The management buyout of Abellio’s UK business was not completed by the end of 2022, as had been envisaged when the deal was first announced in August. ‘When Transport UK Group’s acquisition of Abellio Transport Group was announced it was still subject to multiple consents being received from stakeholders’, a Transport Group UK spokesperson told Rail Business UK on January 4. ‘The consents process is ongoing and will be completed as soon as possible.’
Network Rail undertook various works between Manchester, Huddersfield and Leeds over the Christmas period in preparation for electrification as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade. Track works included the installation of a new track crossing into Leeds Holbeck depot, and there were improvements at Wakefield Kirkgate so the line can be used as a diversionary route when work takes place on the core Trans-Pennine corridor. Investigative work was also undertaken at tunnels and bridges between Huddersfield and Dewsbury.
Contractors have begun work on a £1m scheme to make Chippenham station fully accessible from both sides of the railway. The project being delivered by Great Western Railway on behalf of Wiltshire Council includes a lift on the north side of the station, additional disabled car parking spaces and more cycle parking.
AmcoGiffen is the first principal contractor to use Tended’s geofencing technology to protect track workers.
Wagon maintenance and repair company Davis Wagon Services has awarded Ford & Stanley a three-year extension to its recruitment services provision agreement.’Ford & Stanley took the time to get to know DWS and understand the business as a whole’, said Managing Director John Hall. ‘Their value adds, like the creation of our Employee Value Proposition, adds to the quality of their candidate attraction process.’
Leon Daniels has been appointed as President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport for 2023. He was Managing Director, Surface Transport at Transport for London until 2017, and now provides consultancy services on artificial intelligence, public affairs and technology.
Defibrillators have now been installed at every Northern station in South Yorkshire under a scheme was partly funded by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. ‘Having them available on public spaces used daily by a large number of people is reassuring as it significantly increases the chance of survival following a cardiac arrest’, said John Dowie, Interim Executive Director of Infrastructure & Place at SYMCA.
