Regional News

WESTERN

Banbury: The new Chiltern Railways train maintenance depot on the site of the old steam shed has been completed.

Bristol: The route of the new Metrobus operation occupies the formation originally granted powers for light rail. It will use ( in part) alignment of the old freight line from Ashton Gate- Wapping Wharf coal depot that crosses the River Avon. The busway will also shorten the Bristol Harbour Railway by 400 yards.

Reading: Reading West station may be left without a footbridge for a time, because the borough council has rejected the replacement proposed by Network Rail. The present structure will be removed this year to create greater clearances for electrification.

Swindon: The redundant panel signal box has been demolished.

Washford: The Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust has signed a 50- year lease on its museum site at the West Somerset Railway station. It rescinds the notice it was given in 2011.

EASTERN

Darlington: The once near- derelict 1844 Great North of England Railway engine shed has been incorporated into a social housing development. The building, which was vacated by BR in 2004, faced demolition until it was rescued by the awarding of Grade 2- listed status.

Finningley: New Sheffield City Region Mayor Dan Jarvis is calling for an early start on the new station to serve Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which he says could help with a £ 2.3 million economic boost over the next two decades. The price tag of £ 280m is twice the figure quoted just 18 months ago.

Grimsby: At least £ 3.7 million is to be invested in the docks area by North East Lincolnshire Council, Historic England, ABP and private investors, to bring disused buildings back into use and boost tourism. Redundant rails are still embedded in the road surface. Newark: Northgate station’s forecourt has been remodelled to ease traffic congestion, with a new bus stop provided.

Newcastle: The last remaining civil engineering sidings in Forth Yards have been lifted, to allow the area to be redeveloped. The stub of the former main line to Carlisle is still used for stabling stock.

Spilsby: The GNR branch closed to freight in 1958, and not 1969 as stated in RAIL 852.

MIDLANDS

Eardington: The Severn Valley Railway is preparing to reopen the station that it closed in 1982, when the southern part of the platform was declared unsafe. It has been replaced ( at a cost of £ 26,000) with 6,000 authentic GWR bricks recovered from a demolished bridge near Bristol.

Wolverhampton: Demolition of part of the station is due to start next month. It is the first stage of a two- year programme to create a new interchange with buses and trams.

NORTH WEST

Ashton Moss: The 1911 L&Y signal box was demolished immediately after its closure on April 14.

Carlisle: Victoria Viaduct, which crosses the platforms at the north end of the station, was closed for two weeks during May because of safety concerns, with falling masonry from the derelict adjacent Central Plaza hotel.

Dent: England’s highest railway station, on the Settle- Carlisle Line, is on the market for £425,000, for only the third time since it opened in 1877. Restored 12 years ago, the Grade 2- listed building has been available for holiday rental.

Heaton Mersey: A new business park has opened on the site of the former locomotive depot.

Manchester: Manchester Metrolink wants to introduce fare zones, to slash the current 8,500 stop-to- stop ticket combinations down to just ten. If public consultation taking place in June is positive, the new structure will be introduced early next year.

Prescot: Capacity improvements at the St Helens station are being financed by the Liverpool Combined Authority, to serve the expanded Shakespeare North Playhouse. It will get new lifts and a larger car park.

Sandbach: July 1 will be the 150th anniversary of the LNWR opening the route to Northwich. It is currently freight- only.

SOUTHERN

Twickenham: In a three- month programme that runs into July, a new concrete deck is being installed over the platforms at the west end of the station. West Worthing: The mothballed sidings have been rehabilitated for stabling Class 700 EMUs.

ANGLIA

Cambridge: The proposed guided busway extension to the new Camborne township has been placed on hold, because Mayor James Palmer says he wants “something better”.

Harwich: It was 50 years ago on June 18 that a ceremony was held at Parkeston Quay to mark the start of the first commercial journey to Rotterdam of British Rail’s new container ferry Sea Freightliner 1. The vessel only had a short life, and was broken up in Taiwan in 1987.

Soham: The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Unitary Authority has announced that it will be 2030 before the Ely- March station will be reopened.

SCOTLAND

Aviemore: The Cairngorm Mountain Railway will be closed until July 4 for heavy repairs.

Broughty Ferry: The new platform extensions are due to be completed this month.

Dalmeny: June 1 marked the 150th anniversary of the North British Railway extending services to South Queensferry. It would be another 22 years before the Forth Bridge would be built.

Glasgow: The city council has been warned that the airport rail link is unlikely to hit its 2024 target opening date. The scheme has already been criticised for jeopardising the existing commuter timetable from Paisley Gilmour Street into Central station, but the council committed another £ 500,000 in June to conduct fresh passenger demand analysis.

WALES

Neath: There have been complaints from passengers that the station platforms are not long enough to accommodate the new Class 800 train sets, leaving two of the carriages locked out when they arrive and depart. Talacre: The redundant North Wales Line signal box has been turned into an office for a nearby caravan company.

Trawsfynydd: The Trawsfynydd Railway Company is hoping to get its occupation licence renewed by Network Rail, so that it can continue its rehabilitation of the seven- mile freight- only branch to Blaenau Ffestiniog. It was evicted last August for health and safety breaches after a bridge was damaged. Waunfawr: The Welsh Highland Railway is to build a new stone station building, to replace the original which fell into disrepair after the 1937 closure.

LONDON

Buckhurst Hill: The Central Line Underground station is the 74th and latest to become step-free.

Canada Water: Plans have been announced for 3,000 new homes close to the Jubilee and East London Line station. A decision is due at the end of this year.

Colindale: The London Underground Northern Line station is to get a new building.

Elmers End: Transport for London is to finance around one-third of the £ 9 million cost of double-tracking the London Tramlink branch and constructing an additional platform.

Walthamstow: A second entrance and step-free access at the Victoria Line’s Central station has been approved by Transport for London.