david stubbings

3 weeks ago | railmagazine.com | david stubbings

Cemex is looking to increase its use of rail freight by 50% over the next five years. The aggregates company currently moves around 20% of its materials in the UK by rail, while 55% of all the traffic coming out of its Dove Holes Quarry in the Peak District is by train. Last year, that equated to approximately 1,500 loaded trains, operated by DB Cargo UK and GB Railfreight, taking building materials out of the site (near Buxton) to depots near London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

3 weeks ago | railmagazine.com | david stubbings

Transport for Wales has begun testing its new Class 398 tram-trains on South Wales Metro routes. The three-car sets can operate using overhead line equipment or battery power, and are intended for use on the Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr lines, allowing Class 756 and ‘231s’ to be reallocated across other routes. The first Citylink unit to roll out for traincrew testing (398005) reached stations including Treherbert on April 15.

3 weeks ago | railmagazine.com | david stubbings

People have been trapped inside a station lift twice within the first nine days of it opening. After the lifts at Newtown in Mid Wales entered service on April 1, a woman and her two-year-old daughter had to be rescued by firefighters that afternoon after the doors refused to open. In a video posted to YouTube, firefighters were seen releasing the doors so the pair could get out and onto Platform 2. Eight days later, on April 9, two people in their 80s also became stuck in the lift.

1 month ago | railmagazine.com | david stubbings

Two track workers were struck by a wagon as it was being propelled during an engineering possession. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said one worker became trapped between the wagon, propelled by a rail-mounted crane, and a track panel in the incident near Port Glasgow station at around 2055 on March 15. The trapped worker was taken to hospital after being freed by emergency services.

1 month ago | railmagazine.com | david stubbings

Plans to redevelop London Liverpool Street to cope with more than 200 million passengers a year have been unveiled by Network Rail (NR). The station has been the UK’s busiest in 2022-23 and 2023-24, with more than 94 million entries and exits recorded in the most recent period. NR said its plans will future proof the station for decades to come and turn it into a destination in its own right.