UK rail industry news – Page 130
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Rail Business UKTransport call centre switches over to home working
UK: Transport customer call centre provider ESP Group worked with its technology supplier EKO to switch more than 200 employees to home working over three days to enable it continue its operations during the pandemic. It has also set up three additional emergency lines to support key ...
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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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Rail Business UKSoham station development application submitted
UK: Network Rail has applied to East Cambridgeshire District Council for permitted development rights to build a station at Soham on the Ely – Newmarket line. The previous Soham station closed in 1965. Subject to gaining consent, as well as the Covid-19 situation, construction is expected to ...
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Rail Business UKDfT preparing for future passenger franchise options
UK: Having temporarily suspended its franchise agreements with passenger train operators, the Department for Transport is currently considering its options for what may follow the Emergency Measures Agreements announced on March 23.
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Rail Business UKDyer & Butler to undertake Snow Hill Tunnel strengthening works
Source: Secchi Smith UK: The City of London has awarded Dyer & Butler a contract for strengthening works over the Snow Hill Tunnel between City Thameslink and Farringdon stations as part of the £337m development of the new Museum of London site at West Smithfield. The ...
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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 UKTransport Select Committee calls for changes to season ticket refunds
UK: Chair of the Transport Select Committee Huw Merriman MP has written to the Secretary of State for Transport calling for changes to the refund rules for season ticket holders whose journeys have been cancelled as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The Committee said there was ...
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Rail Business UKSupply chain’s views on Covid-19 recovery sought
UK: The Rail Supply Group has launched a survey seeking views on the operational impact of Covid-19 on the rail supply chain and the path to recovery. Information from the survey, which opened on April 30, will inform the work of a coronavirus taskforce established by RSG ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
Network Rail provided logistics and project management expertise to help deliver the NHS Nightingale Hospital North West in Manchester. Volunteers specialising in supply chain and logistics worked with the Army Reserve and NHS to get the temporary hospital at the Manchester Central conference centre open over the ...
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Rail Business UKTransport Support Unit formed
UK: The government has announced the formation of a UK-wide Transport Support Unit which is ‘dedicated to fighting this pandemic’ by making use of spare transport capacity for logistics services to assist frontline responders while ridership is significantly reduced. Network Rail has the eighth largest commercial vehicle ...
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Rail Business UKGin distillery supplies Network Rail with hand sanitiser
UK: Network Rail’s Central route has bought 300 bottles of hand sanitiser produced by the Piston Gin distillery in Worcester. The hand sanitiser is being used in signal boxes across the route, as well as at the main signalling centre in Birmingham where signallers are working 2 ...
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Rail Business UKUK announces support for light rail during the pandemic
UK: The Department for Transport has confirmed that a ‘multi-million pound’ package of emergency funding will be provided for light rail networks as part of measures aimed at keeping essential transport services running during the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement covers the light rail networks in Sheffield, Greater ...
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Rail Business UKGBRf trials EMU to move medical supplies
UK: GB Railfreight has trialled the use of a commuter EMU for express delivery of parcels, with a view to delivering urgent medical supplies to major hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Rail Business UKHarsco targets UK light rail with specialist grinder
UK: Infrastructure maintenance company Harsco Rail and small plant manufacturer Möser Maschinenbau have joined forces to launch the Ro-V 149 road-rail grinding machine in the UK. The grinding machine is aimed particularly at tram and light rail operators who in the past have generally relied on importing ...
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Rail Business UKDB Cargo UK launches service ‘despite economic downturn’
UK: DB Cargo UK has begun a weekly service moving aggregates from Peak Forest in Derbyshire to Small Heath in Birmingham on behalf of CEMEX. ‘It’s great to be in a position to continue to offer our customers new opportunities in the current economic climate’, said ...
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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 UK‘Confident and contemporary’ Curzon Street HS2 station approved
Curzon Street station UK: Birmingham City Council granted planning permission for the Curzon Street High Speed 2 station on April 23. Invitations to tender for the construction contract are to be issued this summer. The council’s report said the design developed ...
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Rail Business UKNR concludes ‘biggest upgrading at Guildford in 40 years’
UK: Network Rail completed a 10-day rehabilitation of the railway around Guildford on April 20. Around 1 500 metres of new track was installed on the lines approaching Guildford from Worplesdon and Wanborough, 41 track circuits were refurbished to improve reliability and 1 200 metres of conductor ...
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Rail Business UKUK government planning increase in rail services from May 18
UK: Despite an explicit denial of any proposals to increase passenger rail services when First Secretary of State Dominic Raab was questioned at the government’s daily coronavirus press briefing on April 22, industry sources confirm that train operating companies have been asked to prepare to reinstate a ...