Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Friday, 30th July 2021
The latest rail news on Friday, 30th July 2021
An application for the construction of a world class rail testing facility on the Powys border has been conditionally approved by planners.
An article in the Powys County Times says the train, rail infrastructure and technology testing facility, known as the Global Centre for Rail Excellence (GCRE) and located on the Powys boundary with Neath Port Talbot, has been given the green light by Powys County Council’s planning committee.
Neath Port Talbot Council granted conditional approval to the planning application, submitted by Welsh Ministers, earlier this week.
In a pioneering and environmentally-friendly first for the UK, hybrid cars built in the Midlands will soon be carried to continental Europe via an eco-locomotive that runs on greener fuel made from used vegetable oil.
Rail freight operator DB Cargo’s sustainable hydro-treated vegetable oil fuelled (HVO) locomotive can cut carbon emissions by up to 90 per cent compared to diesel.
The train, named “I’m a climate hero”, to reflect its new role, is an important step in the transition towards the Government’s goal of Net Zero by 2050.
Great Western Railway has moved a step closer to operating ‘crowd-busting’ electric-only trains for big-ticket events at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
The train operator carried out a test run in the early hours of Saturday, using a 12-car Class 387 to run electric-only from Swindon to the Welsh capital.
It is the first time an Electrostar has passed into Wales since Network Rail completed electrification of the Severn Tunnel in June last year.
TransPennine Express (TPE) has launched a brand-new initiative, ‘chatty benches’, in a push to end loneliness and increase conversations amongst customers, following more than a year of reduced interactions amongst the public due to the pandemic.
To mark the launch, colleagues, customers and representatives from the Campaign to End Loneliness took a seat at the world’s longest railway bench, at Scarborough train station, TPE’s very first ‘chatty bench’.
Photo credit: Great Western Railway
