Rolling stock

Northern takes delivery of two ScotRail Class 170s

12.03.18: A duo of ScotRail Class 170 trains have arrived at Northern’s Neville Hill depot near Leeds. The trains, which previously provided services north of the border, will undergo a full refurbishment, with new features including power sockets...

Final Thameslink Class 700 train rolls off production line

09.03.18: The final Siemens Class 700 Desiro city train rolled off the production line yesterday. The production of the 115th unit marks a significant milestone in the completion of the government-sponsored Thameslink programme to upgrade the route and a...

Northern sends first Class 195 for testing in Czech Republic

08.03.18: Northern Rail has sent its first Class 195 DMU from CAF’s facility in northern Spain to Velim, Czech Republic, where initial testing will begin. The unit is part of a fleet of 55 trains – split between 25 two-car units and 30 th...

‘Explosion’ reported near track as Merseyrail sees service delays

08.03.18: Merseyrail warned passengers of delays between Liverpool and Ormskirk this morning after some passengers reported seeing an ‘explosion’ on a train passing through Old Roan station. The operator cited “power supply problems...

Siemens unveils plans for £200m train factory in East Yorkshire

02.03.18: Siemens has revealed plans to build a £200m train factory in East Yorkshire aimed at developing and commissioning new rolling stock. The state-of-the-art facility would be developed in Goole, with the company claiming it will create 7...

Vivarail to supply three D-Trains to West Midlands Trains

01.03.18: Vivarail has today announced that it has entered an agreement with West Midlands trains to build three new Class 230 D-Trains for the Marston Vale Line between Bedford and Bletchley. West Midlands Trains is the first franchise to have made...

New Intercity Express train reaches Inverness depot for testing

28.02.18: A new Intercity Express train has arrived at the Inverness depot for the first time today for testing. The new Hitachi-built train is the first of a fleet of 65 Intercity Express trains that will run from Inverness and Aberdeen, via Edinburgh...

Quantifying protection

27.02.18: Dr Nicola Symonds, operations director of nC2, Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton, discusses issues around material selection. How protected are your components and systems from their environment? In most appli...

‘Milestone moment’ as Elizabeth Line train makes successful debut in new tunnels

26.02.18: The first of the Elizabeth Line trains made its debut journey on Crossrail’s new south east London tunnels last night. With 10 months to go until the line officially launches, the new train represents the first journey to leave Abbey...

First Vivarail production train enters final build stage

23.02.18: After a period of radio silence, Vivarail has announced that its long-awaited battery D-Train is in its final build stage and will be in passenger service by summer. The two-car train is the first production battery unit in the UK, powered by t...

Seat design needs more scientific approach to ensure comfort, says industry

22.02.18: There should be more research into the design of train seats in order to provide a more comfortable and safer experience for passengers, the RSSB has argued. According to the organisation, this would mean a more scientific approach to measuring...

Alstom: Industry must start work bringing hydrogen trains to UK immediately

20.02.18: Alstom, the supplier who are leading the race to put hydrogen-powered rolling stock on track in Europe, has said that Jo Johnson’s ambition to get rid of diesel-only trains by 2040 will work as motivation for the industry to work towards d...

New GWR Class 802 IETs leave Italy bound for Devon and Cornwall

12.02.18: The first of a new fleet of Intercity Express Trains set to run on GWR routes in Devon and Cornwall have been completed in Italy. Hitachi will send the initial two bi-mode Class 802s across Europe and through the channel tunnel to join thre...

Diesel-only trains should be phased out by 2040, says rail minister

12.02.18: Rail minister Jo Johnson will today announce ambitions to end the use of diesel-only trains by 2040. Transport minister Johnson will say: “I would like to see us take all diesel-only trains off the track by 2040, if that seems like an...

First images of Northern’s new Class 331 stock revealed

07.02.18: Northern has unveiled the first of its new CAF stock, part of the operators multi-million-pound modernisation plans. The Class 331s were presented at an event held by the manufacturer in Spain and are set to travel through to Velim in the C...