Find out what’s been happening on the rail network in your area

WESTERN

Bristol Parkway: Network Rail has submitted a planning application to South Gloucestershire Council for a new fourth platform at the station and to extend the others.

Donyatt Halt: Around £10,000 has been raised to restore the former Taunton- Chard line wooden station shelter, which was severely damaged in an arson attack on November 2015. The community building is a meeting place on the public footpath and cycleway.

Lydney: The car park at the Forest of Dean station has been doubled in size to 200 spaces.

EASTERN

Queensbury: The prospects of reopening the tunnel as part of the Bradford- Keighley- Halifax walkway are fading, because 10% of the structure is

MARCH CLOSURES

A significant number of routes were closed on March 6 1967 ( 50 years ago this month), including an extensive mileage of lines that had survived the withdrawal of passenger services but still carried residual freight. Among those affected were: Passenger - Appledore- New Romney, Sidmouth-Sidmouth Junction, Exmouth-Tipton St John, Cambridge-Sudbury, March-St Ives, Harrogate- Northallerton. Freight - Millers Dale- Buxton, New Romney- Lydd Town, Northallerton- Melmerby. considered unsafe. A new opening would cost £ 25.6 million, which is £10m cheaper than repairs. Seaburn: Three 1920s coaches incorporated into the Pullman Lodge Hotel have been offered a prospective new home in Kent, after the building’s acquisition by the city council. They stand in the way of redevelopment, and have to be removed from the site by the end of March. Shipley: After three years in development, Morrisons has abandoned plans to build a supermarket next to the station, which would have included an extension to the car park. This part of the project will be taken forward by developer Skipton Properties. Stockton- on-Tees: T J Thompson’s scrapyard, where hundreds of steam and diesel locomotives have been dismantled over the past five decades, is closing its gates. The site is to be redeveloped for housing.

MIDLANDS

Birmingham: Four sections of the Midland Metro identified for catenary-free running are the new Centenary Square extension ( due to open in 2019), to Wolverhampton city centre ( 2019), the Edgbaston line to Hagley Road ( 2021), and the Eastside extension between Moor Street, Queensway and Digbeth High Street and the proposed HS2 station at Curzon Street ( 2023).

Derby: Network Rail has submitted plans to the city council to construct a sixth through platform on the college side of the station, with stairs and lifts. The existing Platform 5 bay is to be removed, and the work should be completed by the end of next year.

Hellidon: The disused 118- year- old Catesby Tunnel on the old Great Central Main Line in Northamptonshire is to be converted by Aero Research Partners into a vehicle performance testing facility, with automatic turntables at each end. The plan for the disused 2,997- yard structure, devised about five years ago, has won planning approval.

NORTH WEST

Blackpool: February 13 marked the 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of passenger services over the once important rail link to the centre of the resort from Kirkham & Wesham to Blackpool South station. This was two and a half years after

the demise of Blackpool Central, which once carried most of the holiday traffic until much of the 14- platform site was converted into a bus park.

Liverpool: The redundant Royal Mail building at Lime Street station is being demolished. Mostyn: Network Rail is lifting redundant sidings.

Shrewsbury: Refurbishment of three of the station canopies has been completed, allowing attention to be turned to another three of the canopies as well as the footbridge.

SOUTHERN

Dover: The old Western Docks station, closed in November 1994, is now a terminal for cruise ships and an entertainment centre. The trackbed between the platforms has been raised to give a level surface.

Folkestone: The disused alignment through Harbour station is being turned into a public walkway, but with the approach viaduct, platforms and glass canopies left in place. A new staircase and lift will provide new access from Harbour Square.

Gomshall: A new footbridge over the North Downs Line is to be known as Rosa’s Bridge, after Second World War hero Rosa Sigal, whose family donated some of the land on which it was built.

Robertsbridge: Despite the favourable response from Rother District Council planners towards a new level crossing on the A127 road, to allow its station to link up with the Rother Valley and Kent & East Sussex Railways ( RAIL 812), councillors deferred a decision when they met on February 9.

ANGLIA

Beccles: A plaque has been unveiled by the Beccles Society to mark the completion of the station refurbishment, which includes four new offices, two meeting rooms and a cafe.

SCOTLAND

Anderston: Part of the station roof collapsed in the early hours of February 16. No one was injured.

Ballater: The replica Queen Victoria’s carriage has been moved a few yards, to allow work to start on the new station building. The original building was destroyed by fire in May 2015.

Bo’ness: The Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway could be set for a £ 2 million windfall, aimed at attracting new visitors to the town. Falkirk Council is seeking a total of £ 53m over the next three years for a variety of infrastructure development projects.

Edinburgh: Platform 12 at Waverley station is out of use until the summer, to enable construction work in its vicinity.

Evanton: A fresh survey has been started into reopening the Far North Line station, to save a fourmile journey for residents to Alness or Dingwall.

Millerhill: The new Class 385 EMU maintenance facility will be ready for the trains’ full entry into service this autumn.

WALES

Cardiff: The Welsh Government would like to see a new station at Cryws Road, to serve the University complex.

Maesteg: The site of the former rail- served Coegant Colliery, closed in 1981 and served by Bridgend-Cardiff line services, is being turned into a health centre with walking and cycling trails.

St Mellons: A new Cardiff parkway station and business park on a 175- acre site is being actively pursued as part of the South Wales Metro scheme. It could open in 2020, and have space for 1,600 cars.

LONDON

Canonbury: The London Overground station now has step-free access to its platforms.

Lambeth: The London Underground station reopened on February 13 after a seven- month closure to install new lifts.

North Greenwich: Although less than 20 years old, the Tube station could be extensively rebuilt with a new entrance under three 30- storey tower blocks known as Peninsular Place. It is suggested that the station could be renamed Greenwich Peninsula.