FRANCE: Alstom is to supply the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region with a further 10 four-car Coradia Polyvalent multi-system electric multiple-units for €70m. The region has previously ordered 17 similar units which are scheduled to enter service on the cross-border Léman Express route to Switzerland in mid-December 2019. The latest batch is scheduled to be

Class 442 units returned to the South Western Main Line on June 10, the door issues apparently resolved. Set Nos. 442410 and 442420 are seen at London Waterloo after their inaugural service, the 06.28 from Southampton Airport Parkway. The RM will be taking a closer look at

THE Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has given authorisation for TransPennine Express to introduce Hitachi Class 802/2 bi-mode units. TPE has ordered 19 five-car trains, and the ORR approval covers operation in both five- and 10-car formations at 125mph, even though their design speed is 140mph. 

NORTHERN Rail’s Class 195 DMU and Class 331 EMU were due to be launched on June 26 and June 28, at Preston and Doncaster, respectively.  CAF is building 58 Class 195 (25 two- and 33 three-car) and 43 Class 331s (31 three- and 12 four-car) units for Northern. 

Former Cargonet Class 66 No. T66.403 – already with its GBRf number of 66790 – is hauled from Immingham to Longport EMD past North Stafford Junction on June 3 by No. 66741 Swanage Railway. At Longport the loco will get the necessary modifications and safety equipment to work on Network

South Western Railway Class 456 No. 456021 was derailed entering the sidings at Strawberry Hill depot on the evening of May 29-30. It blocked access, leading to several services on May 30 being cancelled or delayed. Recovery teams worked to re-rail the set. The other

THE Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has approved the use by Greater Anglia (GA) of the Stadler ‘Flirt’ Class 755 four-car bi-mode multiple units.  These are the first Swiss trains to be built for the privatised railway, with testing only starting in January.  The first Stadler

THE first Class 91 locos are expected to be withdrawn by LNER from July. They are becoming surplus to requirements as diagrams for the Hitachi ‘Azuma’ sets increase every week, and with LNER now announcing a start of services from Edinburgh on August 1.  LNER has already

Second station funding boost for West MidlandsTWO stations in the West Midlands which were closed in January 1965 have moved a significant step closer to being reopened, with news of a £10 million grant from the Department for Transport. Darlaston and Willenhall were closed as part of the Beeching cutbacks,

GREAT Western Railway said farewell to long-distance InterCity 125 operation on June 1 with an epic railtour visiting many parts of the GWR network. No. 43002 Sir Kenneth Grange heads GWR’s ‘The Flying Banana’ farewell tour during the first of two visits to London Paddington early on June 1. Diagrammed work