TheGreatBritishRailScene

Welcome to this long-awaited summary of rail news, covering February and March 2018.  The main news from March was of course owing to the Beast From The East. Let's not mention the weather, though. I'll just direct you to some fantastic shots... WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND. AND snow ploughs.... CLICK RIGHT HERE.   Oh, here is another photo you may like, it features 37s in East Anglia.  If you're a fan of 66s instead though, this'll tickle your fancy... DAB THIS BUTTON. Leading  on from our special post about CIS displays at stations , it has recently been announced that Greater Anglia will also upgrade information screens at stations. NOTE - THESE ARE NOT PROVIDED BY INFOTECH. Simone Bailey, Greater Anglia’s Asset Management Director, said: “We have been focusing our efforts on improving information provision for our customers – especially during disruption - and these new screens demonstrate our commitment to providing up-to-date information, in ...

It's that time of year again - the results for the National Rail Passenger Survey 2018 are in. Click here for a summary of the news.  Effectively though, Virgin East Coast are the highest performers.  The GTR group though are at the bottom.  Meanwhile, at the Golden Whistle Awards, Greater Anglia was named the 'most improved' operator for punctuality on the Norwich to London Liverpool Street Mainline. This is a 5.8% increase compared to 2017!  Whilst on the topic of Greater Anglia, we've seen a first look at the Stadler FLIRTS which are now being built. These class 755 units are currently on the production line, and 3 or 4 carriages will be coupled together to form a unit. As reported previously , from Summer this year the tests and trials will commence. Then in 2019, 38 of these 3-car and 4-car units will enter service to replace Class 153/156/170 Rural Units in 2019. Below, a photo of the Stadler FLIRT power-unit. Effectively, this carriage will...

CIS stands for Customer Information System, effectively more commonly known as departure/arrival screens. Infotec is the company that manufactures most of these systems on trains and at stations around the UK - but there's so much more to these systems than meets the eye....  Expectations from customers are constantly expanding. As a result, UK TOCs must keep up with the trends to offer the latest information systems. This is vital to keep customers informed and advised with the latest real-time information.... Traditional CIS expectations: What time is my train due? Which platform? How many carriages? Where's First Class?   Modern-life CIS expectations: Where can I purchase my low-fat mocha once I'm on the train? Is my seat reservation going to be honoured (or will I need to fight for it)? I've been too busy to check posters, so can I have an Engineering Summary now as I'm travelling this weekend? Even "I intend to know where to stow my bike without sp...

Happy New Year! Best Wishes From All Of Us Here At GBRailScene, The Unbiased/Accurate Blog For UK Rail News.  Also, Sorry Once Again For The Lack Of Posts, Difficult To Keep This Page Going Considering We're All Busy. Apologies For Reduced Effort - We Aim To Keep The Page Open As Long As Possible!  Anyway, Now A Welcome To The Latest Long-Awaited Summary Regarding Automated Announcements Currently Used On The UK Rail Network......  This article will highlight which voiceover artists are used for pre-automated announcements at each of the UK Train Operating Companies.  Generally, Anne from ATOS is the main person used ( she's even heard in Ireland ), as the ATOS system becomes the most popular information provision system. 

Now, the latest Railway Related news and updates from around the UK for November 2017!  Fleet Summary:   In conjunction with the 10 year anniversary of HST sets operating for Grand Central,  the time has also come to bid farewell to them.  The power cars will go off-lease in December, returning to their leasing company Angel Trains. 

In Summary: ScotRail have begun tests of the  Class 385  stock on the Edinburgh to  Glasgow corridor.   Next, the first 14 Class 345s ( which replace 315s ) for TFL Rail have been built and passed trials. Of these, 3 are in service and 2 are used for Driver  Training (007-011).  Meanwhile, Govia Thameslink has reached a major milestone in its transformation of the railway by replacing the last of the 29-year-old Class 319 train fleet with modern Class 700 trains. GTR added: "On Sunday 27 August, units 319217 and 319435 were coupled together as an eight carriage service to make the final southbound journey. The train left Bedford on time at 15.06 with a salute from the drivers and a blast on the horn as the train left the station with a small commemorative headboard fitted to the front. Greeted by a crowd of enthusiasts at Brighton, the same train then left the seaside resort full and standing at 18.14 as passengers, enthusiasts...

For those of you who follow us on Twitter, you'll see us sharing, liking and posting news, stories and photos.  However, for those of you who aren't apart of the social media platform, I wouldn't want you to miss out on anything exciting .  So that's why we've condensed down the year so far from our Twitter feed into this handy dosage.... It's practically a year review, so we'll call it just that....  At the start of 2017,  345002 was on tests and trials prior to entering service on the Liverpool Street to Shenfield section of the Cross-Rail route. In June, the first of the new fleet  went into passenger service. Also in February, Thameslink 387124 went on hire to Gatwick Express. Brand spanking new  EMUs were planned for Mersey Rail. Between the 8th and 23rd April, there were significant upgrades to Bath Spa station. Primarily, the platform were widened to ensure that the gap isn't so big between the train & platform edge once the ne...

All Updates at GWR Will Be Either Shown Below Or By Clicking Here.  ******   Until 2015, the company was known as First Great Western. Aside from general fleet overhauls and livery changes (painted from the 'dynamic lines' royal blue with pink livery into dark green with silver vinyls and decals) when it became GWR in 2015, there wasn't really much news to report at this time.  All significant news between 2013/2015 is contained in our blog articles - CLICK HERE  to browse. For example, did you know that in 2012 five Class 180s entered service with GWR (as it's known today). Meanwhile, 150001/002 (prototype 3-car 150s) transferred from London Midland for the purpose of operating the Reading-Basingstoke route?! Fact! ******* Class 365s will no longer transfer from GTR, due to further 387s planned instead. GWR will also take on 37 387s in total instead - their first unit to be tested is  seen here at Derby.   Detail...

Hea throw Connect provides a direct rail link between Heathrow Airport and central London with a service running every 30 minutes.  Heathrow Connect also provide the only direct rail service between London and Heathrow Terminal 4. Heathrow Connect services depart from London Paddington train station, which connects to the Bakerloo, Circle, District and Hammersmith London Underground lines.

This Is A TOC Focus, Summarising What Has Been The Stagecoach South West Trains Franchise, Which Passes Over To FirstGroup.... Since 1996, Stagecoach have operated the franchise. During this time: More frequent services across the network, Smart Cards have been introduced, and Automated ticket barriers have been installed at many stations, Eight class 170s moved to Transpennine Express (now these are at Chiltern) whilst the final of the batch was converted into a 171 for Southern Rail. This was in favour for eight 159/1s, which were overhauled at Wabtec Doncaster before entering service with SWT.  29 class 411 units, seven 412s, 34 421s and 66 class 423s were withdrawn, between 2005 and 2010, in favour for a brand new fleet of Siemens Desiro units. These consist of 45 444s and 127 450s.  In 2015, door-select software was fitted to these Desiro units, which means that the crew can control which doors are opened at stations with shorter platforms. Prior to ...

FAREWELL CLASS 68 SHORT SET:  CLICK HERE FOR  THE LATEST SHORT SET NEWS.  CLICK  HERE   FOR THE LATEST GREATER ANGLIA NEWS.  Greater Anglia Operate Services Throughout East Anglia Using: - Class 153/156/170s (Rural Local Lines) - Class 90 Hauled MK3 Carriages (Norwich-London) - 317/379 EMUs for West Anglia routes. - 321/360 units for Mainline Corridor Use. Also Currently Leased Is A 37 Class  Hauled Short Set. It Operates On The Norwich To Great Yarmouth  and Lowestoft Line, With The 37s Sandwiching 3 MK2 Coaches In.  The Class 68 Set Came To Anglia When 170204 Was Sent Away Following Collision Damage, But Went Off Lease In September 2017 When It Returned. Here It Is Snapped  By JMaxim.  The Sets Occasionally Left Their Home Patch Though,  For Example: - April 2016, They Operated A Charity Rail Tour . - Then On February 23rd 2016 They Saw  Us...