Managing Director of West Coast Partnership Development appointed
UK: Shamit Gaiger has been appointed Managing Director of FirstGroup/Trenitalia’s High Speed 2 shadow operator West Coast Partnership Development, and is to join the business on July 25.
Reston station opens
UK: Reston station on the East Coast Main Line in the Scottish Borders opened on May 23. The first train to call since the closure of the previous station in 1964 was the 06.16 TransPennine Express service from Edinburgh.
Burnham and Rotheram call for more control of rail
UK: Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and his Liverpool City Region counterpart Steve Rotheram called for more investment in public transport and greater devolution of budgets and control at a meeting held in Manchester on May 12 as part of the ASLEF trade union’s Invest in Rail campaign.
IVU.rail goes live at Northern
UK: Northern has gone live with the first phase of deployment of IVU Traffic Technologies’ IVU.rail planning software, covering on-the-day control and engineering systems.
Track Maintenance: Rail Health Strategy pays off
By aligning its inspection, maintenance and renewal regimes using a holistic systems approach, Translink NI Railways’ permanent way department has delivered a significant reduction in rail defects, improved track quality and extended asset life.
Rail industry mental health study commissioned
UK: Great Western Railway and the Department for Transport have commissioned Samaritans and Mental Health at Work to study mental health and wellbeing support in the rail industry, and make recommendations so that the industry can raise staff awareness and provide support.
Barrow Haven platform replacement begins
UK: Work has begun on a £1·3m project to replace the single platform at Barrow Haven, a small halt on the Barton-on-Humber branch in North Lincolnshire.
Crossrail Elizabeth Line to open on May 24
UK: Elizabeth Line services on the Crossrail route across central London will finally begin on May 24, Transport for London has announced.
ETCS lineside equipment commissioned on Northern City Line
UK: In a major step for the East Coast Digital Programme, the ETCS Level 2 signalling and train control equipment on the Northern City Line between Finsbury Park and Moorgate was commissioned over the May Day bank holiday weekend.
Refurbished Pendolino returns to service with more seats and an updated interior
UK: Avanti West Coast has returned to service the first of its 56 Pendolino trainsets to be modernised in a £117m refurbishment programme.
Fleet-wide RFID tagging to locate wheel flats
UK: The use of RFID tags to identify individual vehicles with wheel flats is being rolled out across East Midlands Railway’s fleet after a trial found it saved hours of staff time.