UK rail industry news – Page 9
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Rail Business UKXRail Managing Director appointed as next RIA Chairman
UK: The Railway Industry Association board has appointed XRail Managing Director Noel Travers as the next RIA Chairman, following a competitive interview process. Travers will succeed David Tonkin, who is standing down after seven years in the post, on June 3. Travers began his career as ...
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Rail Business UKTidyco to overhaul Class 170 HVAC units
UK: Porterbrook Leasing has awarded Tidyco a contract to overhaul and refurbish 444 cab and saloon heating, ventilation and air-conditioning modules from ADtranz/Bombardier Class 170 Turbostar diesel multiple-units operated by East Midlands Railway and CrossCountry. Porterbrook and Tidyco have worked together to develop a bespoke overhaul ...
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Rail Business UKTrain operator’s apprenticeship scheme goes beyond day-to-day roles
UK: ‘We want to continuously ensure that as many local people as possible have the opportunity to join the rail industry, regardless of their previous skill set or background’, Lumo Managing Director Martijn Gilbert said when he announced that 95% of the open access operator’s workforce ...
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Rail Business UKBalfour Beatty expands fleet
UK: Balfour Beatty says it has invested over £1·65m in rail plant so far this year, acquiring four Komatsu PC138US-11 Track Rascal road-rail excavators as well as two Class 20 diesel locomotives. The first-in-class 22·5 tonne road-rail excavators are designed to work on both Network Rail ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
Network Rail has awarded COWI a contract to develop engineering designs for works at Stalybridge, Scout and Standedge tunnels as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade. This includes W12 gauge clearance and electrification including 1·7 km of slab track installation, and drainage and geotechnical work. Network ...
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Rail Business UKRetailers says competition can improve train ticketing
UK: Representatives of independent ticket retailer Trainline and distribution technology company SilverRail have been questioned by the House of Commons Transport Committee as part of its scrutiny of the government’s draft Rail Reform Bill.
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Rail Business UKTrain operator obtains Communication Accessible accreditation
UK: Communication Access UK has accredited East Midlands Railway as being Communication Accessible. This follows the train operator’s efforts to provide enhanced communication choices for customers, and to provide staff with the skills to utilise assistive technology effectively. EMR has introduced TALK cards for staff and ...
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Rail Business UKFive things the next government needs to do provide rail capacity and connectivity
UK: The High Speed Rail Group has published its High Speed Rail: Exploiting the Potential report, setting out five things it believes the next government should do to maximise the potential of high speed rail to provide new capacity and connectivity. The recommendations are to: ...
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Rail Business UKAccessibility Advisory Panel outlines priority issues for disabled passengers
UK: Top priorities for disabled passengers have been set out by the accessibility Advisory Panel which East West Railway Co established to help inform the design and construction of the future Oxford to Cambridge rail corridor. The panel’s priorities include: accessible toilets on trains and ...
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Rail Business UKDashboard to facilitate more efficient use of the rail network
UK: Industry regulator the Office of Rail & Road has published a track access dashboard which it hopes will help Network Rail and train operators make more efficient use of the network. The dashboard gives an overview of how the industry is using available capacity and ...
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Rail Business UKRailway Industry Association announces SME Group leadership
UK: The Railway Industry Association announced the appointments of the next Chair and Vice-Chair of its SME Group on May 2. The new Chair is Catherine Leech, Managing Director of Anturas Consulting Ltd, who succeeds Lucy Prior. Leech said she would continue work to raise the ...
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Rail Business UKTrain operators launch joint innovation programme
UK: Four train operators are to run a joint programme giving technology companies the opportunity to demonstrate AI, telecoms, quantum and other innovations in a real-world rail environment. The Future Labs programme is to be run by the government-owned operators LNER, Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express ...
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Rail Business UKClass 66 ETCS testing underway
UK: Dynamic testing has begun with a DB Cargo UK Class 66 diesel locomotive which has been retrofitted with ETCS as the First in Class for the roll-out of the digital signalling technology across the most common type of freight loco in the UK. As part ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
This week’s round-up of business news from the UK railway industry.
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Rail Business UKOperator of last resort holds key to Labour’s rail renationalisation aspiration
UK: Rail Business UK has been speaking to industry leaders as they start to digest the rail policy proposals set out by the Labour Party ahead of the forthcoming general election.
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Rail Business UKPorterbrook to electrify Long Marston test track
UK: Porterbrook has announced plans to renew the 3·5 km test track at its Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre and install 25 kV 50 Hz electrification. Testing will be possible at speeds of up to 75 km/h, with the capability to support ETCS. ‘Substantial replacement of ...
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Rail Business UKRail construction, maintenance and renewal machine range launched
TRACK MACHINES: Unipart Rail has launched a range of rail construction, maintenance and renewal machines, developed in partnership with Thomson Engineering Design Ltd. The range includes: Sleeper Layer, providing delivery rates of up to 1 000 sleepers/h, with options including automatic steering, remote condition monitoring ...
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Rail Business UKAvanti West Coast says Superfares have brought modal shift
UK: Avanti West Coast has expanded the availability of its Superfare tickets to 10 more destinations, saying the cheaper tickets have encouraged modal shift. Passengers book a Superfare ticket for a specific date, with the choice of morning, afternoon or evening slots. The exact time of ...
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Rail Business UKCrossCountry DMU maintenance contract signed
UK: CrossCountry has awarded West Midlands Trains a long-term contract to continue to maintain the long-distance operator’s Class 170 diesel multiple-unit fleet at Tyseley depot in Birmingham until 2031. ‘Servicing, maintaining and cleaning the Class 170 fleet has been, and continues to be, an important part ...
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Rail Business UKWilliam Cook Rail acquires Crowle Wharf Engineers
UK: Leeds-based wagon and industrial component supplier William Cook Rail has acquired coupler, bogie, buffer and wagon maintenance, repair and overhaul specialist Crowle Wharf Engineers Ltd. Announcing the deal on April 29, William Cook Rail explained that CWE had annual sales of £5m, and 50 employees ...