TheGreatBritishRailScene

Faster, longer, greener trains for Scotland are soon to become reality.  The 385's which will be running Scotland's rails from Autumn 2017 are coming closer to completion. A pilot is already available at Edinburgh Waverley.  These 70 new trains will run on Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street (via Falkirk), Edinburgh to Dunblane/Alloa, Glasgow to Dunblane/Alloa, Glasgow to Cumbernauld/Falkirk Grahamston, Edinburgh to North Berwick / Dunbar / Berwick and Edinburgh to Newton/Neilston routes from  December 2018 onwards, says Scotrail. 321s and HSTs also join the fleet. 

(C) Gatwick Express A lack of Week Review Today, but I'll now bring you Updates from the South East of England instead! KEY WORDS: Red, Shiny And Modern. 4-Car, Bombardier, New.  Of course, we're talking about the significant news which comes from Gatwick Express. The operator, which is now operated by the Govia franchise, is preparing its Class 387/2 stock to enter service this Spring on where else but the Gatwick Airport corridor.  

Good evening viewers, Liam here providing a dosage of some highlights of this week's news, almost like a week review, but less in depth. Enjoy! Remember the ex-London Underground District Line D-Stock trains that were transferred to Northern for use? Well, the first refurbished 2-car set courtesy of Vivarail has been tested, a full video can be found in this twitter link: https://twitter.com/Vivarail/status/690212470074507264 ©Vivarail

For the second of three posts today, I'll (Jonathan Maxim) be showcasing photos from my recent visit to Doncaster.  Firstly, a Class 321 (Ex-London Midland) which is awaiting conversion and overhaul before transfer to Abellio Scot Rail in February.  These units will then be able to comply and operate with the current fleet. For further updates, see some of our older posts in the archive. 

As reported , and earlier announced , Virgin East Coast have their fleet overhaul programme well underway. This post focusses on their progress of the 401 carriages they operate.... Virgin East Coast (C) I'll highlight what Lewis stated: 'The £21 million refurbishment will include new seat covers, new carpets, curtains fitted and better on board signage. The work will be carried out at Bound Green depot in London and Craigentinny depot in Edinburgh. We love the look of the new seats! They're smart, stylish and perfect colours (two-tone) to reflect the Virgin brand. Let's hope they're as comfy as they look!  Known carriage numbers of refurbished stock: 42110 42159 41115

In Derby in 1995, a fleet of 16 Class 325 (4-car) units were built in order to meet the needs of the Parcels Industry. These units ( 325001-016)  were to be a more cost-effective method, rather than locomotive hauled stock which was used previously. Thanks Anthony W for photo permission. Here, Royal Mail Class 325 325013 leads her sisters 001 and 003 on   Diverted 1M44 Willesden to Shieldmuir.  However, in 2012,  325010  was damaged and stored. As a result, it has been used as a source of spares and has since been scrapped. This leaves 15 units, 325001-325009 and 325011-325016 . 325002 is named Royal Mail North Wales and North West; 325006 is named (to commemorate documentary maker)  John Grierson and 325008 named Peter Howarth CBE (former MD of Royal Mail).

The first Weekly Review of 2016! Let's cut straight to the chase, the significant news stories since our last update.  ANGLIA + MIDLANDS:  156401 , from East Mids Trains, was on loan to Greater Anglia this week to cover the Short Set diagram. The short set is currently away from home for maintenance, and is due back next week (when 90034 goes for an exam). 37405 travelled by road separately from Dereham (no lorry access to Crown Point) due to having wheel flats. 90006 due back soon. Robert informs me that  360101 and 115 are now internally refurbished, as are  all 317/6s. There's just 10x 317/5 to do.

Good Morning! It's 2016 on TheGBRailScene, the independant blog which is now in its third year (under 3 different names!).  82102, the most recent repaint at Loughborough. This leaves just 82127! (C) Andy L Don't worry. I'm not going to bombard you with information as you're probably either recovering from a slightly tipsy New Years Eve, about to go off for a run to lose the mince pies and Xmas choccies, or just want me to get to the point and stop wombling on!