Rail Business UK – Page 171
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Rail Business UKHector Rail sells GB Railfreight to Infracapital
UK: EQT Infrastructure’s Hector Rail business has reached a definitive agreement to sell its UK subsidiary GB Railfreight to Infracapital, the unlisted infrastructure equity arm of M&GPrudential which is due to demerge from Prudential plc in the fourth quarter of this year. EQT Infrastructure ...
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Rail Business UKStation Improvement Vision for Wales
UK: Transport for Wales has announced a 15-year Station Improvement Vision covering 247 stations. The £194m programme includes free wi-fi and improved shelters, CCTV, cycle storage and passenger information. ‘Where possible’, TfW will provide retail opportunities for local businesses and support the development of community spaces. The ...
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Rail Business UKPublic Accounts Committee ‘unconvinced’ that arch sale was best value
UK: The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has published its report into Network Rail’s £1·46bn sale of its commercial rental space portfolio in England and Wales – mainly railway arches – to The Arch Company on a 150-year leasehold basis. The report published on September 13 ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps has instructed HS2 Ltd to review its ancient woodlands clearance programme to assess which removals can be halted until after Douglas Oakervee completes his review of the project later this year. On September 16 Shapps said removals would stop ...
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Rail Business UKOld Oak Common HS2 station contract awarded
Old Oak Common is one of two London stations on High Speed 2. UK: A joint venture of Balfour Beatty, Vinci and Systra has been selected to manage the construction and delivery of the High Speed 2 station at Old Oak Common in northwest London. With six ...
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Rail Business UKNetwork Rail backs post-hackathon accelerator fund
UK: The ideas selected at this year’s HackTrain hackathon event on November 15-17 are to receive funding from Network Rail to accelerate the development of their concepts. River Tamoor Baig of HackTrain organiser Hack Partners said it had worked with NR to create a process that works ...
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Rail Business UKMidlands Engine Rail proposal launched
UK: Sub-national transport body Midlands Connect has set out its £3·5bn Midlands Engine Rail proposal for seven major projects which it says would ‘revolutionise’ the rail network in the East and West Midlands, helping to support sustainability, productivity and social mobility. The seven projects are: 1) The ...
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Rail Business UKIsle of Wight line’s future secured with £26m investment
UK: Investment of £26m to secure the future of the 13·7 km line between Ryde and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight was announced on September 16. This includes infrastructure modernisation and replacement of the life-expired fleet of small profile ex-London Underground trains which date back to ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
UK 20190912 Southeastern introduced ‘Delay Repay 15’ on September 11, reducing the threshold for claiming a refund from 30 to 15 min. ‘Nearly 90% of passenger journeys on franchises we manage are now covered by the scheme’, said Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris. Network Rail is ...
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Rail Business UKEast West Rail designated as nationally significant project
UK: Following a public consultation process the government has designated the Bedford – Cambridge section of the Oxford – Cambridge railway corridor reinstatement scheme as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. This means that project promoter East West Railway Co can apply to the Secretary of State for ...
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Rail Business UK‘Digital twin’ to support more robust timetable planning
Greater Anglia UK: Greater Anglia has worked with Toshiba to create a ‘digital twin’ of its network to assist with the development of new timetables, which can then be tested for robustness using artificial intelligence. Toshiba Digital & Consulting Corp consolidated data previously stored across separate systems, ...
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In depthCamlin supports Network Rail with large-scale PANTOBOT 3D deployment on Great Western Main Line
Camlin has been contracted by Network Rail Infrastructure Projects Wales & Western to supply and install its award-winning PANTOBOT 3D smart pantograph monitoring system at six locations on the Great Western Main Line.
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Rail Business UKClass 170 DMUs transfer to Wales
UK: Transport for Wales has taken delivery of the first of eight three-car and four two-car Class 170 diesel multiple-units which are being transferred from Greater Anglia. Driver training is scheduled to begin on September 16 with the units expected to enter service on the Cheltenham ...
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Rail Business UKWest Midlands Trains to split Chase Line services again
EMUs replaced DMUs on the Chase Line following the completion of electrification in early 2019. Photo: Tony Miles UK: After months of poor performance on the Chase Line between Birmingham and Rugeley Trent Valley, West Midlands Trains has decided to split the route from its Birmingham – ...
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Rail Business UKShow Us the Rail Enhancements, says Railway Industry Association
Show Us the Rail Enhancements, says Railway Industry Association UK: The Railway Industry Association has launched a ‘Show Us the Rail Enhancements’ campaign, calling on the government to publish its list of planned large projects such as electrification and the provision of additional tracks. RIA represents more ...
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Rail Business UKHS2 benefits ‘substantially undervalued’ amid rising costs
UK: The Chairman of High Speed 2 Ltd Allan Cook believes that ‘the benefits of the current scheme are substantially undervalued’, according to a ‘stocktake report’ presented to the House of Commons by Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps on September 3. Updating Parliament on progress ...
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Rail Business UKChannel Tunnel ‘ready for Brexit’
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel concessionaire Eurotunnel is prepared for the UK’s scheduled departure from the European Union on October 31 ‘no matter the outcome’, it said on September 2. The company said there would no change to immigration formalities for the 22 million passengers/year who use ...
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Rail Business UKSystra buys British Steel’s TSP Projects business
UK: Systra announced the acquisition of British Steel’s TSP Projects subsidiary on August 30. The international transport consultancy said this would double its presence in the UK, with TSP Projects’ extensive experience of civils, electrification and track works complementing its existing UK rail engineering services and providing ...
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Rail Business UKYoung Rail Tours to explore the world of rail
INTERNATIONAL: UK-based networking and educational association Young Rail Professionals has launched Young Rail Tours in partnership with the Young Members sections of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Railway Division, the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers and the Institution of Engineering & Technology Railway Technical Professional Network. YRT ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
Hull Trains has revealed that its five Hitachi AT300 electro-diesel trainsets will be branded the ‘Paragon’ fleet. Paragon is the traditional suffix of Hull’s main and now only station. Entry to service is planned from mid-November. TransPennine Express put the first of its 13 Nova 3 trainsets ...