To Sheffield In An East Midlands Railway Class 810 Train
I took these pictures on the journey.
Note.
Five-car Class 222 And Class 810 trains Have similar lengths, so they can share platforms at St. Pancras – Nice Thinking!
The Trainspotters will be able to see East Midlands Railway, Eurostar and Southeastern Highspeed.
Does The UK Need More Passenger Rail Capacity Between London And Glasgow?
I asked Google AI this question and received this answer.
Yes, the UK requires more passenger rail capacity between London and Glasgow to meet growing demand and combat overcrowding, with key improvements and new services planned on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) through 2025. Despite previous capacity constraints on main routes, rail has overtaken air as the preferred mode of travel for these journeys, necessitating increased frequency.
Key details:
Capacity Expansion: The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) approved new services for late 2025, including Lumo extending London-Edinburgh services to Glasgow.
Growing Demand: Passenger numbers on West Coast routes showed significant growth, with a 29% increase in Glasgow-London travellers reported between 2013 and 2019.
Infrastructure Constraints: While demand increases, the ORR has rejected some service proposals due to insufficient capacity on the existing, congested lines.
Future Upgrades: HS2 is expected to improve connectivity, targeting reduced journey times to under 3 hours 40 minutes by 2033.
Sustainability Shift: Increased capacity supports shifting travellers from air to rail, reducing environmental impact.
I posed this question out of curiosity, but Google AI gave me, what I think is a well-reasoned answer.
In The Last Three Months, These Two Improved Anglo-Scottish Services Have Started
In Lumo Will Extend Its King’s Cross And Edinburgh Service To Glasgow, I talk about Lumo’s extended service to Glasgow, which started on December 14th, 2025.
In Man In Seat 61: My Nail-Biting Journey To Orkney By Train And Ferry, I describe a trip by the Man In Seat 61 (Mark Smith) in the new Birmingham-Scotland Sleeper.
There Is A Third New Anglo-Scottish Service To Come
In Lumo To Expand Scotland’s Rail Network With New London-Stirling Rail Route From Spring 2026, I describe Lumo’s new Euston and Stirling open access rail route.
Liverpool Street Station – 20th February 2026
I took these pictures this morning.
Note.
- There are not enough lifts and escalators.
- It is a station with three monumental clocks and a couple of digital ones.
- There are certainly a lot of shopping, but much of it is tired.
- The Leon in the station isn’t there anymore.
- There is not a gluten-free restaurant in the station, that I would trust enough to use, but there is a Marks & Spencer Food outlet.
This is a visualisation of the upgraded station from Network Rail.
Man In Seat 61: My Nail-Biting Journey To Orkney By Train And Ferry
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the heading.
Now the Caledonian Sleeper connects the Midlands to Scotland in style. Mark Smith travels to the UK’s most northerly rail station and beyond
These are the first two paragraphs.
In January the Caledonian Sleeper added Birmingham to its route from London to Scotland — its first new stop in 30 years. With a ticket for one of the first departures and a bucket-list desire to see the historic naval anchorage that is Scapa Flow, I would ride the sleeper to Inverness, take Scotland’s scenic Far North Line to Britain’s northernmost station and then sail across the Pentland Firth to Stromness. I could leave my Buckinghamshire home in the evening and reach Orkney 24 hours later without setting foot on a plane. It sounded like a plan.
The Highland sleeper (which travels to the Highlands; there is also a Lowland sleeper that travels to Edinburgh and Glasgow) rolled into Birmingham International at 10.42pm on the dot. I was greeted at the door by a steward with a friendly Scottish accent and my room key. He jotted down my breakfast reservation and I headed for room 4 in car L. The Cal Sleeper is rightly proud of its Scottish-made mattresses and fluffy duvets and I drifted off to sleep in my cosy berth to the sound of steel wheel on steel rail.
I feel adding a Birmingham International stop is a masterstroke, as it gives so many travel options.
- You could of course still join in London.
- I might go to Birmingham on Chiltern, as I prefer the trains to Avanti West Coast.
- There are lots of shows and exhibitions in Birmingham.
- If you had a relative in Scotland and you lived in the far South-East of England and Wales, half of the journey would be in a comfortable bed.
- Birmingham International has regular connections to Aberystwyth, Bournemouth, Pwllheli, Shrewsbury and Wrexham General.
- Some journeys might be easier with a change between plane and sleeper train at Birmingham International.
The list is endless and will grow as travellers have other ideas.
More imagination needs to be added to train journeys.
My first thoughts are.
There needs to be a Lumo-style service between Birmingham and Scotland and a sleeper between Birmingham and Penzance.
Opening Date For Final Delayed Station Confirmed
The title of this post is the same as that in this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
The opening date for the final station on a reopened railway line has finally been announced.
These four paragraphs give more details.
The Northumberland Line between Ashington and Newcastle began carrying passengers in December 2024, decades after the old service ended, but Bedlington and Northumberland Park stations remained unfinished.
It was announced in January Northumberland Park would open on 22 February, and now Northumberland County Council has announced Bedlington will officially open to passengers on 29 March.
Conservative leader Glen Sanderson thanked the local community for bearing with the “inevitable disruption”.
The overdue opening of Bedlington was blamed on ageing stonework and a water pipe under the car park, and in August an extra £37.9m was provided to ensure the project was completed.
Will It Be The Day Of The Dogs?
I wonder how many Bedlington terriers will turn up!
I asked Google AI,”Will Bedlington Terriers be going to the opening of Bedlington station?” and received this reply.
Based on current information, it is not confirmed whether the dog breed Bedlington Terriers will be attending the opening of the new Bedlington station, which is expected to open in early 2026 as part of the Northumberland Line. While the town is famous for the breed, no official event details have confirmed their presence at the opening.
If they did, the story would spread everywhere.
Will The Builders Move On To The Leamside Line?
The Leamside Line could be the next one to be rebuilt, as it’s just on the other side of the Tyne.
Or they could extend the Northumberland Line to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.
But who knows with this Government?
Will the Liverpool Street Rebuild Include Elizabeth Line Improvements?
I asked Google AI, the question in the title of this post and received this reply.
Yes, the proposed redevelopment of London Liverpool Street Station includes improvements to integration with the Elizabeth line, aiming for a fully accessible, multi-modal, and spacious hub. The plans focus on better connecting the main concourse with the Elizabeth line, Underground, and local transport, alongside doubling the concourse size, adding new, more efficient lifts, and increasing the number of ticket barriers.
Will The Liverpool Street Rebuild Have More Platforms?
I asked Google AI, the question in the title of this post and received this reply.
The approved £1bn+ redevelopment of London Liverpool Street Station, greenlit in February 2026, focuses on increasing capacity and accessibility rather than adding new platforms. The plans, to be completed by mid-2036, involve enlarging the concourse by 76%, increasing lifts/escalators, and providing step-free access to all existing platforms.
Platform Changes: While there is no mention of increasing the total number of train platforms, the project will significantly improve access and reduce congestion.
Capacity Enhancements: The project includes a 76% increase in concourse capacity.
Infrastructure Upgrades: Escalators will increase from four to ten, and eight new lifts will be installed.
Accessibility: The project aims to provide full step-free access across all rail and underground platforms.
New Construction: A large, multi-story office building is planned above the station, and the concourse area will be redesigned for better flow.
The project aims to handle over 200 million passengers annually by the time it is finished.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the layout of tracks in the station.
Note.
- The square block in the middle of the map are Platforms 1-18 of the main station.
- Eighteen is in the East and 1 is in the West.
- The Central Line of the London Underground runs diagonally in blue under the main station.
- Running in orange from the West to the North-East in front of the station is the Elizabeth Line.
- Running South of Lizzie in blue are the sub-surface lines of the London Underground.
I wonder, if at some point in the distant future, a terminal platform or two could be added to the very deep Elizabeth Line, that connected to tunnels underneath Liverpool Street station.
This second OpenRailwayMap shows the sub-surface lines and the Elizabeth Line, as they pass across in front of Liverpool Street station.
Note.
- Moorgate Station is in the North-West corner of the map
- Moorgate Statation has two virtually unused west facing bay platforms.
- The sub-surface lines are shown in blue.
- The Elizabeth Line is shown in orange.
- Finsbury Circus is in the middle of the map, with the sub-surface lines underneath.
- The Central Line is shown in blue and crosses between Finsbury Square and Liverpool Street station on its way to Bank.
- In front of Liverpool Street station, there is a disused bay platform on the sub-surface lines.
- The Bank branch of the Northern Line and the Great Northern run North from Moorgate station.
- Access to the Great Northern could be improved.
I feel there is scope for more trains to be run on the sub-surface lines through Moorgate and Liverpool Street.
- Accessibility to the sub-surface lines at Moorgate and Liverpool Street station could be improved.
- There has been talk of extending some services to Barking.
There is certainly scope to improve the sub-surface lines.
Planning Approval Granted For Network Rail’s Transformation Of Liverpool Street — Britain’s Busiest Station
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in Rail Technology Magazine.
This is the sub-heading.
Network Rail has secured a major milestone in the redevelopment of Liverpool Street station, following the City of London Planning Committee’s resolution on 10 February to grant full planning permission for the long‑awaited transformation of the UK’s busiest rail hub.
These two paragraphs adds some more detail.
The Eastern Region’s Anglia Route will oversee the upgrade, which aims to futureproof the station for decades as passenger numbers continue to grow sharply. Liverpool Street, last redeveloped in 1991, now handles 118 million passenger movements each year, and demand is projected to rise by 35%, reaching 158 million by 2041.
Looking further ahead, planners expect the station will need to accommodate over 200 million annual journeys, making capacity enhancement essential for maintaining operational performance and customer experience across London, East Anglia and the wider east of England.
To say this is a large project would be a massive understatement and I wish, that this could have been the last project planned and built by the Artemis project management system, that I wrote in a Suffolk attic fifty years ago.
This list summarises the work that will be done.
- 76% increase in overall concourse capacity
- 23% expansion of the lower concourse to smooth passenger flow
- Step‑free access from street to all platforms, including every Underground line for the first time
- Eight new large lifts, replacing the existing four‑person unit
- Escalators increased from four to ten
- New accessible entrances and intuitive wayfinding from Broadgate, Exchange Square, and key interchange points
- Toilets on all levels, including Changing Places facilities and family amenities
Respecting Heritage While Creating New Spaces
The project safeguards the station’s Victorian character, with the iconic trainshed fully preserved. The redevelopment will also create new vantage points overlooking the heritage structures, bringing passengers visually closer to the original architecture.
Above the concourse, a new office building featuring a publicly accessible roof garden will provide one of London’s most sustainably connected workplaces, directly supporting the City Corporation’s long‑term growth and employment aspirations.
Around twenty major contractors and professional firms will be handling the transformation.
Hopefully, I will be able to watch this project as it grows to occupy its place in the City of London.
‘A Rare Opportunity’: Northern Will Run Service Along Heritage Railway Line For The First Time And Tickets Are Now On Sale
The title of this post, is the as that of this news item from Northern Trains.
This is the sub-heading.
Northern will run a service along a heritage railway line for the first time, to raise money for charity.
These four paragraphs add detail to the story.
Tickets are now on sale for the service, which will set off from Darlington station on Sunday, 22 February and complete a return trip along Weardale Railway before heading back to Darlington.
Northern has been working closely with Weardale Railway to organise this event.
The railway, which opened in 1847, is a popular tourist attraction and allows visitors to travel on heritage trains along a picturesque 16-mile route. It runs between Bishop Auckland West and Stanhope in County Durham.
In 2020, it was saved from administration by The Auckland Project, which has since provided significant investment to fund essential repairs and infrastructure improvements.
Note.
- The train will be one of Northern’s Class 158 trains.
- Tickets are being sold for £25 and the proceeds will be donated to two local charities: The Angel Trust, based in Bishop Auckland, and 123help4familys, based in Stanhope.
- The train will leave Darlington at 09:46 and finishes its trips up and down the Weardale Line at Darlington at 17:44.
I won’t be going, as I can’t fit the day together.
Is There Support For An Extended Service From Bishop Auckland?
I asked Google AI, this question, and got this mildly surprising answer.
Yes, there is support for extended services in Bishop Auckland, primarily through NHS GP extended access, which provides appointments outside of normal hours (6 PM – 8 PM weekdays and weekends) at Bishop Auckland Hospital. The Urgent Treatment Centre is available 24/7, and various community-based support services, including care agencies and mental health support, are also available.
If the hospital and the other medical facilities are open, surely in a rural area, if they are needed, transport should be available.
Is There A Need For More Housing In Bishop Auckland?
Yes, there is a significant, documented need for more housing in Bishop Auckland to address a, “chronic shortage of quality bungalows and assisted living” alongside a broader demand for modern, energy-efficient homes. The town is undergoing a regeneration with plans for increased, “affordable housing” and “100% affordable” developments (e.g., in “Westerton Road” and “Holdforth Crescent”) to meet the growing population and “economic needs”.
Note.
- A regular service to Darlington may make building more housing viable.
- Judging by the amount of new houses along the Northumberland Line, the new railway has encouraged their building.
Services and stations could be added as required, as appears to be being done on the Northumberland Line.
Are Hitachi’s Tri-Mode Trains Exceeding Expectations?
I asked Google AI, the question in the title of this post and received this answer.
Yes, Hitachi’s tri-mode (battery-hybrid) trains are exceeding expectations, particularly following successful trials in the UK in late 2024. Trials of the battery-equipped Class 802/2 demonstrated superior performance to initial forecasts, leading to a £300 million order for a new fleet to be delivered in 2028.
Key findings from trials and operational expectations:
Performance Exceeded: The trial, conducted with TransPennine Express and Angel Trains, showed fuel cost savings of 35%–50%, surpassing initial predictions of up to 30%.
Operational Capability: The battery technology enabled trains to reach speeds greater than 75 mph and provided enough range for zero-emission, silent running in and out of stations, significantly reducing noise and improving air quality.
Energy Efficiency: The battery matched the weight of a diesel engine, meaning no extra track degradation.
Future Impact: The success of the trial led to an order from Arriva Group for a new fleet for Grand Central services, which will increase seating capacity by 20% and are expected to significantly reduce carbon emissions.
These trains, designed to run on electric, battery, or diesel power, are part of a push to modernize rail services, with the technology allowing for the gradual elimination of diesel-only operation on certain routes.
That is certainly good performance and Hitachi received a £300 million order, which I wrote about in Arriva Group Invests In New Battery Hybrid Train Fleet In Boost To UK Rail Industry
But I don’t think it’s all down to Hitachi, as Hitachi linked up with Sunderland-based Hyperdrive Innovation, who are JCB’s battery supplier. Hyperdrive were taken over by Turntide Technologies in 2021.
In Batteries Ordered For Grand Central Inter-City Trains, I said this.
Hitachi Rail has selected Turntide Technologies to supply lithium iron phosphate batteries for use on electric-diesel-battery hybrid inter-city trainsets it is to build for Arriva’s open access operator Grand Central.
I am coming to the conclusion, that Turntide Technologies use and/or make some very special batteries.
I asked Google AI, “Which make of battery cells does Turntide use?” and received this reply.
Based on recent announcements (2023–2025), Turntide Technologies utilizes advanced Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) cells for its next-generation battery systems, particularly for its partnership with Hitachi Rail.
Key details regarding Turntide’s battery cell usage include:
Chemistry Shift:
While previously associated with Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) in some applications, Turntide has focused its recent rail projects with Hitachi on LFP technology to enhance safety and allow for more compact, powerful, and lighter battery packs.
Application:
These LFP batteries are used in high-performance, rugged, and space-limited environments, such as Hitachi’s UK battery-operated trains.
Modular Design:
Turntide’s Gen 5 battery systems are designed to be flexible for various applications including construction, agriculture, and mining, using modular, high-energy-density cells.
Previous Technology:
Previously, Turntide (which acquired Hyperdrive Innovation) used Lithium-ion NMC cells for its battery packs.
The search results do not explicitly identify a specific, named manufacturer (e.g., CATL, LG, Samsung) for the cells, but focus on the LFP chemistry utilized by Turntide.
I am also coming to the conclusion, that they took over Hyperdrive Innovation to get control of these compact, powerful, and lighter battery packs.
The Anonymous Widower 