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

WESTERN

Penzance: Two wooden London County Council tram trailer bodies that were taken to Cornwall over 80 years ago have been offered for sale on Facebook for £100. They are in very poor condition, but are still considered restorable.

Reading: Revised designs for the new Reading Green Park station have been drawn up, following large- scale objections to the originals.

EASTERN

Doncaster: An appeal to place a gravestone at the final resting place in Hyde Park Cemetery of Joe Duddington, the driver of ‘A4’ 4468 Mallard when it made its world record- breaking 126mph run on June 3 1938, has raised £ 5,000 in less than a week.

Grantham: There are plans to convert an empty estate agent’s office at the station into a cafe.

Haringay: The shabby footbridge that acts as the entrance to the north London station is set to be repaired and upgraded.

MIDLANDS

Birmingham: Japanese knotweed has been removed from around the site of HS2’s Curzon

Street station. The banks of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, which runs alongside the site, were so infested that contractors had to remove and lower sections of the wall along the canal banks.

Bishops Castle: The old Bishops Castle Railway weighbridge building, disused since services ended in 1935, should reopen as a museum this summer. It has been renovated and has new doors and windows.

Cannock: This location on the Chase Line is the first to receive cosmetic improvements at the expense of West Midlands Stations Alliance. Work is concentrated on signage and local art.

Dudley: The main construction works for the West Midlands Metro extension are due to get under way in early March. This includes removal of the road surface along Castle Hill to install the track. Also in the town, the Very Light Rail Project has completed its test track and will be receiving the Coventry system prototype later in the year.

Wednesbury: The planning application has been submitted for doubling the capacity of West Midlands Metro’s Wednesbury depot to accomodate 46 trams and 352 staff.

NORTH WEST

Aspatria: It is costing £1 million to replace a road bridge over the Cumbrian Coast Line.

Lancaster: A £1.3 million upgrade of Lancaster station’s Grade 2- listed footbridge began on January 9, with work due to finish by the end of August. Structural repairs will be carried out, and a new roof and windows installed. It will also be painted.

Northern: Ten Northern station car parks have been improved in a £ 650,000 project funded by Network Rail. The locations are Windermere, Hyde North, Reddish North, Newton for Hyde, Disley, Dent, Styal, Castleton, Grange- over-Sands and Meadowhall.

SOUTHERN

Eridge: The Railway Heritage Trust has made a £1,624 contribution towards the installation of new 1948 Southern Railway- style totem signs, to complete the comprehensive makeover for the Spa Valley Railway junction station.

Grain: Medway Council has opened up public consultation to reopen the Hoo Peninsula’s line to passengers. It envisages a passing loop, terminus station, and the replacement of several level crossings with overbridges.

Liphook: The South Western Railway station is getting a new footbridge, ramp and lifts.

ANGLIA

Blythburgh: The 1879 goods shed, the last surviving original building on the Southwold Railway ( closed in 1929), is being restored by volunteers. Two sidings are being relaid next to it.

Holt: The Norfolk Orbital Railway has raised nearly £100,000 towards the acquisition of 190 yards

of former M& GN alignment, which it says will allow the North Norfolk Railway to be connected to the town centre along the town bypass.

March: Track is to be relaid into the disused Platform 3, for any future Wisbech service to avoid conflicts with Peterborough- Ipswich traffic. Its last regular use was for passenger services over the GN& GE ‘Joint Line’ to Spalding in November 1981. A new 200- space car park is also planned for the north side of the station, together with a replacement footbridge and lifts.

Norwich: It is planned to spend £ 2.5 million improving the poorly- designed area in front of the station, to make it better for buses, cars, taxis and cyclists, and to slash journey times to and from the city centre.

Stonea: The bridge under the Ely- March line was struck by a car transporter on the day it reopened, having suffered serious damage in two serious incidents in October 2019. Little damage was caused by the latest strike on February 10.

SCOTLAND

Ayr: The future of the derelict station hotel seems assured, but Transport Scotland is unsure whether it should be turned into private apartments, social housing or office accommodation. There is even thought of retaining the majority of the building as a hotel, although a barrier could be the £10 million to £ 25m cost of repairs.

Clarkston: The 1882 Caledonian Railway stationmaster’s house has been saved from demolition by the businessman who paid £182,000 for it. East Renfrewshire Council wants it to be renovated for re- use.

Corpach: There is concern that the last regular freight traffic over the West Highland Line extension could be lost if Alvance Aluminium proceeds with its plans to export its ingots by sea. The company recently announced a

£ 94 million investment in a new recycling and casting facility that will almost double production to 80,000 tonnes a year.

Cults: The former GNSoR Aberdeen– Ballater line station, closed in February 1966, may be turned into a cafe.

Saltcoats: Empty land next to the North Ayrshire station was sold in auction on February for £ 642,000, way above the expected price. In addition, a derelict railway building nearby is to be turned into a community centre.