Regional News

WESTERN

Bratton Fleming: A search is being made for the original footings of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway goods shed (demolished in 1935), to enable it to be rebuilt.

Didcot: The Great Western Society has completed the restoration of the water tank at the top of the landmark coaling stage.

Hanwell: The damaged GWR-style station running boards are being replaced by new replicas.

Henley-on-Thames: There are plans to return the empty station buildings to full use.

Newbury: Three new business units are being built on the south side of the station. The next alterations include a new pedestrian forecourt area and ticket gates.

Sharpness: The Vale of Berkeley Railway has agreed lease terms with Network Rail for its headquarters site, enabling volunteers to clear 30 years of vegetation growth and mark up an area for a maintenance depot. The eventual aim is to have a four-mile running line.

EASTERN

Crossgates: A new four-mile stretch of dualcarriageway road linking the north of Leeds with the M1 and crossing over the railway is good news for the station, because it will open up the area for up to 5,000 new homes.

Haxby: A planning application is being prepared for the station, and was discussed by York City Council on October 6. The Government has contributed an extra £1.1 million to the project from its Levelling Up Fund.

Redcar: The closed British Steel station on the Middlesbrough line (unused since December 2019) could reopen in 2024, subject to Department for Transport approval, to serve new housing on the eastern side of the former Teesside steelworks. The little-used South Bank station on the western side of the development is also in line for refurbishment.

Seghill: The reopening of the Blyth & Tyne line station (closed in June 1965) is being considered if demand for the new services meets expectations.

MIDLANDS

Bridgnorth: The cliff railway was closed for eight weeks from September 28 for heavy repairs. Leicester: The Railway Heritage Trust is keen to see a pair of 1840s Midland Counties Railway gateposts (the last surviving remnant of Campbell Street station) restored to their former glory. The station, from which Thomas Cook ran his first excursion, closed in 1892 when it was replaced by the present building in London Road.

NORTH WEST

Hunts Cross: The new lifts at the Merseyrail station were opened on September 28, meaning that 58 of the 83 stations on the system are now step-free.

Manchester: A 30-yard-long mural with yellow ‘I love MCR Victoria’ letters on a dark background has been painted on a footbridge at the station.

Millers Dale: The Midland Railway goods shed on the Buxton-Bakewell Monsal Dale trail has been restored and reopened by the Peak District National Park Authority. The project was supported by a £320,000 European grant.

Reddish: The Department for Transport has promised Access for All improvements at Reddish North (on the Manchester-New Mills line) by the end of 2024.

Salford: Salford Central station will be closed for five months from January 2 for a £7.3 million modernisation which includes raising the height of

platforms and installing a new canopy. Stockport: The deteriorating Grade 2-listed Heaton Norris engine house could be converted into apartments, with an eight-storey ‘roundhouse’ building to reflect the area’s railway history.

SOUTHERN

Bermondsey: Twenty-nine derelict arches close to South Bermondsey station could be taken over by light industrial firms by the end of 2023, under a £10 million refurbishment scheme being developed by the Arch Company and submitted to Southwark Council.

Winchester: After several failed attempts to revamp the station forecourt and approaches (the last one was in 2019), the city council has received nearly 1,000 responses to a survey intended to kick-start a new £150 million scheme.

ANGLIA

Cambridge: Although included in city development plans and expected to be completed by 1953, there is still no eastern entrance to the station. Railfuture is pressing for fresh progress, pointing out that the main station platforms and single footbridge are uncomfortably crowded for much of the day.

Foxton: The Greater Cambridge Partnership plans to build a 500-space car park close to Foxton station.

Norwich: Norfolk County Council has put the proposed Broadland Business Park station back into its investment programme. It would strengthen the case for a half-hourly service to North Walsham on the Bittern Line. Possibly located at Whitlingham Junction, it could have two platforms for four-coach trains and a 150-space car park, and be open around 2028.

Salhouse: A planning application for 3,850 homes on the west side of the Norwich-Sheringham/ Cromer line station mentions improvements, but not yet increasing the current service level of one train every two hours.

St Margarets: A large information board has been installed at the North Essex station entrance by the local history society and Community Rail Partnership.

SCOTLAND

Gorebridge: The Borders Railway station building is to be restored with financial support from the Railway Heritage Trust.

Cameron Bridge: The old station platforms next to the Diageo factory on the Leven line have been demolished. The masonry will be reused as infill for the new halt 200 yards to the west.

Gretna Green: The proposed £7 million Star of Caledonia landmark, visible from both sides of the border and the West Coast Main Line, is to be reduced in size by 20% from 135ft, to keep costs under control. No date is set for its construction. Ravenscraig: The Russell Group has revised its plans submitted for the £200 million rail-served logistics hub, which will be served by no more than ten trains a day. There have been more than 600 objections to North Lanarkshire Council from groups who want to see the site used for 1,000 new homes instead.

WALES

Greenfield: The reopening of Holywell Junction station on the North Wales Main Line (closed on February 14 1966), but with a new name, has reached the business case stage.

Johnston: Rosemarket Local History Society is organising the restoration of a stone railwaymen’s hut on the former branch to Neyland, now part of the Brunel Cycle Trail.