R200 exhibition train 'Inspiration' is going west
The Railway 200 exhibition train ‘Inspiration’ is going west this spring, because some of the latest dates announced for visits include stations in Devon and Cornwall for the first time since Inspiration’s nationwide tour began last summer at the Severn Valley Railway. Since then it has visited stations and heritage railways in most parts of Britain, and welcomed 60,000 visitors to see a celebration of the railway industry’s 200-year heritage while also finding out what the railway offers today and tomorrow, with an emphasis on the many careers which the industry offers.
Train services through south London are disrupted this morning after yesterday’s derailment of a Southern train outside Selhurst depot. The incident was made worse by a failure affecting track circuits between Norwood Junction and London Bridge.
National Rail has warned of major delays in south London, after 'a number of incidents' which are disrupting Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Southern services. A train has been derailed, and passengers were being urged not to travel on the affected routes. Although that warning has now been lifted, disruption is expected to continue for the rest of the day.
Three branch lines in south west England will stay closed until further notice, Network Rail has warned, because floodwater has put structures at risk. Trains have not run between Exeter and Okehampton or Barnstaple since the most recent storms, while the Looe Valley Line has not seen trains since the end of last year.
The contractor which has been running Transport for London’s Oyster and other contactless payment systems has been replaced, less than two years since a major cyber attack in September 2024 in which the names and contact details of up to 5000 TfL customers were reported to have been compromised.
Passengers in south west England are facing more disruption today, because the lines between Exeter, Okehampton and Barnstaple are still closed after the recent storms, although rail replacement services are now running. Trains have returned to the Newquay line in Cornwall after flooding near Luxulyan, but there is still no service to Looe as work continues to repair flood damage
The West Midlands Trains National Rail Contract held by Transport UK Group came to an end at 02.00 on Sunday morning, when the individual brands of West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern were taken over by the state. The change is the latest in a series of renationalisations which began with LNER in 2018, but transport campaigners are warning that renationalisation must be supported by greater railway investment.