WESTERN
Dawlish: The new station footbridge and lifts were officially opened by local MP Anne Marie Morris on March 15, and the waiting room on the seaward platform has been brought back into use.
The general appearance of the 1875 Grade 2 Listed Italianate design station will be enhanced by a £23,000 grant from the Railway Heritage Trust.
Evesham: The delayed publication of an updated Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline is preventing progress with redoubling five miles of the North Cotswold Line between Evesham and Pershore and the four-mile section between Wolvercote and Hanborough. The proposals were submitted back in December 2019.
Filton: Updated plans for around 6,500 new homes on the site of the former airfield will boost passenger numbers at nearby stations - including Bristol Parkway.
Old Oak Common: HS2 Ltd has told local residents that the intensively used Old Oak Common Lane which runs to East Acton will be closed for four years, to install utility cables.
Toddington: The 15-arch Stanway Viaduct on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway reopened for
Easter weekend services after a five-month closure for waterproofing and stabilisation. The first stage has cost around £600,000, and twice that amount needs to be raised for brickwork repairs beginning next year.
EASTERN
Brocklesby: TransPennine Express has donated five redundant metal platform benches to the village cricket club.
Redcar: The Government’s latest round of levelling-up grants include £7 million to redevelop the Grade 2 Listed Central station with new waiting facilities and a shopping area.
Rotherham: A new stop on the Supertram’s tram-train route to Parkgate has been approved for the Magna Science Adventure Centre. It will comprise two staggered platforms linked by a footbridge. The £6.6 million cost will be met from the Sheffield City Region’s Transforming Cities Fund. Sheffield: South Yorkshire Future Tram has pledged that it will deep-clean all Supertram stops and shelters during the first 100 days of its takeover from Stagecoach, which took effect on March 22.
MIDLANDS Boughton: The Northampton & Lamport Railway’s new southern extension was officially opened on March 30. It marked the conclusion of 16 years’ effort to repair a seven-arch viaduct, install an 1875 LNWR signal box rescued from Crewe, lay half a mile of track, and install a passing loop.
Stafford: A disused section of the station footbridge that used to serve the adjacent Royal Mail delivery office is to be demolished. The track that used to serve the purpose-built Platform 7 is now used for holding freight and non-stopping passenger trains awaiting a signal to proceed.
NORTH WEST Cliburn: The former Appleby-Penrith line station, closed in September 1956 and now a four-bedroomed home, is on the market fo
