Regional News

WESTERN

Acton: Modernisation of Acton Main Line station is under way, including a new footbridge and steps to the relief line platforms. A replacement ticket hall is also planned.

Castle Cary: Although it was not needed because this year’s Glastonbury Festival was called off, Network Rail installed a temporary footbridge to handle the expected crowds. The unsafe current structure is due for repair.

Cheltenham: Provision for electrification means that the replacement Cloddymore footbridge linking Hatherley with Benhall is at a noticeably higher level.

Newquay: The ban on High Speed Trains working over the branch with only one working power car has been lifted, as the formations of Great Western Railway sets have been reduced to four coaches.

Plymouth: Work has started on the £ 80 million conversion of the 11- storey InterCity House for use by the University of Plymouth. It will take five years, and the old office block will be renamed Intercity Place. The redevelopment includes a major upgrade for the adjacent station, a new hotel and multistorey car park.

Seaton: Seaton Tramway, which runs over part of the former LSWR branch as far as Colyton, celebrated its 50th anniversary on August 28.

Tidenham: Planning and environmental consents have been granted towards reopening the tunnel on the former Monmouth- Chepstow route for public use, and work should start on it soon. The Railway Heritage Trust has given £100,000 to the project.

EASTERN

Doncaster: Redundant buildings at Network Rail’s expanded Marshgate plant have been reprieved from demolition, in order to provide better social distancing for staff.

Magna: A third tram stop between Rotherham Parkgate and Tinsley Junction is to be created, at a cost of around £ 5 million. It will serve the Science Adventure Park, business centre and public leisure area, and there will be additional space for 150 cars.

Shildon: Up to 50 items of rolling stock will be better safeguarded by a new £ 2.9 million shed being planned at the National Railway Museum’s annexe.

York: The station’s new travel centre opened on September 7.

MIDLANDS

Luffenham: The English Regional Transport Association Corby- Peterborough Campaign is working up proposals to relay a 3½ - mile chord that once formed part of the Market Harborough to Stamford line. Although the towns are only 18 miles apart, the bus service takes between 70 and 80 minutes, whereas a train would take just 28.

Smethwick: The group trying to save a fragment of the former Birmingham Rail Carriage & Wagon Company works has failed to acquire the former test house for a museum. It is now looking at another building still standing on the same site.

Wolverhampton: The redundant Post Office building shed next to Platform 5 has been demolished.

NORTH WEST

Ashton- under- Lyne: The new bus-tram interchange opened on August 30, offering welcome covered accommodation.

Birchwood: Northern is seeking a tenant for the shop and catering facility on the concourse of the Manchester- Liverpool line station.

Garsdale: The Grade 2- listed Midland Railway signal box on the Settle- Carlisle Line will be refurbished if the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority approves Network Rail’s planning application.

Levenshulme: The protracted conversion of Levenshulme South station into a community centre and cycle bar can move closer to completion, following the awarding of a £100,000 grant from the Railway Heritage Trust. Completed by the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway in

1892, it closed to passengers in 1958.

Liverpool: A second storey may be added to part of the car park at South Parkway station.

Mossley Hill: The station footbridge has been refurbished and repainted.

SOUTHERN

Cliffsend: Construction of the new Thanet Parkway station has been approved by Kent County Council planners, with widespread support from other authorities and MPs. It will have two platforms connected by an existing underpass, plus 317 car parking spaces. The Government will pay a third of the £ 34 million cost, and it should open in 2023.

Denmark Hill: A £ 53,000 grant has been awarded by the Railway Heritage Trust, to safeguard historical features of the station during its forthcoming total redevelopment. Goring- by- Sea: The station is now able to accommodate eight- coach trains ( it was previously six), to reduce congestion because fewer train paths are available during the Gatwick Airport station rebuilding. Similar extension work has taken place at Cooksbridge and Lancing.

Reigate: Although there are currently no funds to do the work, Network Rail’s proposal to widen and extend Platform 2 to create a 12- coach turnback for Thameslink services has won support from passengers and residents. The target date is 2023.

Tonbridge: September 19 is the 175th anniversary of the opening of the South Eastern Railway route to Tunbridge Wells.

ANGLIA

Newmarket: The East West Rail Consortium is developing a business case for improving the eastern section of the Oxford- Norwich rail corridor, which includes the early double-tracking of the Cambridge- Newmarket section.

LONDON

Barking: The Gospel Oak line is closed for ten weeks until October, to enable replacement of two miles of track between Harringay Green Lanes and Upper Holloway, and strengthening of two bridges.

SCOTLAND

Edinburgh: The ‘One Ticket’ scheme covering East Central Scotland rail and bus services was extended to the tramway from August 30, but only between Ingliston and York Place. The western section to Edinburgh Airport still requires an additional fare.

Inverness: Network Rail has acquired the old Post Office sorting building and car park, in anticipation of the station redevelopment. It is also the owner of the Grade A- listed Highland Rail House, the Sports Direct and TK Maxx shops, and another car park in Strothers Lane.

Peterhead: September 7 marked the 50th anniversary of the final closure of the Great North of Scotland route to the coast from Maud Junction, following the decline in fish traffic. This only left the Fraserburgh route in north Aberdeenshire to soldier on for a further nine years.

Shieldmuir: The North Lanarkshire station’s new park- and- ride facility is expected to be fully open in October. It has been ten years in the planning.

WALES

Bala: The Bala Lake Railway expects to submit its planning application later this year to extend the line by three- quarters of a mile into a new station in the town, at a cost of £ 2.5 million. This involves crossing the River Dee over a Grade 2- listed bridge.

Corwen: Four iron columns recovered from London’s Blackfriars station have been installed at the Llangollen Railway’s western terminus.

Llanbradach: The Tynygraig footbridge over the Rhymney Valley line, damaged by a skip lorry at the end of May, has been demolished.

Pontarddulais: Network Rail has repaired the bridge between Pontarddulais and Llangennech, which resulted in the closure of the Heart of Wales line south of Llandrindod Wells on July 5. Services resumed on August 3.