UK passenger train operator news – Page 18
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Rail Business UKThameslink EMUs to get ETCS onboard upgrade
UK: A five-year contract to upgrade the Class 700 Thameslink EMU fleet to the latest specification of European Train Control System has been awarded through the cross-industry East Coast Digital Programme. The £32·7m contract announced on June 21 was signed by infrastructure manager Network Rail, operator ...
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Rail Business UKTrain operator trials assistance app for blind and partially sighted passengers
UK: Govia Thameslink Railway is trialling the Aria wayfinding app which connects blind and partially sighted people to a remote adviser who can use the passenger’s smartphone camera to guide them through a station to a member of staff. Passengers at Brighton, Stevenage, London Blackfriars and ...
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Rail Business UKWelsh government seeks plan to improve Wrexham – Bidston line performance
UK: Following a long period of disruption, the Welsh government’s Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters has asked Transport for Wales Rail to develop a plan to improve services on the Wrexham – Bidston Borderlands line. Earlier in the year, services had been suspended for ...
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Rail Business UKNorthern deploys train fleet maintenance management software
UK: Northern Trains has begun the roll-out of Danburykline’s SOROS maintenance management software across its fleet of 345 trainsets. The SOROS cloud-hosted mobile-first web application provides information on when and where each train will need its next service; the maintenance history and upcoming required safety checks ...
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Rail Business UKAugmented reality station maps designed to assist passengers
UK: Indoor wayfinding company Briteyellow has created augmented reality maps of six of the largest stations served by Transport for Wales, to help passengers locate facilities such as information screens, lifts, toilets, help points and waiting rooms. It is hoped the AR maps can be used ...
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Rail Business UKCambridge South station and rail enhancement funding confirmed
UK: The Cambridge South Infrastructure Enhancements scheme including the construction of a new station to serve Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Biomedical Campus has been given the go-ahead with the confirmation of around £200m of government funding. The project includes remodelling the railway between Cambridge and Shepreth ...
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Rail Business UK‘A victory for union hard-liners’ as TransPennine Express transfer risks causing more disruption
Rail Business UK can reveal that the short-notice decision by Transport Secretary Mark Harper to bring TransPennine Express into the government’s Operator of Last Resort has stoked serious concerns about unintended consequences within the industry.
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Rail Business UKManchester rail plans rethought as ‘ambition wasn’t able to be delivered’
UK: Network Rail has withdrawn a planning application for rail infrastructure works in Manchester, Rail Minister Huw Merriman confirmed during a visit to the city on May 25.
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Rail Business UKReading Green Park station opens
UK: Passenger trains began serving the new Reading Green Park station on the Reading to Basingstoke line on May 27, following an inauguration ceremony two days previously. The station’s development was undertaken by Reading Borough Council, Network Rail and train operator Great Western Railway, with the ...
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Rail Business UKLocally guided £72m rail plan aims to unblock northern rail capacity
UK: Rail Minister Huw Merriman announced a £72m programme of investment for the network in Greater Manchester during a visit to Manchester Victoria station.
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Rail Business UKInterview: ‘You can’t innovate as a monopolist’
UK: Avanti West Coast and c2c parent Trenitalia is ready to make significant investment in Britain’s railways, mirroring its recent expansion in Spain. But this is contingent on the government relaxing its grip on the industry, the company’s UK Managing Director Ernesto Sicilia explains to Nick Kingsley and Sophie Burton.
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Rail Business UKLight rail in Havering Council infrastructure vision
UK: Havering Council has announced an infrastructure vision for the east London borough which includes a ‘tram, light rail or other form of transport’.
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Rail Business UKEast Coast Azuma charter signed
UK: LNER, Agility Trains and Hitachi Rail have signed a ‘pioneering’ Relationship Charter covering collaboration during the remaining 23 years of the contract to provide rolling stock for use on the East Coast Main Line. In 2014 Department for Transport’s Intercity Express Programme awarded Agility Trains ...
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Rail Business UKSix projects awarded rail accessibility innovation funding
UK: Independent pan-disability body the Northern Accessibility User Group has selected six projects to share funding from Northern’s £250 000 Accessibility Innovation Fund. South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority will create an Accessibility Hub at the Meadowhall transport interchange in Sheffield. Working with TransPennine Express, this ...
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Rail Business UKCollaborative approach completes depot upgrade
UK: RTS Infrastructure Services has installed a new fuelling and servicing facility at Northern’s Barrow-in-Furness light maintenance depot, as part of a project which the contractor’s Managing Director Chris Reid said was a ‘masterclass in teamwork and flexibility’. The depot enhancements enable Northern to operate six-car ...
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Rail Business UKNo silver bullet promised as TransPennine Express to transfer to Operator of Last Resort
UK: FirstGroup’s National Rail Contract to operate TransPennine Express services will not be renewed when it expires on May 28, Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper announced on May 11. Operations will instead be transferred to the government’s Operator of Last Resort. Services will run ...
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Rail Business UKLNER to expand single-leg ticket pricing
UK: LNER has announced the roll-out of single-leg pricing across all journeys where it manages the pricing, with tickets going on sale from May 14 for travel from June 11. The operator said this would make ticketing ‘simpler and more flexible’. Anytime Single, Off-Peak/Super Off-Peak Single ...
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In depthTrain Control: En route to digital signalling
Final testing and commissioning of ETCS Level 2 is underway on the Northern City Line to London’s Moorgate terminus, which is due to go live later this year as a ‘pathfinder’ project for the East Coast Digital Programme. Chris Jackson reports.
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In depthUK: Lumo takes on the airlines
In the 18 months since its launch on the London – Edinburgh route, open access operator Lumo has driven up ridership and lifted rail’s market share significantly, as FirstGroup’s Commercial & Revenue Director Stuart Jones explains to Tony Miles.
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In depthUK: East Coast collaboration is delivering
Almost uniquely among UK train operators, LNER is seeing ridership on its inter-city services well above pre-pandemic levels, while a collaborative approach between operator and infrastructure manager is driving up performance. Tony Miles investigates.