TheGreatBritishRailScene

Ever wondered who does the specific automatic announcements at specific stations or on trains? Well we've gone and done some research to find examples of announcements and also sourced who does them, so here's a complete summary by myself (Harry):

Photo - © Andy. I (Andy) had the chance to visit London on Friday 10th April 2015, so I purchased a Off-Peak Travelcard and off I went, visiting many places; Clapham Junction, Hendon, St Pancras International, London Paddington, Ealing Broadway and London Waterloo.  However this post is many focused on my main mission of the trip - to visit Chiltern's London Marylebone to see the Loco Hauled services (Class 67 & 68 locomotives.)  Photo - © Andy. 68 013 at Marylebone London.  I had missed 68 010 on the 16:47 for Birmingham. . Beforehand I had been in contact with Chiltern's Customer Service who were very friendly and said I would need to print off the Photography information on there wesbite while it would just be turn up and see what stock was out! On Arrival at London Marylebone from the Bakerloo line, I was unsure what to do so asked the Gate-line staff at around 4:50 pm. The staff were very friendly and advised me to go to the...

As previously reported: TFL take over some current AGA routes in May (Sun 31st). We aim to keep you updated, and this is the first stage - the routes. A summary: Liverpool Street to Shenfield Metro (As CrossRail) Liverpool Street to Chingford (As London Overground) Liverpool Street to Enfield Town (As London Overground) Romford to Upminster Branch (As London Overground) 170's on a move to the South East. Class 345s (CrossRail Stock) will eventually be running over CrossRail Services (built by Bombardier), & 378s over London Overground lines. Until then, CrossRail is getting  315818  to  315861  of the current AGA Class 315 fleet, whilst London Overground gains the remaining 17 (801-817). London Overground will also get some  317887  to  317892 , plus 317/7s (all except  317722  (demonstrator), which stays with AbellioGreaterAnglia). The CrossRail stock will first enter service on the Liverpool Street to Shenfield stretc...

Welcome to a quick review of the fleet aims and ambitions that Abellio will bring to their new franchise, ScotRail (begin operation of the Franchise on April 1st this Year) As previously reported, 9 Three-Car Class 170/4s will go to Southern for Uckfield Line. Four of these are permanent - 170421/ 170422/ 170423/ 170424. The remaining 5 (170416-170420) will be subleased to Southern from ScotRail at first (but we await to see it this is permanent).  The main change though is that 80 AT200 Commuter Trains will be built by Hitachi (3-Car or 4-Car formations, used on:  Glasgow to Edinburgh, South Glasgow Suburban, Dunblane, Stirling & Alloa Services.  AbellioScotRail will receive 7 Class 321s, Most likely from LondonMidland

ANDY: On Wednesday 18th February, I set off to Bristol Temple Meads with First Class on the way to Temple Meads. I boarded the 09:41 service to Reading which was a Class 166 and then we arrived in to Platform 15 at Reading on time.

Hello to all of our East Anglia Rail Scene viewers! This  is the Weekly Overview: NorthernRail have unveiled their new-look Class 319's   David Cameron announced that rail passengers will be able to use Free WiFi across England and Wales from 2017 so that it can help business people and anyone else who needs the internet to work/find out information while on trains Network update on the blog for Abellio Greater Anglia  & EastMidlandsTrains

456  006 sits at Guildford - Pic  © Andy Crawley . On the 8th May in 2012, the Department for Transport announced that the 24 2 car Class 456's would be transferred from Southern to South West trains to lengthen train lengths in peak services.  The Southern services on the South London Line were removed late in 2012 and replaced by London Overground services. 456 005 sat on it's own, waiting for refurbishment-  Pic  © Steve P. These 48 carriages are to be repainted (some currently completed) in to Metro Colour to match South West Trains Class 455's as part of a £15 million refurbishment plan. This special post expresses the current livery, the new livery & the history of these units. 

Steven Hughes The ex-Virgin Pretendolino (now called the Pretend-Abellio) Set entered service today on a test run, departing Norwich at approximately 10:00am. 

Class 150, Copyrighted to Michael Wadman ~ Many thanks! These units are now at FirstGreatWestern, rural routes mainly Here 150128 is seen in Silver Link Livery Welcome to this new series of posts expressing the past, present and future stock of specific TOCs (Train Operating Companies). London Overground is apart of TFL (Transport for London), launched in 2007, and operates a number of services in London. These include between Gospel Oak & Barking, using Class 2-Car 172 TurboStars at present, and also using 4-Car Class 378s (sideways seats only) between Stratford & Clapham Junction/Richmond, London Euston & Watford Junction, Clapham Junction & Willesdon/Highbury & Islington, Dalston Junction to West Croydon, and Islington & Crystal Palace. Photo permission from SP Railways  ~ Copyrighted Class 172 with LOverground, in their Livery.  The 172s themselves will also move on from the fleet in 2019, replaced by 4-Car units due to hi...

VivaRail are taking their first  D78  underground stock tomorrow, following withdrawal earlier this year (by new Bombardier built S-Stock). The first D78 unit will be converted immediately for testing in the summer. In time, it'll be used on Northern services as a Diesel unit (3-Car). We've posted about the conversion of these units not too long ago and will try to keep you updated throughout the conversion. On our Twitter feed you can see photos of the  Class 37  preparing to haul  90012  to it's exam at Crewe & followed by a repaint. It went there this week. Also as an update over at GreaterAnglia, the Pretendolino is believed to almost be ready for service (can't confirm though) and is likely to be ready for use towards the end of this month. 

In total 300 carriages have been bought by VivaRail to convert D78 London Underground stock into DMU units, that'll replace pacers! The units will be converted to have toilets & Copyrighted to Omar, Allowed us to use image  disabled seating as standard and are likely to be sent North when complete/for tests. This stock operated/operates on the District Line, but stock is gradually being withdrawn & replaced. 44 of the 61 Class 315s currently with AbellioGreaterAnglia will transfer onto CrossRail routes until new stock is built whilst the remainder will be used on the Enfield/Cheshunt, Chingford & Romford - Upminster lines. Furthermore, all 6 of the Class 68s for Chiltern are expected to be built by March 2015 And finally I've heard rumours that a 144 Pacer Demonstrator will transfer from Northern to Derby in 3 months to be created, proving that Pacers can be converted! We'll have to wait and see!   *Harry

The £43 million Redevelopment of Peterborough Railway Station has been completed! The last piece of the puzzle was testing and installing a new signal system. East Coast routes to London and the North, FirstCapitalConnect services to London, East Midlands routes to Norwich and Liverpool via Manchester/Nottingham, as well as Greater Anglia services to Ipswich, all serve the station and will be affected over the coming days. Peterborough transports more than 4 million passengers each year. These works will meet demand of services by adding a further 2 platforms, have a freight lane to limit delays to passenger routes (positioned next to new platform 6), and lengthening all platforms.

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, A Warm Welcome To My Blog! I'm Harry, the founder of this page. I'm very passionate about the Railway, but would not say I'm a spotter even though I'll use some railway terminology now and again! I've created this page in an effort to inform and entertain readers regarding a variety of Railway Related News including rare movements, changes to the industry, updates to infrastructure and generally interesting articles not just for Rail Geeks! This page is being run alone at present, so I'm afraid I might not be able to update it too much. However, I'm currently in search for a new team member, so hopefully by Autumn 2014 we'll be able to provide ample posts each week. I hope you enjoy browsing the page and let's see how successful it'll be. Thanks for taking time to read this, I am grateful of any support I may receive! Finally, please note I'll now be taking a short vacation away from the page. ...