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June 29, 2013

International & UK Railway News Saturday 29th June 2013

 
 
 
 
 



Listing offered in good faith. No guarantees offered or implied.
Please confirm runnings with operators.
Please observe Network Rail photographic guidelines.
Thank you.
 

Monday 1st July 2013

The Jacobite (West Coast Railway Company)

  • To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return

The Jacobite: Afternoon Train (West Coast Railway Company)

  • To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return


Tuesday 2nd July 2013

The Jacobite (West Coast Railway Company)

To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return

 

The Jacobite: Afternoon Train (West Coast Railway Company)

To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return



Wednesday 3rd July 2013

The Fellsman (Statesman Rail)

46115 or 45699 or 44932 Lancaster (pu) - Preston (pu) - Blackburn (pu) - Clitheroe (pu) - Long Preston (pu) - S&C - Carlisle (break/rev) & return



The Cathedrals Express (Steam Dreams)

60163 London Kings Cross (pu) - Potters Bar (pu) - Stevenage (pu) - Peterborough (pu) - York (break/rev) & return



The Jacobite (West Coast Railway Company)

To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return

The Jacobite: Afternoon Train (West Coast Railway Company)
 
To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return


Thursday 4th July 2013

The Devonian (Railway Touring Company)

  • 34067 Poole (pu) - Bournemouth (pu) - Christchurch (pu) - Brockenhurst (pu) - Southampton Central (pu) - Eastleigh (pu) - Salisbury (pu) - Yeovil Junction - Honiton - Exeter Central (sd) - Exeter St. Davids (break) - Exeter St. Davids - Taunton - Bristol Temple Meads - Bath Spa - Westbury - Salisbury (sd) - Eastleigh (sd) - Southampton Central (sd) - Brockenhurst (sd) - Christchurch (sd) - Bournemouth (sd) - Poole
 Additional Tour Information
27/6: 34067 replaces 34046 which remains unavailable
Added 17:09 on Friday 28th June 2013


The Jacobite (West Coast Railway Company)

To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return



The Jacobite: Afternoon Train (West Coast Railway Company)

To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return



Friday 5th July 2013

The Cathedrals Express (Steam Dreams)

60163 Lewes (pu) - Haywards Heath (pu) - Redhill (pu) - Purley (pu) - Kensington Olympia (pu) - Salisbury (break/rev) & return



The Jacobite (West Coast Railway Company)

To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return

The Jacobite: Afternoon Train (West Coast Railway Company)

To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return



Saturday 6th July 2013

The Settle Moorlander (Compass Tours)

WCRC Class 47 (Pair) Peterborough (pu) - Grantham (pu) - Bottesford (pu) - Bingham (pu) - Radcliffe (pu) - Netherfield (pu) - Niottingham (pu) - L:angley Mill (pu) - Alfreton (pu) - Chesterfield (pu) - Hellifield - S&C - Carlisle (break/rev) Carlisle - Penrith - Preston - Blackburn - Accrington - Copy Pit - Hebden Bridge - Brighouse - Waklefield - Chesterfield (sd) - Lanmgley Mill (sd) - Alfreton (sd) - Nottingham (sd) - Netherfield (sd) - Radcliffe (sd) - Bingham (sd) - Bottesford (sd) - Grantham (sd) - Peterborough- 



GBRf Staff Private Charter (Private Charter)

Euro 92 x 2 Doncaster - York - Newcastle upon Tyne - Berwick upon Tweed - Edinburgh Waverley - Haymarket - Slateford - Auchengray - Carstairs - Glasgow Central (break/rev) & return



The Yorkshireman (Railway Touring Company)

70013 London Victoria (pu) - St. Albans (pu) - Luton (pu) - Bedford (pu) - Kettering (pu) - Melton Mowbray (pu) - Loughborough - East Midlands Parkway - Toton - Alfreton - Chesterfield - Beighton Junction - Rotherham - Conisbrough - Doncaster - York

  • WCRC Class 47 (Pair) York - tbc - Melton Mowbray (sd) - Kettering (sd) - Bedford (sd) - Luton (sd) - St. Albans (sd) - London Victoria


Welsh Mountain Statesman (Statesman Rail)

  • WCRC Class 47 (Pair) Sheffield (pu) - Chesterfield (pu) - Alfreton (pu) - Langley Mill (pu) - East Midlands Parkway (pu) - Loughborough (pu) - Leicester (pu) - Hinckley (pu) - Nuneaton (pu) - Coleshill Parkway (pu) - Birmingham New Street (pu) - Tame Bridge Parkway (pu) - Wolverhampton (pu) - Telford Central - Shrewsbury
  • NR Class 97/3 (Pair) Shrewsbury - Welshpool - Newtown - Machynlleth - Aberystwyth (break/rev) - Aberystwyth - Machynlleth - Newtown - Welshpool - Shrewsbury
  • WCRC Class 47 (Pair) Shrewsbury - Telford Central - Wolverhampton (sd) - Tame Bridge Parkway (sd) - Birmingham New street (sd) - Coleshill Parkway (sd) - Nuneaton (sd) - Hinckley (sd) - Leicester (sd) - Loughborough (sd) - East Midlands Parkway (sd) - Langley Mill (sd) - Alfreton (sd) - Chesterfield (sd) - Sheffield-


Mallard 75 (UK Railtours)

East Midlands Trains HST London St. Pancras (pu) - Luton Airport Parkway (pu) - Bedford (pu) - Kettering (pu) - York (break/rev) & return



The Jacobite (West Coast Railway Company)

To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return


Sunday 7th July 2013

The Cathedrals Express (To Be Confirmed)

60163 London Kings Cross (pu) - Potters Bar (pu) - Stevenage (pu) - Huntingdon (pu) - York (break/rev) & return



The Torbay Express (Torbay Express Ltd)

5029 Bristol Temple Meads (pu) - Weston-Super-Mare (pu) - Taunton (pu) - Exeter St. Davids - Newton Abbot - Paignton (sd) - Kingswear (break/rev) & return



The Shakespeare Express (Afternoon Train) (Vintage Trains)

  • 4965 or 5043 Birmingham Snow Hill (pu) - Birminngham Moor Street (pu) - Tyseley (pu) - Shirley - Henley in Arden (sd) - Stratford upon Avon (break/rev) - Stratford upon Avon - Claverdon - Hatton North Junction - Dorridge - Solihull - Tyseley (sd) - Birmingham Moor Street (sd) Birmingham Snow Hill


The Shakespeare Express (Morning Train) (Vintage Trains)

  • 4965 or 5043 Birmingham Snow Hill (pu) - Birminngham Moor Street (pu) - Tyseley (pu) - Shirley - Henley in Arden (pu) - Stratford upon Avon (break/rev) - Stratford upon Avon - Henley in Arden - Shirley - Tyseley (sd) - Birmingham Moor Street (sd) Birmingham Snow Hill


The Jacobite (West Coast Railway Company)

To be confirmed Fort William - Glenfinnan (break) - Arisaig - Mallaig (break/rev) & return

 
 
 
 
 
Work starts to deliver faster rail journeys on the Midland Main Line.
 
Two bridges in Leicestershire are to be rebuilt by Network Rail as part of a £70m investment to speed up journey times on the Midland Main Line, which links London with Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield.

Once complete, the new bridges will provide the extra headroom needed for trains to travel at higher speeds, when the forces involved mean trains tilt to one side as they pass through curved sections of track.

Network Rail would normally provide the additional clearance by lowering the track level under the bridges. However, rebuilding the bridges will help to accommodate future installation of overhead line equipment as part of the proposed electrification of the line between Bedford and Sheffield, providing better value for money and minimising disruption.
 
Justin Page, Network Rail acting route managing director, said: “This work will deliver quicker journeys for the ever-growing number of passengers on the Midland Main Line, helping to bring the region’s biggest economies closer together.
 
“We thank people in advance for their patience during the engineering works and will continue to work closely with Leicestershire County Council, Harborough District Council and other key groups as we continue our plans to build a better railway for the East Midlands. This is an exciting time for the Midland Main Line as we upgrade and electrify the route to transform our diesel railway into one of the most modern in Europe, providing more seats, even faster journeys and cleaner and quieter trains.”
The bridges will need to be closed for up to 15 weeks while they are replaced. Network Rail is working with Leicestershire County Council and Harborough District Council to minimise disruption and provide travel advice to those affected.
 
The two bridges affected are:
• Station Street / Church Road bridge, Kibworth – closed 9 September 2013 to 22 December 2013. Access for pedestrians and cyclists will be maintained for the vast majority of the time.
• The Square bridge, Newton Harcourt – closed 9 September 2013 to 13 December 2013.
A drop-in session for the local community will be held at Kibworth Village Hall on Tuesday 13 August 2013.

Notes:

1. Network Rail has notified residents and will be working with local authorities to raise awareness of diversionary routes. The local community drop-in session on Tuesday 13 August 2013 will be staffed by Network Rail and contractors to help answer questions or queries and we will contact residents with further information. Residents and businesses are encouraged to contact Network Rail’s 24 hour helpline on 08457 11 41 41 if they have any questions or tweet @NetworkRail

2. Network Rail is increasing the line speeds on the Midland Main Line as part of a commitment to speed up journeys and will cut up to 8 minutes between London and Sheffield. Line speed increases are being made between Leicester and Trent South Junction, on the line to Kettering, around the Toton area, and between Nottingham and Sheffield. Three bridges are also being rebuilt in Northamptonshire.

3. Network Rail plans to upgrade and electrify the Midland Main Line between Bedford and Sheffield, subject to approval from the Office of Rail Regulation in October 2013. This investment would see more seats, quicker journeys and cleaner and quieter trains. Current plans are to electrify to Corby by 2017, to Leicester, Derby and Nottingham in 2019 and to Sheffield in 2020.

4. The bridges are being rebuilt together with the line speed improvements to reduce taxpayer costs and help minimise disruption. The opportunity has been taken as Network Rail proposes to start electrification work on the line from 2014.
 
 
National train performance for period 3 is 93.1%
 
Punctuality on the railways reached 93.1% during Period 3, according to monthly performance data released today by Network Rail, the joint best period 3 recorded.

The data for Britain's train services covers the period from 26 May 2013 - 22 June 2013. This compares to 92.9% for the same period last year. The moving annual average is now at 91.0%.


Franchise
Punctuality %
Period 3, 2013/14
Punctuality %
Period 3, 2012/13
Moving annual
average (MAA)
Arriva Trains Wales
95.0
95.3
93.5
c2c Rail
97.8
97.9
97.3
Chiltern
95.1
94.6
95.2
Crosscountry
91.1
89.7
87.3
East Coast
87.8
90.5
83.9
East Midlands Trains
93.3
94.0
92.5
First Capital Connect
91.3
89.9
88.6
First Great Western
92.1
92.2
89.1
First Scotrail
90.9
94.2
92.6
First Transpennine Express
92.4
92.6
91.9
Greater Anglia
94.5
93.2
92.7
London Midland
88.5
91.0
85.6
London Overground
97.1
94.1
96.8
Merseyrail
96.6
98.3
95.6
Northern Rail
92.9
93.3
90.6
Southeastern
94.8
92.7
91.3
Southern
93.1
90.9
88.1
South West Trains
94.3
93.2
91.8
Virgin Trains *
84.5
88.8
83.4
Total
93.1
92.9
91.0


Notes:

* 71% of delays to Virgin services were attributable to Network Rail during the period with just over half of these down to infrastructure problems such as overhead line and track faults. The remainder were caused by external factors, such as fatalities, operational management, delays caused by other TOCs and just 12.3% by Virgin trains themselves

Network Rail would like to apologise to all its customers and passengers for the unacceptable performance on the southern end of the West Coast Main Line. As a result, Virgin has lodged a claim for additional compensation under the ‘sustained poor performance’ clause in its track access agreement.

To help tackle the performance issue the company has embarked upon a £40m investment programme (announced on Monday) unveiling six work-streams aimed at improving train punctuality on this vital piece of railway infrastructure

  • Nationally around 60% of delays to train services are attributed to Network Rail. As well as infrastructure faults, these also include external factors such as weather, trespass and vandalism, cable theft etc, which make-up about 20% of all delays and therefore around a third of the delays attributed to Network Rail
  • Arrived on time - the measure of train punctuality also known as PPM (public performance measure) means trains arriving at their destinations within five minutes for commuter services and within 10 minutes for long distance services.
  • This measure of punctuality is commonly used throughout Europe
  • National train punctuality is measured for all trains across the whole network, including cancelled services and delays caused by external factors (such as vandalism, extreme weather, suicides etc).
  • Punctuality did not start to be recorded in this vigorous and thorough way until 1997. Before then Railtrack, and BR before, did not measure all services and also excluded external factors and other items from their numbers
  • These figures represent provisional data for the period and individual operators' performance data may vary slightly from the full period performance report that
  • Network Rail publishes on its website every month
  • Network Rail and the train operators run more trains across Great Britain than are run in most European countries - almost 20% more than in France and 60% more than in Italy.
  • Great Britain's 24,000 trains per-day is also more than Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Norway combined
 

Landscape Photographer of the Year exhibition comes to London

King’s Cross station is set to become an art gallery next week as part of a special exhibition showcasing stunning images from the Take-a-view Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, which is sponsored by Network Rail.
 
From Monday July 1, for one week only, King’s Cross station will display a series of previously commended entries of places which can be reached by train from the station. The stand will be on the main concourse at the station all week.

The station is one of five of the country’s biggest and busiest stations which will be showcasing the photos over the summer. Visitors will also have the opportunity to get expert advice from celebrated landscape photographer and founder of the competition, Charlie Waite.

On Monday, between 11am and 2pm, visitors are encouraged to bring their cameras, phones, tablets and anything else that has a photograph on it, for the chance to get some commentary, feedback and advice from Charlie. There will also be chances to win a copy of the Landscape Photographer of the Year book (RRP £25).

Visitors can find out how to enter the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, which has a top prize of £10,000 and the ‘Lines in the Landscape’ award which seeks to find the best railway-related photography.

David Biggs, director of commercial property for Network Rail explained why Network Rail has introduced this new series of stations exhibitions: “People don’t just want their stations to be places they catch their trains from; they want to shop, eat, drink and enjoy their surroundings. Our stations are natural exhibition spaces so extending our partnership with Take-a-view to bring amazing photography to King’s Cross seemed a natural fit. We also hope the millions that come through our stations will be inspired to visit the fantastic places they can reach by rail and record their own amazing views with their cameras.”

Notes:

The images are part of a selection exhibited at five major stations across the country (Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, King's Cross and Waterloo). Some are of places in London and other are of places people can access by rail from King's Cross such as Hitchin, Cambridge and Ely.

More information: For competition entry details visit
www.take-a-view.co.uk
The 2013 Take-a-view Landscape Photographer of the Year competition closes on 4 July.


Monday 01 – Sunday 07 July: London King’s Cross station
Saturday 10 – Saturday 17 Aug: London Waterloo station




 
Campaign for Better Transport

Government commit to increasing rail fares for years to come

28 June 2013: There were not many 'winners' in this week's Spending Round, but we now know that rail users and commuters are some of the biggest losers as the Government committed to more inflation busting annual fare rises. This means the RPI+1 formula of fare increases is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

We welcome the Government's announcement to increase investment in Britain's railways, but this investment will have little or no trickle down effect on making fares cheaper and simpler, instead after 10 painful years of above inflation fare increases we can now expect even more years of unacceptable fare rises. The UK already has some of the most expensive rail fares in the world with fares increasing by as much as 54% over the past 10 years alone. With wages rising by just 20% over the same amount of time, unbearable pressure is being heaped upon rail commuters.

A recent report  by the Resolution Foundation - Commission on Living Standards has shown that wages have remained almost completely stagnant over the past  few years, meaning even more pressure on rail users and commuters.

With wages stagnating and the cost of living constantly on the rise, the news that rail fares are set to increase for the eleventh year in a row will have a hugely negative effect economically, socially and environmentally.

Commuters will be forced into making hugely difficult choices about the financial feasibility of staying in their jobs, for some people the price of rail travel is just too much and many are left with no choice but to leave their jobs and look for work closer to home. Others will be frantically working out if it is cheaper to drive to work than take the train, and as my colleague Sian talks about in her blog, investing in huge road building schemes, whilst forcing more drivers onto the roads will do no one any good. It appears that rail efficiency savings are actually being diverted into the Government's huge new £28 Billion road building programme.

We have been preparing ourselves for the Government's Rail Fares and Ticketing Review, campaigning since January to force the Government to commit to ending the RPI+1 fare increase formula with our Fair Fares Now Campaign. Over 5,500 people signed this petition for cheaper and simpler rail fares and following the Spending Review we must work harder than ever and continue the pressure on Government to make fares cheaper and simpler for everyone.

(Views expressed are author's only)
 
 
 
 
 
Not only is the Thameslink Programme one of the largest single projects currently being undertaken by Network Rail, but it has also been one of the most successful – promoting collaboration which in turn has engendered a culture that facilitates the development of innovation on the UK rail network. Writes Steve Cox, regional engineering delivery manager – north, Balfour Beatty Rail Projects LTD
 
If you’ve been going to the two main UK railway exhibitions (Railtex and Infrarail) over the years, perhaps you might have noticed a recent change. Certainly it was very evident this year. The change? Well, Railtex always seemed to be drivers’ seats, upholstery, platform signs, lighting – you get the drift? This year all the old favourites were there of course, but who would have expected rail steel, road rail machinery, PLC technology or permanent way tools? So it seems that Railtex is subsuming the rail infrastructure market as well. Can Infrarail do the reverse with rolling stock? Perhaps not so easily while its name starts with ‘Infra’.


Some believe electrification has been a neglected subject in the UK for years. Now, as Network Rail rushes headlong into a major programme of new electrification projects, much has been written about contractors having to relearn old skills and develop new techniques.

Continue reading these articles..and more...Read the July 2013 edition here




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