UK passenger train operator news – Page 38
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Rail Business UKLNER FutureLabs innovation programme launched
UK: The LNER FutureLabs programme has been launched to provide an opportunity for technology start-ups to test their ideas in the railway environment. The programme has three ‘challenges’: More Journeys, More Often: digital services that encourage more people to travel by train; Personalised Customer Experience: simplifying, ...
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NewsCAF Rail UK awarded DMU maintenance contract
UK: Translink has awarded CAF Rail UK a contract to continue to maintain NI Railways’ fleet of 23 Class 3000 diesel multiple-units which entered service from 2004. The new contract runs for 15 years from April, and is worth more than €60m. The work will be performed ...
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Rail Business UKEdinburgh – London open access service takes shape
UK: With the first of five Hitachi-built trainsets delivered to the UK for fitting out, FirstGroup has appointed the leadership team for its low-cost open access service between Edinburgh and London, which is scheduled to start running from October 2021. Helen Wylde has been appointed as Managing ...
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Rail Business UKScotRail delivers material for hospital scrubs
UK: ScotRail has transported 30 bales of fabric from Glasgow Queen Street to Inverness so volunteer group NHS Scotland for the Love of Scrubs can make them into hospital scrubs for NHS staff. The material was loaded on to an off-peak service on April 24. ‘By transporting ...
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Rail Business UKGreat Anglia temporarily closes ticket offices during lockdown
UK: With its passenger numbers down by more than 90%, Greater Anglia temporarily closed 34 ticket offices with effect from April 19 and reduced opening hours at a further seven. Offices consistently selling less than 20 tickets/day have been closed, except for those near big hospitals. Tickets ...
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Rail Business UKManchester Metrolink faces financial crisis and Merseyrail struggling to survive, mayors warn
UK: Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has warned that services on the region’s Metrolink light rail system could be suspended unless government funding is provided, while his Liverpool City Region counterpart Steve Rotheram said Merseyrail suburban rail services also need help. Urgent action needed At a ...
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Rail Business UKWabtec Rail to overhaul Class 158 DMUs
UK: Leasing company Angel Trains has awarded Wabtec Rail a contract to undertake the C4 overhaul of 40 Class 158 diesel multiple-units. The contract includes 24 two-car units operated by Transport for Wales. These require a full vehicle and bogie C4 overhaul, which will begin in August ...
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Rail Business UKTrains branded in tribute to the NHS
UK: Govia Thameslink Railway has applied special branding to three electric multiple-units in tribute to National Health Service staff fighting the coronavirus pandemic. ‘There are more than 50 hospitals across our network and we are carrying more than 200 000 key workers ...
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Rail Business UKAutomated vegetation monitoring technology deployed in train cabs
UK: Transport for Wales has worked with technology company One Big Circle Ltd to fit trains with ‘smart’ cameras designed to automatically record, analyse and report lineside vegetation risks. The Automated Intelligent Video Review system is a lightweight train-borne device that sits inside the cab windscreen and ...
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Rail Business UKGrand Central follows Hull Trains in suspending open access services
UK: Open access operator Grand Central temporarily suspended all services from the end of April 3, as coronavirus restrictions continue to affect its passenger numbers. The London King’s Cross to Sunderland and Bradford operator said it anticipated that the ‘necessary but temporary’ measure would last for an ...
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Rail Business UKAventra EMU reaches Liverpool Street
UK: The first of the Class 720 Aventra EMUs which Bombardier Transportation is supplying for Greater Anglia’s commuter services has completed its first test run into London Liverpool Street station. As part of the testing programme, the EMU is expected to run over all of Greater ...
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Rail Business UK£40m support package for Wales & Borders services
UK: The Welsh Government’s Minister for Economy & Transport Ken Skates has announced a £40m package of support to ensure the continued operation of a skeleton Wales & Borders rail service during the coronavirus pandemic. The Welsh Government is working with Transport for Wales and operator TfW ...
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Rail Business UKGrand Central commits to revised timetable, but Blackpool launch likely to be delayed
UK: Asked whether Grand Central was planning to follow the other East Coast Main Line open access operator Hull Trains in temporarily stopping operations because of the coronavirus pandemic, Grand Central Managing Director Richard McClean told Rail Business UK on March 30 ‘we remain committed to providing ...
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Rail Business UKFirstGroup says new Great Western contract has ‘appropriate balance’ of risk and reward
UK: The Department for Transport has directly awarded incumbent FirstGroup a new three-year contract to continue to operate Great Western services from the expiry of the current direct award on April 1 2020 until March 31 2023, with a possible extension of up to one year at ...
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Rail Business UKSoutheastern given direct award management contract
UK: The Department for Transport has announced a direct award contract for incumbent Govia to continue operating the South Eastern franchise, which covers commuter and regional passenger services between London, Kent and East Sussex. The contract announced on March 30 runs from April 1 2020 to ...
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Rail Business UKHull Trains suspends services ‘to protect long-term future of business’
UK: Open access operator Hull Trains announced on March 29 that was temporarily suspending services with effect from midnight, in a move which it said aimed to ‘safeguard the future of the business’ in the ‘unprecedented circumstances’ of the coronavirus pandemic. Arrangements have been made for tickets ...
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Rail Business UKEast Coast resignalling partners appointed
UK: Network Rail has selected Siemens Mobility and Atkins as its partners for the programme to roll out ETCS Level 2 train control and traffic management on the southern section of the East Coast Main Line.
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Rail Business UKQuartz keeps watch to help keep time
UK: Greater Anglia has begun using software which was developed by Amey Consulting for Network Rail to better understand the performance of trains at stations and individual platforms. The Quartz software filters through existing train monitoring data streams to quickly and simply present to-the-second punctuality at any ...
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Rail Business UKWelsh language announcements go live
UK: Transport for Wales has used technology from Amazon and Ivona to develop an information system called Geraint, enabling it to make Welsh-language information available at 171 of the 222 stations in Wales. Previously only a quarter of the stations had a system which worked for the ...
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Metro Report InternationalLondon Underground, rail and bus services cut by coronavirus
UK: Major cuts to metro, rail and bus services were announced by Transport for London on March 18, with the operator explaining that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan had asked it to focus on enabling ‘critical workers to make essential journeys’ during the Covid-19 pandemic. Up ...