A big week for Railway 200

Welcome back to 'This Week on the Railway' — it's Sunday, 9 February, the end of the sixth week of 2025, so let's take a look at what's happened. We'll start with Railway 200, then move onto news from Network Rail.

Events for February and March that are part of the 'Railway 200' festivities have been announced, and the list is long. There is plenty going on, from rail tours organised by railway preservation societies to rail careers fairs. As I mentioned last week, Avanti West Coast are looking to break the time record between London and Glasgow, too.

Railway 200, by the way, is a year-long, nationwide celebration of the railways and train travel, which all started with the opening of the Stockton & Darlington railway on 27 September 1825. It's a pretty big deal already, at least in terms of events, and we're only a month into the new year. Expect to hear lots more about it over the coming months.

The programme is being coordinated by the Great British Railways Transition Team, which is also responsible for the gradual renationalisation of the railways that we'll be seeing over the next few years.

A timeline of train travel: While we're still talking about Railway 200, there are a few more news items worth pointing out. The first is a launch of an interactive timeline documenting the last 200 years of train travel.

It was produced in partnership with the Railway Museum (based in York) and is a proper, digital exhibit on the history of the railways. It's well worth a look if you have a spare ten minutes or so.

"It is important that we remember the story of the railway and its impact on British life, and the world. Not only does this new timeline capture and explain some great examples of British ingenuity through the ages, but it also shines a light on the social and economic changes made possible by the journeys and connections people made. We hope the addition of music, videos, maps, and links to explore subjects in more depth help to intrigue and inspire people of all ages to find out more about the game-changing impact of rail on our lives. We would love more young people to consider how they can play their part in the future of our railways. 

"I’d like to thank the National Railway Museum, and all of our partners, for their support in bringing the Railway 200 timeline to life and making it a really useful, reliable source of information for everyone to enjoy."

Emma Roberts, Programme Director, Railway 200

390200: Next, Avanti West Coast announced that it would be naming one of its Class 390 Pendolinos 'Railway 200' and temporarily renumbering it to 390200. The unit in question was 390016, but, no, this doesn't imply the existence of the 390/2 sub-class, and the train is still nine cars long.

The art of the railways: And finally, the charity Art UK is running a railway-themed art competition for Railway 200. They want the public to get involved by voting on three of their favourite artworks, to narrow down the longlist to just 20. It includes paintings, drawings, and sculptures from over 100 collections.

"We are thrilled to be giving the public the chance to vote for their favourite railway artwork. The long list of artworks shows the wide range of artists who have been inspired by train travel and gives an insight into the wonderful richness of the UK’s collections of publicly owned art. There are 132 named artists and 94 collections represented in The Railway 200 Gallery and we hope that people from across the world will enjoy exploring these artworks and voting for their favourites."

Andrew Ellis, Chief Executive, Art UK

Mid Cornwall Metro: Work on stage three of the project to deliver an hourly coast-to-coast service is underway. This will consist of a 400 m passing loop at Goss Moor, to allow long-distance and local trains to run simultaneously between Newquay and Par.

An hourly train service between Newquay and Par is set to roll out this autumn, while direct trains running the whole route between Newquay and Falmouth are due for 2026.

The work is being funded jointly by the government and Cornwall Council.

New signalling infrastructure installed: In preparation for the East-West railway's opening between Oxford and Milton Keynes, new, 'cutting edge' signalling technology with 'high capacity fibre connectivity' was installed along the track.

Really, it's just new signalling infrastructure that will connect to the Rugby rail operating centre, plus some adjectives. It's not uncommon for signalling assets to be replaced, but this is an all-new rollout.

It comprises 59 signals, 18 points, and over 150,000 metres of cable for 41 miles of track.

That's all for this week. See you soon.