Month: January 2025

Almost two years after the local authority granted Network Rail listed building consent to remove the two semaphore signal brackets at Bognor Regis there is still no sign of any replacement activity, and they continue to safely signal trains out of the South Coast resort, along with another pair at nearby Littlehampton.

My repeated attempts to get an official update on any re-signalling plans from Network Rail proved unsuccessful, but what was intriguing was to hear from one of the Bognor platform staff that the signal heads there had been replaced in the last few months, while those at Littlehampton also looked rather new.

Continue reading “South Coast semaphores soldier on”

Four years after its promised transformation was begun with the pensioning off of the 1938-vintage Class 483 units on 3 January 2021, it is fair to say that things have not gone too well with rail services on the charming Isle of Wight.

An investment of £26 million in the 8½-mile route from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin and the arrival of a new five strong fleet of two-car Class 484 units – created from former London Underground District Line D78 stock – were meant to herald a bright new future for Island Line.

Continue reading “Winter sunshine on the Isle of Wight”