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RailwayThe Herald www.railwayherald.co.uk Issue 114 - 14 December 2007 ISSN 1751-8091 Contents Newsdesk New National Express corporate livery launched on rail division Page 3 New Class 172 environmentally friendly 'Turbostars' from Bombardier Page 4 Thameslink platforms officially opened at St Pancras. Page 5 Sir Nigel Gresley to return to the mainline in February Page 13 Railtour Listings Page 6 Weekly Pictorial Page 9 Events Diary Page 16 Front Cover SR 'King Arthur' No. 30777 Sir Lamiel makes a fine sight approaching its destination, Basingstoke, on 11th December with the 'Cathedrals Express Carol FGW 'Pacers' get 'dynamic lines' treatment Concert Special'. Walter Stamper Following the removal of several Class 158 DMUs as branding the outside, Class 142 No. 142064 has Rear Cover from the Greater Western franchise by the received new seat covers with FGW Dynamic Lines, Southern Class 377/3 No. 377306 Department for Transport, the replacement has as well as a deep clean of the flooring and new blue passes Oving, between Chichester arrived in the form of Class 142s. panels in the seating area. and Barnham, with the 08.53 Eleven members of the class, Nos. 142001 (Out Portsmouth and Southsea to of Use), 142004, 142009, 142028, 142029, 143030, Littlehampton service on 7th 142062, 142063, 142064, 142068 and 142070, have p The new branding applied to the Devon-based Class December. Chris Wilson been transferred to Exeter depot for use on the 142 fleet. Nos. 142004 and 142064 await departure from Paignton on 14th December. Barnstaple, Exmouth and Paignton branch services Publication and FGW has applied new First Great Western q The interior refresh on No. 142064. The Railway Herald is due to be branding to its newly acquired 'Pacer' fleet. As well Both: Nathan Williamson published every Friday and is available on e-mail subscription or from our website at www.railwayherald.co.uk Submissions We welcome submissions from all readers, especially digital photographs. Pictures should be sent to the editor at [email protected] Good quality scans of colour slides and prints are also acceptable. Currently there is no financial payment made for photographs published in Railway Herald. Where possible we always try to use news photographs taken within the production week of the publication date. Website Our website contains all the back issues of the magazine together with a host of new features which will be online soon! www.railwayherald.co.uk National Rail Timetable The entire UK National Rail Timetable is now available as a PDF download Editorial Team: from the Network Rail website. Richard Tuplin Editor [email protected] Produced in the same fashion Brian Morrison Contributing Editor [email protected] as the printed version and John Whitehouse Railtour Editor [email protected] ordered by table number, the current timetable is available by Editorial Address: clicking here. The Railway Herald, PO Box 252, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire. United Kingdom. DN17 2WY The railway by-laws and Telephone: 0844 870 0735 - please note the new number! E-mail: [email protected] information for enthusiasts are also available online from the Network Rail website, by Railway Herald is produced by Railway Herald Ltd (Registered as company number 05837609 in England) clicking here. Registered office: Hobarn House, 12 Brompton Road, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, DL6 1DY © Copyright Railway Herald Ltd 2006-2007 2 RailwayThe Herald NewsDesk u A £1.6 million project to strengthen the road-over-rail bridge at King Street, Dukinfield, was completed over the weekend of 8/9th December by Network Rail, and the road re-opened to traffic following a 12-week closure. Known as the White Bridge, work was carried out after the structure failed an assessment to bring it up to current standards. Two of the five spans had to be completely rebuilt, two had to be strengthened by filling them in and one had to be refurbished. Approximately 10,000 road- over-rail bridges nationwide are being assessed now that 40 and 44 tonne lorries are permitted on Britain's roads under EU regulations. Any bridges that do not meet the latest criteria will have to be strengthened or, if necessary, completely rebuilt. New corporate colours launched with u The fleet of 74 Class 357 Electrostars operated by c2c has National Express East Coast and East Anglia scooped the prize for the best p For the launch of the National Express (NX) East Coast franchise, one HST Mk3 set, complete with power cars, was modern era electric multiple unit repainted into the new corporate brand, which is being adopted across all the UK transport divisions of NX, together in the country for the third year with the uniformed rail division livery. Class 43 powercars Nos. 43300 Craigentinny and 43238 power through in a row. The trains have averaged Huntingdon on 10th December with the 09.30 Edinburgh - London King's Cross service. Robert Tarling over 45,000 miles, over the last 12 months before developing q On 'one' Anglia, or National Express East Anglia as the franchise will be known from February 2008, Class 90 No. any fault leading to a delay of 90003 Raedwald of East Anglia became the first member of the class to be adorned with NX livery, together with more than five minutes, making Norwich Crown Point set No. 13, which carries the colour scheme, minus branding decals. With Mk3 DVT No. 82107 them the most reliable main on rear, No. 90003 passes Brandon on 12th December with the 10.00 Norwich - Liverpool Street. John Day line electric units in the country. c2c received the accolade at the third annual ‘Golden Spanners’ awards ceremony held at the Modern Railways / Railway Forum ‘Fourth Friday Club’ lunch on 7th December. The award scheme, the brainchild of Modern Railways Industry & Technology Editor Roger Ford, is aimed at promoting excellence in train maintenance in the UK. u The official opening celebrating the reintroduction of passenger services to the Ebbw Vale branch in South Wales was cancelled just two days before the first train should have operated. The reintroduction of passenger services on the line is the result of a £30 million investment. Serco celebrates driver's 50 years of service Safety and engineering issues are Serco recently named Class 31/6 No said to have held up the project, 31601 at its Engineering Centre in which will now open in the New Derby, to celebrate the career of one Year. of the UK’s longest serving driving instructors. u First GBRf has increased Now aged 66, Dave Green has commercial services by a third completed 52 years of service in the in the past month and exceeded driving grade and has trained over 250 prior train run records that were drivers on HSTs and over 1,000 drivers achieved in September. Latest on various other forms of traction. He performance figures show a total began his career in the rail industry as an of 1,089 train journeys took engine cleaner in 1956. In 2000, he joined place from 11th November to Serco and is currently the company’s 8th December, an addition of 235 most senior instructor. For Dave, the services on the previous record whole event was a complete surprise. of 854, and a third more than the His colleagues knew he wouldn’t attend preceding month. During the past if they told him about it, as he is far too month the company has started modest. It was probably the most eventful running aggregate trains from the driver’s brief Dave has ever attended! Midlands to East Anglia RailwayThe Herald 3 NewsDesk Green Class 172 'Turbostar' Bombardier Transportation has won a major order for its next generation ‘Green Trains’. The contract is for 12 two- car and 15 three-car Class 172 Turbostars worth £92.7 million and is from Porterbrook Leasing for Govia for services on the London Midland franchise to replace ageing Class 150s in the West Midlands. The units are scheduled for delivery in 2010. The new units will be the lightest modern DMU in the class and will meet the latest standards in emissions. Using the modular platform of its Class 170 Turbostars, Bombardier is able to make step changes in technology and environmental attributes to the units, with production continuing to take Class 185 No. 185130 stands at Glasgow Central following a VIP run from Edinburgh on 4th December. Bill Wilson place in Bombardier's Derby plant at Litchurch Lane, with the bogies being produced at Bombardier's First TransPennine Class 185s to Glasgow Siegen site in Germany. First TransPennine Express (FTPE) unveiled its new calling points south of Oxenholme. An on-board Colin Walton, Chairman of Manchester Airport - Edinburgh/Glasgow service on catering trolley service will be provided throughout Bombardier in the UK stated: "This 4th December. the journey on all services between Scotland order will allow us to re-start our The company is providing four trains from and Manchester Airport every day, and a special Turbostar production line again. Edinburgh to Manchester and three each day from complimentary light meal package will be offered to The new Turbostar trains would Glasgow Central, as part of the changes to the cross passengers travelling First Class. also be an ideal replacement for country rail franchise. Next year FTPE will introduce an additional service the ageing ‘Pacer’ units in the UK." The end-to-end journey time from Edinburgh or to Glasgow Central, which will depart from Carlisle at This latest order is the 25th Glasgow will be four hours or less and the trains 06.20 with a 09.45 arrival in Glasgow.