Worldline and Evoke self-service ticket kiosk tested
UK: Govia Thameslink Railway is to trial a ticket machine which has been developed by Worldline and Evoke Creative, drawing on experience supplying self-service machines to customers including McDonald’s, Vue Cinema and JD Sports.
Welsh Affairs Committee calls for a Wales Rail Board, Swansea Bay Metro and electrification
UK: Cardiff – Swansea electrification, a Swansea Bay Metro and the creation of a Wales Rail Board tasked with prioritising proposals for investment have been recommended by the House of Commons’ Welsh Affairs Committee.
Hull Trains Managing Director Louise Cheeseman leaves for TfL
UK: Louise Cheeseman stepped down as Managing Director of FirstGroup’s open access operator Hull Trains on July 12, ahead of joining Transport for London as Director of Buses on August 2.
Trans-Pennine electrification hopes rise
UK: Industry sources report that there is now ‘every chance’ of the entire trans-Pennine route between Manchester and Leeds being electrified, rather than only the western portion as far as Stalybridge and then east from Huddersfield to Leeds. Passenger and freight operators are understood to be working together to fully ...
Greater Anglia trainee programme develops skills
UK: Greater Anglia is providing work experience placements on its Customer Service Traineeship course for 10 young people currently out of mainstream education or employment.
Passenger information lessons learned from the cracking crisis
UK: The Office of Rail & Road has released a review into the impact on passengers from the emergency withdrawal of all Class 80x Hitachi trains and the way the crisis was subsequently handled by operators Great Western Railway, LNER, TransPennine Express and Hull Trains.
Sustainability focus at the 24th Rail Business Awards
UK: The 24th Rail Business Awards is looking to recognise and celebrate excellence in sustainability and environmental initiatives across the UK rail sector.
Long-term plans to address Hitachi train cracks under development
UK: Instrumented trainsets are providing data to help plan the work needed to repair cracking on Hitachi-built trainsets, as operators consider longer term strategies to address the issue over the life of the fleets.
Grand Central launches at seat information and catering service
UK: Grand Central is introducing an integrated digital portal for onboard entertainment, real-time journey information and at-seat catering.
TransPennine Express mulls fleet strategy as final CAF trainset accepted
UK: TransPennine Express held a ceremony at the Manchester International Depot in Longsight on June 16 to celebrate acceptance of the final train under its fleet renewal programme. The last train to arrive is one of the 13 CAF MkVa push-pull inter-city trainsets, branded Nova 3 by the operator.
Stadler unveils independently-powered electric multiple-unit
UK: Stadler has unveiled a Class 777 electric multiple-unit which has been fitted with a prototype battery energy storage system to enable operation on non-electrified tracks.