Railnews Magazine December 2017 Edizione posteriore

A MAJOR announcement by Chris Grayling about the future structure of the rail industry came almost at the end of November, and this leads the new edition of Railnews.

It also became known just before press day that the Virgin Trains East Coast franchise will end three years early, in 2020, to be replaced by a form of partnership. A few days earlier, the Budget had included new money for the city regions and also funded new trains for Tyne & Wear Metro.

In other rolling stock news, we report the unveiling of the last Bombardier Electrostar train to be built at Derby. Industrial tensions have continued, and strikes are set to be staged over the Christmas period on Virgin Trains West Coast and CrossCountry, while a strike ballot has been called on Virgin Trains East Coast.

In an exclusive report, we reveal how armed police have been carrying out anti-terrorist exercises on a railway near London, and also revisit the East West Rail project in December’s Hot Topic.

Christmas is a time to remember as well as look forward, so we review the last year of railway industry events as seen in the pages of Railnews and also recall the events of March 1997, 250 editions of Railnews ago. And as it’s the festive season, you can also catch up with some of the latest railway titles in our Books for Christmas feature.

These are just some of the highlights in December’s special 40-page edition of Railnews