International & UK Railway News Saturday 6th April 2013

Railway Herald - Railtours

Week starting Monday 8th April 2013..

 

Always check with operators to confirm runnings.

Please observe Network Rail guidance for photographers.HERE

 

Friday 12th April 2013

The British Pullman Circular Luncheon Train (VSOE)

35028 London Victoria (pu) - Barnes - Staines - Virginia Water - Woking - Guildford - Shalford - Reigate - Redhill - East Croydon - Selhurst - Clapham Junction - London Victoria

 

Saturday 13th April 2013

Cheddar Gorge And Cardiff (NENTA Traintours)

WCRC Class 47 (Pair) Norwich (pu) - Diss (pu) - Stowmarket (pu) - Ipswich (pu) - Manningtree (pu) - Colchester (pu) - Witham (pu) - Chelmsford (pu) - Stratford (pu) - Bath Spa (sd) - Bristol Temple Meads (sd) (rev) - Cardiff Central (break/rev) & return

 The Heart Of Wales Wanderer (Pathfinder Tours)

• DBS Class 66 Tame Bridge Parkway (pu) - Birmingham New Street (pu) - Stourbridge Junction (pu) - Kidderminster (pu) - Worcester Shrub Hill (pu) - Cheltenham Spa (pu) - Cam & Dursley (pu) - Bristoil Parkway (pu) - Newport (pu) - Cardiff Central - Port Talbot - Swansea District Line - Pantyffynnon - Llandeilo - Llandrindod Wells (break) - Knighton - Craven Arms - Shrewsbury Abbey Foregate Curve - Telford Central - Wolverhampton - Tame Bridge Parkway (sd) - Birmingham New Street (sd) - Stourbridge Junction (sd) - Kidderminster s- Worcester Shrub Hill (sd) - Cheltenham Spa (sd) - Cam & Dursley (sd) - Bristol Parkway (sd) - Newport:

 The Heart Of Wales (Railway Touring Company)

• WCRC Class 47 (Pair) Cardiff (pu)-Bristol Parkway (pu)-Swindon (pu)-Oxford (pu)-Leamington Spa-Wolverhampton-Shrewsbury
• 44871 and 45407 Shrewsbury-Llandrindod Wells (break)-Pantyffynnon-Swansea District Line-Cardiff Central-Pengam Sidings
• WCRC Class 47 (Pair) Pengam Sidings-Newport(sd)-Severn Tunnel-Bristol Parkway(sd)-Swindon(sd)-Oxford(sd)

 

Cumbrian Mountain & Coast Statesman (Statesman Rail)

• WCRC Class 47 (Pair) Milton Keynes Central (pu) - Northampton (pu) - Rugby (pu) - Coventry (pu) - Bedworth (pu) - Nuneaton (pu) - Tamworth Low Level (pu) - Lichfield Trent Valley Low Level (pu) - Stafford (pu) - Crewe (pu) - Warrington Bank Quay (pu) - Wigan North Western (pu) - Blackburn - Hellifield - S&C - Carlisle (break/rev) Carlisle - Maryport - Workington - Ravenglass - Ulverston - Grange over Sands - Carnforth - Preston - Wigan North Western (sd) - Warrington Bank Quay (sd) - Crewe (sd) - Stafford (sd) - Lichfield Trent Valley Low Level (sd) - Tamworth Low Level (sd) - Nuneaton (sd) - Bedworth (sd) - Coventry (sd) - Rugby (sd) - Northampton (sd) - Milton Keynes Central

The Cathedrals Express (Steam Dreams)

• 60163 London Kings Cross (pu) - Stevenage (pu) - Peterborough (pu) - York (sd) (pu) - Durham (break/rev) & return

 

Additional Tour Information

8/1: now to York and Durham instead of Beverley and Scarborough

Added 19:46 on Tuesday 8th January 2013

The Lincolnshire Coaster (UK Railtours)

DBS Class 92 Finsbury Park (pu) - Potters bar (pu) - Stevenage (pu) - Peterborough (pu) - Grantham - Newark

DBS Class 60 Newark - Lincoln - Barnetby - Marsh West Junction - Immingham Circuit - Grimsby - Cleethorpes (break/rev) - Cleethorpes - Barnetby - Brigg - Gainsborough - Doncaster Yard

DBS Class 92 Doncaster Yard - Newark - Grantham - Peterborough (sd) - Stevenage (sd) - Potters Bar (sd) - Finsbury Park

Additional Tour Information

 Route confirmed. Newark - Lincoln - Barnetby on the outward leg, as booked via Brigg and Gainsborough on the return.

Added 09:55 on Monday 11th March 2013

3/3: the route of this charter from Doncaster to Cleethorpes is to be confirmed as a result of the serious landslip at Stainforth.

Added 12:37 on Sunday 3rd March 2013

Moonraker (Vintage Trains)

• 5043 Solihull (pu) - Dorridge (pu) - Warwick Parkway (pu) - Leamington Spa - Banbury (pu) - Oxford - Reading West - Mortimer - Basingstoke - Andover - Salisbury (break/rev) & return

Sunday 14th April 2013

 Peak Forester (Railway Touring Company)

• 34067 London Kings Cross (pu) - Stevenage (pu) - Peterborough (pu) - Stamford (pu) - Oakham (pu) - Melton Mowbray - Loughborough - East Midlands Parkway - Spondon - Derby - Duffield - Ambergate - Matlock - Darley Dale - Rowsley South (break/rev) & return

 Listing offered in good faith. No guarantees implied or offered.

 

ATOC

Latest figures show that more than nine out of 10 trains ran without delay

05/04/2013
Responding to the latest rail performance data covering the 03 March to 31 March 2013, a spokesperson for the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) said:
“These figures show that, on average, more than nine out of ten trains are arriving without delay.
"Train companies know how important it is for passengers that trains arrive on time and will further improve services by working closely with the rest of the industry.”







Shedmaster Railway News

Will FYRA ever ride again?

GE Transportation will be presenting its latest CBTC and train control technologies at the Asia Pacific Rail conference...

Construction of the proposed 342 km railway to serve the Roy Hill iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia is on course for completion by November 2015..





World Heritage & Railway News

Includes messages from West Somerset Railway and Ribble Steam.....



Railway Engineering News


siemens.com - Sinema Server has been designed to continuously monitor Ethernet and Profinet networks in industrial and infrastructure environments.

railwaygazette.com - ROMANIA: The Ministry of Transport formally advertised the sale of a 51% stake in national rail freight operator CFR Marfa on April 5. The starting price is 797m lei.




UK Office of Rail Regulation (ORR)

National Rail Trends quarterly summary

2012-13 Q3 (1 October to 31 December 2012)


Executive summary
1) The total number of timetabled train kilometres has increased by 1.3% compared to 2011-12 Q3. The largest increases in timetabled train kilometres for franchised operators were for London Overground (7.6%) and Chiltern (4.4%). London Overground's timetabled train kilometres have steadily increased since introducing a new timetable in May 2011. Chiltern's timetabled train kilometres have increased compared to 2011-12 Q3 as their Mainline timetable was introduced between London Marylebone, Banbury and Birmingham in September 2011.

2) There were 80 signals passed at danger (SPADs) in 2012-13 Q3, which is an increase of 21.2% compared to 2011-12 Q3. The moving annual average number of SPADs in 2012-13 Q3 was 64, having gone up from the previous quarter.

3) The average age of all rolling stock in 2012-13 Q3 was 18.39 years, an increase of 0.84 years on 2011-12 Q3. The average age for all rolling stock is at its highest since 2003-04 Q2 when it was 18.40 years.

4) FPM in 2012-13 Q3 was 71.9%, a decrease of 1 percentage point on 2011-12 Q3. The FPM MAA at 2012-13 Q3 stands at 75.3%, this is 0.5 percentage points higher than Q3 last year.

5) 88.1% of trains were recorded as meeting PPM requirements ("on time") during 2012-13 Q3. The number of trains on time is 1.13 percentage points lower than Q3 last year. The long distance sector had 83.7% of trains on time within 2012-13 Q3. This is 3.04 percentage points lower than 2011-12 Q3 and 6.34 percentage points lower than 2012-13 Q2. 88.6% of trains in the London and South East sector were on time during 2012-13 Q3. This is the lowest quarterly value since 2010-11 Q3. The regional sector had 88.4% of trains on time, 0.58 percentage points lower than Q3 last year and 4.21 percentage points lower than last quarter.

6) In 2012-13 Q3, franchised passenger journeys reached 385.1 million, a 3.9% increase on the same quarter in 2011-12. In 2012-13 Q3, total franchised passenger revenue was £1.96billion, an 8.3% increase on 2011-12 Q3 and the highest amount of revenue generated within any quarter since the time series began.

7) In 2012-13 Q3 the total amount of freight moved was 5.29 billion net tonne kilometres, a 0.9% increase compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

8) Total quarterly freight lifted in 2012-13 Q3 was 29.1 million tonnes. This is an increase of 13.4% compared to 2011-12 Q3 and is the highest quarterly figure since the time series began.

9) £249 million was invested into the railways by private companies during 2012-13 Q3. This is the highest figure since 2007-08 Q1 and largely driven by rolling stock investment. £209 million was invested in rolling stock, £1 million invested in track and signaling, £8 million in stations and £31 million in other types of investment.

10) There were 1.1 million calls made to NRES during 2012-13 Q3, this is 17.4% fewer calls than Q3 last year. During 2012-13 Q3, 95.0% of calls were answered and 5.0% abandoned, no calls were engaged.

11) There were 35 complaints per 100,000 train journeys in 2012-13 Q3, a reduction of 6.8% on the same quarter last year but an increase of 11.5% on Q2. Generally, punctuality drops from Q2 to Q3 and given that train service performance accounts for the largest proportion of complaints, we would expect to see complaints increase. The moving annual average (MAA) stands at 33 complaints per 100,000 journeys, which is the lowest MAA recorded since the time series began in 2002-03.