UK passenger train operator news – Page 2
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Rail Business UKAlex Hynes appointed DfT Director General Rail Services
UK: The Department for Transport has appointed Alex Hynes as Director General Rail Services. He is due to join on a two-year secondment from his current position as Managing Director of Scotland’s Railway on April 15. Interim Director General Anit Chandarana will return to Network Rail ...
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Rail Business UKScotRail trials Smart Kiosk ticket machine
TICKETING: ScotRail is trialling a Smart Kiosk ticket vending machine supplied by Cammax which is designed to provide passengers in Scotland with a wider range of ticket options and information. As well as purchasing tickets on the day of travel, passengers can obtain live travel information, including ...
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Rail Business UKFirstGroup’s open access performing ahead of expectations
UK: Trading in FirstGroup’s First Rail division has been slightly ahead of expectations due to strong performance at the open access businesses, the company said in a pre-close trading update. The announcement on March 12 covers the period since the half year results were published on ...
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Rail Business UKSoutheastern launches Social Mobility Action Plan
UK: Southeastern says it is the first UK rail operator to publish a Social Mobility Action Plan. Southeastern worked with The Purpose Coalition on the plan, which is based a framework of ‘Purpose Goals’ mapping out 14 barriers to opportunity. These include various life stages alongside ...
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Rail Business UKRail regulator identifies how assistance for disabled passengers needs to improve
UK: The Office of Rail & Road has identified ways in which the provision of assistance for disabled passengers needs to be improved, following audits of how five operators are meeting regulatory requirements. ORR chose East Midlands Railway, Govia Thameslink Railway, Greater Anglia, LNER and Northern ...
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Rail Business UKThird rail or batteries could replace Southern diesel trains
UK: Govia Thameslink Railway is unable to commit to decarbonisation of its operations unless Network Rail and the Department for Transport agree to fund and implement alternatives to diesel operation on the un-electrified Ashford – Hastings and Hurst Green – Uckfield lines, the operator says in its ...
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Rail Business UKLumo plans to extend open access services to Glasgow
UK: Open access train operator Lumo is has announced plans to extend some of its London – Edinburgh services to Glasgow. The FirstGroup-owned company is working with Transport Scotland and infrastructure manager Network Rail to agree final route options and timings ahead of an application for ...
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Rail Business UKNorthern uses AI to trial British Sign Language announcements
UK: Train operator Northern is working with InfoTec and Signapse to test the use of AI to provide onboard announcements in British Sign Language. The software combines individual words signed by a BSL interpreter to display complete sentences on the information screens. The initial trials involve ...
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Rail Business UKSteve Murphy to leave MTR UK
UK: MTR UK Chief Executive Steve Murphy is to leave ‘to pursue other career goals’, Hong Kong-based transport group MTR Corp announced on February 23. Murphy’s last working day will be March 29. The process of appointing a new CEO has begun, and the MTR Elizabeth ...
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Rail Business UKProcurement of new TransPennine Express trains to learn lessons from past
UK: TransPennine Express has confirmed more details of the trainsets which are to be ordered under the procurement process which was launched following the confirmation of the latest £3·9bn tranche of funding for the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme. Expressions of interest were invited in December, and ...
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Rail Business UKCrossCountry Managing Director leaves
UK: Managing Director Tom Joyner left CrossCountry with immediate effect on February 15.
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Rail Business UKTransPennine Express confirms plans to ‘build back’ its timetable
UK: TransPennine Express has confirmed that it expects to begin reinstating services to meet commitments it made when it announced temporary timetable reductions in December 2023. Good progress has been made with crew training which will allow the operator to begin to restore services from June ...
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Rail Business UKLondon Overground routes get new names
UK: Names have been announced for the six London Overground inner-suburban rail routes. They do not currently have individual identities, and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said giving them distinct colours and names would ‘make it easier for passengers to get around’ while celebrating ‘London’s unique ...
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Rail Business UKTransPennine Express refreshes ‘diluted and confused’ onboard catering
UK: TransPennine Express is to relaunch its onboard catering proposition from February 26 after a review concluded that its existing offering had become ‘diluted and confused’. The operator told stakeholders that this is partly the result of timetable enhancements which have not been matched by budget ...
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Rail Business UKContactless PAYG launched in South Wales
UK: Transport for Wales has launched a contactless card Pay-As-You-Go pilot project covering journeys between Cardiff Central, Newport and Pontyclun. The Ebbw Vale line will be covered next, and the scheme is to be expanded to 95 stations across South Wales during 2024. Passengers can tap ...
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Rail Business UKFull Bedford – Bletchley service returns with £1 tickets
UK: A full service will resume on the Marston Vale Line between Bedford and Bletchley from February 19, operator West Midlands Trains has announced. Trains on the route were replaced by buses in December 2022 following the demise of Vivarail, which supplied ...
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Rail Business UKBradford Forster Square station remodelling funded
UK: The Department for Transport has announced £24m of funding for the delivery of works to increase capacity at Bradford Forster Square station. A further £4m has previously been spent on design work for the project, which includes a new platform, relocating a crossover and associated ...
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Rail Business UKBattery train trial equipment installed
UK: Great Western Railway is testing a Class 230 battery multiple-unit on the national network between Long Marston, Evesham, Honeybourne and Moreton-in-Marsh, ahead of trials of the train and FastCharge technology on the Greenford branch in west London. In February 2022 GWR signed an agreement with ...
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Rail Business UKClass 730 EMU arrives in the West Midlands
UK: ‘Customers will have their breath taken away’ said West Midlands Mayor Andy Street when West Midlands Railway presented its Alstom Aventra Class 730 EMUs in Wolverhampton on February 8. As part of a £700m investment in new rolling stock, operator West Midlands Trains is introducing ...
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Rail Business UKTrain operator launches British Sign Language interpretation service
UK: East Midlands Railway has signed up to a British Sign Language service to help deaf passengers communicate with staff. The service operated by InterpretersLive is accessed via an app or link which puts users in touch with an BSL interpreter. The interpreter finds out the ...