"Keep awake" might prove to be a more appropriate slogan..
The Settle - Carlisle line celebrates 25 years of operations, but more trains are needed to continue "growth"
And the National Railway Museum, York, has a new head curator.. Andrew McLean. We wish him well for the future..
If the future for children is your concern..(isn't it everybody's?) then the Railway Children charity's latest video may well cause you to open your heart and wallet....
Read On....
Headlines
Settle-Carlisle 25 year anniversary celebrated.(BBC News)
Settle to Carlisle line: Shortage of trains 'hampering growth'.(BBC News)
Is this the beginning of the Concessionary Bus/Train pass?(Campaign for Better Transport)
McLoughlin issues 'keep calm' message over HS2.(Railnews)
High-speed rail debate could drag on into wee small hours, Speaker warns.(The Yorkshire Post)
Work to start on Redditch line improvements as part of £100m investment.(Network Rail)
VIDEO - new footbridge design for Southgate level crossing in Sleaford.(Sleaford Standard)
M4 plan could spell "death knell" for valleys electrification, say environmental campaigners.(South Wales Argus)
3M graphic films refresh interior décor on Virgin Trains.(politics.co.uk)
Andrew McLean appointed as head curator at National Railway Museum.(York Press)
Network Rail
Latest national news
Network Rail and The Office Group announce next phase of growth for The Station Office Network joint venture
The Station Office Network, the joint venture between Network Rail and The Office Group, has announced that it will open a further three drop-in work spaces in 2014 following the successful launch of its flexible office product at Paddington station in mid-2012.
Network Rail appoints new managing director to spearhead £25bn infrastructure investment programme
Network Rail has announced that Dr Francis Paonessa will join the company as managing director, infrastructure projects this summer. Dr Paonessa is currently managing director UK, Bombardier Transportation. He will replace Simon Kirby, who leaves Network Rail in June to take up the role of chief executive at HS2 Ltd.
Latest regional news
Work to start on Redditch line improvements as part of £100m investment
Work will start later this year to increase the frequency of trains between Barnt Green and Redditch and redevelop the station at Alvechurch to provide a better railway for passengers.
Easier access for passengers at Birchwood
Passengers will soon benefit from better access at Birchwood station thanks to a £2million investment to provide step free access to all platforms for the first time.
Local school pupils learn about railway safety ahead of East West Rail upgrade
A team from Network Rail’s East West Rail programme are visiting schools in Bedford, Bletchley and Bicester to help children and young people in the local areas understand railway safety.
Rose Grove to Colne line reopens after upgrade and investment
The line between Rose Grove and Colne has reopened after improvement work was carried out to provide a better railway for passengers.
Railway Children
Rob Capener, Marketing and Communications Director, Railway Children
Today we are celebrating International Day for Street Children. The day is celebrated across the globe and provides a platform for us to help the millions of street children around the world to speak out so that their rights cannot be ignored. International Day for Street Children is about bringing together many people and uniting their efforts to help vulnerable children.
In India, Railway Children is working with many stakeholders in the community to just that. Read my blog below, but first please take the time to watch our latest video, which was made during my trip to India:
It's my first day in Kolkata. A thousand tarpaulin-covered homeless families surround me, scraping a living amongst streets overflowing with raw sewage and filth outside Sealdah railway station. It suddenly strikes me how I could not be further away from my office in Sandbach, UK and the culture shock is overwhelming.
With an estimated third of Kolkata's population living in slums and a further 70,000 people completely homeless, travelling around Kolkata is a real assault on the senses. Like every other city I have visited in India, the noise of streets choked with traffic can leave your ears ringing. Horns, cars, buses, sirens, trains, lorries, motorcycles everywhere competing in a bumper car symphony. What sets Kolkata apart is the sheer scale of poverty, deprivation, illness and suffering, up against all of which it's a struggle not to be paralysed by a feeling of hopelessness.
Fed by the world's second largest rail network, a child arrives alone and vulnerable at railway stations in Kolkata and other cities across India every five minutes. They are running away from poverty, abuse and neglect. Mostly in search of a better life. But the problems they face on the streets are often far more dangerous than those they have left behind.
This is why Railway Children has spent the last 18 years making sure the first contact these children make when they arrive is with the charity and not the pimps, paedophiles, traffickers and drug pushers who are never far away.
And it's also why I'm here - to make a film about Railway Children's pioneering work in India, which increasingly seeks to collaborate with those who come into closest contact with vulnerable children on the streets and station platforms. We have recently launched five 'child-friendly' stations across India, including Sealdah Station here in Kolkata, and have been working closely with police, platform vendors and railway staff to teach them how to help vulnerable children arriving alone instead of seeing them as criminals or a nuisance or, as in many cases, not seeing them at all.
Gaining the confidence of a vulnerable and traumatised child, who is likely to have developed an in-built distrust of adults, is one of the biggest challenges our street workers face every day. The solution has been to train former street children to become peer workers, as well as existing street children to be basic first aiders. Their first-hand experience and unique understanding makes them easier to approach than an adult. Together they patrol the stations every day. Whenever they find new children, they bring them to the charity's child protection booths located in the child-friendly station.
At these booths Railway Children staff take personal details of every child they come into contact with and work out the best way to help each child. This might mean a short stay care home, where education, food, clothing and medical care can be provided, whilst we try and reunite them with their family. If this is not possible, a long-stay care home or a government home might the best option, where they'll receive ongoing care, support and education.
Over 12 million children live on the streets in the India, Such huge numbers mean people have simply stopped seeing them. They quickly fade into the background and become invisible. But by bringing the right people together at street, community, and government levels, change is happening and these children and their needs are becoming more visible. The need in India is huge, so the plan is to replicate the model and make every station in India child friendly.
At the end of my first day in Kolkata, I dust myself down. I feel well out of my comfort zone. It has been upsetting, shocking and unbelievable. The scale of such deep-rooted problems seems almost overwhelming. There are thousands of children at risk on this city's streets and it is impossible to reach them all by ourselves. We are after all just one relatively small charity. But after seeing how effective Railway Children's child-friendly station model is and the incredible support the initiative has had in India, I also feel genuinely inspired and - even in this craziest of places - a great sense of hope.
UK Heritage News.
GWR - Gloucestershire's mainline heritage railway - Put up a poster for 'Back to Black'!
GWR - Gloucestershire's mainline heritage railway - Eighth locomotive secured for 'Back to Black'!
Ribble Steam Railway looking for new members
Volunteer Recruitment Day | North Yorkshire Moors Railway :: A steam train adventure through the stunning Yorkshire Moors
Historic steam locomotive that conveyed a quarter of Wales' coal output returns home (Wales Online)
Suffolk: Middy seeks major boost to press ahead with expansion (EADT)
Merlin gets her magic back in time for trips (Larne Times)
No. 85 'Merlin' night time testing - full video
Some night time testing of this magnificent locomotive back in December 2013. In addition to some shunting and nocturnal test runs, we can see the AWS system being tested. Lots of electronics in this old loco!(C) Mike Beckett.
Asia News
China – Mongolia coal link agreed - Railway Gazette
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