Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 6th April 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Thursday, 6th April 2023
Passengers at the UK’s busiest railway station will be offered a virtual reality (VR) experience designed to help them recognise and combat sexual harassment on public transport.
An article on the ITV website says train companies and British Transport Police are holding the event at London Waterloo today to demonstrate how bystanders can safely intervene and report situations.
This could be as simple as asking the targeted person if they would like to swap seats or distracting the perpetrator with a question.
It is still yet to be confirmed when the severely delayed opening of Exeter’s £16 million Marsh Barton railway station will take place. At the beginning of the year, Devon County Council (DCC) announced it would be up and running ahead of opening ‘this spring’ but no further date has been provided.
An article on Devon Live says that this week the council has said construction work is now complete but there is currently no opening date other than being sometime ‘this spring’. The station should have originally been up and running in December 2016, but delays, spiralling costs and protracted discussions with the rail industry has led to considerable delays.
A Devon County Council spokesperson said: “Construction work on the station has been completed. Standard safety checks and independent assessments are currently ongoing to ensure the station is ready to be used by the public.”
Great Western Railway announced the closure of a major Oxfordshire railway line. Due to urgent repairs of Nuneham Viaduct, between Didcot Parkway and Oxford, the line has been closed.
An article on Oxfordshire Live says whilst it was initially reported that the closure would last the rest of the day, it has now been revealed that the line will be closed for much longer. Great Western Railway has revealed that it will be closed until April 23 whilst repairs are carried out.
An exhibition celebrating 175 years since Grimsby’s railway station opened takes place later.
The free event, organised by North East Lincolnshire Archives at Grimsby Town Hall, features rare photographs of locomotives, stations and signal boxes.
The one-day exhibition is open from 10am to 4pm.
Archivist Adrian Wilkinson said the railway also “played a central role in the growth of both Cleethorpes and Immingham”.
Photo credit: Rail Delivery Group
