Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Wednesday, 13th December 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Wednesday, 13th December 2023
A £7 billion new railway needs to be more aligned with planned development in the areas it is serving, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said.
That’s according to an article on the BBC website that says NAO has raised concerns about East West Rail, between Oxford and Cambridge.
It said government departments needed to work more closely together to make sure the scheme supported new housing and economic growth.
The East West Rail Company said it would work with government to take forward the NAO’s recommendations.
A team of 90 specialist engineers have completed the assembly of HS2’s latest giant tunnel boring machine (TBM) which will start digging the second bore of the 3.5 mile Bromford Tunnel into Birmingham next year.
An article on Construction Enquirer says in an assembly operation to move sections of the machine into a 12-metre deep launch pit, two 600 tonne cranes lifted the huge 125 tonne cutterhead into place at the front of the 125 metre long machine in the pit bottom.
The first TBM, named ‘Mary Ann’ after Mary Ann Evans – the real name of Victorian writer George Eliot who was born in Nuneaton – started digging the first bore from the east portal site near Water Orton in August this year.
Customer information has been improved at even more rail stations across the Northern network with the installation of more than 100 new display screens at 77 stations.
They feature white LEDs which can be seen from a further distance and the higher colour contrast also makes them more accessible for passengers with some visual impairments.
Train information is now displayed in a clear, easy to read format and is more informative about when trains are delayed. Safety messages will also be shown, such as ‘short platform’ guidance.
An old railway pub and a former coastal radar bunker are among 12 North East sites to be newly listed in 2023 as local places of historic interest.
An article on the BBC website says the 1820s Railway Tavern in Darlington and World War Two radar station in Craster, Northumberland, are worthy of preservation, conservationists said.
Historic England also included several sections of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) in its annual list.
Photo credit: HS2 Ltd
