The Isle of Wight’s Island Line is to reopen on November 1 subject to a final round of train safety tests being successfully completed, South Western Railway announced on September 22. The £26m modernisation project has been delayed by several factors including train testing complications, the pandemic and flash flooding. The Class 484 D-Trains have been affected by software issues, which SWR and supplier Vivarail have made ‘good progress in solving’.
The Railway Industry Association has published a report on the economic value of rail which it commissioned from Oxford Economics. This found that in 2019, the latest date for which economic data is available, the rail industry supported £43bn GVA in economic growth, compared to £36·4bn in 2016; 710 000 jobs, compared to 600 000 in 2016; £14bn in tax revenue each year, compared to £11bn in 2016, and for every £1 spent in rail, £2·50 of income was generated in the wider economy, compared to £2·20 in 2016. The report also looks at future scenarios for rail investment, based on National Infrastructure Commission research.
Railway Support Services has arranged the transport of an Angel Trains-owned Merseyrail Class 507 from Kirkdale depot to Newport Docks for scrapping, after the EMU was deemed uneconomic to repair following a buffer stop collision at Kirkby station on March 13. Because there is no suitable road access to the depot, removal had to initially be undertaken by rail. RSS arranged repairs to the damaged drawgear to enable the set to be hauled to Peel Ports’ Alexandra Dock in Liverpool by Rail Operations Group using top-and-tail Class 57 locos, for onward transfer by road to Sims Metals at Newport Docks.
Network Rail has secured £2m from the Department of Transport to develop plans to relieve congestion at London’s Stratford station. NR said it is the busiest non-terminal station in London, and ’the approximate equivalent of Birmingham New Street station with only a fifth of the space available to manage the same number of passengers’. Plans included creating more room on specific platforms and around entrances, and improved information screens and wayfinding.
Capel CS has refurbished Greater Anglia’s Norwich station offices, where Customer Service and Operations teams are based. The remodelled facilities have been designed to provide a feeling of openness and collaboration, with a comfortable and modern ambience in the Grade II listed building.
A bus service linking Kingsbridge and Salcombe to the national rail network at Totnes has been relaunched through a partnership between Tally Ho Coaches, Great Western Railway and Devon County Council. Service 164 now runs seven days per week, providing better connections with trains at Totnes, and a marketing campaign to encourage uptake is underway.
Hull-based rail, logistics and shipping legal practice Myton Law has become the first law firm to be accepted as an affiliate of the Rail Safety Standards Board. Chris Thornes, Head of Rail Law at Myton Law and former Head of Commercial Law at DB Cargo UK, said ‘safety is always a large element of the contractual work we undertake for clients in the rail sector, so it is good to be invited to collaborate with RSSB.’
Lucy Prior, Business Engagement Director at 3Squared, has been appointed Chair of the Railway Industry Association’s SME Group. She was previously been Vice-Chair of the group, and succeeds John Chappell who has stepped down owing to work commitments.
Greater Anglia has launched a survey to find out what accessibility improvements disabled customers want. ‘There have been many changes on our trains and at our stations during the pandemic, and while we have done everything throughout to ensure staff were still able to provide assistance and reassurance for disabled customers, we know that the introduction of things like one-way systems and social distancing measures brought new challenges, or for some, represented a welcome change’, said Accessibility Manager, Rebecca Richardson. ’We thought this was an opportune time to ask customers what they thought worked, what didn’t, and where we can go from here.’
Sustainability expert Michelle Francis has been appointed to the Scotland’s Railway stakeholder panel. Francis has worked as an environmental and sustainability professional, largely in the transport sector, for 28 years and is a Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment and a Chartered Environmentalist. She was Head of Environment at Network Rail for six years, and prior to that, Environment Manager for Railtrack in Scotland.