Network Rail news – Page 7
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Rail Business UKRail Accident Investigation Branch publishes Carmont derailment report
UK: Network Rail and its contractors come in for criticism in the Rail Accident Investigation Branch’s report into the fatal derailment at Carmont near Stonehaven. In its report published on March 10, RAIB focuses on the processes put in place to manage drainage at the site. ...
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Rail Business UKAlstom awarded Farncombe – Petersfield signalling contract
UK: Network Rail has awarded Alstom a £49m contract for signalling and level crossing works between Farncombe and Petersfield as part of the Portsmouth Direct Upgrade project. Control of the area’s signalling will be transferred from three local signal boxes to the ...
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Rail Business UKLevenmouth Rail Link reopening works get underway
UK: Network Rail has begun construction works for the Levenmouth Rail Link scheme to reopen the 6·5 km branch from Thornton Junction to Leven which has been out of use since 2001.
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Rail Business UKEbbw Vale upgrading gets underway
UK: Preparatory work on the £70m modernisation and partial double-tracking of the Ebbw Vale line in south Wales has begun. The work will allow hourly passenger services between Ebbw Vale Town and Newport, complementing the existing service to and from Cardiff. New platforms will be built ...
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Rail Business UKOnboard track condition monitoring sensors on trial in Scotland
UK: Hitachi Rail’s Perpetuum subsidiary is working with Network Rail, Porterbrook and ScotRail to test the use of onboard digital sensors to automate the detection of track faults. The self-contained and self-powered sensors mounted in trains running in passenger service use a combination of gyroscopes and ...
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Rail Business UKNetwork Rail tests earth movement meters in Scotland
UK: Network Rail’s Scotland route is testing surface-mounted earth movement meters at 26 sites. The tilt meters are designed to detect movement in slopes, embankments and earthworks of more than 5°, and sound an alert via the GSM-R telecoms network to inform control staff of the ...
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Rail Business UKNetwork Rail announces further job cuts
UK: Plans to cut more than 900 management, professional and technical jobs were announced by Network Rail on February 4. Tim Shoveller, Managing Director, North West & Central Region, said ‘our railway is in a financial crisis, reliant on government handouts to keep its head above ...
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Rail Business UKConstruction of Portway P&R station gets underway
UK: Network Rail has begun construction of Portway Park & Ride station on the Bristol to Severn Beach branch, with opening planned for the summer. Preparatory works were completed in December. Much of the main construction will be carried out overnight, but services on the Severn ...
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Rail Business UKRailway resilience report outlines climate change challenges
UK: Network Rail has published its third Adaption Report, outlining the risks which climate change poses to the rail network and measures required to improve resilience. The report sets out the progress made on climate change and resilience since 2016, identifies further actions which are needed, ...
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Rail Business UKAutism-friendly guide to travelling by train
UK: Network Rail has worked with the National Autistic Society to produce an online guide help autistic people travel by train independently and with confidence. The guide shows the sights and sounds passengers could experience during every stage of a journey, from purchasing tickets, to getting ...
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Rail Business UKNetwork Rail aims to increase the number of disabled people it employs
UK: Network Rail is aiming to increase the number of disabled people it employs, after figures showed that less than 3% of its 44 000 staff have declared a disability or long-term health condition. ‘Around 20% of the population is disabled, and yet less than 3% ...
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Rail Business UKDormouse bridge to cross railway
UK: Network Rail is to build a bridge to enable endangered hazel dormice to cross the railway between Lancaster and Barrow-in-Furness. This is part of efforts by charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species to establish new hazel dormouse populations to tackle a 51% decline in their ...
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Rail Business UKORR calls on Network Rail to maintain performance improvements
UK: The Office of Rail & Road has called for Network Rail to take action to retain the service performance improvements seen during the pandemic, as passengers return to the railway. In its mid-year performance letter to Network Rail published on November 23, ORR said performance ...
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Rail Business UKDartmoor reopening returns regular trains to Okehampton
UK: GWR began operating regular passenger services between Exeter and Okehampton on November 20, with the ‘Dartmoor Line’ from Crediton being the first route to be reopened under the government’s ‘Restoring Your Railway’ programme.
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Rail Business UKSODOR enters the space race
UK: The Satellites for Digitalisation of Railways project has been launched to demonstrate how constellations of communication satellites could be combined with terrestrial telecoms networks to provided passengers and train operators with better onboard connectivity, including in stations and tunnels. SODOR is being developed by a ...
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Rail Business UKORR seeks increased competition in the signalling market
UK: Proposals for increasing competition in the signalling market to reduce costs and boost performance, efficiency and innovation have been published by the Office of Rail & Road. ORR’s market study found that the signalling market in Great Britain is worth £800m to 900m per year ...
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Rail Business UKNetwork Rail ‘concerned’ about future access to European research programme
UK: Speaking at the Railway Industry Association’s annual conference in London on November 5, Network Rail Chief Executive Andrew Haines expressed concern that the difficult political relationship between the UK government and the European Union since Brexit poses a risk to future access to European railway research programmes.
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Rail Business UKTrack monitoring system to be tested on Chiltern line
UK: Network Rail is to undertake in-service trials with DB Systemtechnik’s CTM2·0 continuous track monitoring system on a Chiltern Railways MkIII driving van trailer operating in passenger service between London Marylebone and Birmingham. The equipment measures longitudinal level, twist, dynamic alignment, ride comfort, cyclic top, speed ...
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Rail Business UKSteam locomotive ETCS testing contract awarded
UK: Network Rail has appointed Atkins and Thales to carry out design and trial fitment to determine whether it is a viable to fit ETCS onboard equipment to steam and heritage diesel locomotives, enabling them to continue operating on routes where ETCS is to be rolled ...
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Rail Business UKDiesel replaces electric traction in face of rising power costs
UK: Some rail freight operators have temporarily replaced electric haulage with diesel traction, following significant increases in the cost of traction electricity. The increase between September and October is understood to be more than 210%. Network Rail said the costs were the result of price rises ...