Regional News

WESTERN

Chard: Devon County Council has agreed to re- examine proposals to reopen the Waterloo- Exeter line station. It would serve a catchment area of around 20,000.

Cricklade: The Swindon & Cricklade Railway has begun the clearance of vegetation for its £ 2 million, two- mile northern extension. It will reuse track and sleepers recovered from Network Rail’s upgrade of the Great Western Main Line.

Portishead: North Somerset Council has promised an additional £ 6 million to reopen the branch for passenger services by 2021.

Swindon: A further £ 9.4 million is to be spent refurbishing the old GWR carriage works for new industrial use.

Teignmouth: The 130- year- old Saxe Street overbridge is to be replaced in a four- month scheme costing £ 700,000. Weston- super- Mare: The 1884 Francis Fox station has been awarded Grade 2- listed status by Historic England. Woody Bay: The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway has welcomed its 500,000th passenger since it reopened in 2004.

EASTERN

Alnwick: The Aln Valley Railway’s operating line will soon be extended to 1 miles. A bridge needs to be replaced before Cawledge Viaduct can be reused, and a halt and run- round loop will be installed at Greenrigg Bridge.

Lincoln: A pedestrian bridge with lifts has been approved for Brayford Wharf on appeal. Network Rail had previously said that it was unaffordable.

Ripon: The city council has dropped its plans for a £ 20,000 feasibility study into reinstating the railway between Harrogate and Northallerton.

Rotherham: Work on the new low- level platforms at Central station for tram- trains is nearing completion. South Shields: The new Metro building and bus interchange ( RAIL 841) will include a rail maintenance training centre on the site of the original station, which closed in the early 1980s. Preliminary works have included demolition of the former post office and Royal Mail handling centre.

MIDLANDS

Birmingham: The penalty for fare dodgers on the Midland Metro is likely to go up next year from its 1991 figure of £10 to £ 70.

Coventry: A through service to Leicester has been advocated by the Prospectus for Growth transport document, which embraces Warwickshire and Leicestershire.

Euston: The Railway Heritage Trust has declared its ambition to see the statue of Robert Stephenson returned to its original position between the surviving London & Birmingham Railway lodges on

Euston Road. It was moved during the early 1960s remodelling, to allow buses to pass through the gap. The lodges, now being used as the Euston Tap and

Cider Tap bars, have recently had their bricked- up windows reinstated at a cost of almost £120,000.

Telford: The new footbridge and lifts linking the station and town centre are under construction.

Wolverhampton: Midland Metro tram services between Priestfield and St George’s have resumed after a six- month suspension for track relaying.

NORTH WEST

Birkenhead: A large section of Wirral Transport Museum will be closed until May for modernisation, which includes a new entrance.

Blackpool: The moving of street utilities has started for the £ 22 million tramway extension to Blackpool North station. Services should start in April 2019.

Fleetwood: The Quays redevelopment scheme ( a hotel, leisure facilities and homes alongside a Chinese-themed garden) includes a transport museum, reopening the railway to Poulton- le- Fylde, and possibly a link to Blackpool Tramway at the Ferry terminus. Subject to planning permission, the first phase could be open in 2022.

SOUTHERN

Gosport: Hampshire County Council has secured £ 6.9 million from the Department for Transport to extend the 2.1- mile guided busway by a further 0.9 miles on former railway alignment into the town.

Wareham: Plans for a ramped bridge to replace the surface level crossing have proved unpopular and are now being considered by planners.

ANGLIA

Bradwell- on- Sea: Plans have been unveiled for a new power station close to the site of the original one, which was served by a siding at nearby Southminster station.

Turnford: Hertfordshire County Council has added a new station between Broxbourne and Cheshunt ( to serve the regional college) to its latest transport plan, possibly as part of Crossrail 2. Another station is earmarked for Park Plaza, near Waltham Cross.

SCOTLAND

Garelochhead: The last remaining disused listed station in Scotland is still looking for a tenant. The West Highland Line station has, however, been fully structurally surveyed ready for the right person.

Inverness: HiTrans has allocated £ 25,000 to investigate the viability of three new stations to feed the city. The locations are Seafield and Stratton on the route to Inverness, and Beechwood Campus on the Highland Main Line.

Springburn: A memorial was unveiled at the works on December 11 to honour security guard James Kennedy, marking 44 years since he was shot dead trying to stop a payroll robbery. He was awarded a posthumous George Cross medal. Two of his attackers were jailed for 25 years.

WALES

Barry: The former goods shed has been acquired for conversion into an entertainment venue. It is now under the same ownership as the popular Grade 2- listed Pumphouse, located opposite.

Pontypool & New Inn: Subject to funding, the Welsh Marches Line station is to get a park- andride facility, footbridge and lifts, and a new waiting shelter.

Velindre: Local MP Stephen Kinnock says the former rail- served BSC tinplate works should become the site of a new prison, rather than Neath. Located on the Briton Ferry- Llangennach avoiding line, which has only a limited passenger service, it could even get its own station.

LONDON

Acton: The London Underground works and depot is to get a new £ 20 million extension, with four covered roads and an accommodation block. It will be complete in 18 months.