Week Review ~ 29th November 2015

NEWS: Just a few news stories to mention this week, as the majority was mentioned during the week....

As reported Thursday, 90012 and set has been operating services in reversed formation in East Anglia, on the Liverpool Street to Norwich route. We question whether the auto-announcements are adapted to state this? 
Usually the class 90 locomotive is at the London end but, as seen at Ipswich, Andy's captured it uniquely. We believe the set is now the right way around.  

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On the Model Rail side of things, Hornby are to release an OO gauge HST set is mid-2016, in the striking Virgin Trains East Coast livery. More details are of course on their website.

At SouthEastern, 375620 and 375616 are now in 'blue' livery. 

Modern Railways have reported that Class 399 trams have arrived at Southampton from Santander (Valencia). These 37 metre long trams will operate in Sheffield, at first on trial until they enter into full service in mid-2016. 

Northern Rail have introduced a 'smart wall' at Harrogate, as part of a £1.2 million station upgrade.  On one side of the 'smart wall' screen, which was provided by Northern Rails ticketing partner 'Parkeon' is train information, weather forecasts and tweets from the companies, you guessed it, Twitter! The other screen is for local events and promotional activity.
Richard Allen, the Commercial Director at Northern, said: "The Smart Wall is a fantastic innovation... It is the centrepiece of the new-look Harrogate station and will be a great focal point for commuters and visitors". Further details are in this short video, compiled by Northern Rail. 

Many of you know that #BlackFriday has just been and gone. Virgin Trains East Coast joined in by offering a flash seat sale, whilst they made WiFi free to all on-board passengers so they don't miss a bargain! Great work! :-)

Finally, the Xmas special livery for a Virgin train unit will be revealed on the 1st December. Until then, the TOC are keeping their lips sealed about the design.

POSTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED THIS WEEK:
Aydan's Departure; General Updates from East Anglia and the South-East; More From East Anglia; CrossRail stock design unveiled; and an arson attack in the West Midlands.

That's all we have time for! I'm back on Tuesday for the next blog post, Christmas timetables :-) Harry
Regards:

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07/02/17: Recent Goings On

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Harry Here, Summarising Some Of The Interesting Fleet News Between Oct 2016 and Spring 2017...... 10/2016: 142073 heads to  Doncaster for overhaul , as all ArrivaTrainsWales are going into the new livery gradually. 27/01/2017: 37423 and an extra DRS MK2 arrive at Norwich from  Derby, for Short Set usage.  Meanwhile, 68021 and 68016 arrive to take over duty's on the 68 Hauled Anglia Short Set, because 68025 and 68005 both need exams.  01/17: Virgin East coast finish the overhaul of all 45 trains! 
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Abellio Greater Anglia to Abellio East Anglia

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As Many Of You Are Aware, The AGA Franchise Renews This October For Services In East Anglia, Including To Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Abellio Continue The Franchise, But Renamed East Anglia Ltd.  Greater Anglia, as it was at first, began in February 2012 - operating the short term tender which was due to expire in July 2014. However, the Government later extended this franchise, and it then became the rebranded Abellio Greater Anglia.
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Reminder: Stock + Service Changes, Abellio East Anglia.

IN SUMMARY: - Free Wi-Fi on Many Trains and also an  improved WiFi service at stations .  - Additional seats on trains across the network, by increasing train lengths and capacity.  - CET toilets, so waste isn't flushed onto tracks. This is already on MK3s.  - Increasing train punctuality and performance. - Entire fleet replacement (stated below), so other units are displaced or withdrawn. - Norwich to Cambridge trains extended to Stansted, and Sudbury branch lines running to Colchester. - Lowestoft connections to London Liverpool Street reinstated, using the electro-diesel units, four times per day. - Trains half hourly to Great Yarmouth, plus later connections to Sheringham and Lowestoft.
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Exclusive ~ VirginTrains ~ Penguilino & Claus 91

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To get into the Xmas spirit, Virgin Trains have unveiled East Coast  82209 & 91128  and Virgin West Coast revealed Pendolino 390013 in their Winter-style livery, as designed by Madeleine Deakin (aged 11) and Amber Maxfield (age 9) whom won a competition earlier this season.  The units were unveiled at London Kings Cross this morning and will remain in the livery until January. Claus 91, as it's been named, operates on the East Coast mainline between Kings Cross and Scotland via Penguinborough, whilst the Penguilino can be found on Virgin Trains West Coast services between London Euston and The North (North Pole) via Ho Ho Crewe.
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SOUTH - Last Day of Class 458/0 Operations

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©Liam Jenkins Good Evening, Liam here, offering you a post regarding the last day of South West Trains Class 458/0 service. Enjoy! On Sunday 8th November 2015, South West Trains operated the last day of Class 458/0s on the units' final day of operations. These units are to be sent to Doncaster Works, where they will be refurbished with the Gatwick Express Class 460s into a new Class 458/5 class.
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Special - Rebuilding the 1960's Class 73's.

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It's Friday, and today's post is a special! Not as I'm here (Andy)... Class 73's were built in the 1960's and generally used in the Southern region. In 2013, it was announced that GB Railfreight would initially be re-building 5 Class 73's to make them Class 73/9's. The complete re stripping and rebuilding has taken place at Brush Traction in Loughborough.  The Class 73/9's first started testing in late 2014 (73 961 - 965) as there had been some issues, however they were all resolved pretty soon. The 73/9's are intended to work infrastructure trains (test trains under Network Rail) and also to be used on Rail Head Treatment Trains. As a result of the rebuild, it has given the Class 73/9's up to 25 years more in service, and more 73/9's are to be released over the coming months which should see them introduced on to the Serco Sleeper eventually!
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Peter Skuce Reports (6A)

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Chiltern 168. (C) P Skuce. Peter. Part A is for the Chiltern Line Modernisation. Part B will lead from this. During the 1960s British Railways built forty one, 4 carriage Class 115 DMU trains for the London Marylebone – Aylesbury Chiltern Line. One trailer carriage had entirely Standard Class accommodation with 106 seats, whilst the other trailer carriage was a composite, featuring First Class cabins with seating to the 2+2 layout and Standard Class with two toilets. They were powered by Leyland Albion engines, with mechanical transmission and their maximum speed was 70 mph. A new maintenance depot was built at Aylesbury to accommodate the trains.
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