Rail Express

RAIL EXPRESS is Britain's favourite modern rail enthusiast title. Undoubtedly the best for modern traction photography, the magazine keeps readers informed and entertained with undiluted coverage of Britain's railways in the diesel and electric era. First produced in 1996, RE has set a new standard for the hobby, with a clean design, high quality paper and the best reproduction. January 2008 saw the magazine relaunched in an innovative 'supersize' format, showing off the ground-breaking contents to the best advantage. Every issue includes news and analysis covering the present day railway scene, plus the latest preservation developments. Also inside: RAIL EXPRESS Modeler - Diesel & Electric era modeling magazine

Rail Express

CrossCountry bids farewell to HSTs

Northern leg of HS2 scrapped

Trial of Britain’s first digital wagon begins

CrossCountry withdrawals shrink HST fleet still further • XC’s fleet of five High Speed Trains are withdrawn at the behest of the Department for Transport, with Voyagers lined up as a replacement.

More ‘Networkers’ put into store • Networkers head for Worksop as Southeastern gains more ‘707s’.

Mail vans leave Hellifield • Nine years on, former mail vehicles are on the move.

Burberry Street: Has station sponsorship and renaming across TfL gone too far? • TfL has responded to criticism after Bond Street was renamed during London Fashion Week.

Tulyar regains bogies and power units • Long-awaited start-up of No. D9015 is imminent.

DB Cargo restarts ‘Stegosaurus’ steel carrier programme • Having removed the hoods from a number of BYAs earlier in 2023, DB Cargo UK is now undertaking a full rebuild on 40 examples to modify them along the lines of the previous coil carrier rebuilds from 2021.

Preserved ‘08s’ in demand • Two more privately-owned shunters have found themselves out on hire for use on the network.

Riviera Trains apologises for air-conditioning failure on Mk.2fs • Hot weather blamed for failure of some air-conditioning equipment during a railtour to East Anglia.

Powerscene • Our authoritative class-by-class review of newsworthy locomotive workings.

071 Class locomotive to be used for Hydrogen tests • Transition from fossil fuel to carbon-free alternatives for rail use takes a further step forward.

The Cross Country HST story • The use of HSTs on the cross-country network came to an end in September. Introduced in 1981, they were initially withdrawn from the route by Virgin CrossCountry in 2003, but later revived by Arriva. David Russell looks back at the last 42 years

Why TPE wants rid of the Mk.5As • Richard Clinnick reports on the repercussions surrounding the TransPennine Express Nova 3s.

We’re looking for the best railway photography • We’ve teamed up with our friends at the RCTS to launch a major new railway photo competition. If you’ve taken an outstanding image, or have in mind one to take, you could win some fantastic prizes.

Protecting the Dawlish sea wall • The collapse of the sea wall at Dawlish in February 2014 brought to the fore the need to protect the railway from the sea. Richard Clinnick reports on the subsequent project which has transformed Dawlish.

REVIEWS

‘O’ gauge ‘Deltic’ production samples

New arrivals in time for autumn

Hornby Class 40 revisited

Hornby GCR Ruston 48DS

Heljan’s beautifully detailed North British No. 10800 • Headlining the reviews for this month is Heljan’s brand-new ‘OO’ gauge model of the single 827hp diesel-electric prototype built by North British (NBL) Glasgow and introduced in 1950.

New liveries for the Realtrack Class 156 • New tooling and liveries brings the highly respected ‘OO’ gauge Realtrack Models Class 156...