Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 21st January 2021
The latest rail news on Thursday, 21st January 2021
Flooding, snow and heavy rain hit the country as Storm Christoph went into full force hitting rail services and flooding roads.
Network Rail released a video yesterday showing engineers across the North West battling the effects of the storm, with flooding impacting several rail routes.
Meanwhile Northern is advising customers not to travel on many of its routes in the North West of England before 12 today due to the poor conditions following torrential rain.
A Glasgow-London train sped past a “failed embankment” at nine times the emergency speed limit.
An article in The Scotsman says the passenger service operated by Avanti West Coast ran through the 5mph limit at Beattock 45mph, the UK Department for Transport’s Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) reported.
The RAIB said the emergency speed restriction was in place “because of the earlier failure of an embankment”. However it said there had been “no adverse consequences”.
The Office of Rail and Road has proposed simpler and more accessible guidance on level crossing safety to support the rail industry, traffic authorities and local authorities in their decisions about level crossing safety.
Britain has around 5,800 level crossings on the mainline railway with another 1,500 on heritage and minor railways.
The guidance focuses on the need to consider how level crossings are actually used and encourage a whole system approach by considering the user, railway and highway.
Finally, and Heathrow Express has launched a newly refurbished fleet of 12 Class 387 trains with modern interiors and exteriors in iconic Heathrow purple.
This marks the first fleet refresh since Heathrow Express launched over 20 years ago in 1998.
The fleet has been up-cycled from Great Western Railway and have regenerative braking which means trains slow by electric motor rather than brake shoes and discs.
Photo credit: Heathrow
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