The dispute between West Coast Railways Ltd and the Office of Road and Rail Regulation (ORR) shows no signs of being resolved despite the the outcome of the judicial review proceedings brought at the end of last year in which the High Court endorsed the actions of the regulator: see R (on the application of…Continue Reading West Coast Railways dispute rumbles on
Just before Christmas I posted about the dispute between West Coast Railways (WCR) and the Office of Rail and Road Regulation (ORR) regarding the use of mark 1 slam-door carriages on heritage steam-hauled services such as the Jacobite service between Fort William and Mallaig which crosses the Glenfinnan viaduct of Harry Potter fame. Events moved…Continue Reading Jacobite rebellion fails: West Coast Railways lose judicial review over slam-doors
Recently, the media has picked up on litigation involving the use of heritage rolling stock, without centrally lockable doors, on steam operated specials which venture onto the mainline, such as charter trains, rail-tours and even some scheduled services on iconic tourist routes. It is the latter which has drawn the media’s notice to an issue,…Continue Reading Could the Hogwarts Express hit the buffers over muggle health and safety laws?
The opening of the middle section of the Elizabeth Line (formerly known as Crossail) was rightly greeted with much fanfare despite the delays and cost overruns. There was a large amount of mostly positive media coverage about the scale of the project, the engineering and the overall design of stations and so forth. However, one…Continue Reading Goodbye Yellow Train Ends
The rail freight sector has grown exponentially over the past twenty years resulting in an unprecedented demand for new motive power. In recent months the major UK rail freight companies have had their cheque books out in a major spending spree. Rail Magazine has summarized the latest purchases of diesel locomotives:- 21 x EMD Class 66s for GBRf. 15 x…Continue Reading EU Emission limits bite for new freight locomotives