Good News on the U.K. Rail Network in 2020

[paulmch]

Horden station opening.

Does the Trafford Park Manchester Metrolink extension count or is this thread 'National Rail' only?"

On a similar note, the West Midlands Metro is making good progress to Five Ways and they've started the new line towards Dudley.

 

[daccer]

What's happening at Temple Meads?

i believe they are redoing the roof and Network Rail recently purchased the old Brunel building but not sure to what end.

 

[Jim Jehosofat]

We're getting a bigger and better car park at Attleborough, not before time.

 

[Trackman]

Bolton's old 'RRB station' is being demolished as we speak and new drop off/taxi rank points and junctions to ease congestion being built.
The thing was hopeless to start with.

 

[route101]

Electrification to East Kilbride starting, albeit still at a very early stage has been a long time coming (nearly 60 years since the neighbouring Cathcart line was done but I’ll take it!). And in a similar vein, the Scottish Government’s published plans to decarbonise the rest of the network in Scotland

I noticed yesterday they have started the ground investigations. Auchenback station, is that still on? I noticed it looks like the road to it has been completed.

 

[LowLevel]

Single class 153s are now a thing of the past in the East Midlands. They have one remaining Lincoln Joint line diagram as a pair between Peterborough and Doncaster, another pair between Barton and Cleethorpes and strengthen Worksop/Skegness/Liverpool services as required with limited running to Derby/Matlock to get them to Etches Park for maintenance. With class 170 entering service, hopefully, sometime between now and December they should be gone altogether before too long. I'll miss them but they're well past their sell by date.

 

[yorksrob]

Single class 153s are now a thing of the past in the East Midlands. They have one remaining Lincoln Joint line diagram as a pair between Peterborough and Doncaster, another pair between Barton and Cleethorpes and strengthen Worksop/Skegness/Liverpool services as required with limited running to Derby/Matlock to get them to Etches Park for maintenance. With class 170 entering service, hopefully, sometime between now and December they should be gone altogether before too long. I'll miss them but they're well past their sell by date.

However, I'd welcome a couple to supplement the 150's on the Hallam stopper !

 

[Mat17]

In 2002/3 seven coach HSTs were displaced from cross-country routes by 4/5 coach Voyagers and since then I have spent most of my journeys through to York stood up, unable to get a seat. Sometimes struggling to find a place to stand!

Now we have 8/9 car Voyagers and they finally have the capacity I expect for a long distance train. It's been wonderful travelling on this vastly improved service.

 

[norbitonflyer]

1. Started last October, but worth including as the full service didn't start until the New Year: Lincoln finally has services to/from London which are both regular (albeit only every 2 hours) and run at times useful for tourists and other visitors to that city. The previous service consisted of one train a night, arriving well after dark and leaving again at crack of dawn the next morning - not only useless, but very expensive in dead mileage as both services required an ECS working to/from Leeds, 70 miles away.

2. Trans Pennine's Nova fleets have now all entered service.

 

[eMeS]

It looks as though the new multi-storey car park to the south of Milton Keynes Central is now complete, and awaiting the return of passengers. It was locked closed when I was there a few weeks ago. Hopefully this will reduce the pressure on my local shops car park in Neath Hill!

 

[janahan]

How about a MASSIVE thank you for all the Railway staff (drivers, guards, station, infrastructure, engineers etc) who have kept the railway running despite some very difficult and unprecedented times.

The fact that the railway is running and with safety is definitely good news.
EDIT: Spelling/Typos

 

[BigCj34]

1. Started last October, but worth including as the full service didn't start until the New Year: Lincoln finally has services to/from London which are both regular (albeit only every 2 hours) and run at times useful for tourists and other visitors to that city. The previous service consisted of one train a night, arriving well after dark and leaving again at crack of dawn the next morning - not only useless, but very expensive in dead mileage as both services required an ECS working to/from Leeds, 70 miles away.

2. Trans Pennine's Nova fleets have now all entered service.

The Novas look great. Certainly did not dislike the 185's but they give the North a real intercity fleet with more capacity. Just need to decide what to do with the 185's (comfortable enough trains when not rammed but they are gas guzzlers).

The 745's have now fully replaced the Class 90 / Mark 3 sets on the Great Eastern Main line. Admittedly I found the Mk3 seats the most comfortable train seats I have used, but sometimes we have to move on. Sl;

The Class 755's have replaced the 170's on the Ipswich to Cambridge/Peterborough lines and they genuinely are more comfortable than the 170's replaced. Nothing wrong with the 170's per se, but the seats on the GA fleet were not the best and the lighting was too bright. The 755 offers a near intercity experience on a regional service.

 

[HowardGWR]

How about a MASSIVE thank you for all the Railway staff (drivers, guards, station, infrastructure, engineers etc) who have kept the railway running despite some very difficult and unprecedented times.

The fact that the railway is running and with safety is definately good news.
EDIT: Spelling/Typos

I think you also need to remove 'definately' from your spelling checker. I hope this is seen as helpful, as lots spell it incorrectly on here. I suspect it's how people say it. It's 'definitely'.

 

[janahan]

I think you also need to remove 'definately' from your spelling checker. I hope this is seen as helpful, as lots spell it incorrectly on here. I suspect it's how people say it. It's 'definitely'.

Thank you, I have edited it. I am aware of the correct spelling, but as a dyslexic, I have horrible problems with spellings, I can sometimes type something wrongly and worse, cannot actually "see" the spelling issue. Though to be fair, it appears that definately is the most misspelt word in the english dictionary.

I really dont mind people being polite and correcting my errors in the way you have done. However, sadly there are soem really nasty people here, and on other forums, especially when they discover I am dyslexic, they seem to treat people like myself as sport.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

The extra fast services on the Reading-Guildford-Redhill ‘North Downs’ route have finally FINALLY started to operate, seemingly without causing the entire south-central and Thameslink network to fall over, as was being predicted by some doomsayers within the industry.

 

[mikeg]

TPE's overcrowding woes are a thing of the past... Maybe a double edged sword but certainly feels like a good thing!

 

[mpthomson]

Plans to redevelop the front of York station continue, ending the current absolutely chaotic taxi/ short stay carpark access arrangements. Hopefully a final decision will be taken soon, though as it also involves City of York Council that may be a little optimistic!

 

[hst43102]

MML electrification is progressing nicely, and the 360's are almost all 110mph modified.

 

[Jamesrob637]

TPE's overcrowding woes are a thing of the past... Maybe a double edged sword but certainly feels like a good thing!

If all services are 5 or 6 car post-2021 and people continue to WFH even if not every day then the overcrowding witnessed until March will take a very long time to return. The only services that will suffer are short-forms. TPE had overcrowding issues even on longer trains pre-COVID.

 

[broadgage]

Presumably we can talk about freight by rail ?
GBRF seem to be doing well, having un-furloughed staff quicker than expected, and drivers are being offered overtime.

Can we talk about bad news for NON rail transport this is after good news for rail ? A great contraction in air transport seems to be underway, very sad for those thrown out of work, but good news for the environment and good news for rail which is the obvious alternative to short haul air.

 

[InOban]

Kintore station will open on Thursday 15th

Kintore station set for opening

Services will begin stopping at the new station from Thursday, October 15.

www.grampianonline.co.uk

The first stopping services at the new Kintore train station are set to arrive on Thursday, October 15.

"The first trains calling will be - 6.36am Aberdeen to Inverness; 6.43am Inverness to Aberdeen; 6.56am Inverurie to Stonehaven and the 7.23am Inverurie to Aberdeen

 

[Carlisle]

good news for rail which is the obvious alternative to short haul air.

Aren’t most job losses in short haul air primarily linked to far less people holidaying abroad elsewhere in Europe rather than domestic travel ?

 

[Stathern Jc]

Kintore station will open on Thursday 15th

Kintore station set for opening

Services will begin stopping at the new station from Thursday, October 15.

www.grampianonline.co.uk

Didn't know the date was set. That's a really good "Good News" item.

My brother in law spent a few years commuting from Kintore to Arbroath and got the train at Inverurie each day at silly o'clock.
I'll tell him he wouldn't have such an early start if he hadn't retired. Don't think he'll wish he hadn't though.

 

[frodshamfella]

Merseyrail testing new trains for their network

 

[mrcheek]

One of the complaints recently regarding long distance services has been the need to make reservations.
Often difficult for us enthusiasts, when we tend to change plans at the last minute,.

So kudos to LNER for coming up with a superb online reservation system, where you can get a reservation in seconds

 

[squizzler]

Presumably we can talk about freight by rail ?
GBRF seem to be doing well, having un-furloughed staff quicker than expected, and drivers are being offered overtime.

The railfreight industry survived the death of coal traffic, once the mainstay, with 2020 marking several months without any coal generation into the National Grid. Compared to that transition, passenger rail's coping with the loss of commuter traffic ought to be a piece of cake!

Can we talk about bad news for NON rail transport this is after good news for rail ? A great contraction in air transport seems to be underway, very sad for those thrown out of work, but good news for the environment and good news for rail which is the obvious alternative to short haul air.

The destruction of the air travel business from Sars Cov-2 and the likely decimation of the motor trade by "Brexit" and the forthcoming recession is good for rail, but that is not the reason why we needed to phase out these industries. Rather we have the opportunity to shift to green travel overall for the benefit of the environment, and that would be an outcome worth celebrating.

 

[317 forever]

Although I perhaps travel across the country less than other enthusiasts, I have sampled more new train types than usual so far in 2020, namely

Northern class 331
TPE class 802
Greater Anglia classes 745 & 755 (plus my first and probably only 379)
London Overground class 710
GWR classes 800 & 802
LNER class 801

 

[DanBlanchflowe]

Happened to book a holiday house in Skipton for a family wedding in August which is now rescheduled for a year later.
So obviously being a railway buff we had a grand day out on the Staycation express to Appleby. Loved Appleby Castle & watching a socially distant local cricket match with its community.
Comfortable train & grand scenery.
More of this type of service & stock please on scenic rural lines in the summer. After all they may have to run reduced services for a year or 2 until their bread & butter traffic picks up?

 

[GatwickDepress]

Kintore station will open on Thursday 15th

Kintore station set for opening

Services will begin stopping at the new station from Thursday, October 15.

www.grampianonline.co.uk

"We are pleased to have been able to incorporate historic features from the previous station, including heritage benches restored by Inverurie Men’s Shed, and the original signal box signs donated by a local farmer."

Oh, and that's just the icing on the cake! It's lovely to see some heritage elements incorporated into the new station too.

 

[Ianno87]

One of the complaints recently regarding long distance services has been the need to make reservations.
Often difficult for us enthusiasts, when we tend to change plans at the last minute,.

So kudos to LNER for coming up with a superb online reservation system, where you can get a reservation in seconds

I think LNER have superbly executed this, and it shows with their passenger usage compared to other long distance operators.