RegionalNews
GREAT WESTERN
Bath: Bath & North East Somerset Council has begun a study into introducing some form of light rail system in the city.
Blackmoor: The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust has acquired a further third of a mile of trackbed on its proposed southern extension. Spare land in the 42.3- acre deal will be sold or part- exchanged to purchase more alignment in the future.
Charfield: The business case for a new station on the Bristol- Gloucester line ( the original closed in 1965) has been re- examined by Gloucestershire County Council, along with new stops at Hunts Grove and Stonehouse Bristol Road.
Hanborough: The developers of a major new housing development close to the station have won their appeal against refusal by West Oxfordshire planners. There is disappointment that there is no mention in the revised plan of the proposed 400space car park.
Ivybridge: The Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan envisages improvements to the main line station. Midsomer Norton: The Somerset & Dorset Heritage Railway Trust has extended its running line by a quarter of a mile towards Chilcompton. There are plans to construct a halt just before the infilled cutting that leads to the old tunnel.
Padstow: The former Southern Railway station, now the town council offices, is undergoing major refurbishment, including getting a new roof. The building, last used for passengers on January 30 1967, was recently threatened with demolition because of the presence of radon gas.
Portway: The sum of £ 2.2 million has been allocated towards construction of a new park- andride station on the Severn Beach line.
EASTERN
Elland: The long- awaited £ 25 million new station features in a new transport package proposed by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, along with a bus interchange, park and ride area, and footbridge over the River Calder. The body is also investigating another station to serve Leeds- Bradford Airport.
Lynemouth: The power station is expecting its first consignment by rail of imported wood pellets during August. South Gosforth: No services will run over the Tyne & Wear Metro to Four Lane Ends from July 31- August 11, and the closure will then be extended to Shiremoor until September 2. The closure is for track replacement, strengthening of embankments, and renewing Killingworth Road bridge in South Gosforth. Sunderland: The port has made a commitment to rail in its expansion plans.
MIDLANDS
Loughborough: The Great Central Railway needs to raise another £100,000 for its link bridge over the Midland Main Line, after the discovery of waterlogged ground below where the new north and south abutments will be located.
Matlock: The Friends of the Derwent Valley Line are pressing for passing loops between Derby and Matlock, after being told that a full Sunday service is not compatible with running charter services to Peak Rail. Rushden: Northamptonshire County Council has agreed the sale of the old Midland Railway goods shed to Rushden Historical Transport Society.
Winslow: Planning approval is close to being secured for the new East West Rail station, for which Buckinghamshire County Council has already purchased the land. There will be a two- storey car park with 360 spaces.
NORTH WEST
Ashton- under- Lyne: The station was closed on July 8 to enable Network Rail to rebuild an overbridge and realign more than two miles of track. Replacement buses will run to Manchester Victoria until July 31.
Keswick: CKP Railways is pleased that Copeland MP Trudy Harrison has been re- elected, because she has shown keen interest in the campaign to revive the Penrith- Keswick route.
Lancaster: The old coalyard crane at the site of Green Ayre station, now a riverside park, is being restored. It was recovered from Hornby in the mid1970s.
Llangefni: Although located on Anglesey’s longmothballed Amlwch branch, the county town station ( closed on December 7 1964) is on a Welsh Government list of 12 being investigated for reopening. Network Rail is being asked for advice on how this could be achieved, considering the poor state of the track because rail traffic to the Associated Octel chemical plant ceased in 1993.
Morecambe: The clock from Promenade station ( closed in February 1994) has returned to Leeds after 110 years, and is now in the city museum. It will be put on display later this year.
Stockport: Network Rail’s £ 950,000 nine- month programme to resurface the station platforms and improve lighting will be completed at the end of August. ANGLIA Burnham- on- Crouch: The conversion of the stationmaster’s house into a community centre has won national recognition. The £100,000 scheme, supported by Greater Anglia, has revived a building that had been derelict for over 30 years. The platform and canopy have also been improved.
Greater Anglia: Railfuture and more than 200 people have objected to proposals to close or downgrade booking offices that maintain a human presence at seven stations. They are at Alresford, Dovercourt, Great Bentley, Great Chesterford, Harwich International, Thorpe- le-Soken and Waltonon-the-Naze.
Holt: A replica weighbridge building is under construction next to the main North Norfolk Railway terminus station.
Manea: Platform extensions at the remote ElyMarch line station could be funded by the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership. Whittlesey: A new footbridge is being considered for the March- Peterborough line station, along with platform extensions. SCOTLAND
Edinburgh: A bronze plaque commemorating the birthplace of LNER Chief Mechanical Engineer Sir Nigel Gresley was unveiled at 32 Dublin Street on June 19 ( his 141st birthday). It is the joint effort of Historic Scotland and the Gresley Society.
Galashiels: The Borders Railway transport interchange reduced its daily opening hours from 0100 to 2300 on July 1, because of late- night antisocial behaviour.
Glasgow: Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has approved a £4 million upgrade to substations at Shields Road and Bridge Street stations. Work is programmed to start when the refurbishment of Kelvingrove station is completed this summer.
Halbeath: Fife Council’s newly elected administration has renewed its commitment to the new Fife Circle station, to support the £10 million road- based park- and- ride facility opened at the end of 2013. Hawick: The position of a proposed mobile phone mast has been moved away from the Waverley Route alignment, so that it does not hinder the possible reinstatement of the Tweedbank- Carlisle section.
Renfrew: A cycle path now occupies much of the alignment of the GSWR branch from Hillington, which lost its passenger service 50 years ago on June 5. Goods traffic survived for another 14 years. LONDON
Camden: Plans to treble the size of the London Underground station, with three new escalators and a new entrance on Buck Street, are out to a second round of public consultation.