With the festive season and all those office parties and lunches drawing closer, the temptation to have ‘just one for the road’ on the way home is always at its most intense in these weeks and months. Even if you have resisted after-work, over-indulgence of alcohol from the night before

TORNADO Railtours’ series of Edinburgh to Aberdeen day trips concluded on September 7 after a successful first season, with dates having been announced for next year’s trains.  The tours are hauled by ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado and will operate on July 23, September 3 and September 10, offering passengers a diverse

THE Railway Touring Company’s regular summer operations are over for another year, but there is a tempting selection of railtours for the autumn and winter months.  October 12 sees one of its regular ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ trips from Euston to Carlisle, utilising electric No. 86259 Les Ross as far as Carnforth,

CONTINUING co-operation between West Coast Railways and The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust means Peppercorn ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado will make its debut on the ‘Great Britain’ landcruise train in 2020.  The 13th edition of the Railway Touring Company’s grand tour of England, Scotland and Wales will roll out of London King’s

Arriva sale could be closerPRIVATE equity group Carlyle is in exclusive talks to buy Deutsche Bahn subsidiary Arriva for more than £2 billion, it is reported. However, according to Sky News, the Northern franchise is not included in the sale. DB needs to raise funds to reduce its debts, and

THE Oakervee/Berkeley review of HS2 is not yet complete, but deputy chairman Lord Berkeley has been stood down and will not be able to influence its conclusions. The review was commissioned in the summer, but only chairman Douglas Oakervee will make the final recommendations, along with civil servants in the Department

TURKISH open access freight operator Körfez Ulaştırma (KU) took delivery of five DE36500 Wabtec (formerly GE Transportation) ‘Powerhaul’ locos this summer. KU is the rail freight subsidiary of Tüpraş, Turkey’s largest oil refinery. The locos were ordered in 2018 and assembled by Wabtec’s Turkish partner Tülomsaş,

BELGIAN national rail enthusiasts’ group Patrimoine Ferroviaire et Tourisme (PFT) held its annual gala weekend on the Chemin de Fer du Bocq heritage line from Ciney to Bauche in mid-August.  Steam loco No. 29 013 leaves one of the line’s several tunnels, near Purnode, with a photo freight on August 16.

AMTRAK has announced plans to introduce a non-stop ‘Acela’ high-speed train pair between New York and Washington DC from September 23.  The current ‘Acela’ high-speed trains were built by Bombardier and Alstom from 1998-2001. They will be replaced from 2021 by 28 new ‘Avelia Liberty’ trains, being built by Alstom

SOUTH AFRICAN rail cruise operator Rovos Rail ran the first through passenger train between Tanzania, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Angola in July. The journey took 15 days, with an eastbound train following the same route in reverse in August.  Rovos Rail used its