The March 2021 issue of Today's Railways UK is packed with articles and features, plus all the very latest railway news from across the national network. Our unrivalled coverage of UK rolling stock matters, is complemented this month by a feature article containing details of all new trains currently on order. As usual, this issue also contains all our regular monthly sections looking at light rail, heritage railways, preservation, railtours, readers’ letters, our grumpy old man and much, much more!
Feature articles this month include:
Designing the "Auroras": Today’s Railways UK editor Robert Pritchard examines the interior design and technical specifications of the new Class 810 "Aurora" units on order for East Midlands Railway. What can passengers expect to find from the latest derivative of IEP train built by Hitachi?
Rolling Stock Special: Our annual review of all new rolling stock currently on order for train operating companies in Great Britain, compiled by Robert Pritchard and Ian Beardsley. We also analyse figures charting the average age of the current fleet and provide a summary of the major rolling stock changes that took place in 2020.
Discovering The Keith & Dufftown Railway: The Keith & Dufftown Railway is Britain’s most northerly heritage railway and, running through beautiful countryside peppered with distilleries making the very best malt whisky in all the world, it is justifiably known as the "Whisky Line". Ron Smith tells the story of its preservation in the 1990s and describes how the line has matured over the following years.
Going Underground (Virtually!): Ian Beardsley joins one of the London Transport Museum’s Virtual Hidden London tours to learn more about the rarely seen King William Street station, once the northern terminus of the City & South London Railway, part of which now forms the Northern Line’s Bank branch. Ian reveals how this is being used to assist with the ongoing Bank Station Capacity Upgrade.
A Tale of Three Counties: With the replica of Great Western steam locomotive 1014 "County of Glamorgan" now nearing completion at Didcot Railway Centre, the construction of new build 3840 "County of Montgomery" well under way at Tyseley Locomotive Works and a 2221 Class "County Tank" at the planning stage, David Bradshaw reviews the history of these three classes and looks at the respective projects to recreate an example of each.
Heathrow Express Class 332s Bow Out: Dedicated to Heathrow Express services throughout their working lives, the Class 332 EMUs have rarely made the headlines. Nick Lawford takes a look back at these often-overlooked units from CAF/Siemens.
News stories this month include:
- Train operators cut services again in third lockdown
- More than 450 carriages given further dispensation to continue operating
- Werrington dive-under pushed into place
- Department for Transport consults on Manchester area service changes
- Transport for the North faces funding cuts
- £760 million funding announced for East-West Rail
- First test trains operate on Northern Line Battersea extension
- Midland Metro progress on Birmingham Westside extension
- New homes sought for Blackpool heritage trams
- Docklands Light Railway Thamesmead extension planning stepped up.
- Rail Operations Group places order for new Class 93 locomotives
- Class 91s stood down for several months by LNER
- East Midlands Railway reduces number of HST diagrams
- More Class 156s and 3-car Class 150s secured for Northern
- Heathrow Express Class 387s enter service
- Deltic Preservation Society sets out plans for future main line operation
- £500 000 refurbishment for National Railway Museum’s Station Hall
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