Regional News
WESTERN
Bourne End: Network Rail is considering track improvements to the branch from Maidenhead, having completed work on the extension to Marlow. Nailsworth: The 1867 Grade 2-listed Midland Railway station (closed to passengers in 1947) is on the market for £1.2 million. The four-bedroom home incorporates the original platform and stands on 1.6 acres.
Oxford: A summer start is expected on the station’s long-awaited new western entrance and additional platform, which should be completed in December 2024. Design work has also started on capacity improvements through Oxford, between Banbury and Didcot, Hanborough and Cowley.
EASTERN
Burley-in-Wharfedale: Tactile paving slabs have been installed on both platform edges at the LeedsIlkley line station. Similar improvements are planned for Dewsbury and Denby Dale.
Newcastle: The city council is to turn the old pattern shop at the former Robert Stephenson locomotive works (close to Central station) into offices, at a cost of £8.7 million.
MIDLANDS
Kidsgrove: The new bridge connecting all four platforms at the north Staffordshire station was commissioned ahead of the three lifts, which only came into operation on March 19 due to power supply issues.
Nottingham: A petition has been set up to try to persuade the city council to resume tours of the former Great Central Railway tunnels, which have been suspended on safety grounds.
NORTH WEST
Ashton-under-Lyne: Metrolink services could be suspended for up to two years, during HS2 construction in 2024-26 and the replacement of the tram platforms at Manchester Piccadilly with four new ones (and possibly a new stop).
Blackpool: The roof end of Blackpool North station has been painted with a seaside scene, and the interior redecorated.
Cottam: Construction of the new Preston-Blackpool line station could start as early as next year if planning approval is obtained. Most of the funding has been secured.
Manchester: Work is under way to convert
Castlefield Viaduct, disused for half a century, into a public green space.
SOUTHERN
Canterbury: The booking hall of Canterbury East station is scheduled for refurbishment.
Hither Green: The south-east London station is to get an additional new entrance, footbridge and lifts to make it step-free, despite being awkwardly sited on a high embankment.
Pokesdown: Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council has taken out a long-term loan for its £2.6 million contribution to the £3m cost of installing passenger lifts to augment the steep stairs.
Ramsgate: Southeastern has agreed to declutter and redecorate the station’s waiting area.
Robertsbridge: A turntable recovered from Hither Green is being installed at the Rother Valley Railway headquarters.
Waterloo: The dated tiling and handrails on the ramp from Waterloo East leading to the main station are to be replaced.
ANGLIA
Frinton-on-Sea: The station canopy is being
refurbished, with reinstatement of the ‘dagger board’ edging and removal of redundant cabling. There are hopes that the derelict station shop may also be eventually returned to use.
March: The station car park has been closed for a month for reconstruction, while the year-long alterations to the main building are approaching completion.
LONDON
Borough: The eastern entrance to the Northern Line station may be altered to ease peak-time overcrowding. Talks are taking place with a developer over knocking a hole through the present gateway, to create a new space away from the busy main road.
Croydon: London Tramlink is concerned about the rapid increase in collisions with cars, with nine since 2020, 59 near-misses, and 105 emergency stops for careless pedestrians.
Elephant & Castle: Despite severe financial constraints, Transport for London says the £94 million station upgrade should be completed by 2027. It will not, however, now be part of the shelved Bakerloo Line extension.
Westminster: A new version of the traditional London Underground roundel is to be unveiled outside the station on April 12, featuring 54 stars representing all the nations in the African continent. It is the work of British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong.
SCOTLAND
Alford: Aberdeenshire Council has agreed a 20-year peppercorn lease of the former station building, engine shed and yard to the Alford Valley Community Railway, to enable it to revive the 2ft gauge tourist line. It closed in 2017 because of concerns about the state of the track.
Edinburgh: Two-thirds of the track for the tramway’s northern extension is now in place, 85% of utility diversions installed, and the stops at Constitution Street, McDonald Road and Ocean Terminal all completed. The opening is in spring 2023.
Motherwell: The contract has been let for a new £16.9 million bridge to carry the West Coast Main Line over a new dual carriageway to Ravenscraig. It is at the eastern end of the Dalzell steelworks.
Neilston: A section of trackbed beyond and live links, transport group newsletters and media cuttings (with dates, please) are sought to maintain topicality. Please email your contributions direct to hj@howardjohnston.co.uk, or rail@bauermedia.co.uk the terminus on the former route to Lugton and Ardrossan has been sold to the Neilston Development Trust. Part of it may become a footpath.
Springburn: Historic Environment Scotland is considering applying listed status to the closed 16-acre former Caledonian Railway works at St Rollox, to prevent its new owner making major changes.
WALES
Amlwch: Transport for Wales has indicated that the reopening of the Anglesey branch from Gaerwen may not happen until at least 2030. The same applies to the Bangor-Caernarfon line.
Ferryside: The Ferryside Signal Box Preservation Group is agreeing terms with Network Rail to lease the 1880s 24-lever frame GWR signal box between Swansea and Carmarthen when it becomes redundant. The group intends to turn it into an educational centre, and contributions of old photographs or memories are being sought. Llanelli: Great Western Railway has donated £16,000 towards the renovation of the 1875 engine shed as a community centre.