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It's telling that the changes (still evolving) deriving from the Withdrawl/Brexit treaties are now routinely referred to as "Brexit freedoms". eg the extra time you spend in passport queues, the higher prices and extra obstacles to EU trade, and the extra sanitary checks at ports etc are all...

It's a curiosity that a massive resignalling project with new technology is considered a "renewal" while electrification is an "enhancement". In some cases they go together (eg for TRU). I guess resignalling is considered renewing an existing and life-expired asset, without which the railway...

After selling its UK arm to its management team (forming Transport UK), according to Reuters NS has divested itself of the rest of its foreign operator Abellio to BeNEX of Germany which is part of infrastructure company IPP...

The new line finishes 40 miles east of LA, with a trip on the San Bernardino line of the Metrolink system needed to complete the journey. Views from the median of I-15 won't be too spectacular, but at least the adjacent road traffic will be left in the dust. Building 270 miles of high speed...

I recall a similar diagram for the Hitachi IEP (800/801), showing many UK parts. Nevertheless, a large number of parts, particularly the high-value ones, were made abroad, mostly in Japan of course for the 80x. The diagrams really amount to a procurement map, and don't necessarily mean the...

I first encountered Wynne singing the lecherous and corrupt Duke in Rigoletto - in a very fine WNO performance in Llandudno. My latest beef with adverts is the "Visit the USA" ones which are repeated endlessly. They are only 10 seconds long, but manage to pack in a dozen video clips that verge...

Avanti appears to set fares from Glasgow to Bristol and on to Totnes, XC sets fares to Plymouth and beyond. From Edinburgh, XC sets fares to Cheltenham and beyond, and both XC and Avanti have fares to Birmingham. From memory it took quite a while for XC fares to be removed from Avanti flows...

The issue really is that the Treasury/DfT has a set budget for rail and the sector is still underperforming against pre-Covid growth expectations. Labour (UK) will inherit the same difficult budget setup, and can only change it by robbing another sector or raising taxes, which it won't. Welsh...

XC Scotland-South West trains used to run through using the faster WCML route to Birmingham, with diesels under the wires. In about 2007 those services were split at Birmingham and handed to Virgin/Avanti, leaving XC to run only on the longer route via York. Today, those WCML trains form...

It looks like 12x221s will reach XC in the next year or so (when Avanti has its 805s in service and can release the Voyagers). The XC operation has never had the revenue to fund significant extra stock, and there's precious little 125mph diesel stock available. The promised expansion is as good...

That would be Softrans (a branch of the Softronic manufacturing group) who run three trains a day Craiova-Bucuresti-Brasov and vv. You can book direct: https://www.softrans.ro/mersul-trenurilor.html One of these trains used to go from Bucuresti to Constanza, but now it's just to Brasov.

BR used to do that all the time. There are finite limits on what TOCs can do to add capacity within their cost limits set by the DfT. More Voyagers are now on the way to XC.

The "Anytime" fare you quote (£115.40) is actually an Off Peak return fare, but like most TfW "8A" fares is valid on any train/route. The "Via Llandovery" version of this ticket is actually dearer at £118.30. There are good value day return fares via the Central Wales line to Shrewsbury and from...

European Rail Timetable says in a news update:

They might have the same ownership, but the two TOCs have different types of contract to run trains - one is DfT NRC and the other Open Access via ORR/NR. For one thing, XC revenue goes to the DfT/Treasury, while GC (OA) revenue stays with Arriva. In the past, the DfT, and the regulator, have...

Although the LU itself is measured (distances) in km. NR uses imperial for its physical routes (distances, speeds etc), but metric for the components of those routes (track, OHLE etc). The ECML is measured in metric (since electrification). New lines starting with the Heathrow branch* (maybe...

There are pictures on social media of 32 staff in the bodyshop welding unit at Alstom Derby who are leaving next week, showing that workforce reduction is in progress. The recent statements from the DfT will not reverse that process, but it will stop it reaching full closure. The Adessia design...

It's not actually much better in the Upper Crust on P5. And the Upper Crust at Lime St is simply revolting. It's hard to say if the state of these places is down to the outlet (SSP) or the station operator (NR ultimately). The Costa outlets on stations are markedly better run.

The classic (Caledonian/LMS) route was via Coatbridge to Stirling, but all the routes east of Glasgow are now wired (as far as Dunblane). Reversing at Glasgow Central or Edinburgh is no harder than reversing at Manchester Piccadilly, which is what the cognoscenti have been telling us was the...

That's Treasury approval in principle, meaning DfT has authority to place an order for TfL (via a Rosco). There will be Treasury conditions attached (eg perhaps reducing future forcast train orders by the same amount). No government handout comes without strings, and it looks as though Alstom...