Rail Press

DB Cargo Cancels British Pullman Contract Earlier today, DB Cargo have cancelled their contract with the British Pullman (A Belmond Train)  to operate Class 67 locomotives on their charters. GB Railfreight will be taking over all foreseeable British Pullman charters, with 2 of  GB Railfreight 's Class 73s (73119 & 73128) running on test earlier today. Photo by TheFlyingTornado & RailPress

SWR To Retire Class 458s This Year SWR have confirmed that their 28 Class 458/4s will retire later on this year, with them all expected to be withdrawn by July despite being refurbished on 2021 eventually then finishing in 2024. It is also reported that SWR plan to retire the Class 458/5 units by the end of the coming summer season as more and more are dragged to Long Marston.

Direct Rail Services Cancel Crewe Depot Open Day Unfortunately earlier today,  Direct Rail Services have made the choice to cancel the annual Crewe Depot Open Day , which was planned to take place on Saturday July 12th 2026 . This has been caused by actively changing health & safety rules and not being able to put on an event that DRS  feel is good enough. For those that have purchased tickets: All tickets purchased for the event will be refunded via Eventbrite. Refunds will be processed automatically to the original method of payment, and you do not need to take any further action at this stage.

Lumo Confirm First Running Dates For Refurbished Class 222 Fleet Minutes ago, LumoTrains have confirmed the first running days for their new Class 222 'Meridian' mini fleet, 5 Class 222s (now Class 222/6s) were transferred from East Midlands Railway in 2025 for Lumos plans for their expansion on the West Coast Mainline, with the first ever running day confirmed to be June 9th , tickets now on sale. Below are photos of the new fleet and we will keep you updated when we get new details. Photos courtesy of LumoTrains.

New Class 08e Revealed At Whatley Quarry Earlier today Heidelberg Materials  revealed their new battery powered Class 08, named "Battery Bill". The locomotive is officially the first of it's kind at a UK quarry, the Quarry is located in Frome Somerset and has a handful of public vantage points, such as road bridges where you may be able to see 08787 in action. Photo by Heidelberg Materials.

Grand Union Class 769s Poised For Testing Of London & Southampton - Marchwood Service Is Approved Grand Union has officially confirmed that if their new London & Southampton - Marchwood is approved, they can officially begin testing their Class 769 units on the route with the test runs presumed to run Eastleigh TRSMD - Marchwood and vice versa. We will continue to provide further updates related to Grand Union as soon as we get them. Mockup by Alliance Rail.

Steam Locomotive Derails At Churnet Valley Railway Earlier today, S160 Class No. 700 derailed while operating an empty stock movement at Cheddleton, marking the first incident on the railway since it opened in 1996. According to a statement from a CVR spokesperson, the cause has not yet been identified and it would be inappropriate to speculate at this stage. Services will not operate tomorrow, with normal operations planned to resume from Wednesday, 22 April 2026. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. Photo by an unknown reporter.

RailPress - March Roundup 2026 Railway News HS2 Trains Considered To Run At Lower Speed To Cut Costs It was announced that the Class 895 may run at a lower speed as the current price of the line is estimated at over £100 billion GBP. However there's no official confirmation. Class 895 Mockup, HS2. GWR Swindon Works Hooter Blows For The First Time Since 1986 On March 26th 2026 the Swindon Works hooter (formerly used to announce the start and end of all working days) blew once again to mark the 40th anniversary of Swindon Works closing. GWR STEAM, TheFlyingTornado. 5 New Railway Stations Open In One Month March saw the opening of 5 new Railway stations, 3 of them being in Birmingham. The stations were: Moseley Village, Birmingham Kings Heath, Birmingham Pineapple Road, Birmingham Willenhall, West Midlands Darlaston, West Midlands LNWR Class 350, TheFlyingTornado. And due to this article being delayed..... Oulton Broad North Station Catc...

Whistle & Wander Issue 1 - Out Now! The official first issue of the Whistle & Wander has officially released, the first magazine as part of the official subscription plan for the book which is £4.99, a good price for what you get, speaking of what you get, this months magazine contains stories from several enthusiasts as well as many photos to accompany the story, it's definitely worth a read if you haven't seen the magazine yet. For those not in the loop, Whistle & Wander was designed by Alex Fletcher (@FletchOnSteam) as the next generation of rail magazines, with the successful Issue 0 released on February 28th.

LUMO Class 222 Revealed In Press Event Earlier Today LUMO revealed the new Class 222 livery at a press event which celebrates their new HQ in Preston Lancashire, below are all the photos provided of the event and the new Class 222 livery. Photos by RailAdvent.

Class 150 Catches Fire On Riviera Line A short while ago a Class 150 (150265) has caught fire while operating 2E13 11:48 Penzance - Exeter St Davids , further details of the incident (including incident severity) is still unknown as the situation continues to unfold. We will keep you all updated when we recieve further updates. Update 1 - 15:07PM The unit is stranded just south west of Newton Abbot Station, all lines have been halted. As for the 150 numerous brake blocks  are ablaze, Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service have been called to the scene, we will continue to update you. Update 2 - 15:17PM Devon Live has provided a photo of the scene which appears to be taken from Torquay Road. Photo by Devon Live. Update 3 - 17:13PM Another photo has been released showing the fire on a wheelset of a coach, along side a report of a bearing collapsing, none of the important components such as the engine have been involved in the fire so the unit should return to serv...

First Ever Class 466 Preserved The 400 Series Group (owners of 313201) have just confirmed the preservation of Ex-Southeastern Class 466 466043, the 2 car unit will be based at the East Kent Railway thanks to a generous donation from Angel Trains. Photo by Wikipedia.

Class 455s To Run For The Final Time Tommorow  SWR have officially confirmed that Class 455s will run for the final ever time tommorow (Friday March 20th), the units will be the final running 455s which are 455712 & 455732, while the allocations are currently unknown we expect them to be the usual London - Guildford services. Photo by u/Deleted

ScotRail Class 43s Replacement Fleet Confirmed ScotRail have announced their new fleet which will be replacing their Class 43 'Inter7City' fleet at the end of 2027, these are the remaining Class 222s which are currently with East Midlands Railway. Alstom have also confirmed that they will be in charge of the fleet refurbishment which will bring a new interior, better necessitys including WiFi and hearing aid announcement systems. This 10 year £250 million agreement will last up to 2036, with an option to extend the agreement until 2042. Photo: Alstom & ScotRail

Official Heavy Haul Rail Class 66 Livery Revaled Earlier today at Loughborough Works, 66537 finished it's repaint following a major transfer of Class 66s & Class 70s that Freightliner   have sold to Heavy Haul Rail , this is expected to be the livery all HHR locomotives wear from this point forth.

New Network Rail Manchester Facility Showcased Network Rail has unveiled a new two-storey facility at Guide Bridge in Manchester , completed in just over a year and designed to house around 120 staff supporting a range of roles across the city's rail network; the building incorporates 60 solar panels, 10 electric vehicle chargers, and thanks to smart cost-saving measures, a project originally allocated £10 million was delivered for just £4 million, with photos of the new site shown below.

GBR Class 701 Recieves Special Legoland Wrap  Not long ago GBR Class 701/0 701060 left Bournemouth TRSMD bound for Wimbledon Depot after receiving a special Legoland Windsor  wrap on both driving coaches promoting the theme park. Photo Credit: The Railway Dog (YT)

The Flying Scotsman To Visit Swanage Railway This October Swanage Railway have just confirmed 60103 'Flying Scotsman' will visit the railway this October, this will be the third visit the locomotive makes in the railways 50 years of preserved action. Running dates and other activities can be found below. Running Dates : 24th, 25th, 28th, 29th October, 1st November. Static Days: 23rd, 26th, 27th, 30th, 31st October. More info can be found here: https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/events/view/the-flying-scotsman

      RailPress February Roundup 2026 Class 897 Reveal To start this first Roundup off, let's talk about the LNER Class 897, which had an interior mockup revealed back at the start of this month, the new fleet, nicknamed "Sorenza" will be introduced around 2028, as the replacement for InterCity225s. Photos by LNER CrossCountry Class 220 Refurb Reveal Earlier this month, CrossCountry held a press event at Derby Litchurch Lane to reveal the new Class 220 refurbishment, photos from the event are below. Photos by BBC & RailAdvent New 24TS Stock Delayed Until 2027 The new Picadilly Line '24TS' stocks have been delayed until 2027, despite originally planning to start service in 2025, this is due to both delivery schedules changing and infrastructure upgrades, with the section between Heathrow and Acton Town being closed 28th - 31st May and will then only operate between 3...