question about WMT from West Worcestershire

I HAD to travel to Glasgow at short notice and decided to try out the new Caledonian Sleeper stock. As there were no cabins available, I had to travel on one of the new ‘reclining’ seats. My first impression was how fabulous the train looked, and inside the seating car

SATURDAY, November 30 saw the third and final TransPennine Express (TPE) train fleet finally entering passenger service, when Class 397 ‘Nova 2’ set No. 397007 worked the 08.10 departure from Manchester Airport to Edinburgh.  An incident-packed journey saw the train finally arriving at Edinburgh significantly behind time because of an

Greensand Railway Museum Trust (GRMT) was formed in 2000 and completed restoration of Baldwin 4-6-0T WDLR No. 778 to steam in 2007 – the only operational Baldwin class 10-12-D in Britain, indeed the world, in as-built steam locomotive form. Now, the GRMT has its eyes firmly fixed on another ‘war veteran’

GREATER Anglia introduced Class 755 units on Ipswich to Felixstowe services from November 19. The move is part of the expansion of operations of Stadler bi-mode units. Greater Anglia is in the process of cascading its remaining Class 170 ‘Turbostar’ units to Transport for Wales, and the

ONE of the most unusual movements this year has seen freshly painted Class 90 No. 90035 move from Crewe to Swindon.  The train has been put together by Network Rail’s electrification project team in order to carry out mechanical and electrical testing of the OLE between Bristol and Cardiff, although initial

TWO former West Coast AC electric locomotives have been bought by Locomotive Services Limited from Electric Traction Ltd (ETL). The last mainline Class 87 – No. 87002 Royal Sovereign – along with 86101 Sir William A Stanier FRS had been hired by ETL to GB Railfreight for working empty stock from the

GWR and Northern have indicated how they will combat restrictions placed on the use of Class 142-144 ‘Pacer’ units from January 1, 2020. Both will run a non-compliant ‘Pacer’ with a compliant unit of another type to provide accommodation for passengers with limited mobility and also access to a fully