UK rail industry news – Page 21

  • Caledonian Sleeper train at Rannoch (Photo Tony Miles)
    Rail Business UK

    Caledonian Sleeper moves to Scottish government ownership

    2023-06-26T13:18:00Z

    UK: The first Caledonian Sleeper night train services under Scottish government ownership ran on June 25, following the end of the contract previously held by Serco. The last Serco Caledonian Sleepers Ltd trains ran on the night of Friday June 23, as there is no Saturday ...

  • Passenger using wheelchair (Photo ORR)
    Rail Business UK

    Rail industry making progress with disability awareness refresher training

    2023-06-26T04:00:00Z

    UK: Train operators and Network Rail are making progress with disability awareness refresher training, according to a review undertaken by the Office of Rail & Road. ORR requires operators to deliver refresher training on disability and equality every two years, and specifies the competencies that staff ...

  • Lumo and LNER trains at London King's Cross
    Rail Business UK

    Rail regulator sets out access charge policy for 2024-29

    2023-06-23T11:00:00Z

    UK: The Office of Rail & Road has confirmed that it intends to retain the current structure of charges for passenger and freight operators during the five-year Control Period 7 starting in April 2024. Network Rail has received around £1·3bn in annual income from infrastructure cost charges ...

  • Electrification renewals
    Rail Business UK

    Rail regulator wants more focus on performance and core assets

    2023-06-22T11:00:00Z

    UK: The Office of Rail & Road has published its draft determination for the 2023 Periodic Review, setting out its assessment of Network Rail’s plans to spend £40·0bn in England and Wales and £4·8bn in Scotland during the five-year Control Period 7 starting on April 1 ...

  • TfW Rail Stadler Citylink
    Rail Business UK

    UK railway news round-up

    2023-06-22T04:00:00Z

    This week’s round-up of business news from the UK railway industry.

  • ScotRail Class 385
    Rail Business UK

    ScotRail fare rises announced

    2023-06-21T11:16:00Z

    UK: ScotRail fares are to increase by 4·8% from July 3, with no increase for season tickets and flexi-passes. Transport Scotland said disposable income in Scotland rose by 6% in the year to Q4 2022, and the fare rise was calculated based on being equal overall ...

  • Aldridge station sign
    Rail Business UK

    Aldridge – Walsall passenger train business case to be developed

    2023-06-21T11:00:00Z

    UK: The Department for Transport has given conditional approval for the start of work on an outline business case for a £30m scheme to introduce a passenger service from Walsall to a proposed Aldridge station on the freight-only Sutton Park line. It is envisaged that there ...

  • Thameslink ETCS contract
    Rail Business UK

    Thameslink EMUs to get ETCS onboard upgrade

    2023-06-21T10:39:00Z

    UK: A five-year contract to upgrade the Class 700 Thameslink EMU fleet to the latest specification of European Train Control System has been awarded through the cross-industry East Coast Digital Programme. The £32·7m contract announced on June 21 was signed by infrastructure manager Network Rail, operator ...

  • Sight Loss Council volunteer Amrit trials the Aira wayfinding app with Thameslink at London Blackfriars
    Rail Business UK

    Train operator trials assistance app for blind and partially sighted passengers

    2023-06-21T04:00:00Z

    UK: Govia Thameslink Railway is trialling the Aria wayfinding app which connects blind and partially sighted people to a remote adviser who can use the passenger’s smartphone camera to guide them through a station to a member of staff. Passengers at Brighton, Stevenage, London Blackfriars and ...

  • TfW Rail CAF Class 197 DMU
    Rail Business UK

    Train frequency focus in North Wales Transport Commission’s interim recommendations

    2023-06-20T11:00:00Z

    UK: The North Wales Transport Commission chaired by Lord Burns has published its interim recommendations for the development and delivery of an integrated multi-modal transport system in the region. For the rail sector, NWTC supports proposed improvements at Chester station to enable additional services to operate. ...

  • Buckled rails at Wishaw near Glasgow (Photo Network Rail)
    Rail Business UK

    R&D project looks at track buckling risk

    2023-06-20T04:00:00Z

    UK: Network Rail has awarded six organisations contracts for the development and testing of remote condition monitoring technology to support the early detection of sections of track at risk of buckling in hot weather. The organisations selected under the Track Buckle Risk & Detection Design Contest ...

  • TfW Class 230
    Rail Business UK

    Welsh government seeks plan to improve Wrexham – Bidston line performance

    2023-06-19T11:00:00Z

    UK: Following a long period of disruption, the Welsh government’s Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters has asked Transport for Wales Rail to develop a plan to improve services on the Wrexham – Bidston Borderlands line. Earlier in the year, services had been suspended for ...

  • London Liverpool Street concourse
    Rail Business UK

    Regulator to study competition in the railway station food and drink market

    2023-06-16T13:48:00Z

    UK: The Office of Rail & Road has launched a study of the market for the sale of ready to consume food and drink at railway stations in Great Britain, looking at the effectiveness of competition, outcomes for consumers and barriers for new entrants. Factors to ...

  • 1stinrail staff
    Rail Business UK

    RSK acquires track works contractor 1stinrail

    2023-06-16T04:00:00Z

    UK: RSK Group has acquired 1stinrail, which provides track repair, renewal and installation services for customers including Network Rail, Transport for London and Tier 1 contractors. The acquisition announced on June 13 ‘is a significant step forwards in our original vision to become one of the ...

  • HS2 Chiltern tunnel south portal buildings
    Rail Business UK

    HS2 Ltd joins 2023 First of a Kind railway technology funding competition

    2023-06-15T11:00:00Z

    UK: The seventh annual First of a Kind railway technology development competition has opened, with £5·3m of Department for Transport funding available plus, for the first time, a further £1m from HS2 Ltd. DfT is seeking proposals for innovations that could offer a better customer experience ...

  • Rail Business Awards
    Rail Business UK

    Rail Business Awards come to Manchester

    2023-06-15T09:48:00Z

    UK: After 25 years in London, the longest established national awards for the UK rail sector has decided to start ringing the changes, and reflect the geographical spread and diversity of our railway network. The 26th Rail Business Awards will therefore be taking place in Manchester, ...

  • ScotRail Class 153 and 156 DMUs (Photo ScotRail)
    Rail Business UK

    UK railway news round-up

    2023-06-15T05:01:00Z

    This week’s round-up of business news from the UK railway industry.

  • Northern Trains SOROS software
    Rail Business UK

    Northern deploys train fleet maintenance management software

    2023-06-14T13:43:00Z

    UK: Northern Trains has begun the roll-out of Danburykline’s SOROS maintenance management software across its fleet of 345 trainsets. The SOROS cloud-hosted mobile-first web application provides information on when and where each train will need its next service; the maintenance history and upcoming required safety checks ...

  • Briteyellow map of Cardiff Central
    Rail Business UK

    Augmented reality station maps designed to assist passengers

    2023-06-14T04:00:00Z

    UK: Indoor wayfinding company Briteyellow has created augmented reality maps of six of the largest stations served by Transport for Wales, to help passengers locate facilities such as information screens, lifts, toilets, help points and waiting rooms. It is hoped the AR maps can be used ...

  • Tidyco and ENAG
    Rail Business UK

    Derby company Tidyco signs agreement with French supplier

    2023-06-13T04:00:00Z

    UK: Hydraulic and pneumatic component supplier Tidyco has signed an agreement to sell, maintain and overhaul French firm ENAG’s rail-specific products in the UK. These include battery chargers, discharge units and other rolling stock equipment ‘Our rail division has worked tirelessly to develop our overhaul facility ...