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News Archive 2024
Track Relaying near Bourne End
The track is being relayed in the Bourne End area from now to May. This involves renewing rails, sleepers and ballast to maintain a safe railway. The branch will be closed between 12th and 21st April and a bus replacement service will operate. The full list of planned closures (mostly overnight) follows. [20250213] 
ASLEF Strikes on Elizabeth Line
The train drivers are holding strikes on the Elizabeth Line in support of a pay claim. The dates are Thursday 27th February, 1st, 8th and 10th March, all midnight to midnight. [20250213]
New Elizabeth Line Operator Sought
The Department of Transport has announced the shortlist of bidders to operate the Elizabeth Line after the present contract with MTR Elizabeth Line expires in May 2025. They are:
- Arriva UK Trains
- First Keolis Elizabeth Line
- GTS Rail Operations Limited
- MTR Corporation Limited (the incumbent operator) [20240223]
Next Elizabeth Line Operator Named
Transport for London (TfL) has announced its intention to award the new Elizabeth line operator contract to GTS Rail Operations Limited, a joint venture between Go Ahead Group, Tokyo Metro and Sumitomo Corporation.
The contract will cover seven years with an option to extend for up to two additional years.
GTS Rail Operations Limited will take over from the existing operator, MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Limited, in May 2025. [20241119]See Press Release.
New Staircase and Lift Opened on 6 September
The new lift and staircase to platforms 2 and 3 at Maidenhead was officially opened on Friday 6th September 2024 at 11 a.m. [20240827]
Update: The new lift and staircase was opened as planned, but were closed within days after being inundated by rainwater.
Meanwhile the lift to platforms 4 and 5 continues to be unreliable. [20241220]
GWR changes expectations on battery trains
It looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer for battery trains on the Thames Valley branches. GWR’s preference is to wait for the outcome of Project Churchward rather than use former ‘;D stock’ Class 230 units.
Project Churchward, named after the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway from 1902 to 1920, is a modern GWR initiative to design and produce the next generation multiple unit to replace all the existing classes of diesel multiple units (Castle, 125, 158, 165, 166) – basically everything except the Hitachi Intercity Express Trains (Class 800 / 803).
These trains would need to cover branch lines, local, inter-urban and routes and non-electrified routes in the London commuter belt. They would need to support a variety of traction packages including fast charging from overhead line (Maidenhead), third rail where available (North Downs) or centre contact rails (West Ealing). We should not be building new trains with diesel engines.
The rapid advances in battery technology means that battery-electric traction is becoming practical for longer distances. On the other hand the capacity of the National Grid becomes weaker the further it goes towards the south-west.
Whilst many of us would like to see Vivarail trains on the Thames Valley branches It’s easy to see the disadvantages of having a small fleet of non-standard units. They would need depot facilities with specialist staff, and of course the drivers would need to be trained up on them. All this would be required for an operational life of 15 to 20 years while the Churchward stock was designed, developed and rolled out. [20241227]
Class 230 Battery Train Out on Test
Update: The (formerly) Vivarail fast charging battery train has been out on the
network today, 8 Feb. and we can expect to see it on the Greenford branch any time soon.
See video and story. [20240325]
Update: The unit is now running on the West Ealing to Greenford line on Tuesdays to Fridays. We don’t expect to see it in passenger service much before December 2024. [20240704]
Arriva Buses Pulling Out
Arriva Buses is withdrawing from its garages in Aylesbury and High Wycombe on 27th July 2024. Arriva’s routes will be taken over by Carousel, which is part of the Go-Ahead Group.
The company already operates a number of routes in and around High Wycombe including 7 to Bourne End and Maidenhead.
The timetable will initially remain unchanged, and Arriva timetables are now shown on the Carousel web site. [20240704]