1.
North West England
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North West England, one of nine official regions of England, consists of the five counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,052,000 in 2011 and it is the third most populated region in the United Kingdom after the South East and Greater London. North West England is bounded to the east by the Peak District, the region extends from the Scottish Borders in the north to the West Midlands region in the south. To its southwest is North Wales, amongst the better known of the North Wests physiographical features are the Lake District and the Cheshire Plain. The highest point in North West England is Scafell Pike, Cumbria, Windermere is the largest natural lake in England. Broad Crag Tarn on Broad Crag is Englands highest lake, wast Water is Englands deepest lake, being 74m deep. A mix of rural and urban landscape, two large conurbations, centred on Liverpool and Manchester, occupy much of the south of the region. The north of the region, comprising Cumbria and northern Lancashire, is rural, as is the far south which encompasses parts of the Cheshire Plain. The region includes parts of three National parks and three areas of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, source, Office for National Statistics Mid Year Population Estimates North West Englands population accounts for just over 13% of Englands overall population. 37. 86% of the North Wests population resides in Greater Manchester,21. 39% in Lancashire,20. 30% in Merseyside,14. 76% in Cheshire and 7. 41% live in the largest county by area, Cumbria. According to 2009 Office for National Statistics estimates,91. 6% of people in the region describe themselves as White,88. 4% White British,1. 0% White Irish and 2. 2% White Other. The Mixed Race population makes up 1. 3% of the regions population, there are 323,800 South Asians, making up 4. 7% of the population, and 1. 1% Black Britons. 0. 6% of the population are Chinese and 0. 5% of people belong to ethnic group. North West England is a diverse region, with Manchester. 19. 4% of Blackburn with Darwens population are Muslim, the third highest among all local authorities in the United Kingdom, Areas such as Moss Side in Greater Manchester are home to a 30%+ Black British population. In contrast, the town of St. Helens in Merseyside, one in five of the population in the North West is Catholic, a result of large-scale Irish emigration in the nineteenth century as well as the high number of English recusants in Lancashire. For top-tier authorities, Manchester has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the region, for council districts, Burnley has the highest rate, closely followed by Hyndburn, both in Lancashire. For top-tier authorities, Cheshire has the lowest teenage pregnancy rate, for council districts, Eden has the lowest rate closely followed by South Lakeland, both in Cumbria
2.
West Midlands (region)
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The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area known as the Midlands. The city of Coventry is also located within the West Midlands county, the region is geographically diverse, from the urban central areas of the conurbation to the rural western counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire which border Wales. The region also encompasses five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Wye Valley, Shropshire hills, Cannock Chase, Malvern Hills, Warwickshire is home to the town of Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of the writer William Shakespeare. The highest point in the region is Black Mountain, at 703 metres in west Herefordshire on the border with Powys, Wales. The region contains five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, including all of the Shropshire Hills, Malvern Hills and Cannock Chase, the Peak District national park also stretches into the northern corner of Staffordshire. Served by many lines in the areas such as the West Coast Main Line. The Welsh Marches Line and the Cotswold Line transect the region as well as the Cross Country Route, there are plans to reopen the Honeybourne Line. Numerous notable roads pass through the region, with most converging around the central conurbation, the M6 toll provides an alternative route to the M6 between Coleshill and Cannock, passing north of Sutton Coldfield and just south of Lichfield. The M40 connects the region through South East England to London, with its terminus at its junction with the M42, it passes close to Warwick. The M42 connects the M5 at Bromsgrove, passing around the south and east of Birmingham, joining the M40 and M6, passing Solihull and Castle Bromwich, to Tamworth, the M50 connects the M5 from near Tewkesbury to Ross-on-Wye in the southwest. The M54 connects Wellington in the west, passing Telford, to the M6 near Cannock, the A5 road traverses the region northwest-southeast, passing through Shrewsbury, Telford, Cannock, Tamworth and Nuneaton. As part of the planning system, the Regional Assembly is under statutory requirement to produce a Regional Transport Strategy to provide long term planning for transport in the region. This involves region wide transport schemes such as those carried out by the Highways Agency, within the region, the local transport authorities carry out transport planning through the use of a Local Transport Plan which outlines their strategies, policies and implementation programme. The most recent LTP is that for the period 2006-11, in the West Midlands region, the following transport authorities have published their LTP online, Herefordshire, Shropshire U. A. The transport authority of Stoke-on-Trent U. A, Major towns and cities in the West Midlands region include, Bold indicates city status. The region is based on the former region of Mercia. The Battle of Edgehill in October 1642 started the English Civil War, jane Bunford of Bartley Green until 1982 was the tallest woman ever in the world, and now the second tallest, and the tallest person ever in the UK, at 7 ft 11in
3.
South West England
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South West England is one of nine official regions of England. It is the largest in area, covering 9,200 square miles, five million people live in South West England. The region includes the West Country and much of the ancient kingdom of Wessex, other major urban centres include Plymouth, Swindon, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Exeter, Bath, Torbay, and the South East Dorset conurbation. There are eight cities, Salisbury, Bath, Wells, Bristol, Gloucester, Exeter, Plymouth and it includes two entire national parks, Dartmoor and Exmoor, and four World Heritage Sites, including Stonehenge and the Jurassic Coast. The northern part of Gloucestershire, near Chipping Campden, is as close to the Scottish border as it is to the tip of Cornwall, the region has by far the longest coastline in England and many seaside fishing towns. The region is at the first-level of NUTS for Eurostat purposes, key data and facts about the region are produced by the South West Observatory. Following the abolition of the South West Regional Assembly and Government Office, the region is known for its rich folklore, including the legend of King Arthur and Glastonbury Tor, as well as its traditions and customs. Cornwall has its own language, Cornish, and some regard it as a Celtic nation, the South West of England is known for Cheddar cheese, which originated in the Somerset village of Cheddar, Devon cream teas, crabs, Cornish pasties, and cider. It is also home to the Eden Project, Aardman Animations, the Glastonbury Festival, most of the region is located on the South West Peninsula, between the English Channel and Bristol Channel. It has the longest coastline of all the English regions, totalling over 700 miles, much of the coast is now protected from further substantial development because of its environmental importance, which contributes to the region’s attractiveness to tourists and residents. Geologically the region is divided into the largely igneous and metamorphic west and sedimentary east, Cornwall and West Devons landscape is of rocky coastline and high moorland, notably at Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor. These are due to the granite and slate that underlie the area, the highest point of the region is High Willhays, at 2,038 feet, on Dartmoor. In North Devon the slates of the west and limestones of the east meet at Exmoor National Park, the variety of rocks of similar ages seen here have led to the countys name being lent to that of the Devonian period. The east of the region is characterised by wide, flat clay vales and chalk, the vales, with good irrigation, are home to the regions dairy agriculture. The Blackmore Vale was Thomas Hardys Vale of the Little Dairies, another and these downs are the principal area of arable agriculture in the region. Limestone is also found in the region, at the Cotswolds, Quantock Hills and Mendip Hills, all of the principal rock types can be seen on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset and East Devon, where they document the entire Mesozoic era from west to east. The climate of South West England is classed as oceanic according to the Köppen climate classification, the oceanic climate typically experiences cool winters with warmer summers and precipitation all year round, with more experienced in winter. Annual rainfall is about 1,000 millimetres and up to 2,000 millimetres on higher ground, summer maxima averages range from 18 °C to 22 °C and winter minimum averages range from 1 °C to 4 °C across the south-west
4.
Arriva UK Trains
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Arriva UK Trains Limited is the company that oversees Arrivas train operating companies in the United Kingdom. It gained its first franchises in February 2000 and these were later lost, though several others were gained. In January 2010, with the take-over of Arriva by Deutsche Bahn, after taking control of the Northern franchise, Arriva UK Trains now operates almost a quarter of all British train operating companies, more than rivals FirstGroup and Stagecoach. The Wales & Borders franchise runs from 7 December 2003 until 13 October 2018, the New Cross Country franchise runs from 11 November 2007 until 9 November 2019. Arriva TrainCare operates train maintenance depots at Bristol, Cambridge, Crewe, Eastleigh, both franchises were lost to Serco-Abellio. London Overground Rail Operations, a 50/50 joint venture with MTR Corporation operated the London Overground concession from November 2007 until November 2016, Arriva now operate the concession in its own right as Arriva Rail London. In April 2016, Arriva commenced operating the Northern franchise, as a result of the Deutsche Bahn purchase, Laing Rail Limited was renamed DB Regio UK Limited in April 2008. DB Regio UK continued to expand when in February 2009 it was shortlisted and on 3 December 2009 awarded a contract to operate the Tyne & Wear Metro, taking over operations on 1 April 2010. Arriva UK Trains wishes to expand the number of UK Rail businesses it operates by developing open access operations, as part of this strategy in November 2011 Arriva bought open-access operator Grand Cental for an undisclosed price. Disappointingly in the last full year before the purchase, Grand Centrals seven return trains a day lost £8. 5m leaving an overall deficit of £35m. Alliance Rail Holdings continues to develop new open access proposals following the rejection of their plans by the Office of Rail Regulation in 2011. During 2012 Arrivas applications to bid for the InterCity West Coast, Greater Anglia, Essex Thameside, following this run of failure Arriva was publicly critical of the governments prequalification process and called for it to be abolished. However Arriva was shortlisted to bid for the aborted Greater Western franchise in March 2012, in June 2014 Alliance successfully concluded negotiations with Network Rail for access paths to run between Euston and Blackpool/Huddersfield and Leeds from 2017 using Pendolino trains. This followed a proposed in December 2013 to run services between Kings Cross and Skipton via Garforth and Keighley, but was rejected in 2014, by the Office Rail of Regulation
5.
Welsh language
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Welsh is a member of the Brittonic branch of the Celtic languages. It is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, historically it has also been known in English as the British tongue, Cambrian, Cambric and Cymric. The United Kingdom Census 2011 counted 3.1 million residents of Wales, 27% of whom had been born outside Wales, and 73% of whom reported having no Welsh language skills. Of residents of Wales aged three and over, 19% reported being able to speak Welsh, and 77% of these were able to speak, read and this can be compared with the 2001 Census, in which 20. 8% of the population reported being able to speak Welsh. 787,854 of residents in Wales aged three and over had one or more skills in Welsh, in surveys carried out between 2004 and 2006, 57% of Welsh speakers described themselves as fluent in the written language. An estimated 110,000 to 150,000 people speak Welsh in England, Welsh emerged in the 6th century from Common Brittonic, the common ancestor of Welsh, Breton, Cornish and the extinct language known as Cumbric. The Middle Welsh period is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, the name Welsh originated as an exonym given to its speakers by the Anglo-Saxons, meaning foreign speech. The native term for the language is Cymraeg, and for the name of the country of Wales it is Cymru, Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic, the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons. Classified as Insular Celtic, the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and was spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth. During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, evolving into Welsh and it is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Kenneth H. Jackson suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern was complete by around 550, Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to the Cynfeirdd or Early Poets – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was composed in the Hen Ogledd, raising further questions about the dating of the material. An 8th century inscription in Tywyn shows the language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns, the next main period, somewhat better attested, is Old Welsh, poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of the language. Both the works of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin were in this era, Middle Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts, Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible, albeit with some work, to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The famous cleric Gerald of Wales tells, in his Descriptio Cambriae, during one of the Kings many raids in the 12th century, Henry asked an old man of Pencader, Carmarthenshire whether the Welsh people could resist his army
6.
Train operating company
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A train operating company is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993 and these operators can run services for the duration of the licence validity. The franchised operators have changed considerably since privatisation, previous franchises have been divided, merged, re-let to new operators, the term is also sometimes used to describe companies operating passenger or freight rail services over tracks that are owned by another company or a national network owner. Franchises were initially let by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and this was in turn replaced by the Strategic Rail Authority, which has since been abolished. For England and Wales, franchising is now the responsibility of the Department for Transport in the majority of cases, in Scotland, it is the responsibility of the Scottish Government. The Rail Delivery Group provides a commonality for the TOCs and provides some centralised co-ordination and its activities include the provision of a national timetable and online journey planner facility, and the operation of the various Railcard discount schemes. Eurostar is also a member of RDG, though it is not itself a TOC, until 2005 this role was performed by the Strategic Rail Authority. Most passenger trains are owned by a number of Rolling Stock Companies and are leased to the individual TOCs. However, a handful of TOCs own and maintain some of their own rolling stock, train operating companies also operate most of the networks stations, in their role as station facility owners, in which they lease the buildings and associated land from Network Rail. Network Rail manages some major railway stations and several stations are operated by London Underground or other companies, all passenger TOCs in Great Britain are privately owned. The majority of these franchises to operate rail services on specific parts of the railway. A third, Wrexham & Shropshire, with services between London and Wrexham, no longer exists, in addition, there are operators that fall outside the purview of National Rail, which operate specific services which are recent additions to Britains railways. The main examples are Eurostar, which operates to the continent via the Channel Tunnel, and Heathrow Express, many of the train operating companies are in fact parts of larger companies which operate multiple franchises. The franchising process was implemented, with private companies taking over the shadow franchises. Two shadow franchises, Chiltern Lines and Great Western Trains were purchased by their own management teams, Great Westerns management also bought North West Regional Railways and renamed it North Western Trains. Great Western Holdings, the owner of the operator of inter-city services from London Paddington Great Western Trains was sold to FirstBus. The TOC North Western Trains was also owned by Great Western Holdings, after the takeover FirstBus was renamed FirstGroup and the TOCs renamed First Great Western and First North Western. The completion of the link to Heathrow Airport led to Heathrow Express
7.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
8.
Cardiff Central railway station
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Cardiff Central railway station is a major railway station on the South Wales Main Line in Cardiff, United Kingdom and one of two hubs of the citys urban rail network. Cardiff Central is a Grade II listed building managed by Arriva Trains Wales and it is an interchange between the rest of South and West Wales, and other major British cities. Arriva Trains Wales operate services to West Wales, Holyhead, Crewe and Manchester, in the early 1840s the South Wales Railway was trying to find a suitable site for a railway station, but the area that is now Cardiff Central railway station was prone to flooding. It was Isambard Kingdom Brunels solution to divert the River Taff to the west, the initial part of the South Wales Railway between Chepstow and Swansea through Cardiff was opened on 18 June 1850, with all trains operated by the Great Western Railway under a lease agreement. The Great Western Railway has its full name carved onto the façade, as a result of representations by the GWR, a nearby working-class district, Temperance Town, was cleared during the late 1930s in order to improve the outlook of the rebuilt station. The formerly separate Cardiff Riverside suburban station of 1893 was integrated into the station in 1940. Initially named Cardiff, the station was renamed Cardiff General in July 1924, the station, its entrances and platforms, are Grade II listed. There are two entrances to the station, the northern main entrance leads to the main concourse and is on Central Square, the plaza that accommodates Cardiff Central bus station, a multi-storey car park and two main city centre taxi ranks. Three main city centre landmarks are visible here, the Millennium Stadium, Stadium House. The southern entrance is at the rear of the station on Tresillian Way, accessed from St. Mary Street, the railway lines are above the stations concourses. A valid ticket is required to pass through a barrier and gain access to the platforms, the station has the only First Class waiting room in Wales. Outside, an NCP pay-and-display car park provides 248 spaces, British Transport Police maintains a presence at Cardiff Central. In December 2009, the force announced a pilot scheme to arm officers at the station, as well as in London and Manchester. Cardiff Central has eight platforms, numbered 0,1,2, there is no longer, despite signage, a Platform 5, this was a west-facing bay platform situated between Platforms 3 and 4. Platforms 3 and 4 are divided into A and B sections and are capable of holding two local trains or a single HST train, other platforms can be used by more than one train, but are not sectioned. Platform 6 is used by Valley Lines trains to the north and east of Cardiff, every train from Platform 6 calls at Cardiff Queen Street. Valley Line trains from Cardiff Queen Street call at Platform 7 and 8 and continue to north-west Cardiff, some of these trains were operated by Class 67 and Class 57 locomotives with four Mk2 coaches for a time. Platform 4a/4b Arriva Trains Wales, Fishguard Harbour, Swansea via Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway and Neath Maesteg via Pontyclun and Bridgend, usually Class 158 or Class 150 Sprinter units from Cheltenham Spa
9.
Cardiff Queen Street railway station
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Cardiff Queen Street railway station is a railway station serving the north and east of Central Cardiff, Wales. It is the second busiest railway station in Wales, being located near Queen Street and it is one of 20 stations in the city and two in the city centre, the other being Cardiff Central. The station is staffed at most times, with an office and machines. A newsagent is situated opposite the station, in 2014, a reconstruction of the station was completed in order to reduce bottlenecks, with two extra platforms being put in, taking the total number of platforms to 5. A station known as Crockherbtown on this site was built in 1840 by the Taff Vale Railway and it was rebuilt and given its present name in 1887. Other major rebuildings took place in 1907 and by British Rail in 1973, in 2005, the station was fitted with new ticket gates, operational when the station is manned, which allow easier access in both directions. In 2006 LED screens replaced the old information display monitors, the old station car park is now dedicated for private use by residents of a nearby modern development of apartments known as The Aspect. The station is located at the end of the city centre, near the Capitol Centre as well as St Davids Centre. The station has five utilised platforms at a level raised above the surrounding roads, Platform 4 is used for services to Rhymney and Bargoed as well as Coryton in north-west Cardiff. Platform 3 is used for services towards Cardiff Central and onwards to Barry Island and Bridgend via Rhoose Cardiff International Airport, Platform 2 is used for services towards Cardiff Central and onwards to Penarth and Radyr via City Line. Platform 1 is now used for services to Cardiff Bay. The whole Cardiff Area Signalling Renewal project is due to be completed by May 2015, funded by the Department for Transport, Assembly Government, the Assembly Government has committed £7m for the enhancements programme. The stations will be similar in design, featuring slate panels, grey brickwork, pavilion-style roofs, large windows, Cardiff Central will have a new two-storey southern entrance and ticket hall under plans submitted by Network Rail. An eighth platform at Cardiff Central and a fourth and fifth at Cardiff Queen Street will be installed, once finished, the number of trains running to the Valleys will increase from 12 per hour to 16 per hour. The new platforms have now brought into use as of Sunday 14 December 2014. In the Spring of 2016, the Roll of Honour off those who served the armed forces between 1914 and 1919 from the Taff Vale Railway was put on display in the Ticket Hall, both the station and this very page feature prominently in the Torchwood audiobook Ghost Train. Rail transport in Cardiff List of railway stations in Wales Transport in Wales Commuter rail in the United Kingdom Media related to Cardiff Queen Street railway station at Wikimedia Commons
10.
Newport railway station
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Newport railway station is the third-busiest railway station in Wales, situated in Newport city centre. It is part of the British railway system owned by Network Rail and is operated by Arriva Trains Wales, although Great Western Railway, the main station entrance is located on Queensway, and a small section of road known as Station Approach links this to the High Street. The station was opened in 1850 by the South Wales Railway Company and was greatly expanded in 1928. British Transport Police maintain a presence at Newport, Newport is currently served by three train operating companies, Arriva Trains Wales, CrossCountry and Great Western Railway. 1 train per hour to Manchester Piccadilly via Hereford and Shrewsbury and these services are from Carmarthen, Milford Haven or Cardiff Central, operated by Class 175 Coradia units. 1tph to Carmarthen with an extension to Milford Haven via Cardiff Central, Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway, Neath, Swansea, Llanelli and Pembrey. There is also one service to Tenby, departing Newport at 1640. These services are from Manchester Piccadilly, operated by Class 175 Coradia units, 1tp2h to Holyhead via Hereford, Shrewsbury, Wrexham General, Chester, Llandudno Junction and Bangor. These services are from Cardiff Central, operated by Class 175 Coradia units and these services are from Holyhead, operated by Class 175 Coradia units. 1tph to Cheltenham Spa via Severn Tunnel Junction and Gloucester and these services are usually from Maesteg but come from destinations such as Swansea and Fishguard, operated by Class 150 Sprinter units, Class 158 Express Sprinter units and Class 175 Coradia units. 1tph to Maesteg via Cardiff Central and Bridgend and these services originate from Cheltenham Spa but the 1700 service originates from Holyhead. These operated by Class 150 Sprinter units, Class 158 Express Sprinter units, in October 2008 the Welsh Assembly Government announced the launch of a new faster services between Cardiff and North Wales. The service was first operated by Arriva Trains Wales using Class 57 locomotives, the service has premier business-class accommodation. In March 2012 the service was upgraded to Class 67 locomotives, 1tph to Nottingham via Gloucester, Cheltenham Spa, Birmingham New Street and Derby. These services are from Cardiff Central, operated by Class 170 Turbostar units, 2tph to London Paddington railway station via Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Didcot Parkway and Reading. These services are from Cardiff Central or Swansea as well as services from Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock. 1tph to Swansea via Cardiff Central, Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway, Neath and Swansea, as well as extensions to Carmarthen. These services are from London Paddington, operated by Class 43 High Speed Train InterCity 125 units, 1tph to Portsmouth Harbour via Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa, Westbury, Salisbury, Southampton Central, Fareham, Cosham, Fratton and Portsmouth and Southsea
11.
Swansea railway station
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Swansea railway station is a railway station serving Swansea, Wales, and is the fourth busiest in Wales after Cardiff Central, Cardiff Queen Street and Newport. The present-day frontage block, facing Ivey Place, was completed in 1934, nothing now remains of the original wooden station with its two platforms and galvanised iron roof. The majority of the station remains intact, although the facilities have been reduced. The umbrella-type platform roofing which replaced the 1880s train-sheds in the 1920s is mostly intact although the canopy on platform 4 has been shortened. The number of platforms was reduced from five to four in 1973 under British Rail when the old Platform 1 was eliminated, along with the loading bays and fish dock that once stood beyond it. The remaining platforms were renumbered at the time, so that what were platforms 2 to 5 are now platforms 1 to 4. High Street goods station was on the west side of the line, the site has been completely cleared and used for housing and also the dedicated bus road that runs from the Landore park-and-ride facility into the city centre. On the opposite side of the line were extensive sidings, large areas of which are, as of 2014. There was great competition between the different railway companies in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Swansea had seven stations in 1895, owned by five different railway companies, High Street, St Thomas, East Dock, Riverside, Victoria and Swansea Bay, and Rutland Street. Only High Street now remains in the city centre, to the east, trains operate along the South Wales Main Line. Arriva Trains Wales provides the Swanline service to Cardiff Central, and services to Manchester Piccadilly. To the west, Arriva Trains Wales trains run along the West Wales Line to Carmarthen and then to Pembroke Dock, certain services to Fishguard Harbour connect with the Stena Line ferry to Rosslare Europort in Ireland. Swansea is the terminus for a few of the services from West Wales. Services on the Heart of Wales Line between Llanelli and Shrewsbury often start from Swansea, some of the Arriva Trains Wales boat trains to and from Fishguard Harbour commence at Swansea. These connect with the Stena Line ferry to Rosslare Europort in Ireland with a morning and evening service in both directions. This route has been in existence since 1906, in practice, almost all passenger services do call there. Great Western Railway trains from London normally enter the station with the standard-class carriages leading, the platforms are covered for part of their length. Until January 2004, the train to London was a regular service from the station. In February 2013, Swansea station won the Wales’ Best Staffed Train Station award, in May 2013, Swansea station was named International Station of the Year and won the Best Large Station award at the International Station Awards
12.
Wrexham General railway station
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Wrexham General railway station is a main line railway station and the main railway station serving Wrexham, north-east Wales. It is currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales, but services are provided by Virgin Trains who operate a service to London Euston. Until January 2011 Wrexham & Shropshire also operated here to London Marylebone. The station was first opened in 1846, later becoming part of the GWR network and it is one of three railway stations in the central area of the town, one now part of General, named Wrexham Exchange, the other being Wrexham Central. It is the hub for inter-city services in the area. It is also a hub for inter-city services in North Wales. Until the early 1980s what is now platform 4 of Wrexham General, serving the Wrexham Central – Bidston service, was a separate station, in 1846 the first steam trains began the Railway Age in Wrexham. The line was originally called The North Wales Mineral Railway and was backed by businessmen, among whom the developer of the steel works at Brymbo. There have been two railway station buildings on the site, the first was the original was built by the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway in Jacobean style with Dutch gable pediments. The architect for that station was Mr Thomas Penson of Wrexham and it was built on the edge of Wrexham, a town which at the time was heavily industrialised and had many coal mines and steelworks to attract the railway companies. The second station building was constructed by the GWR in 1912, the station design was unique in that it used stonework from the original building instead of standard red brick. It survived the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, as a route for steel produced in Shotton. On 24 April 1997, a wagon on an empty coal train derailed at a level crossing. The train carried on for a mile into Wrexham General where the wagons scraped up the platform, damaging it and that prompted a massive refurbishing, including new canopies, a jetwash of the blackened sandstone buildings, and platform retiling along all main platforms. The out-of-use bay platform saw no improvements and retained its 1970s lighting until 2008, following the Beeching axe, Wrexham General remains the only General station on the National Rail network, and other General stations lost the suffix or were re-dubbed as Central stations. Because of the presence of two stations serving Wrexham, the other being titled Wrexham Central, the General suffix was retained. Now platform 4 of Wrexham General, Wrexham Exchange was originally a railway station opened in May 1866 for the Wrexham, Mold. By the time that WMCQR had been bought by the Great Central Railway, the station changed hands again in 1921 during the Grouping, to the London and North Eastern Railway, as one of their few stations in Wales
13.
Holyhead railway station
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Holyhead railway station serves the Welsh town of Holyhead on Holy Island, Anglesey. The station is the terminus of the North Wales Coast Line 105 1⁄2 miles west of Crewe and is managed by Arriva Trains Wales. It connects with the Holyhead Ferry Terminal, the first station in Holyhead was opened by the Chester and Holyhead Railway on 1 August 1848, but this was replaced by the second on 15 May 1851. The present station was opened by the London and North Western Railway on 17 January 1866 and it originally had four platforms, but only three are currently in use, the track to the former platform three having been lifted. Most Arriva Trains Wales DMU services use platform two, Platform three is outside the train shed and is used by the early morning Premier Service to Cardiff Central, plus a few other trains at busy periods. There are carriage sidings and servicing facilities alongside platform one, whilst platform three also has a release line & run-round loop available. A rail-served container terminal next to the closed in 1991 when the traffic transferred to Liverpool. It has since demolished and is now used as a car parking area for the Stena Line ferry service. Passenger ships previously used to berth in the harbour next to Platform 1. Stena Line built a building between platforms 1 and 2 in the early 1990s. The station is staffed, with a ticket office in the main ferry terminal - this is manned seven days per week. Self-service ticket machines are provided for use outside these times. The terminal also offers covered waiting accommodation, a payphone, a booth, left luggage office, shops. Train running details are offered via digital information screens, timetable posters, step-free access is available to all platforms. Holyhead is served by a basic Arriva Trains Wales hourly service throughout the week to Shrewsbury with services continuing to Birmingham International, two services operate to & from Manchester Piccadilly on weekdays only. Most Sunday services run to/from Crewe, Holyhead station adjoins the Holyhead Ferry Port, with sailings to both Dublin and, until September 2014, to Dún Laoghaire. It is connected to the centre by a steel pedestrian/cycle bridge named The Celtic Gateway. The Celtic Gateway is a steel pedestrian and cycle bridge located in Anglesey
14.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
15.
Hereford railway station
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Hereford railway station serves the city of Hereford, England. The station has four platforms for trains, and two additional relief lines for goods services. Accorded Secure Station status in 2004, the station has a ticket office, self-service ticket machines, a café. Automated ticket barriers have been in operation since 28 February 2006, there were originally two stations in Hereford - Barton, and Barrs Court. Barton lay to the west of the city and had built by the Newport, Abergavenny. The resolution was an agreement to create a new joint railway station to the north east of the city and this would be a joint standard gauge/broad gauge station, sponsored jointly by the standard-gauge Shrewsbury & Hereford Railway and the GWR-sponsored Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway. In 1852, 2 1⁄2 years later and having used 3 1⁄4 million bricks the tunnel was completed, however, construction continued, with the massive earthworks for a cutting to enter Barrs Court started in August 1852. The plan was to open both stations between all four railways on 6 December 1853, with what was planned to be a Railway Fete. However, the first S&HR passenger service arrived at Barrs Ct. on Saturday 28 October, as the negotiations and financing of the joint station had taken so long, they arrived at an incomplete facility. Whilst completion of the station would follow shortly after, significant rebuilding would occur later in the nineteenth century, the station opened on 6 December 1853, and the name was simplified to Hereford in 1893 on the closure of Barton station to passengers. However, Barton clung onto passenger services until January 1893, the last services to use it being Midland Railway trains to Hay-on-Wye and Brecon. It would remain open as a goods station until 1979. Hereford is served by trains operated by Arriva Trains Wales, London Midland, Trains run hourly to Birmingham, Manchester, Shrewsbury and Cardiff Central two-hourly to Wrexham General, Chester and Holyhead and less frequently to Oxford, Reading and London. Sargeants of Kington Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Mitchell, Vic, Smith, Keith, train times and station information for Hereford railway station from National Rail
16.
Shrewsbury railway station
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Shrewsbury railway station is in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Built in 1848, it was designated a grade II listed building in 1969, the station is 43 miles north west of Birmingham New Street. Many services starting at or passing through the station are bound for Wales, Shrewsbury was the busiest station in Shropshire and 14th busiest in the West Midlands in 2014-15. The station was known as Shrewsbury General and is the only remaining railway station in the town, Shrewsbury Abbey, as well as other small stations around the town. Shrewsbury railway station was built in October 1848 for the countys first railway — the Shrewsbury to Chester Line. The architect was Thomas Mainwaring Penson of Oswestry, the building is unusual, in that the station was extended between 1899 and 1903 by the construction of a new floor underneath the original station building. The building style was imitation Tudor, complete with carvings of Tudor style heads around the window frames and this was done to match the Tudor building of Shrewsbury School almost directly opposite. The stations platforms also extend over the River Severn and it was operated jointly by the Great Western Railway and the London and North Western Railway. Until 1967 Shrewsbury was served by the GWR, latterly BR Western Region, the station was given Grade II listed status in May 1969, this applies to the main building on Castle Foregate, adjacent to platform 3. It was restored and rededicated in 2010, inside the Railtrack offices is a decorative metal plaque to 14 heroes of the LNWRs Locomotive Department in Shrewsbury who died serving in World War I, placed there in December 1920. Also preserved is a framed Roll of Honour listing employees of the GWR nationally who also died in the war, on 15 October 1907, a mail train hauled by Experiment class locomotive No.2052 Stephenson was derailed at Shrewsbury due to excessive speed on a curve. Arwel Hughes composed Tydi a roddaist in 20 minutes during a wait between train connections in 1938, a plaque to mark this was unveiled on Platform Three in 2004. There are five platforms in use, numbered 3 to 7, of these, platforms 4,5,6 and 7 are grouped on a main island, while platforms 1,2 and 3 are separate, located by the main station building. The platforms are numbered in order from west to east from 1 to 7, Platform 3 was until recently only used by trains running in from the Wolverhampton direction and out towards Chester. Changes recently made to the signalling and track now allow additional passenger trains to use platform 3, a passenger lift was opened on the platform in 2009 and a waiting room opened shortly after. Platforms 5 and 6 are bay platforms, used mainly for trains to and from Aberystwyth and Birmingham, the island platforms are connected to the main station building and platform 3 by a pedestrian subway running underneath the station. Opposite platform 7 is a concrete wall that divides the rest of the station from what could be considered to be platform 8. This platform does not see any use and was built for the use of transporting prisoners from the prison in The Dana
17.
Chester railway station
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Chester railway station is a railway station in Newtown in the city of Chester, England. It is currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales, with Merseyrail, Northern and it is situated to the north-east of the city centre. From 1875 to 1969 the station was known as Chester General station, work on the £10 million regeneration of the station and surrounding areas as part of the Chester Renaissance programme was completed in 2007. The development includes a new roof, improved facilities and better access to the station. A small plaque commemorating Thomas Brassey, one of the worlds greatest railway building contractors in the early to mid-19th century, the station marks one end of the Baker Way, a footpath leading to Delamere railway station. Northern plans to operate a train to Leeds stopping at Warrington Bank Quay, Newton-le-Willows Manchester Victoria, Bradford. Opened in 1848, Chester General station was a joint station between the Chester and Holyhead Railway, the Chester and Crewe Railway and the Birkenhead Railway, later these became the London and North Western Railway and the Great Western Railway These companies owned the Birkenhead Railway jointly. Architecturally the station has an Italianate frontage designed by Francis Thompson, the station also has carved wooden owls at some strategic locations high in the roof beams to help deter feral pigeons. The final service, a special named The Zulu, was hauled by the Castle Class steam locomotive 7029 Clun Castle, from 1875, Chester was also served by Chester Northgate station, however, that station was closed in 1969 and is now the site of a leisure centre. In 1993, an extension of the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network was accomplished through the use of third rail electrification. The historic Chester and Birkenhead Railway, the first railway to serve Chester then became a part of Merseyrails Wirral Line, the station was built between 1847 and 1848, designed by Francis Thompson, and built by the railway contractor Thomas Brassey. Also involved in the design and construction were the engineer C. H. Wild. who designed the train shed and it is built in Staffordshire blue brick and pale grey Storeton sandstone with slate roofs. It has a very long two-storey façade, with a 15-bay central section, the middle seven bays of the central section contain carvings by John Thomas. The station building is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. A small plaque commemorating Thomas Brassey, one of the worlds greatest railway building contractors in the early to mid-19th century, Brassey was born at Buerton, on what is now the Eaton Estate, some 6 miles south of Chester, the house is no longer standing. Chester is served by four train operating companies, late evenings and Sundays the frequency is every 30 minutes. These services are all provided by Merseyrails fleet of Class 507, the Wirral Line runs in a clockwise loop through Liverpools city centre returning to Chester, hence trains may be indicated as bound for Chester whether running north or south. A change at Birkenhead Hamilton Square station gives connections to New Brighton, a change at Liverpool Moorfields gives access to all of the Merseyrail Electrics Northern Line services
18.
Manchester Piccadilly station
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Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842 and renamed Manchester London Road in 1847, the station has twelve terminal platforms in the train shed and two through platforms to the south of it. Piccadilly is a interchange with the Metrolink light rail system. Six train operating companies operate services to and from Piccadilly and it is the second busiest interchange station outside London, with almost 3.8 million passengers changing trains at the station annually. The stations refurbishment took five years and cost £100m in 2002, a TWAO application to build two new platforms was made in October 2016 and construction is expected to commence on completion of the Ordsall Chord in January 2018. There are plans for five new platforms in the High Speed 2 proposals, a temporary terminus on Travis Street opened in June 1840 when the Manchester and Birmingham Railway opened its line to Stockport. In 1842 the companys Store Street station, consisting of two platforms and offices, adjacent to London Road, was completed and by then the line extended to Crewe, the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway shared the station from 1844 as the terminus of its line. The station name was changed to London Road in 1847 and it retained that name until 1960, in 1849, the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, which became the Great Central Railway, was formed. London Road was overcrowded by the 1860s, and the relationship between the companies using it was poor, in 1862 the companies agreed to rebuild the station so it could be split in two. As traffic continued to increase the station was expanded and two added to the train shed in 1881. The MSJAR platforms and the bridge over Fairfield Street were demolished, the adjacent Mayfield station opened in 1910 providing four platforms which alleviated overcrowding at Piccadilly. It closed to passengers in 1960 and closed permanently in 1986, the Mayfield station building still exists and can still be seen on approach to Piccadilly and from platforms 13 and 14. Following the 1923 railway grouping, the station was served by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, after nationalisation in 1948, London Road station was operated as two independent stations, separated by iron railings on platform 5. On one side was the London Midland Region of British Railways, the MSJAR platforms and bridges over Fairfield Street were replaced. The island platforms were located on a new pre-stressed concrete slab bridge with cantilevered sides for the tracks, in the early 1970s, as part of the Picc-Vic tunnel project, there were proposals to build an underground station, Piccadilly Low Level. The project was cancelled, and subsequent rail improvements concentrated on surface projects, the stations undercroft, the two levels below the main rail platforms, was converted in the early 1990s to provide two platforms for the Manchester Metrolink tram system. Piccadillys island platforms were rebuilt and lengthened in 1988 in connection with the opening of the Windsor Link. The glass roof over the platforms was completely replaced in the late 1990s
19.
Birmingham New Street railway station
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Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in the city centre of Birmingham, England. It is a hub of the British railway system. The station is named after New Street, which runs parallel to the station, historically the main entrance to the station was on Stephenson Street, just off New Street. Today the station has entrances on Stephenson Street, Smallbrook Queensway, Hill Street, New Street is the seventh busiest railway station in the UK and the busiest outside London, with 39 million passenger entries and exits between April 2015 and March 2016. It is also the busiest interchange station outside London, with over 5.8 million passengers changing trains at the station annually, the original New Street station opened in 1854. At the time of its construction, the station had the largest single-span arched roof in the world, In the 1960s, the station was completely rebuilt. An enclosed station, with buildings over most of its span and passenger numbers more than twice those it was designed for, a £550m redevelopment of the station named Gateway Plus opened in September 2015. It includes a new concourse, a new facade. Around 80% of train services to Birmingham go through New Street, the other major city-centre stations in Birmingham are Birmingham Moor Street and Birmingham Snow Hill. On the outskirts, closer to Solihull, is Birmingham International, which serves Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre. Since 30 May 2016, New Street has been served by the Midland Metro tram line, the Grand Central New Street Station tram stop is located outside the stations main entrance on Stephenson Street. New Street station was built by the London and North Western Railway between 1846 and 1854, until 1885 the LNWR shared the station with the Midland Railway, whose trains also used the station. However, in 1885 the Midland Railway opened its own alongside the original station for the exclusive use of its trains. The two companies stations were separated by a roadway, Queens Drive. Traffic grew steadily, and by 1900 New Street had an average of 40 trains an hour departing and arriving, rising to 53 trains in the peak hours. The Countess of Huntingdons Connexion chapel, on the corner of Peck Lane and Dudley Street, on the formal opening day, the LNWRs Curzon Street railway station was closed to regular passenger services, and trains from the London direction started using New Street. The station was constructed by Messrs, fox, Henderson & Co. and designed by Edward Alfred Cowper of that firm, who had previously worked on the design of The Crystal Palace. When completed, it had the largest arched single-span iron and glass roof in the world, spanning a width of 212 feet and it held this title for 14 years until St Pancras station opened in 1868
20.
Wales and Borders
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Wales and Borders Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the Wales & Borders franchise from October 2001 until December 2003. In October 1996 the Valley Lines franchise commenced operating services around Cardiff, in March 2000 the Strategic Rail Authority decided to re-organise the Valley Lines and Wales & West franchises, both being operated by National Express. Valley Lines became Wales & Borders from October 2001 combining its services with most of Wales & Wests Welsh services, in September 2003 Wales & Borders took over the North Wales Coast Line services from First North Western. Wales & Borders operated passenger services in Wales and the West Country as seen in their route map and it also operated services to Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham International, Penzance and London Waterloo. On 14 October 2001 the services from Birmingham New Street to Chester, Aberystwyth, Wales & Borders inherited a fleet of Class 142, Class 143 and Class 150s from Valley Lines and Class 158s from Wales & West and Central Trains. From First North Western it inherited Class 153 and Class 175s, Wales & Borderss fleet was maintained at Cardiff Canton depot. On 1 August 2003 the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the new franchise to Arriva with the services operated by Wales & Borders transferring to Arriva Trains Wales on 8th December 2003
21.
Railways Act 2005
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The Railways Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning the regulatory structure for railways in the United Kingdom. The bill was introduced and published on 25 November 2004 and received Royal Assent on 7 April 2005, established Passenger Focus as a single national consumer representation body, replacing the geographically separated Rail Passengers Council. Set up a new regime for the closure of facilities and services. However, the amendment was reversed the same day in the House of Commons with a much weaker provision substituted for it, the House of Lords did not insist on their original amendment, and the legislation was passed without the protections which the train operators needed. Critics regarded this as an interference in an inter-dependent contractual matrix. The Railways Act 2005, as originally enacted from the National Archives, explanatory notes to the Railways Act 2005
22.
Transport (Wales) Act 2006
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The Transport Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed in response to an approved by the National Assembly for Wales on 17 March 2004. The Transport Act 2006 Order 2006 was made under this section, halsburys Statutes The Transport Act 2006, as amended from the National Archives. The Transport Act 2006, as originally enacted from the National Archives, explanatory notes to the Transport Act 2006
23.
Welsh Government
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The Welsh Government is the executive of the devolved National Assembly for Wales. The government consists of cabinet secretaries, who attend meetings, and ministers who do not. It is led by the first minister, usually the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly, the government is responsible for tabling policy in devolved areas for consideration by the assembly and implementing policy that has been approved by it. As initially established, the Welsh Government had no independent executive powers in law, following separation, the Welsh ministers exercise functions in their own right. Further transfers of functions from the British government can be made directly to the Welsh ministers by an Order in Council approved by the British parliament. Separation was designed to clarify the roles of the assembly. The result mirrored much more closely the relationship between the British government and British parliament and that between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament. This separation between the two bodies took effect on the appointment of the First Minister by Queen Elizabeth II following the election on 3 May 2007. Separation was meant to clarify the roles of the assembly. The role of the government is to make decisions, develop and implement policy, exercise executive functions, Assembly measures can now go further than the subordinate legislation which the assembly had the power to make prior to 2007. The assemblys functions, including that of making subordinate legislation, in the main, a third body was also established under the 2006 Act from May 2007, called the National Assembly for Wales Commission. It employs the staff supporting the new National Assembly for Wales, the 2006 Act made new provision for the appointment of Welsh ministers. The First Minister is nominated by the Assembly and then appointed by Her Majesty the Queen, the First Minister then appoints the Welsh Ministers and the Deputy Welsh Ministers, with the approval of Her Majesty. The Act created a new post of Counsel General for Wales, the Counsel General is appointed by the Queen, on the nomination of the First Minister, whose recommendation must be agreed by the National Assembly. The Counsel General may be, but does not have to be, the Act permits a maximum of 12 Welsh Ministers, which includes Deputy Welsh Ministers, but excludes the First Minister and the Counsel General. Accordingly, the size of the Welsh Government is 14. Subject to limitations prescribed by the Government of Wales Act 2006, the government is composed of cabinet secretaries and ministers. The counsel general attends cabinet meetings, the current government is formed by Welsh Labour and also the sole Liberal Democrats Assembly Member, Kirsty Williams
24.
National Express
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It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE250 Index. In 1972 the state owned National Bus Company decided to bring together the scheduled services operated by its bus operating companies in the United Kingdom under one brand. Sir Frederick Wood, a prominent businessman and industrialist, was asked to oversee the creation of new business model. Initially branded as National, the National Express brand was first used in 1974, with the privatisation of the National Bus Company in the 1980s, National Express was subject to a management buyout in March 1988. The management team began to diversify, and in 1989 purchased Crosville Wales, a new management team took over the company in July 1991, with the backing of mid-market private equity firm, ECI Partners. The new team refocused the group on its activities and sold Crosville Wales to British Bus. In October 1991 it purchased Speedlink, an operator of services between Gatwick and Heathrow Airports. In December 1992 National Express Group plc was floated on the London Stock Exchange, in 1993 Scottish Citylink, Eurolines and East Midlands Airport were acquired. In April 1995 National Express purchased West Midlands Travel, the council owned bus network of Birmingham. This began the family of Travel. Bournemouth Airport was acquired in April 1995, in April 1996 National Express commenced operating its first UK rail franchises, Gatwick Express and Midland Mainline. Other franchises won in 1997 were Silverlink, Central Trains and ScotRail, to comply with a Competition Commission ruling on it winning the ScotRail franchise, National Express sold the Scottish Citylink operation to Metroline in August 1998. In February 1997 Taybus Public Transport was acquired and rebranded Travel Dundee, in February 1999 Robinson Bus Service was purchased followed in August 1999 by Durham Transportation. These acquisitions placed National Express as one of the top three United States school bus operators, in May 1999 National Express purchased Australias largest private bus operator, National Bus Company. National Bus Company had bus operations in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, Westbus also had a London coach operation. In August 1999 National Express won the M>Train, M>Tram and V/Line Passenger rail franchises in the Australian state of Victoria, in January 2000, National Express expanded into the American market by acquiring ATC, a public transportation operator. In July 2000 Prism Rail was purchased adding the c2c, Wales & Borders, Wessex Trains, in December 2002 National Express handed in its Victoria rail franchises having been unable to renegotiate financial terms with the State Government. In February 2004 the London bus operations of Connex were purchased and rebranded Travel London, in April 2004 National Express East Anglia commenced operating the Greater Anglia rail franchise
25.
Wales & West
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Wales & West was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the South Wales & West franchise from 1996 until 2001. The franchise was operated by Prism Rail from October 1996 until July 2000, the company ceased to operate trains in October 2001, following a reorganization of rail franchises. Originally privatized under the name South Wales and West Railway, the company operated a network of local and middle-distance services in South Wales and these ranged from rural services in Cornwall and Pembrokeshire to urban commuter services in the Bristol area. Longer-distance services operated under the Alphaline brand provided regular links to North Wales, Wales and West received considerable government subsidy. The first full year was supported by a payment of £70.9 million. The provisional claim from British Rail for the year 1996/97 had been £84.8 million, Wales & West inherited a fleet of Class 143, Class 150, Class 153 and Class 158s from British Rail. Wales & West also hired-in some locomotive-hauled trains on occasion, Wales & Wests fleet was maintained at Cardiff Canton and Exeter depots. Wales & West carried out various enhancements to their 78-vehicle Class 158 fleet including new carpets, internal repainting, seating was replaced throughout, with a revised layout offering a greater proportion of seats at tables and fewer airline-style seats. One member of the Class 158 fleet was used to trial additional safety features and this included an airline-style lighting strip along the carriage aisle leading to the exits and illuminated arrows above internal doorways. In time, most of the trains also received an automated system of pre-recorded safety announcements. Prism Rail also gave an undertaking to install passenger information displays at 205 stations and this ambitious project went on to cost Prism significantly more than expected, with no chance of recouping its investment - but the commitment was upheld and the project completed. Even the remote Sugar Loaf station that typically receives fewer than 100 passengers per year was equipped, other improvements committed to included, Raising punctuality targets from 90% to 92% Raising reliability targets from 99% to 99. An experimental silver, blue and orange livery carried by 158867 evolved into a dedicated silver, the rest of the fleet began to receive an array of different promotional liveries featuring locations from the companys operating area. The shortened Wales and West name was adopted to replace the identity of South Wales & West Railway. In 2000 the Strategic Rail Authority announced its intention that a single all-Wales franchise should take over the majority of services in Wales. Accordingly, the Wales and West franchise ceased to operate in October 2001 and its operations in Wales and the Marches were merged into those of Cardiff-based Valley Lines and renamed as Wales and Borders Trains. The remaining services in south west England began operating under the name of Wessex Trains
26.
Cambrian Line
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The Cambrian Line is a railway that runs from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli, both on the west coast of Wales. The line from Dovey Junction to Pwllheli is sometimes called the Cambrian Coast Line, the railway is scenic, it runs through the Cambrian Mountains in central Wales and along the coast of Cardigan Bay. The line includes sections of rural single track and is designated as a community rail partnership. From Shrewsbury, the line heads west through northern Powys, serving the towns of Welshpool, from Buttington Junction west became part of the Cambrian Railways in 1864. The Cambrian Railways became part of the Great Western Railway, on nationalisation these lines were operated first by the Western Region of British Railways and later by the London Midland Region. In a later reorganisation, passenger services were operated by the Regional Railways Central sector, following privatisation in the mid 1990s, passenger services were first operated by Central Trains, then by Wales & Borders from 2001 and, since late 2003, by Arriva Trains Wales. Although the line survived the Beeching Axe, many stations were closed from the 1960s onwards, the Cambrian line was not directly threatened with closure in the 1963 Beeching Report. Later threats to the part of the route, from Dovey Junction to Pwllheli, were subsequently withdrawn – despite the disproportionately high cost of maintaining it. It is recognised as having an important public role, it connects communities around coastal estuaries which have poor road links. Its tourism role is as a widely recognised scenic route, as well as linking many coastal resorts, the coastal areas served are predominantly Welsh-speaking. As a result, because of the political thought to be attendant on railway closures. With long sections of line and limited passing points, minor disruptions on the Cambrian Line quickly lead to compound delays. This, combined with short times at each end of the route. The extension of the service to Birmingham International in late 2008 has helped address this by eliminating the tight turnarounds at the heavily-congested Birmingham New Street station, maintenance changes and additional padding in public timetables has also helped improve performance figures overall. In Arriva Trains Wales performance statistics the Cambrian Line was routinely the worst-performing service group between 2003 and 2008, in October 2006, it was announced that Network Rail would pilot the European Rail Traffic Management System on the Cambrian Line. The ERTMS allows headways between trains using the track to be reduced without affecting safety, allowing a more frequent service. Should the pilot scheme be successful, the system is expected to be rolled out on other key rural routes within the UK. The upgrade was expected to cost £59 million and was to be completed by December 2008, three signallers from the Machynlleth signalling centre and seven drivers were trained to operate the new equipment
27.
Central Trains
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Central Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the Central Trains franchise from March 1997 until November 2007. Created out of the Central division of Regional Railways, Central Trains passed into the sector on 2 March 1997. The franchise was awarded to National Express Group, who maintained control of the company until its demise in 2007. Central Trains employed over 2,400 staff, the company invested significantly in rolling stock, with significant orders for new trains placed and the fleet later further grown through the acquisition of trains made surplus by other companies. It also refurbished a number of its stations, introducing ticket gates, help points, the company also suffered from ongoing staff relations problems which led to extensive and long-lasting cancellations of Sunday services. Following a government policy announced in 2004, Central Trains was eventually disbanded in November 2007 with its services dispersed amongst London Midland, East Midlands Trains and CrossCountry. At its greatest extent, Central Trains operated 253 stations and provided services covering 1,534 miles of the UKs railway network, covering most of central England and Mid Wales. In its last years, the company saw 43 million passenger journeys, services ranged from rural and local services to flagship express services originally branded as Alphaline and later developed into Central Citylink. In the West Midlands, the company operated the extensive urban rail services under contract to the CENTRO. In the late 1990s, Central Trains offered many through services between routes which had previously shown as self-contained in public timetables. This resulted in some particularly lengthy services such as those from Aberystwyth in Mid Wales to Grimsby on the opposite coast of the UK. This also gave rise to the nickname The Barmouth to Yarmouth Railway due to the fact Central Trains operated services in both Mid Wales and East Anglia, Central Trains had a major shakeup between 2004–05 to prepare them for the eventual break up of the franchise. The first part of this was done in 2001 when the Birmingham New Street to Chester & Mid Wales, liverpool Lime Street to Stansted Airport split at New Street to form two services due to problems with delays. Another fatality of the ‘lack of Drivers’ was the service between Birmingham to Stafford via Walsall, services were cut back to run between Birmingham and Rugeley Trent Valley. Two trains per hour from Birmingham New Street – London Euston via Northampton was replaced by one train per hour to Northampton which connected badly with onward services to London Euston. The Northampton service started off as an express service until it was merged with the local service to Coventry adding more journey time. This service was restored in 2005 as a shuttle to Nuneaton. The local service to and from Coventry to Wolverhampton calling all stations was changed in 2004
28.
Strategic Rail Authority
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The Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry. Its motto was Britains railway, properly delivered and it incorporated the former Conservative governments Director of Passenger Rail Franchising. The SRA was placed on a legal basis by the Transport Act 2000. The government wanted the SRA to take a more interventionist role with Railtrack and its successor Network Rail and those powers rested with - and were jealously guarded by - the Rail Regulator, who frequently clashed with the SRA when he believed that it was over-reaching its jurisdiction. The SRA operated under directions and guidance from the Secretary of State for Transport, also in Scotland from the Scottish Minister for Transport, in Scotland the budget of the SRA was devolved to the Scottish Parliament under the terms of the Barnett Formula. On 15 July 2004 the Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling MP, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Greater London Authority were given some input in their areas. The SRAs first chairman was Sir Alastair Morton, from February 1999 until October 2001 and its first chief executive was Mike Grant. Its second chairman was Richard Bowker, who served between October 2001 and September 2004 and its third chairman was David Quarmby, and third chief executive Nick Newton, from September 2004 to abolition
29.
Crewe railway station
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Crewe railway station is a railway station in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The station was completed in 1837 and is one of the most historic railway stations in the world, Crewe was chosen after Winsford, seven miles to the north, had rejected an earlier proposal, as had local landowners in neighbouring Nantwich, four miles away. Crewe is a junction on the West Coast Main Line. It is 158 miles north of London Euston and 243 miles south of Glasgow Central, Crewe railway station has twelve platforms and a modern passenger entrance containing a bookshop and ticket office. Passengers access the platforms via a footbridge, stairs and lifts, the platforms buildings dating from the 19th century contain two bookshops, bars, buffets and waiting rooms. The last major expenditure on the station was in 1985 when the layout was remodelled. Crewe station was the first station to have its own adjacent railway hotel, The Crewe Arms, built in 1838 and it was the first to be completely rebuilt owing to the need for expansion. It was the also first to have completely independent rail lines built around it to traffic congestion. The station opened on 4 July 1837 on the Grand Junction Railway, the purpose was to link the four largest cities of England by joining the existing Liverpool and Manchester Railway with the projected London and Birmingham railway. The station was built in the township of Crewe, which formed part of the ancient parish of Barthomley. The township later became a parish in its own right, and, later still, was renamed Crewe Green to avoid confusion with the town of Crewe. The station was at the point where the line crossed the road linking the Trent and Mersey. Since the land was bought from the Earl of Crewe, whose mansion stood nearby, and it was located in the township of Crewe, the railway station gave its name to the town of Crewe that was actually situated in the ancient parish of Coppenhall. In 1936, the station was transferred from the civil parish of Crewe to the then municipal borough of Crewe. As soon as the station opened the Chester and Crewe Railway was formed to build a line to Chester. In 1842 the GJR decided to move its works from Edge Hill in Liverpool to Crewe. To house the workforce and company management the town of Crewe was built by the company to the north of the works, the North Staffordshire Railway built a line from Stoke-on-Trent, joining the LNWR from the South East. Crewe was the centre of a railway network, and freight-handling facilities grew up to the south of the station
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Llandudno railway station
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Llandudno railway station serves the town of Llandudno, Wales, and is the terminus of a 3 miles long branch line from Llandudno Junction on the Crewe to Holyhead North Wales Coast Line. The station is managed by Arriva Trains Wales, who operate all trains serving it, Llandudno Victoria station, the lower terminus of the Great Orme Tramway, is a 15 minute walk from the main station. The line was absorbed by the London and North Western Railway. Vaughan Street in Llandudno was also out in 1858 as the station approach road. Platforms 4 &5 have been disused since 1978 and the tracks have now officially declared out of use. The southernmost half of the roof was removed some decades ago. Half of the station frontage that had been disused for years was demolished in May 2009, the station retains its semaphore signalling and manual signal box. Following the provision of funding, reconstruction began in 2013 and the £5.2 million scheme was completed in the summer of 2014, the work includes a 130 space car park, a glazed concourse, a bus interchange, new taxi rank, and a shop/cafe. There are also a new entrance and improvements to the platforms, the ticket office is staffed part-time. A self-service ticket machine is provided for use outside these times, there are also toilets and a waiting room on the concourse. Train running information is provided by information screens, posters. Step-free access is available to all platforms, Arriva Trains Wales provides an hourly service to Manchester Piccadilly via Colwyn Bay, Rhyl, Prestatyn, Flint, Chester and Warrington. Two daily services on this run to Crewe rather than Manchester. Arriva Trains Wales also operates a shuttle to Llandudno Junction which connects with services to Bangor & Holyhead and for services to Birmingham New Street, London. They also operate one weekday service from Llandudno to Cardiff Central via Wrexham General without any change being required at Llandudno Junction. ATW provides four trains per day along the Conwy Valley Line serving Llanrwst, Betws-y-Coed, on summer Sundays ATW operate a half-hourly shuttle service to Llandudno Junction until early evening. In addition, two trains a day run down the Conwy Valley Line to Blaenau Ffestiniog, Virgin Trains used to run a direct afternoon service to London Euston, but this service was discontinued at the December 2008 timetable change - it instead now terminates at Chester. Train times and station information for Llandudno railway station from National Rail Llandudno and North Wales Train Services 1947 and 2003 Virgin Trains restore through London to Llandudno Service
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Borderlands line
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The Borderlands line is the railway line between Wrexham, Wales and Bidston on the Wirral in England. Passenger train services are operated by Arriva Trains Wales between Wrexham Central and Bidston, Bidston is an interchange station for Merseyrail services to Liverpool and the Wirral. Trains run every hour Monday to Saturday daytime, every two hours after 18,45 and on Sundays, connections with other National Rail services are at Bidston, Shotton and Wrexham General. The line is referred to as the Mid Wirral line. The Wirrals other railway routes are provided with frequent Merseyrail electric trains, the Borderlands line has a relatively infrequent diesel operated service. Holders of the Concessionary Travel Pass resident in Wrexham and Flintshire can travel free along part of the line, holders of the Merseytravel Concessionary Travel Pass can travel free along the section of the line that runs through Merseyside, from Heswall Station to Bidston Station. The train service is operated with Class 150s. It was formerly operated by Class 153s, Class 101s, in October 2006, the operator moved to using Class 150s or paired Class 153 units. The latter disappeared in favour of the Class 150s in December 2006 and this is designated as a community rail partnership. Upon privatisation, passenger services were transferred from Regional Railways to North West Trains, in 2003, a review led to the creation of the All-Wales Franchise, meaning services were transferred to Wales & Borders Trains. Arriva Trains Wales succeeded Wales & Borders on 8 December 2003, future electrification plans could see the line transfer to Merseyrail. The North Wales and Liverpool Railway northern terminus was at Bidston with the terminus at Hawarden Bridge Both railways were acquired by the Great Central Railway on 1 January 1905. Two Wirral stations on the closed in the 1950s, Storeton in 1951. No trace of the station at Storeton remains, yet Burton Point station is still almost entirely intact, further south, the high level platforms of Hope Exchange closed in 1958. New stations at Deeside Industrial Park, Woodchurch and Beechwood have been proposed, the route was mentioned in Merseytravels proposed 30-year plan of 2014. New stations at Beechwood and Woodchurch in Birkenhead and Deeside Industrial Park and these changes would Incorporate the line into the Merseyrail Wirral line to provide direct connectivity with Liverpool city centre. The draft of the Network Rail Welsh Route Study in March 2015 contained several suggestions for improving services on the line, including. The doubling of the frequency on the line is one of the aims of the Growth Track 360 group
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Conwy Valley line
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The Conwy Valley line is a railway line in north-west Wales. It runs from Llandudno via Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and was part of the London and North Western Railway. The primary purpose of the line was to carry slate from the Ffestiniog quarries to a specially built quay at Deganwy for export by sea, although only a little over 27 miles between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog, the journey takes over one hour. Most of the stations along the route are treated as a request stop, the first section from Llandudno Junction to Llanrwst was built as the Conway and Llanrwst Railway and opened in 1863. The LNWR took over in 1863 and opened the extension to Betws-y-Coed in 1868, the next extension was to Blaenau Ffestiniog to access the output of the large slate quarries there. At first the LNWR proposed a 2 narrow gauge railway via the steeply graded Lledr Valley to Blaenau Ffestiniog, after construction began, it was decided that the extension would be built to standard gauge, allowing through running of trains. Between 1874 and 1879 the railway tunnel underneath Moel Dyrnogydd was bored, the line was subsequently extended by the best part of a mile to a terminus in the town, which opened 31 March 1881. Blaenau Ffestiniogs other standard gauge railway, the Bala and Ffestiniog Railway, was closed to all traffic in 1961, with the reconstruction of the Ffestiniog Railway, passenger services were relocated to a new joint station on the site of the old Central station in 1982. Regular freight traffic to Trawsfynydd ceased in 1995, and the station is being decommissioned. The lines proximity to the River Conwy at its end has led to periodic problems with flooding over the years. The most recent instance saw the closed in February 2017 after Storm Doris when a tree fell on the track. The line is expected to re-open on 23 April, engineers have had to move over 300 tonnes or rock and fallen vegetation during the recovery work. The line was closed from 27 December 2015 for seven weeks, the line from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau is single track, and includes the longest single track railway tunnel in the United Kingdom. Between Llandudno Junction and Llandudno the service uses the double track line from the North Wales Coast Line. The service is reduced to 3 trains per day in both directions on Sundays, though the Sunday service only operates in summer, a rail replacement bus operates in lieu of the train on Sundays for the remainder of the year. The train service is operated by Arriva Trains Wales and is being marketed as the Conwy Valley Railway, a feature of the service is the availability on Conwy Valley trains as well as on local buses in Snowdonia of the new Tocyn Taith day ticket. The Office of Rail Regulation says 116,500 passenger journeys were made on the line in 2013/14, excluding exits and entries at the main stations of Llandudno Junction, Deganwy. This was an increase compared with the figure of 112,134 in 2012/13
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First North Western
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First North Western was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup, that operated the North West Regional Railways franchise from March 1997 until December 2004. In the lead up to the privatisation of British Rail, the North Western section of Regional Railways was established, for a brief period from 1989, this section was operated under the short-lived Network NorthWest brand name, before becoming North West Regional Railways. The franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to Great Western Holdings, on 27 October 1997, a new livery of dark blue with a gold star was unveiled. In March 1998, First bought out the shareholders in Great Western Holdings. The business was rebranded from North Western Trains to First North Western in November 1998 with First’s corporate blue, pink, in May 1998, North Western Trains commenced services from Manchester Airport and Rochdale to London Euston. The Manchester Airport service ceased in May 1999. and the Rochdale service in May 2000, from May 2003, services from Manchester ceased operating south of Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe. First North Western inherited a fleet of Mark 2 carriages, Class 101,142,150,156 and 158 diesel multiple units, to operate the Manchester Airport to London Euston services, Class 322s were hired from West Anglia Great Northern. First North Western ordered 11 two-carriage and 16 three-carriage Class 175 Coradias to replace the Mark 2 carriages, Class 101s, originally some were to be 125 mph capable Class 180 Adelantes but this was later changed to an all Class 175 fleet. Problems with the Class 175s saw locomotive hauled trains reinstated on North Wales services from June 2002, with English Welsh & Scottish Class 47s, in February 2004, Class 31s were hired from Fragonset to top and tail Mark 2 carriages on Blackpool to Chester services. First North Westerns diesel fleet was maintained at Newton Heath Depot, the Class 175s were maintained at a purpose built depot in Chester. On 28 September 2003, the North Wales Coast Line services transferred to Wales & Borders, media related to First North Western at Wikimedia Commons
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North Wales
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North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. Retail, transport and educational infrastructure are centred on Wrexham, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno and Bangor. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales, the southern boundary is arbitrary and its definition may depend on the use being made of the term. For example, the boundary of North Wales Police differs from the boundary of the North Wales area of the Natural Resources Wales, montgomeryshire is sometimes referred to as being in north Wales. The region is steeped in history and was for almost a millennium known as the Kingdom of Gwynedd, the mountainous stronghold of Snowdonia formed the nucleus of that realm and would become the last redoubt of independent Wales — only overcome in 1283. To this day it remains a stronghold of the Welsh language, the area is home to two of the three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Wales. These are Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and canal and, collectively, the Edwardian castles and town walls of the region which comprise those at Caernarfon, Beaumaris, Conwy and Harlech. It also shares with Powys and Ceredigion the distinction of hosting the only UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Wales, namely, the area is mostly rural with many mountains and valleys. This, in combination with its coast, has ensured that tourism is the principal industry, farming, which was once the principal economic force in the area, is now much reduced in importance. The average income per capita of the population is the lowest in the UK. The eastern part of North Wales contains the most populous areas, with more than 300,000 people living in the areas around Wrexham, Wrexham is North Wales largest town, with a population of 63,084 in 2001. The total population of North Wales is 687,937, the majority of other settlements are along the coast, including some popular resort towns, such as Rhyl, Llandudno and Pwllheli. The A55 road links these towns to cities like Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham, the highest mountain in Wales, Snowdon, is situated in north west Wales. North Wales has a diverse and complex geology with Precambrian schists along the Menai Strait. To the east, around Llangollen, to the north on Halkyn Mountain, added to all this are the complexities posed by Parys Mountain and the outcrops of unusual minerals such as Jasper and Mona Marble which make the area of special interest to geologists. North Wales has a regional identity. Colloquially, a person from North Wales is known as a North Walian, areas close to the border with Cheshire can have Scouse accents of English, and along the coast Manchester accents are common. Two daily newspapers are published in the region, a weekly Welsh-language newspaper, Y Cymro is published each week by the Cambrian News from its Porthmadog office alongside two localised Welsh titles, Y Cyfnod and Y Dydd
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South Wales
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South Wales is the region of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the southwest of the United Kingdom, the Brecon Beacons national park covers about a third of South Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest mountain south of Snowdonia. Areas to the north of the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains are generally considered part of Mid Wales, the expression south Wales is not officially defined, and its meaning has changed over time. Between the Statute of Rhuddlan of 1284 and the Laws in Wales Act 1535 and this was divided into a Principality of South Wales and a Principality of North Wales. The southern principality was made up of the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, the legal responsibility for this area lay in the hands of the Justiciar of South Wales based at Carmarthen. Other parts of southern Wales were in the hands of various Marcher Lords, the Laws in Wales Acts 1542 created the Court of Great Sessions in Wales based on four legal circuits. The Brecon circuit served the counties of Brecknockshire, Radnorshire and Glamorgan while the Carmarthen circuit served Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, Monmouthshire was attached to the Oxford circuit for judicial purposes. These seven southern counties were thus differentiated from the six counties of north Wales, the Court of the Great Sessions came to an end in 1830, but the counties survived until the Local Government Act 1972 which came into operation in 1974. The creation of the county of Powys merged one northern county with two southern ones, there are thus different concepts of south Wales. Glamorgan and Monmouthshire are generally accepted by all as being in south Wales, but the status of Breconshire or Carmarthenshire, for instance, is more debatable. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people might feel that they live in both south Wales and west Wales, areas to the north of the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains are generally considered to be in Mid Wales. A further point of uncertainty is whether the first element of the name should be capitalized, as the name is a geographical expression rather than a specific area with well-defined borders, style guides such as those of the BBC and The Guardian use the form south Wales. The most densely populated region in the southwest of the United Kingdom, the Brecon Beacons national park covers about a third of South Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest mountain south of Snowdonia. This natural beauty changed to an extent during the early Industrial Revolution when the Glamorgan and Monmouthshire valley areas were exploited for coal. By the 1830s, hundreds of tons of coal were being transported by barge to ports in Cardiff, lord Bute then charged fees per ton of coal that was transported out using his railways. Whilst some of the left, many settled and established in the South Wales Valleys between Swansea and Abergavenny as English-speaking communities with a unique identity. Industrial workers were housed in cottages and terraced houses close to the mines and foundries in which they worked. The large influx over the years caused overcrowding which led to outbreaks of Cholera, and on the social and cultural side and this number is now very low, following the UK miners strike, and the last traditional deep-shaft mine, Tower Colliery, closed in January 2008
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Vale of Glamorgan Line
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The official titled Vale of Glamorgan Line is a Commuter line in the United Kingdom, running through the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales, from Barry to Bridgend via Rhoose and Llantwit Major. The main line is the Barry Branch which starts at Cardiff West, Network Rails mileage from Barry Junction zero to Bridgend is 19. Official Network Rail engineers line references for the three branches are VOG, BRY and PTH, geographically, the Barry branch runs into Vale of Glamorgan territory at the River Ely viaduct 1½ rail miles from the Cardiff West zero. Following the dramatic rationalisation that was to come about on South Wales railways after the 1960s, no such sign now exists but passengers must be made aware that if they board a Bridgend train, if wishing to get to Barry Island they must change trains at Barry station. Thus if boarding a Barry Island train and wishing to travel to Rhoose, Llantwit Major or Bridgend, originally part of the Barry Railway Company, the line opened from 1885. The whole of the Barry Railway, including Barry Docks, became a constituent part of the Great Western Railway in 1923, after the railway grouping and was known as the Vale of Glamorgan Railway. Local traffic on the line included that from the quarries and the cement works at Aberthaw. Wartime traffic was created from Tremains and Brackla Hill at Bridgend, more recent developments were the opening of Aberthaw A power station in February 1966 and later Aberthaw B station in the early 1970s and the Ford engine plant at Bridgend in January 1980. This still frequently happens at night or on Sundays and train operators can run freight traffic via this route to retain train crew route knowledge or to avoid delays on the main South Wales line. There remains a mainline connection with the operation of the Barry Tourist Railway at Barry Island railway station. The scheme was promoted by the Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend Borough Councils to the Welsh Assembly Government in August 1999, after agreeing funding, track upgrading and signalling works commenced in June 2004 with,3.5 miles of new track laid,6. At Bridgend, the Barry bay was relaid and a new platform face built, Network Rail used three contractors, Mowlem for the permanent way, Carillion for signals and telephones, and Galliford Try for civil engineering, including the platforms. The Vale of Glamorgan Council was responsible for the construction of the interchanges at Rhoose, Cardiff International Airport, Network Rail spent £15m and the Vale of Glamorgan Council £2m making a grand total of £17m for the whole project. The daytime closures were shortened from April to enable crew training to commence, the official opening was performed by Andrew Davies AM, Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Economic Development and Transport, on 10 June 2005. Arriva Trains Wales then ran a number of loco-hauled special services in conjunction with the Barry transport festival, the Barry, Penarth and Vale of Glamorgan branches are currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales as part of the Valley Lines network. ATW replaced the previous franchise, Wales & Borders in December 2003, the city, towns and villages served by the stations on the line are listed below. 4bn package of investment of the railways in England and Wales. The investment will require new trains and should result in reduced journeys times and it is thought to start between 2014 and 2019. List of railway stations in Cardiff
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Ebbw Valley Railway
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The Ebbw Valley Railway is a branch line of the Great Western Main Line in South Wales. Arriva Trains Wales provides a passenger service each way, between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central. The line was opened by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company, the line became part of British Railways Western Region in 1948, following the nationalisation of the railways. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1962, however, the route continued to be used to carry freight to and from the Corus steelworks in Ebbw Vale, until its closure in 2002. Proposals to re-open the existing railway line to passenger services were first mooted in 1998. The Welsh Assembly Government announced their commitment to the project in 2002, Passenger services were restored to the line in February 2008, after a gap of 46 years, using Class 150 diesel multiple units. The lines stations and services are managed by Arriva Trains Wales, the Ebbw Valley Railway provides an hourly passenger service between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central. Journey duration between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central is 60 minutes, intermediate stations are Ebbw Vale Parkway, Llanhilleth, Newbridge, Crosskeys, Risca and Pontymister, Rogerstone and Pye Corner. A dedicated feeder bus services link the line to Abertillery town centre from Llanhilleth, actual passenger numbers greatly exceed forecasts. In 2002, passenger journeys were forecast at 22,000 per month, whereas by 2008,44,000 journeys had been made on the service each month, also exceeding the monthly target of 33,000 set for 2012. In August 2008 Trish Law, Assembly Member for Blaenau Gwent, Arriva Trains Wales provide extra carriages at busy times, Saturdays and holidays, to cope with the demand. Each station has at least one Passenger Help Point and all stations, the line has its origins in the tramways and waggonways constructed to serve the various iron works in the upper Ebbw Valley to enable them to receive raw materials and dispatch products. Developments included, Rassa Railroad, a built in 1794 to connect the Sirhowy Ironworks to the Beaufort Ironworks. Llanhiledd Tramroad, from Crumlin north to Ebbw Vale, Sirhowy Tramroad, a 4-foot-2-inch plateway which opened in 1805 and ran from ironworks at Tredegar and Sirhowy to the Monmouthshire Canal. By 1805, a 24-mile stretch of tramline had been laid to transport coal and iron ore to Newport Docks, laid jointly by Tredegar Iron and Coal Company and the Monmouthshire Canal Company. Initially the trains were pulled by teams of horses, however, built at Tredegar Works, it made its maiden trip on 17 December 1829. Due to its success, conversion to standard gauge was delayed until 1860 but, after reopening in 1865, the line was worked by the London and North Western Railway from 1 July 1875 and taken over by the railway company the following year. Blaenavon Tramroad, a 3-foot-4-inch edge-railway opened in 1795-6 which linked the Blaenavon Ironworks with the Monmouthshire Canal at Pontnewydd and it was rebuilt in 1829 as a 4-foot-2-inch gauge plateway
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Bangor (Gwynedd) railway station
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Bangor railway station is a railway station in Bangor, Gwynedd, operated by Arriva Trains Wales. The station, which is 24 3⁄4 miles east of Holyhead, is the last mainland station on the North Wales Coast line between Crewe and Holyhead, the station, which cost £6,960 to build, was opened on 1 May 1848 by the Chester and Holyhead Railway. In some timetables it was shown as Bangor for Beaumaris, the present building on platform 1 was the main building, with a forecourt on the site of the present car park. Between 1924 and 1927 an additional line and platform were constructed on the site of the forecourt with a new frontage facing Deiniol Road. Ultimately there were four platforms and a bay platform to serve the main line. By the 1950s there were a goods yard, a five-road engine shed. There were a total of nine separate through routes from one tunnel to the other, in November 2009 the Welsh Assembly Government asked Network Rail to conduct a feasibility study on reopening the line between Llangefni on Anglesey and Bangor for passenger services. Network Rail was asked to assess the track bed before publishing its report in 2010, work to clear away 21 years of vegetation began in April 2012. The station presently uses two island platforms, each served by loop lines which diverge from and rejoin the main lines in each direction. At the western end of the station at the mouth of Belmont Tunnel, is a cross-over between the up line and the down main line. The station is staffed 7 days a week by both staff, who assist mobility-impaired passengers and dispatch the trains, and booking office clerks. The platform building houses rail staff offices, passenger toilets and a room, a café. Each platform is equipped with an electronic screen, and announcements are made over a public address system. There are storage racks for bicycles, both platforms are fully accessible for those with mobility impairments. The footbridge is accessed from both platforms by a staircase as well as a lift, as well as a staircase from the station concourse area outside the booking office. The station has two long stay car parks, to the front and rear of the station, the rear car park occupies part of the site of the former carriage sidings. This hourly service is complemented by several services to and from London Euston operated by Virgin Trains. Virgin also provide one service each way to/from Birmingham New Street via Crewe on weekdays, another train formed of Mark III coaches hauled by a Class 67 locomotive also forms one of the weekday services to and from Manchester Piccadilly
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Pembroke Dock railway station
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Pembroke Dock railway station serves the town of Pembroke Dock in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is located at the end of the Pembroke Dock branch of the West Wales Line from Swansea,27 1⁄4 miles southwest of Whitland and this ceased to be an issue when the GWR converted all of its lines in the area to standard gauge in 1872. As built, the station had two platforms, both are still in situ, but only the one is now in use. The main building has been converted into a real ale pub known as the Station Inn. A short freight branch ran past the station across local streets down to the dockside, and once carried munitions trains. There are no waiting shelters, but the station canopies remain to provide a waiting area. Level access is available from the car park and main entrance to the platform, the station has a regular daily service to/from Swansea via Carmarthen & Whitland, with some through trains to/from Cardiff Central and further east. Connections are available at Swansea for mainline destinations at other times, trains run every two hours Mon-Sat, with a less frequent service on Sundays. One through train in each direction is named The Pembroke Coast Express, train times and station information for Pembroke Dock railway station from National Rail
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Carmarthen railway station
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Carmarthen railway station is on the edge of the town of Carmarthen, Wales, south of the River Towy. It is on the West Wales Line and is managed by Arriva Trains Wales, Great Western Railway also operates a limited service between this station and London Paddington. The station is staffed, with the ticket office on platform 1 manned all week. A self-service ticket machine is provided for use outside these times, a buffet and newsagents shop are available here, along with toilets and a waiting room on platform 1, platform 2 has a shelter and bench seating. Train running information is provided by digital CIS displays, timetable posters, step-free access is available to both platforms, though platform 2 requires the use of a foot crossing - wheelchair users are advised not to use this without assistance. To the east, Arriva Trains Wales operate regular services to Swansea, Cardiff Central, Crewe, Great Western Railway currently operate one service per day between this station and London Paddington. The majority of train services west of Carmarthen are timed to connect with the London Paddington services at either Swansea or Cardiff Central. To the west, Arriva Trains Wales operate services to Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven, Carmarthen is the eastern terminus for a few of these services. The British Transport Police maintain a presence at Carmarthen, some of the Arriva Trains Wales boat trains to and from Fishguard Harbour serve the station. These connect with the Stena Line ferry to/from Rosslare Europort in Ireland with a morning and evening service in both directions. This route has been in existence since 1906, the present station is the third to serve the town and dates from 1902, although the South Wales Railways main line from Swansea to Neyland reached it some fifty years earlier. This original station was built with westward expansion in mind and was poorly sited for the town itself, the Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway, in spite of its name, never actually reached Cardigan, as it was constructed only as far as Newcastle Emlyn. Cardigan was eventually served instead by the winding Whitland and Cardigan Branch Line from Whitland, the C&CR did however link up with the ill-fated Manchester and Milford Railway at Pencader, putting the town on a through route to Aberystwyth by 1867. The final link in the chain of lines to the north was added in 1911 and this was worked by the Great Western Railway from the outset, as the company had by this time absorbed the other lines mentioned. Today, none of the lines to the north survive, the first round of closures having begun as early as May 1951 when the Aberaeron line lost its passenger trains. This was not so much of a problem with DMUs but led to the need for a run-round of locomotive-hauled trains which were used until the mid-1980s. Only two of the five original platforms here are now used, with the majority of using the former down main platform where the main facilities are located. This is the remnant of the former route north
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London Paddington station
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Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of the Great Western Railway, much of the main-line station dates from 1854 and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was first served by London Underground trains in 1863, as the western terminus of the Metropolitan Railway. Today, Paddington tube station is served by the Bakerloo, Circle, District and it is also the terminus for the Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect services to and from London Heathrow Airport. It is one of 19 stations in the United Kingdom managed directly by Network Rail and it is situated in fare zone 1. The station complex is bounded at the front by Praed Street and at the rear by Bishops Bridge Road, on the west side of the station is Eastbourne Terrace, while the east side is bounded by the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal. The station is in a cutting, a fact obscured at the front by a hotel building. The surrounding area is residential, and includes the major St Marys Hospital, restaurants. Until recently there was little office accommodation in the area, however, recent redevelopment of derelict railway and canal land, marketed as Paddington Waterside, has resulted in new office complexes nearby. In addition to the Underground stations at Paddington, Lancaster Gate tube station on the Central line is a walk away to the south. A little further to the south lie the conjoined parks of Hyde Park, the National Rail station is officially named London Paddington, a name commonly used outside London but rarely by Londoners, who call it just Paddington, as on the London Underground map. Parts of the station, including the train shed, date from 1854. It is one of 19 stations managed by Network Rail, the first station was a temporary terminus for the GWR on the west side of Bishops Bridge Road, opened on 4 June 1838. The first GWR service from London to Taplow, near Maidenhead, after the main station opened in 1854, this became the site of the goods depot. It opened on 29 May 1854, the glazed roof is supported by wrought iron arches in three spans, respectively spanning 68 feet,102 feet and 70 feet. The roof is 699 feet long, and the original roof spans had two transepts connecting the three spans and it is commonly believed that these were provided by Brunel to accommodate traversers to carry coaches between the tracks within the station. However recent research, using documents and photographs, does not seem to support this belief. The Great Western Hotel was built on Praed Street in front of the station in 1851–1854 by architect Philip Charles Hardwick, the station was substantially enlarged in 1906–1915 and a fourth span of 109 feet was added on the north side, parallel to the others
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Great Western Railway (train operating company)
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Great Western Railway is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup. It manages 208 stations and its trains call at over 270, GWR operates long-distance inter-city services along the Great Western Main Line to South West England and South Wales, as well as the Night Riviera sleeper service between London and Penzance. The company began operating in February 1996 as Great Western Trains, in December 1998 it became First Great Western after FirstGroup bought out its partners shares in Great Western Holdings. In April 2006, First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains were combined into the new Greater Western franchise and brought under the First Great Western brand. The company adopted its current name and a new livery in September 2015 to coincide with the start of a franchise that is due to run until April 2020. Great Western Holdings was owned by some former British Rail managers, FirstBus, in March 1998, FirstGroup bought out its partners stakes to give it 100% ownership. In December 1998, the franchise was rebranded as First Great Western, on 1 April 2004, First Great Western Link commenced operating the Thames Trains franchise. It operated local services from Paddington to Slough, Henley-on-Thames, Reading, Didcot, Oxford, Newbury, Bedwyn, Worcester, Hereford, Banbury. It also operated services from Reading to Gatwick Airport, and from Reading to Basingstoke, on 1 April 2006, the Great Western, Great Western Link and Wessex Trains franchises were combined into a new Greater Western franchise. FirstGroup, National Express and Stagecoach were shortlisted to bid for new franchise. On 13 December 2005, it was announced that FirstGroup had won the franchise, originally, First planned to subdivide its services into three categories based on routes. Following feedback from staff and stakeholders, the decision was taken to re-brand, in May 2011, FirstGroup announced that it had decided not to take up the option to extend its franchise beyond the end of March 2013. FirstGroup stated that, in the light of the plan to electrify the Great Western route from London via Bristol to Cardiff. CEO Tim OToole said, We believe we are best placed to manage these projects, in March 2012 Arriva, FirstGroup, National Express and Stagecoach were shortlisted to bid for the new franchise. The ITT ran from the end of July until October 2012, the winner would have been announced in March 2013, and taken on the franchise from 21 July 2013 until the end of July 2028. The new franchise would include the introduction of new Intercity Express Trains, capacity enhancements, the award of the franchise was again delayed in October 2012, while the Department for Transport reviewed the way rail franchises are awarded. In January 2013, the government announced that the current competition for the franchise had been terminated, a two-year franchise extension until September 2015 was agreed in October 2013, and subsequently extended until March 2019. A further extension to April 2019 was granted in March 2015, the company rebranded itself as Great Western Railway on 20 September 2015 and introduced a green livery in recognition of the former Great Western Railway
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Portsmouth Harbour railway station
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Portsmouth Harbour railway station is a railway station in Portsmouth, England. It is situated beside Gunwharf Quays in the harbour, and is an important transport terminal, with a bus interchange and ferry services to Gosport. The station currently has four platforms in use, numbered 1,3,4 and 5 and it is managed by South West Trains. Platform 2 is no longer in use, the station is built on a pier made of wood, between the Gunwharf Quays shopping centre and the Historic Dockyard. It was damaged during World War II by German bombs, then repaired, C.1928, T9 class locomotive No.337 was derailed on the approach to the station, blocking all lines. The station is served by a number of train operators, South West Trains operate two services to London Waterloo on the Portsmouth Direct Line and the other route to London Waterloo is via Fareham, Winchester and Basingstoke. They also operate trains to Southampton Central. There are train services along the West Coastway route, operated by Southern to Brighton, Littlehampton, Gatwick Airport, also, Great Western Railway operate trains via Southampton, Salisbury and Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff Central, via the Wessex Main Line. The ferry from Portsmouth Harbour Station to Ryde on the Isle of Wight is operated by Wightlink, National Rail tickets between the Isle of Wight and stations on Great Britain include travel on the ferry. However this service ceased around 2002 when the Class 220 Voyagers, the station was also served by Wessex Trains with one train a day to and from Penzance, as well as the services that are now run by their successor First Great Western. Train times and station information for Portsmouth Harbour railway station from National Rail
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Taunton railway station
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Taunton railway station is a junction station on the route from London to Penzance,143 miles west of London Paddington station. It is situated in Taunton, Somerset, England and is operated by Great Western Railway and it is also served by CrossCountry trains and by the West Somerset Railway on special event days and by mainline steam excursions. Originally opened on 1 July 1842 as part of the Bristol and Exeter Railway, isambard Kingdom Brunels original design was for a single-sided station with two platforms, each with their own buildings and train sheds, placed on the south side of the line. A hotel was built between them and the Grand Western Canal, an engine shed was provided at the west end of the station. A series of branches opened in the area during the thirty years. These were the Yeovil branch line, the West Somerset Railway to Watchet, the Chard Branch Line, while none of these branches had a junction in Taunton, the trains were generally run through to Taunton to provide connections. The station was unable to cope with all these trains and passengers. Goods traffic was moved away from the platforms by the opening on 1 November 1896 of a pair of avoiding lines that skirted around the south side of the station behind the old hotel. A larger engine shed was opened in the same year, the platforms were extended again in 1895. Now covering the length of the original single-sided station, they were the longest platforms on the Great Western Railway. New bay platforms were added to handle the trains from the branch lines and this work forced another rebuilding of the station. The train shed was dismantled and new buildings constructed on the up side along with a new platform in the middle of the station. This gave a face for each of the four through lines. Work included a new subway that replaced the old footbridge, the old goods shed was replaced by a two-storey goods warehouse next to the avoiding line, east of the station on 20 February 1932. London trains stopping at Taunton now crossed over to the lines at the London end of the station. The second pair of lines from Cogload were removed in 1986, the goods depot closed for general traffic in 1965, although bulk coal was handled until 1972. The engine shed closed on 1 January 1972, by time it only served as a fueling point for local diesel shunting locomotives. The various branch lines closed during the 1960s and 1970s, so only one bay platform was retained for local trains starting towards Bristol, the island platform was taken out of regular use for a few years, although it could be opened up in an emergency
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Nottingham station
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Nottingham station, briefly known as Nottingham City and for rather longer as Nottingham Midland, is a railway station and tram stop in the city of Nottingham. It is the railway station of the city of Nottingham. It is also a point on the citys tram system. The station was first built by the Midland Railway in 1848 and it is now owned by Network Rail but managed by East Midlands Trains. Besides trains of that company, it is served by CrossCountry and Northern trains. The station was one of several that served the city. Amongst these were the city stations of Nottingham Victoria, on the Great Central Railway, and Nottingham London Road, on the Great Northern Railway. A number of more minor stations served locations outside the city centre, Nottinghams first station was Carrington Street station, which opened in May 1839, when the Midland Counties Railway opened the line from Nottingham to Derby. This terminus station was situated on the side of Carrington Street to the current station, on a site now occupied by Nottingham Magistrates Court. The original station gate posts still exist and form the entrance to the Magistrates Courts area. In 1844 the Midland Counties Railway merged with two others into the Midland Railway, by 1848, the new company had outgrown Carrington Street station and new lines to Lincoln had been opened. A new through station was opened on the current station site on 22 May 1848, the station was designed by the architect J E Hall of Nottingham, and had its entrance on Station Street. In 1869 the Midland Railway purchased the West Croft Canal arm, filling it, in the 1880s Nottingham station employed 170 men. Although attractive when it first opened, by the early 1900s the station was cramped, with only three platforms. On 18 September 1896 a light engine, running tender first, was passing through the station when it came into collision with six empty fish trucks.5 feet fell onto the platforms, six people on the platform were injured. When the Great Central Railway opened its Victoria Station in 1900, the Midland Railway appointed Albert Edward Lambert, Lambert had been the architect for the Nottingham Victoria railway station and consequently the two buildings shared many similarities in their design. The station was largely on the same site as the Station Street station. The structural steelwork and cast-ironwork was done by Handyside & Co. the station was built in an Edwardian Baroque Revival style at a cost of £1 million, and was described by the Evening News on the eve of its opening as a magnificent new block of buildings
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CrossCountry
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CrossCountry is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the New Cross Country franchise. It is one of only two franchised train operating companies that does not operate any stations, the other being the Caledonian Sleeper, all routes call or terminate at Birmingham New Street. In June 2006 the Department for Transport announced its intention to restructure a number of franchises, some services from the Central Trains franchise were to be added. In October 2006 the Department for Transport issued the Invitation to Tender to the bidders, Arriva, First, National Express. Originally due to conclude on 31 March 2016, in March 2013 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the franchise would be extended until 9 November 2019. The company operates a number of key InterCity routes outside London including the Cross Country Route from the North East to the South West, the tender did not require retention of the services beyond Guildford after December 2008, so the services to Gatwick Airport and Brighton ceased. As a result, all CrossCountry services now completely avoid Greater London, from December 2008 a daily Nottingham to Bournemouth service was introduced. From December 2010 a number of services from Newcastle were extended from Reading to Southampton, from May 2011 a number of services were extended from Edinburgh to Glasgow to replace East Coast services. CrossCountry extended some of its Bournemouth services to Weymouth for the Sailing at the 2012 Olympics & Paralympics, there were two services Monday to Saturday in each direction, with one in each direction on Sundays. These ran express to Weymouth from Bournemouth, one train also operated a Weymouth to Bournemouth return journey, calling at Wareham and Poole. Plans were included by CrossCountry to reopen a station at Kenilworth, in April 2008 it agreed with Warwickshire Council to draw up a business case. There is a proposal for a station at Worcester Parkway where the Cross Country Route route intersects the Cotswold Line, if built, it will be on two levels, with the low level served by CrossCountry, and the high level by Great Western Railway. CrossCountrys current consultation document proposes removing almost all services to the Paignton area in order to prioritise services between Exeter St Davids and Birmingham and it also plans to scrap the UKs longest direct rail service from Aberdeen to Penzance. This will mean the Penzance to Dundee Service at 09,35 will instead become the UKs longest direct rail service CrossCountry does not manage any stations, the whole station is therefore managed by the main operator of the low-level platforms, which is London Midland. Manea was only served by CrossCountry until 2013, when Greater Anglia started running 1 train every two hours at the station in addition to the CrossCountry services there, to try and create a more pleasurable travelling experience, CrossCountry has designated 4 stations as alternative changeover stations. Cheltenham Spa, Derby, Leamington Spa and Wolverhampton were selected, the aim here was to make connection times shorter - with the stations selected being much smaller. This avoids having to change trains at Birmingham New Street, which is a larger and these 4 stations are marked on the CrossCountry route map, in yellow. Latest performance figures released by NR for this report a PPM of 89. 2%
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Euston railway station
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Euston railway station is a central London railway terminus located on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is the terminus of the West Coast Main Line to Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh. The line is the busiest intercity passenger route in Britain and the gateway from London to the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales. The main line station is connected to Euston tube station and is near to Euston Square tube station on the London Underground and it is one of 19 stations in the country that are managed by Network Rail. Euston is the sixth-busiest station in Britain, virgin Trains provides high-speed intercity services, London Midland also operates local commuter and regional services as well as long-distance services. Euston is also the terminus of the suburban Watford DC Line operated by London Overground. It was the first intercity railway station to be built in London, as the terminus of the London, the original 1837 station was demolished and rebuilt in the 1960s. Euston is proposed to be the London terminus of the future High Speed 2 route and it is a short walk from Kings Cross, the southern terminus of the East Coast Main Line, and St Pancras for Midland Main Line and Eurostar services. These stations and Euston are all in Travelcard Zone 1, Euston was the first intercity railway station in London, opened on 20 July 1837 as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway. The building was demolished in the 1960s and replaced with the present building in the modern style. The site was chosen in the early 1830s by George and Robert Stephenson, the area was mostly farmland at the edge of the expanding city. The station was named after Euston Hall in Suffolk, the home of the Dukes of Grafton. Objections by local farmers meant that, when the Act authorising construction of the line was passed in 1833 and these objections were overcome, and in 1835 an Act authorised construction of the station, which then went ahead. It was designed by the classically trained architect Philip Hardwick with a 200 ft -long trainshed by structural engineer Charles Fox and it had two platforms, one for departures and one for arrivals. Also by Hardwick was a 72 ft -high Doric propylaeum, the largest ever built, erected at the entrance as a portico, the station grew rapidly as traffic increased. It was greatly expanded with the opening in 1849 of the Great Hall and it was 126 ft long,61 ft wide and 64 ft high, with a coffered ceiling and a sweeping double flight of stairs leading to offices at its northern end. Architectural sculptor John Thomas contributed eight allegorical statues representing the cities served by the line. The station stood on Drummond Street, further back from Euston Road than the front of the complex, Drummond Street now terminates at the side of the station
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Virgin Trains
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Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group and Stagecoach that has operated the InterCity West Coast franchise since 9 March 1997. Virgin Trains operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland. The service connects six of the UKs largest cities, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh, Virgin Rail Group was awarded the InterCity West Coast franchise in January 1997 after beating Sea Containers and Stagecoach with operations commencing on 9 March 1997. In October 1998 Virgin Group sold 49% of the shares in Virgin Rail Group to Stagecoach, when Virgin won the franchise, Railtrack was to upgrade the West Coast Main Line to allow tilting trains to operate at 140 mph by 2005. Due to costs having blown out from £2.5 billion to £10 billion there were cutbacks to the upgrade, in May 1998 Virgin introduced new services from London Euston to Shrewsbury and Blackpool North. The former ceased in 1999, the latter in May 2003, in December 2014, a daily weekday service between London Euston and Blackpool North and a twice daily service between London Euston and Shrewsbury were reintroduced. In September 2004 a London Euston to Llandudno service was introduced ceasing in December 2008, in September 2005 Virgin introduced its first 125 mph timetable following the completion of Stage 1 of the upgrade. In December 2008 a Wrexham to London Euston service was introduced operating south in the morning with an evening return, in February 2009 an hourly London Euston to Chester service was introduced. From January 2009 Virgin Trains gradually rolled out a new Very High Frequency timetable to take advantage of the completed West Coast Main Line upgrade, there were many timetable changes from 8 December 2013. Edinburgh/Glasgow services now run to/from London and call at Sandwell & Dudley replacing the hourly Wolverhampton to Euston service, in addition most Liverpool services will additionally call at Crewe. This has resulted in the latter being serviced by four Virgin trains in each direction per hour to/from London instead of the previous two, Virgin Trains suffered poor punctuality compared with some other transport operators between 2001 and 2006, according to Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Punctuality did gradually improve until the introduction of a new timetable, following the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line, performance subsequently recovered and peaked during 2010-2011, but then fell again and reached a new low for the year ending 31 March 2013 of 83. 6%. Financial year to 31 March 2008,86. 2%, financial year to 31 March 2009,80. 0%. Financial year to 31 March 2010,84. 6%, financial year to 31 March 2011,86. 6%. Financial year to 31 March 2012,85. 9%, financial year to 31 March 2013,83. 6%. Financial year to 31 March 2014,85. 8%, financial year to 31 March 2015,84. 7%. Latest figures published by Network Rail for the period of 2013-2014 recorded PPM of 92. 2% for the period. The PPM performance for the period is down 2.7 percentage points on the figure from the same period last year
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