Posted 6th September 2019 | No Comments

6 September: news in brief

New open access plan for Stirling

AN open access proposal for a service between Stirling and London has been lodged with the ORR by Grand Union. The timetable would offer three to four trains a day from Stirling to London Euston, routed via Larbert and Motherwell. GU chief executive Ian Yeowart is hoping to launch his services in 2021, using Class 91-hauled Mk4 sets cascaded from the East Coast Main Line. GU has already announced proposals for open access services between London Paddington and Cardiff Central which would also use former LNER trains, while Virgin is hoping to run a reservation-only hourly service berween Liverpool Lime Street and London Euston.

South Wales town is ‘railway trespass hotspot’

NEW figures from Network Rail have revealed that the Bridgend area of South Wales is a ‘trespass hotspot’, and Network Rail, Transport for Wales Rail and the British Transport Police are calling on trespassers to ‘understand the grave risks and consequences involved’. Repeat locations, as they are known, are monitored every four weeks throughout the year. Over the past 12 months the Bridgend County Borough area, including Pyle and Pencoed, has seen 56 incidents of trespassing on railway property, which is more than one a week on average. Network Rail route director for Wales and Borders Bill Kelly said: ‘I urge anyone involved to cease immediately to avoid any serious consequences. I also call on the adult community, who sometimes cross our railways to make their exit from a station seemingly quicker, to stop this immediately.’