Regional News

WESTERN

Bere Alston: The redundant station waiting room and LSWR signal box, last attended to in 2008, are being renovated for community use.

Gloucester: The semi- derelict 1867 Midland Railway transit shed, overlooking the Gloucester-Sharpness Canal at Bakers Quay, could be replaced by a waterfront terraced restaurant. Despite being Grade 2- listed, most of the structure is considered unrepairable and may be demolished.

EASTERN

Grantham: The station car park is being extended by 115 extra spaces.

Pickering: The main steel frame of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s new five- road carriage maintenance facility has been completed. When completed early next year, the facility will provide cover for up to 40 vehicles.

Swineshead: Replacement of the level crossing barriers next to the Boston-Sleaford line station has been delayed by two months, following the discovery of asbestos in the old foundations.

Woodhead: A mile of overhead power lines carried by seven pylons are to be removed and buried underground, which will require the temporary closure of part of the Trans- Pennine Trail, sections of which run along the former Manchester-Sheffield electrified route. The new wiring will be joined to existing cables that run through the tunnel, and the project should be complete in 2022.

York: Revised plans for the revamped station frontage include a different- style multi- storey car park behind the Railway Institute, larger taxi space, segregated cycle lane, and wider pavement.

MIDLANDS

Awsworth: Scaffolding has been erected to begin the conversion of the Grade 2- listed Bennerley Viaduct over the Erewash Valley into a public footpath. The project will take a year to complete.

Bedford: Operating problems have been experienced at the Lidlington, Stewartby and Kempston Hardwick level crossings on the Bletchley line since the arrival of Class 230 units. It has been suggested that they are too short to operate the track circuits correctly and are also discharging too much sand.

Kilsby: Extensive repairs have been completed to brickwork inside the 2,432- yard West Coast Main Line tunnel south of Rugby. Track has been replaced and drainage improved.

Moseley: Plans have been submitted to Birmingham City Council for the new Camp Hill Line station. There has been debate over whether it should be called Stirchley or Hazelwell instead, to better represent its location.

Tamworth: The station lifts were closed on July 4 for upgrading. They will reopen after 12 weeks.

Wolverhampton: Work has started on the demolition of the old station buildings.

NORTH WEST

Ashton- under- Lyne: The new bus station next to the Metrolink terminus is due to be completed this autumn.

Horton- in- Ribblesdale: A new crossover and siding is to be installed to serve the Hanson Quarry during its extended five- year lifespan. The work will require the suspension of Settle- Carlisle Line services for a week during the autumn. The station will also get a new footbridge, but special dispensation may be required not to install lifts in this remote location.

Manchester: The Railway Heritage Trust is contributing £ 70,000 for a memorial screen and retro lighting at Victoria station.

St Helens: A mural has been applied to the footbridge at Central station, to commemorate local landmarks and the town’s industrial past.

Windermere: The station car park has been resurfaced and had its layout altered.

SOUTHERN

Ashford: Demolition of the old Chart Leacon depot

began at the end of July. Opened in 1961 and shut by Bombardier six years ago, it will be replaced by a new light maintenance facility required by Network Rail.

Oxted: The viaduct carrying the Uckfield Line over the River Eden and A25 is undergoing heavy repairs.

ANGLIA

King’s Lynn: The installation of a new stabling siding has been delayed.

Southend Airport: Management of the station, which opened in 2012, has transferred to the airport company.

LONDON

Alexandra Palace: The alignment of the former Great Northern branch to Highgate and Finsbury Park ( closed on July 3 1954) could be breached with the demolition of the unsafe bridge near Dukes Avenue. Haringey Council is asking its owner, the Department for Transport, to consider repairs instead because of its historical significance.

Essex Road: Around 500 yards of outdated tiling has been removed from the Underground station and replaced, to complement others along the Northern Line.

Moorgate: Finsbury Circus Gardens, London Square Mile’s largest open space and first public park, is reopening this month after being closed to the public for ten years for Crossrail works.

SCOTLAND

Levenmouth: Network Rail’s analysis of the proposed reopening of the five- mile line from Thornton shows that electrification and double-tracking are serious considerations, along with two stations and freight capacity as far as Methil Docks.

Strathbungo: Network Rail halted its planned demolition of the empty Glasgow- Barrhead and Kilmarnock route’s station building on July 18, following protests from local residents. There is a dispute over whether it is fit for commercial or community use.

WALES

Abergavenny: Empty station accommodation is to be refurbished for public use. The Railway Heritage Trust has awarded a grant of £ 52,000. Llangollen: The Llangollen Railway has closed down its substantial but unviable engineering business, as part of its restructuring. Pembroke Dock: Restoration of the station canopy has been completed.

RISING COSTS

( Items from this column from 30, 20 and 10 years ago) Llanwrst ( August 1990 - 132% inflation since then): Vandals have wrecked the new station, opened only a year ago at a cost of £ 60,000.

■ While the hooligans’ actions are largely forgotten, note just how little the Llandudno- Blaenau Ffestiniog line station cost to install. In 2020, you might not have got it built for a million. Riccarton Junction ( August 2000 - inflation 74%): Opening a new museum at the remote former Waverley Route junction station, pro- rail Scottish Nationalist MSP Christine Grahame said she had asked the UK Government for £ 200 million to reinstate the entire Edinburgh- Carlisle line.

■ Just a third of the route - the 35- mile Borders Railway to Tweedbank that opened in September 2015 - cost £ 353m to put back. Current estimates for the remaining 65 miles to Carlisle could take the total route cost up to £1 billion.

Frodsham ( August 2010 - inflation 31.2%): Returning the Halton Curve to allow a two trains per hour service from Liverpool to Chester will cost £11 million, says Merseyrail.

■ When it opened in May 2019, just eight years later, the bill was £19m. Taking inflation into account, it’s not that far from the original estimate. That’s a bit better.