April 2017
April 2017   


Rail Express - April 2017

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Issue No. 251 April 2017
8 HEADLINE NEWS
HS2 bill receives royal assent; New depots for
Exeter and Manningtree; Lime Street closed
as wall collapses; Freight grant cut will mean
reduction in rail traffic; Major railway scrapyard
calls it a day; Franchise bidding mania will lead to
glut in surplus stock; Severn Valley Railway wins
modern traction award; Three shortlisted for
East Midlands franchise; Chiltern ‘Bubbles’ to go;
‘Storm Doris’ traction bonus; First Class 88 tour
announced; Second City Crossing opens.

14 BATTERSEA BOUND!
The tunnel boring machines have been lowered
underground for the Northern Line's extension to
Battersea in South London.

18 SECTORISATION AND THE FOCUS
ON FREIGHT OPERATIONS
The 1980s saw a key change in British Rail
management as it switched from focusing on
regions to business sectors.

25 0-60: CLASS 390
Virgin’s ‘Pendolinos’ are quick, but are they also
quick offthe mark? Neville Hill finds out.

27 PANDORA THROUGH WOODHEAD
A Moment in Time as EM2 No. 27006 gets ready
to enter the famous tunnel in 1959.

28 REVIEWS
Books on monorails, railway history and Class 58s
are new out this month.

29 EXPRESS MAILBAG
Last days of the ‘Westerns’; Hong Kong battery
locos; 92-hour clock; and Eurostar scrappings.

30 TIME TRAVELLER
April news from decades past.

72 LU WORLD
A look inside the first ‘D’ Stock Sandite train.

74 RAILTOURS
Rare chance for DRS ‘66/3’ haulage; Mercia
suspends European tour programme.

76 PRESERVATION
‘Western’ appeal successful; Bluebell 4-VEP to go
main line; DRS ‘37’ preserved; update on Class 56
Group ‘Grids’; Deltic to visit Spa Valley.

80 POWER BY THE HOUR
New locos delivered to UK; DRS reveals loco
tender results; Colas ‘67s’ ready for service.

82 POWERSCENE
Notable workings from around the country.

90 UNITARY AUTHORITY
More ‘700s’ introduced on Thameslink.

93 SHUNTER SPOT
Cambridge gets a pilot; Changes at CardiffTidal.

94 COACH COMPARTMENT
DRS ‘air cons’ become nuclear escort coaches.

95 WAGONS ROLL
It's a big month for box wagon deliveries.

96 IRISH ANGLE
‘Thumpers’ vehicles go for scrap.





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