Infrastructure
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Features
Inside Newton Heath's historic maintenance depot
Northern’s principal maintenance depot has a rich history, and is playing its part in the railway’s future as well. Paul Bigland is given an extensive tour.
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Features
Review: 170 (minutes) on a crowded Class 170
RAIL’s Mystery Shopper travels from Birmingham to Cambridge on a CrossCountry Turbostar.
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Features
Botley Road: more trains will be the prize
The lengthy and ongoing closure of Botley Road in Oxford to enable rail bridge replacement works continues to anger residents. But what exactly does the project entail, and how has work progressed? Chis Howe reviews the story so far.
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Features
Review: Should we salute Scotland’s magnificent Inter7?
In our third and final Mystery Shopper piece covering ScotRail, we head out on the InterCity network to see if older trains still offer quality.
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Features
Salisbury’s future… and a mysterious past
Plans to transform Salisbury station are being developed. Meanwhile, a lost tunnel has been rediscovered beneath the buildings. Paul Clifton goes underground.
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Features
Station design goes back to the future
As part of a wide-ranging programme to revamp how it approaches designing a station, Network Rail has looked to prefabrication. Richard Wilcock finds out more.
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Features
Access for All awaits a clear pathway
Unfunded Access for All works at Britain’s stations has left Department for Transport ministers ‘considering their options’. Mel Holley unpicks the detail.
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Features
Railway 200 Then and Now: Pneumatic and even weirder propelled trains
Rammell’s extraordinary Pneumatic Railway - and the other offbeat propulsion methods that have been tried since.
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Features
Railway 200: Brunel's timber viaducts of Cornwall
In his latest tribute to Britain’s railway infrastructure, Dr Joseph Brenann travels to Cornwall to honour the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
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Features
Review: ScotRail with a 'Spirit of Scotland' rover ticket
In the first of a three-part Scottish Special, RAIL’s latest mystery shopper survey covers Ayrshire and Galloway - including the reduced service to Stranraer.
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Features
How far will split tickets and railcards take you on UK rail?
Fancy a coffee? In Scotland? All for around £40 return (not including the coffee)? Peter Plisner reports on mad days out by train.
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Features
Railway 200 Then and Now: Electrification's tale of Volk and volts
Parallel's from the past in our present: Our first extract from Bradley’s Railway Guide: A Journey Through Two Centuries of British Railway History 1825-2025.
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Features
How can HS2 be made to work now?
HS2's long-term aim and short-term mission: Stuart Porter revisits requirements for HS2, to examine how to make optimum use of train paths.
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Features
Railway heritage saved in 2024
After examining railway structures that were on the ‘at risk’ radar, Dr Joseph Brennan turns the spotlight on stories that have had a happier ending.
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Features
Chathill: the station that the nation forgot
Richard Foster explores a quiet area of the North East with one of the network’s quirkiest stations.
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Features
Railway 200: the vital heritage still on the ‘at risk’ radar
Much is being done to conserve historic rail structures, but as we enter the bicentenary year, some are still at risk. Dr Joseph Brennan picks a few key ones.
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Features
Review: Midlands' minor inconveniences all add up
In our latest undercover assessment of how the railway treats passengers, our Mystery Shopper travels around popular Midlands destinations with five operators.
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Insight
Why the UK needs more trams and how to make more of them
“People like trams” says former Campaign for Better Transport Director Norman Baker. So why not build more?
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Features
Metro-style rail on the Core Valley Lines
Passengers in south-east Wales and beyond will soon benefit from new rolling stock, increased frequency and a large-scale upgrade of the Core Valley network.
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Features
Behind the scenes: GWR trials fast-charging battery technology
Joe Campbell joins the team conducting trials of fast-charge battery technology on the West Ealing to Greenford branch.
Botley Road: more trains will be the prize
The lengthy and ongoing closure of Botley Road in Oxford to enable rail bridge replacement works continues to anger residents. But what exactly does the project entail, and how has work progressed? Chis Howe reviews the story so far.
The great push forward to finish HS2 construction in Buckinghamshire
Chris Howe reports on progress with two key structures in Buckinghamshire.
Interview: Network Rail's Liz Baldwin on a new approach to renewals
Network Rail’s Southern Region is taking a new approach to renewals. Southern Integrated Delivery Programme Director explains the process to Richard Wilcock.
