UK passenger train operator news – Page 2
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Rail Business UKInterview: c2c focuses on climate and community
Sometimes misrepresented as a recently modernised operation, the c2c suburban business which runs trains between London and Essex is in need of investment. Managing Director Rob Mullen sets out his priorities to Nick Kingsley.
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Rail Business UK
Wrexham line compromise shows the need for more capacity
UK: Capacity has been allocated to enable an increase in passenger services between Wrexham and Bidston, but local stakeholders say the compromise required shows the need for urgent investment in the route.
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Rail Business UK
Grand Union’s Carmarthen to London service approved
UK: The Office of Rail & Road has approved Grand Union Trains’ plans to launch an open access passenger service between London and southwest Wales using bi-mode trains with a high-quality interior including 2+1 seating in standard class. On December 1 ORR announced that it had ...
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Rail Business UK
LNER seeks ideas to provide passengers with ‘next best action’ information
UK: LNER is seeking proposals for ways to provide people arriving at stations with easier access to advice on the most appropriate train for their journey and information on the validity of their ticket. Feedback from staff and customers has identified this as a ‘pain point’, ...
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Rail Business UK
Soft launch for Transport for Wales Class 197 DMUs
UK: The first of the 77-strong fleet of Class 197 diesel multiple-units entered service with Transport for Wales Rail on November 14. Without any pre-announcement or ceremony, unit 197 004 carried its first passengers on the 05.30 from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog, spending the rest ...
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Rail Business UK
Battery EMUs envisaged in Southeastern fleet procurement
UK: Southeastern has invited expressions of interest for the supply of new electric multiple-units.
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Rail Business UK
Liverpool Baltic station on course to open in 2025
UK: Re-opening of the former Liverpool St James station in the city’s Baltic Triangle district is going ahead now that funding has been secured from central government.
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Rail Business UK
Video analytics supports lineside vegetation management
UK: Greater Anglia is using AI to analyse video footage from on-train cameras to pre-emptively identify vegetation which might block the line, obscure signals or lead to leaf fall problems. Maps are generated showing where issues have been identified, enabling Network Rail to prioritise issues by ...
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Rail Business UK
McLoughlin berates government over northern rail failures as disruption set to worsen
UK: TfN Chair Lord Patrick McLoughlin has described the ongoing rail disruption on routes within and to and from northern England as ‘unacceptable’.
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Rail Business UK
Class 387/1 EMU to be fitted with ETCS
UK: Govia Thameslink Railway has sent its first Class 387/1 EMU to be fitted with ETCS in-cab signalling as part of the East Coast Digital Programme. Alstom will install the Atlas 3 ETCS in Worksop, including a new driver’s dashboard, AWS/TPWS, doppler radar and ETCS ...
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Rail Business UK
Northern mayors shift rail disruption blame from operators to ministers
UK: The Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region mayors have moved away from directly blaming train operators for the ongoing disruption to services in the northwest of England, instead saying the Department for Transport’s tight control of finances is preventing deals between operators and their staff. ...
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Rail Business UK
Supporting military leavers in the rail industry
UK: Govia Thameslink Railway has signed the Armed Forces Covenant, aiming to help ex-military personnel move into the rail industry and ensure fair treatment in the workplace. GTR said veterans and reservists bring a variety of transferable skills to the civilian workplace. The company has ex-Forces ...
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Rail Business UK
Electrostar services contract awarded
UK: Govia Thameslink Railway has awarded Alstom a £256m Technical Support & Spares Supply Agreement covering the 1 210 cars in its Class 377 and 387 Electrostar EMU fleets. Alstom and before that Bombardier Transportation have supported the fleets since they were delivered. The latest TSSSA ...
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Rail Business UK
CAF Class 196 enters service with West Midlands Trains
UK: The first of 26 CAF Class 196 diesel multiple-units ordered by West Midlands Trains has entered service.
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Rail Business UK
Digital printing used for train seat promotion
UK: TransPennine Express has used Camira’s digital printing process for a campaign to promote a good cause through graphics on some of its train seats. The textile manufacturer’s digital printing offering can quickly and flexibly produce small volumes of material with complex colour schemes, making it ...
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Rail Business UK
Class 395 refurbishment to provide a ‘step change in the passenger experience’
UK: An agreement to refurbish the fleet of 29 six-car Class 395 electric multiple-units used on services from London St Pancras to Kent has been signed by leasing company Eversholt Rail, operator Southeastern and manufacturer Hitachi Rail. The £27m programme to provide a ‘step change in ...
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Rail Business UK
West Midlands Trains is facing unprecedented challenges, says Managing Director
UK: The last year has been one of ‘unprecedented challenges’, according to West Midlands Trains Managing Director Ian McConnell. Addressing the TOC’s annual stakeholder conference in Birmingham on October 10, he noted that the move to a National Rail Contract — where revenue risk rests with ...
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Rail Business UK
Avanti West Coast contract extended pending decisions on the longer term
UK: The current West Coast Partnership contractual arrangements for Avanti West Coast to operate inter-city passenger services on the West Coast Main Line and act as shadow operator for High Speed 2 have been extended until the end of March 2023. The AWC joint venture of ...
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Rail Business UK
Long Weekender ticket aims to shift leisure travel to Mondays
UK: With changing travel patterns meaning Sunday trains are now particularly busy, Great Western Railway has introduced a Long Weekender ticket which allows departure at any time on a Friday or Saturday and return at any time on a Monday, with savings of more than 60% ...
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In depth
Smart Stations: Modular approach reshapes fit-out process
London’s Elizabeth Line and Brisbane’s Cross-River Rail Link are two major schemes where station design and fit-out is being influenced by trends towards modularity, repeatability and off-site production, as Julian Maynard of Maynard Design Group explains to Nick Kingsley.
