The main rail hub in the northwest of England - Manchester Piccadilly - is currently closed, and will be for the next week as engineering work is carried out. The work will involve overhauling tracks, points and signalling systems across six lines serving the North West's busiest railway station. The work, which covers nearly a kilometre of the railway, will impact … [Read more...]

Alstom has been working away and has unveiled the first refurbished Voyager Trainset for CrossCountry Trains. The works are part of a£60 million contract to deliver a brighter, more comfortable experience for passengers across Great Britain. The first train to go through the process is a Class 220 Voyager, Number 220003. Since it was first introduced, Number 220033 … [Read more...]

LNER - the intercity operator which operates trains on the East Coast Main Line, has unveiled interior mockups of its new trains. The new fleet is to be known as the Serenza - or, for those of us who collect numbers, the Class 897. According to LNER, the name is a hybrid of ‘serene’ and the Spanish-style suffix ‘-enza’, evoking a feeling of peacefulness and calm, … [Read more...]

Great Western Railway has introduced the UK’s first battery-only powered train into passenger service. The Class 230 train has been used for a successful trial of fast-charge technology on the Greenford branch line over the past 22 months. Up until now, it has undergone rigorous trials. It has now entered commercial service, with the train making its first appearance … [Read more...]

The "new" Chiltern Trains Mark 5a train sets have finally entered commercial service today between Birmingham Moor Street and London Marylebone. And because they're new trains, they need branding - Welcome the "Explorers". Chiltern Railways Explorer train set at Birmingham Moor Street - Image, Chiltern Railways. The Explorer fleet has been introduced today, … [Read more...]

The Caledonian Sleeper - a night-rail service operating between London and Scotland is to have a new stop from tonight, 15th January, with trains stopping at Birmingham International train station. The Highland Sleeper service will operate six times a week between Birmingham International and Scotland, connecting the West Midlands directly with Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Fort … [Read more...]

It's fast coming up to the Christmas and New Year period. And like clockwork, it's time for major engineering works across the UK Rail Network to kick off. Plan ahead if you can - Image, Network Rail  Why now? Network Rail notes that this is one of the quieter times of the year to conduct engineering works, with fewer people travelling than normal (given that commuter … [Read more...]

It's that time of year again, when the UK Office of Rail and Road releases the numbers for the busiest stations in the United Kingdom. And, for the third year in a row, it's London Liverpool Street, with almost 100 million entries and exits. … [Read more...]

It's been delayed (like a lot of rolling stock projects in the United Kingdom), but East Midlands Railway has brought its Class 810 "Aurora" trainsets into commercial service, carrying paying passengers. EMR Class 810 on its first commercial service - Image EMR (With JenOnTheMove on the right)  The maiden Aurora service departed Sheffield at 7am on Wednesday, bound for … [Read more...]