Regional news

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

WESTERN

Berkeley Road: A new station is proposed on the Bristol- Gloucester line ( in the vicinity of the old one that was closed in January 1965 and demolished), to serve two new garden village developments which are being promoted by Stroud District Council. The authority wants to build 3,900 new homes there by 2040.

Blackmoor: The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway has submitted a planning application to convert the Station Inn into a proper station on its new £ 65 million extension to Wistlandpound - complete with a restaurant, shop and museum.

Doniford: Some of the £100,000 raised by the West Somerset Railway’s Rail Renewal Appeal is going towards the replacement of 300 yards of track. It is hoped the fund will eventually raise £ 250,000.

Reading: After demanding alterations to the layout, the borough council has finally agreed plans for the new Green Park station on the Basingstoke line. It is scheduled to open at the end of 2020.

EASTERN

Billingham: The only station in the Tees Valley without disabled access is to receive £ 2 million worth of alterations to make it compliant.

Durham: The Railway Heritage Trust has awarded £ 30,330 to LNER, to restore masonry at the station.

Knaresborough: The roof of the Grade 2- listed station has been repaired at a cost of £150,000.

Spalding: It has cost a further £40,000 to complete the restoration of the main Italianate- style station building, almost ten years after work began. Missing doors, windows and floors have been replaced to improve its external appearance.

Stockton- on-Tees: The lost 1925 Stockton & Darlington Railway centenary plaque, unveiled by the future King George VI to commemorate the sale of the first train ticket, has been restored and re- erected. It had been stolen, smashed, and dumped in a brook about ten years ago.

MIDLANDS

Awsworth: Despite plans that are now in place for its repair and conversion into a public walkway, Bennerley Viaduct has still been placed on the 2020 global ‘buildings at risk’ list. The structure has been owned by conservation group Railway Paths since 1998, and it is hoped that this alert will attract funds for its restoration.

Birmingham: The first tram travelled over the West Midlands Metro extension from Victoria Square to Centenary Square overnight on October 23/ 24, on a gauging run. Services are due to start in December, and reach Edgbaston in 2021.

Bricket Wood: Consultants recommend an extended platform and a new passing loop to enable a two-train service to operate between Watford and St Albans Abbey. Hertfordshire County Council has indicated its support for the proposal.

Dorridge: The Railway Heritage Trust has made a £ 5,000 contribution to Chiltern Railways’ refurbishment of the GWR Platform 2/ 3 waiting room at the West Midlands station.

Higham Ferrers: November 3 was the 50th anniversary of the final closure to goods of the Midland Railway branch from Irchester Junction. Although the station site has long been cleared of its buildings, it is the long-term aim of the Rushden, Higham and Wellingborough Railway to return to the town. Watford: The three unreliable lifts at Watford Junction station are to be replaced between now and February.

NORTH WEST

Besses o’ th’ Barn: The spectacular pre- stressed concrete box girder bridge over the M62 motorway and next to the former Manchester- Bury ( now Metrolink) line was 50 years old on November 9. It was designed to fall by up to 10ft, to cope with subsidence from old mine workings.

Birkdale: The stationmaster’s house has now been refurbished inside and out, for its new role as a

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Manchester: The section of Metrolink between Cornbrook and St Peter’s Square has been claimed by operator KeolisAmey to be the busiest light rail line in the world. Recorded crime rose by almost a third last year.

SOUTHERN

Blackfriars: It was 150 years ago, on November 6, that Joseph Cubitt’s replacement wrought iron bridge over the Thames was officially opened by Queen Victoria. The cast iron Holborn Viaduct was commissioned the same day.

Denmark Hill: A new entrance on the north side is among the improvements being suggested for the Govia Thameslink railway station. It will struggle to cope with an expected 33% increase in passengers over the next 20 years.

Waterloo: New and improved lighting has made the Victory Arch more attractive at night.

Winchester: A developer has been refused permission to demolish the former Winchester Chesil stationmaster’s house ( on the old Didcot, Newbury and Southampton route), to make way for four new homes.

ANGLIA

Attleborough: Greater Anglia has repainted the

renovated Grade 2- listed station building in LNER green and cream colours.

Bury St Edmunds: Extra capacity is being created in the station car park.

Downham Market: New cycle stands have been installed, to complement the authentic Network SouthEast branding applied to the Kings LynnCambridge line station two years ago. New waiting shelters have also been built at the northern end of the platforms.

March: The station frontage has been improved by the renewal of all the frosted windowpanes with a single pattern of glass.

Shenfield: The Greater Anglia station car park has been significantly extended.

SCOTLAND

Birkhill: After four years of effort, the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway station finally has its footbridge ( recovered from West Calder) in position.

Dunbar: The Railway Heritage Trust has awarded £ 5,000 towards replacing the station’s plastic windows and gutters with more traditional materials. Edinburgh: Trams ( and buses) could have the area around Waverley station all to themselves, under new traffic control measures suggested in a £ 214 million Transformation scheme. Cars would no

longer be allowed to turn left from North Bridge Street.

Kilmarnock: The Railway Heritage Trust has made a £40,000 grant towards waterproofing the station’s basement, ready for its refurbishment for community use. It is one of the final tasks in a much larger project that began back in 2011, when many of the buildings were derelict.

Saltcoats: Work is starting on the refurbishment of the north side station building, of which only a third is currently in railway use as a manned booking office. The rest is to become a karate gym.

WALES

Bangor: The recently restored station has had its two notable chimney stacks reinstated thanks to financial support from the Railway Heritage Trust. They had been removed in the 1980s as a costsaving exercise.

St Mellons: Cardiff Council is expecting to receive a formal planning application next spring to construct the new parkway station, which will be part of a 160- acre commercial development.

Tywyn: At the second attempt, the Talyllyn Railway has used legacies to purchase the house next to Tywyn Wharf station, which was originally built for its General Manager Edward Thomas. It may be used for volunteer accommodation.