FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) announced on April 25 that it is bidding jointly with Virgin and Stagecoach for Britain’s West Coast Partnership (WCP) franchise, which encompasses inter-city services on the West Coast Main Line and the initial phase of operations on High-Speed 2 (HS2).
THE first phase of High-Speed 2 cleared its final legal hurdle on February 23 when the Hybrid Bill authorising construction received Royal Assent, becoming an Act of Parliament.
BRITISH infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) successfully completed £100m of infrastructure upgrade work comprising 200 projects over the Christmas period, with a team of 24,000 accumulating 600,000 hours of work over the 10 days.
BRITAIN’s Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed on November 4 that services on the initial London - Birmingham phase of High Speed 2 (HS2) will be included in the forthcoming Inter City West Coast (ICWC) franchise, which is due to start in 2019.
BRITAIN’s rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has approved an application by Arriva subsidiary Alliance Rail Holdings for a new open-access inter-city service from London to Blackpool North via the West Coast Main Line (WCML).
BRITAIN's secretary of state for transport Mr Patrick McLoughlin announced on August 7 that the Department for Transport (DfT) will commission a study into the constructin of a link between the southern section of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) and London's east-west Crossrail line, which is due to open in 2018.
BRITAIN's infrastructure manager, Network Rail (NR), has for the first time granted access rights to an open-access passenger operator without being forced to provide paths by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR).
VIRGIN Trains has awarded Alstom a contract worth around €12m to upgrade its entire fleet of 56 class 390 Pendolino tilting emus, which are used on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, Manchester, and Glasgow.
In January the British government unveiled its initial preferred route for the second phase of High Speed 2, which will extend the line north from the Birmingham area to Manchester and Leeds. Keith Barrow looks at the developing proposals for the Y-shaped network.