West Midlands Railway (WMR) and Transport for Wales (TfW) are celebrating the completion of a major £3 million upgrade at a key depot in Shrewsbury. The investment into the depot’s infrastructure comes as part of an initiative to improve the service on the Shrewsbury line. It follows WMR’s new fleet of Class 196s entering service […]
Category: Train Operating Companies
South Western services return to public hands
On Sunday 26 May, South Western Railway (SWR) services became the first to transfer back into public control as the government begins its drive to renationalise the UK’s network under Great British Railways (GBR). The 06.14 from London Waterloo to Shepperton was the first rebranded train out on Sunday as part of a publicly owned […]
London Northwestern Railway names train in honour of Bletchley Park heroes
London Northwestern Railway (LNR) has named one of its trains on the Marston Vale line in honour of Bletchley Park and its historic role in World War II codebreaking, following a competition with local residents. The train, which operates on the Marston Vale line between Bletchley and Bedford, has been named “Bletchley Codebreakers”. The competition […]
‘Swallow’ swoops in to celebrate 225 day
To celebrate close to 40 years of powering along the East Coast Main Line, on Thursday 22 May, LNER celebrated its iconic InterCity 225 (IC225) fleet with its first ever 225 Day. Throughout the years, these stalwarts of the East Coast, originally working alongside the famous Intercity 125 High Speed Train (HST), have carried generations […]
FirstGroup celebrates South Western Railway’s as it transfers to public control
FirstGroup is celebrating the achievements of South Western Railway (SWR) and the hundreds of millions of pounds of improvements the operator has seen since 2017. FirstGroup and MTR have been operating SWR since that year, connecting communities and providing commuter, regional and long-distance services to customers in South West London, the southern counties of England […]
Trenitalia c2c equips all stations with life-saving defibrillators
Trenitalia c2c has fitted each of its 26 stations with life-saving, community-accessible defibrillators. The defibrillators have been installed at stations as part of a route-wide upgrade project, with the units accessible to both local communities and colleagues in case of emergency. Anybody can access and use the life-saving equipment at c2c stations, with the units […]
Great Northern route to City of London becomes UK’s first signals-free commuter railway
The Great Northern ‘Northern City Line’ to the City of London has become the UK network’s first-ever commuter railway to operate without signals at the side of the track, heralding a major milestone in the national deployment of cutting-edge digital technology. These signals were removed from the system at the weekend (17/18 May) as part […]
West Midlands Railway launches mental health charity hub
West Midlands Railway (WMR) and mental health charity, Rethink Mental Illness, have announced the launch of ‘The Hub’ at Wolverhampton Railway Station. From Monday (May 19), Rethink and several other charities will jointly open a new facility to offer services for people in need of additional support and guidance. Located next to the Costa Coffee […]
ORR calls for better use of data and communications to improve passenger assistance
The Office of Rail and Road has today published its study into how train operators at busy rail stations communicate and record requests by passengers for assistance. The study found that a dedicated staff app has proven beneficial, but there is much more scope to use data and the technology to make further improvements for […]
East Kilbride services to resume following major modernisation works
ScotRail services on the East Kilbride line will resume this weekend, following the successful completion of a major programme of modernisation works. From Sunday, 18 May, services between Glasgow Central and East Kilbride will return to normal. Customers are encouraged to check their journey in advance to familiarise themselves with the new timetable. The project, […]