On Monday 15th July, West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Babin announced Phase One of the West Yorkshire Transport Authority’s Mass Transit Scheme. Phase One would connect Leeds and Bradford with a new mass transit system, most likely a tram. The current proposals (Illustrated Below) include lines connecting Leeds University Hospital to…

CAF to supply 54 new trains for the Docklands Light Railway
Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF (short for Construcciones y Auxilliar de Ferrocarriles) have been contracted out by Transport for London to supply 54 new trains which will replace the oldest fleet of trains in the Docklands. The order was originally for 33 trains, the same number of trains as the…

Development to begin on proposals for 3 new stations in the West Midlands
The West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) have shortlisted proposals for three new stations in the West Midlands. These are: Castle Bromwich, on the line from Birmingham to the East Midlands, Coventry East, situated on the Coventry to Rugby line and a third station between Tettenhall, Pendeford and Claregate. WMRE has…

DSB Reveals new Talgo trains for services to Hamburg
Danish state operator DSB has unveiled 16 new Talgo 230 Intercity units in Copenhagen today. These units will operate long-distance intercity train fleet and will start service after a few months. DSB has announced that these trains will connect Kobenhavn with Aarhus and Hamburg, Germany’s second biggest city. These sets…

South Western’s Class 701 fleet finally enter service after four year delay
South Western Railway’s Class 701 fleet of new Arterio have been almost 4 years late due to the pandemic apparent software issues. However though, they have finally entered service on the Tuesday 9th January, on a service from London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside, where it is scheduled to…

Grand Union gets ORR permission from Stirling to London
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have given new open access operator Grand Union trains access to run services from London Euston north to Stirling in Scotland. Trains on this route are scheduled to start in June 2025 and will include intermediate stops at: Milton Keynes Central, Nuneaton, Crewe,…

GWR Plans Bristol to Oxford Services
Great Western Railway (GWR) plans to run Bristol to Oxford services from the 14th of September 2024. The services will be the first direct trains connecting the two historic cities for over 20 years and will run 4 trains a day and with stops at Bath Spa, Chippenham and Swindon….

West Midlands and Greater Manchester To Benefit From Pay-As-You-Go Smart Cards
75 Stations in the West Midlands (Including 5 under construction) and 17 Stations in Greater Manchester are to be equipped with tap-in and tap-out payment options. These will “Best Fare” capping and is due to start in 2025. The scheme was announced on February 1st by Rail Minister Huw Merriman…

DB Regio orders 18 new Alstom Coradia Max trains
Deutsche Bahn are set to recieve 18 new double-decker Coradia Max high-capacity trains from Alstom in 2027. These new 3-car and 5-car EMUs will be run under the DB Regio brand and will operate on the highly popular Baltic Sea – Alster (OSTA) sub-network. The 18 trains will be seperated…

Heuro plans Amsterdam to London high-speed services by 2028
Dutch start-up Heuro, who describe themselves on their website as: “Europe’s next high-speed train operator”, plan to run high-speed rail services from Amsterdam to London by 2028. Heuro, just like National Express’ Evolyn is the latest entry in a series a companies spying an opportunity in Eurostar’s somewhat recent shortcomings….