Railways Illustrated February 2025

The announcement that the first of the privately owned passenger train operating companies will be brought back into the public sector later this year was made by the Department for Transport at the beginning of December, with South Western Railway named as being the first TOC to be nationalised under the Labour Government’s Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024. This legislation has now received Royal Assent, paving the way for the Government’s railway reforms to get underway, in line with its manifesto promise in advance of the general election last summer. The transfer of SWR to the newly-renamed DfT Operator Limited – previously DfT Operator of Last Resort Holdings Limited – will take place in May, to be followed two months later by c2c, and Greater Anglia will…

RECENTLY APPOINTED Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander outlined the process for the start of the transfer of passenger train operating companies into public ownership on December 4, with three operators confirmed as being brought under Department for Transport control in 2025. The first TOC to be transferred to the management of DfT Operator Ltd (DOL) – the new name for DfT Operator of Last Resort Holdings Limited – will be South Western Railway in May. This will be followed by c2c two months later, and Greater Anglia is also set to move into public ownership during the autumn. SWR is currently operated by a partnership between FirstGroup and MTR Corporation, while c2c is under the control of Trenitalia, and Transport UK Group is responsible for services operated under the Greater Anglia…

LESS THAN six months after winning the general election, the first government cabinet resignation saw Louise Haigh leave her role as Secretary of State for Transport on November 29, 2024, after it was revealed that she had previously pleaded guilty to fraud by misrepresentation in 2014, although the conviction was understood to have been declared to the Labour leader several years ago and was considered ‘spent.’ In her resignation letter to Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer, Ms Haigh wrote: “I appreciate that whatever the facts of the matter, this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this government and the policies to which we are both committed. “I will always be grateful for the support you have shown me, and I take great pride in…

THE 18-MILE Northumberland Line between Newcastle and Ashington reopened to passenger services on December 15, 2024, just after this issue of Railways Illustrated closed for press. The £298.5 million Northumberland Line project is a joint initiative between Northumberland County Council, the Department for Transport, Network Rail and Northern Trains to upgrade and reopen the freight-only route to passenger services, with the route being served half-hourly throughout the day and an end-to-end journey time of 35 minutes from Newcastle to Ashington. The initial opening of the line will include two new stations at Seaton Delaval and Ashington, although four further stations on the route are due to be opened over the coming months. The first of these is expected to be Newsham early in 2025, while the remaining three stations at…

→ A new café has opened on Platform 2 at Taunton station, celebrating the history of the Great Western Railway. The café, which includes light fittings, flooring, wood panelling and glass mirrors reflective of the 1930s Art Deco period, is the latest to be opened by Centenary Lounge and the fourth café to be opened by the business at railway stations; the first was launched at Birmingham Moor Street in 2009, followed by Worcester in 2019 and Leamington Spa in 2023. Over the past five years, a significant regeneration of Taunton station has provided a new ticket office, station entrance and forecourt, a multi-storey car park and an improved bus and taxi interchange. → Crewe-based London Northwestern Railway driver Glynn Smith and senior conductor Jessie Hinds-Taylor have been awarded an…

SOUTH WESTERN Railway outlined its plans for the rollout of its Alstombuilt Class 701 Arterio electric multiple units at a celebratory event at London Waterloo station on November 28, 2024, where former England cricketer Stuart Broad CBE officially named 701031 Nighthawk. The former One Day and Twenty20 captain unveiled the name in recognition of the Nighthawk variation of the Nightwatchman role, which he took on in the first test of England’s series against New Zealand in February 2023. Continuing with the sporting theme, SWR has also named other Class 701 Arterio trains Jockey in connection with horseracing destinations such as Ascot, Sandown and Kempton Park; Red Rose for English rugby at Twickenham; Ace for the Wimbledon Championships; and Thames Racer in honour of the annual Oxford Cambridge boat race. The…