Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 26th October 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Thursday, 26th October 2023
MPs have met the Rail Minister Huw Merriman to make their case that a disused train route should be restored.
An article on the BBC website says they want the Leamside railway line, which ran between Gateshead and County Durham and closed in 1964, reopened.
Although the minister said he could not yet commit the Department for Transport to paying for it, he did see its “benefit to the UK as a whole”.
MPs including Sedgefield’s Conservative MP, Paul Howell, said the meeting was a “positive step in the right direction”.
Trains on the Marston Vale Line are set to resume service after a rail maintenance company went into administration, suspending service on the line.
An article on Bedfordshire Live says the trains between Bedford and Bletchley are set to return to service in November, with a limited service operating on weekdays only.
Additional trains and times, including the Saturday service, will be introduced as more drivers complete the necessary training.
The initial timetable has been designed to provide services during the busier morning and afternoon peak periods. Rail replacement buses will continue to operate when train services are not running.
The service stopped running on the line in December 2022 after Vivarail, the firm responsible for maintaining the Class 230 trains serving the line, went into administration. Class 150 trains are now set to run on the line.
ScotRail’s controversial booze ban is set to stay in place indefinitely as there is no review planned in the near future.
An article on the Scottish Daily Express says bosses brought in an outright ban on drinking alcohol during the COVID pandemic to help keep staff and the public safe.
But it has been kept in place by the Scottish Government since they nationalised the rail service and despite pleas from rail bosses. It is understood that ScotRail used to make a substantial profit by selling drinks such as beer and wine to thirsty travellers but now no longer have this income.
A popular miniature railway in north Staffordshire has been put on the market for close to £500,000.
Simon Clarke, the owner of the Leek and Rudyard Railway, is selling up after deciding to retire.
The sale includes track, three stations, a rolling stock shed and even two steam engines.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
