Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 24th June 2021
The latest rail news on Thursday, 24th June 2021
The Treasury is accused of trying to scale down the Government’s Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme to shave money from its £40 billion price tag.
That’s according to an article in The Daily Telegraph that says Conservative MPs and sources close to the high-speed rail initiative, which was a manifesto pledge, have said that mandarins are trying to cut elements and delay a decision on funding.
The article also says The Treasury was also accused of being behind the delayed publication of the Government’s integrated rail plan, which was initially due out by March.
A new rail station near the White Rose Centre is now one step closer after Leeds City Council decision-makers agreed to push forward plans for the site.
An article on Leeds Live says members of the council’s decision-making board agreed to provide a loan to landowners and developers Munroe K for a new station at White Rose Office Park, which could be built as early as next year.
Another £70 million of taxpayers’ funding is being given to train operator Transport for Wales to make up for a drop in passenger numbers during the pandemic.
An article on Wales Online says it is additional to the £167 million of extra funding from the Welsh Government to keep trains running through the pandemic last year.
The latest injection of cash was revealed in government budget documents, the BBC has reported.
The Severn Valley Railway is celebrating the successful completion of the latest stage of its Harrier Hydroshunter project, with the removal of the original diesel engine from a Class 08 ‘donor’ shunter.
The heritage railway is working in partnership with the University of Birmingham and local start-up company Vanguard Sustainable Transport Solutions, to carry out the UK’s first-ever conversion of a diesel shunter to run on hydrogen power.
The railway hired in a giant 100-tonne crane to lift the diesel engine out of the Class 08 shunter, 08635, at its Kidderminster diesel depot.
Now the project can progress to the next stage, the installation of a hydrogen-battery hybrid traction system, that’s being developed at the University of Birmingham.
Photo credit: Phil Seymour
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