East Midlands strike set to go ahead tomorrowTHE RMT has confirmed that the first of three Saturdays of strikes by senior conductors on East Midlands Trains will be going ahead tomorrow. The dispute concerns what the union described as ‘Pay Discrimination and Contract issues’. EMT said its main line services

THE disqualification of Arriva from the East Midlands franchise competition could cost taxpayers £200 million, if a legal claim succeeds.The Department for Transport said Arriva’s bid for the franchise was ‘non-compliant’, because it had attempted to reduce possible risks from having to help fund railway pension shortfalls which could run

CHINA: The National Development & Reform Commission has approved the construction of two railway lines to provide access to Fuzhou Changle International Airport in Fujian province. The Fuzhou – Changle airport line will be 58 km long, running from Fuzhou’s main station to Changle Airport via Nantaidao, Changle, and Fuzhouxinqu Binhai Xincheng.

INDIA: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the construction of an 81 km line between Sahjanwa and Dohrighat in Uttar Pradesh. The government said the railway would support socio-economic development in the economically underdeveloped area, which is densely populated but lacks roads. Conversion of the existing Indara – Dohrighat line from

THE standard-gauge East Kent Railway (EKR), near Dover, continues to develop the attractions on offer to visitors.  These include the 7¼in-gauge Knees Woodland Miniature Railway, opened in 2015, sited next to Shepherdswell station.  Locos used are petrol, diesel and battery, with the main traction on March 24

FORMER Backworth Collieries 0-6-0ST No. 12, better known in preservation as Great Western Railway No. 813, returned to the Tanfield Railway to celebrate its North East heritage at the line’s Legends of Industry gala on June 14-16. The 1901-built ‘Swindonised’ Hudswell, Clarke last visited Tanfield in 2007, and again was present courtesy

EUROPE: One of PKP Cargo’s Vectron MS electric locomotives has completed a cross-border journey from Poland to Germany and back, the operator announced on July 11. The loco hauled a passenger service from Chojnów in Dolnośląskie voivodship to Horka in the German Land of Sachsen. PKP Cargo has ordered 20

PLANS to improve rail services in the Sheffield area have been launched this morning by mayor Dan Jarvis.The proposals for Sheffield City Region include new stations at Barnsley Dearne Valley, Doncaster Sheffield Airport on the East Coast Main Line and Rotherham, to be served by Midland Main Line trains. The

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has been fined £1 million after a passenger was killed when he put his head out of an unlocked carriage window. Simon Brown, 24, suffered catastrophic head injuries when he was struck by a signal gantry while on a Gatwick Express train travelling at about 60mph

Part of flood-damaged Welsh branch line reopens todayTRAINS are running once again on the Conwy Valley line in north Wales. The branch from Llandudno Junction was closed on 16 March after serious floods caused by Storm Gareth had damaged more than 9km of the route, including Dolgarrog station, ten level