This week’s round-up of business news from the UK railway industry.
Network Rail has opened a £10m maintenance depot at Guide Bridge which will be the home base for more than 120 staff. The two-storey building has been built by principal contractor Galliford Try on a former railway siding brings Permanent Way, Off Track, Lubrication, and Welding & Grinding teams under one roof for the first time, replacing separate temporary cabins with outdated facilities on the same site. It has been built to modern accessibility standards, with a lift between floors and accessible toilets and changing rooms. The male locker room has 120 lockers and female equivalent 20 lockers, both with showering and toilet facilities, while the mess room has capacity for 100 staff at any one time.
Bedlington opened as the sixth and final station on the Northumberland Line on March 29.
Commenting on the start of Year 3 of Control Period 7 on April 1, Railway Industry Association CEO Darren Caplan said ‘whilst times are difficult for many suppliers at the moment, we recognise that the rail market has substantially altered since the start of CP7 in April 2024, with extensive reprioritisation of work. And so we and our members will continue to collaborate closely with Network Rail on the impact of changes to spending trends and on developing even more visible and certain pipelines of work. This will help secure enhanced value-for-money on rail projects and deliver even more impressive improvement to the railway in the remainder of CP7.’
Ahead of the departure of its current Chief Executive John Larkinson, the Office of Rail & Road board has appointed Feras Alshaker, currently Director of Planning & Performance, as Interim Chief Executive with effect from April 27. ORR said he will provide continuity as it delivers its Transformation Programme and prepares for significant changes in the years ahead, including supporting rail reform, regulatory reform and the increased use of artificial intelligence.
Transport for Wales held a ceremony on March 23 to mark the completion of the six-year project to electrify the Core Valley lines. This has seen 453 km of overhead wires installed by Amey Infrastructure Wales; there are sections of discontinuous electrification to avoid the need for lengthy and disruptive bridge closures.
Alstom-led Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway ran a charter train for route stakeholders on March 2 to demonstrate ‘widespread support’ for its proposed direct rail service between North Wales, Shropshire and London Euston. After the journey, MPs handed in over 100 letters from people urging the government to back the proposal.
The Ipswich to Cambridge line is to be promoted as the St Edmund’s Line, after the King of the East Angles who was later canonised. The name was the most popular suggestion in a competition launched by Greater Anglia and the Ipswich to Cambridge Community Rail Partnership, now the St Edmund’s Line CRP.
Commenting on the changes to ticket refund rules from April 1, Jason Geall, EVP Global SME at AmEx Global Business Travel, said ‘the restrictive changes in policy blocking refunds requests on the day of a rail journey will add costs and complexity for business travellers and their companies. Business travel itineraries are fluid by nature and organisations should not be penalised for that. This change in policy risks rail becoming a less attractive option for companies. We recognise the factors driving these reforms, but the rail industry needs to engage more meaningfully with the business travel sector to more fully understand the impact when planning changes. Operators stand to be the biggest winners from businesses choosing rail more often, and the more we can work together the better we can shape policies that benefit them while encouraging organisations to take the train.’
With funding from Suffolk County Council, Greater Anglia and Blackbox Company have installed a 4·8 m wide high-resolution LED information screen at Ipswich station to provide real-time train departures, onward bus connections and clear updates during disruption. ‘Through the continued development of our Azzido Cloud platform and advances in LED technology, the Ipswich installation represents another step forward in delivering a truly connected and intuitive information environment’, said Gavin Russell, CEO of Blackbox Company (UK).
Network Rail has awarded Amey a contract under its Development & Design Partnership Framework for the provision of multi-disciplinary railway consultancy services for the Leeds to Sheffield corridor as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail programme.
Frauscher UK Ltd has renewed its partnership with the Rail Safe Friendly programme that helps schools raise awareness of the dangers associated with the railway and encourage safe behaviour around rail infrastructure.
Rail Europe has integrated the BritRail Pass into its global distribution ecosystem, offering the digital M-Pass ticket as QR code through its B2B platforms to allow travel agents to manage both booking and activation of travel days. The BritRail Pass is available exclusively to travellers residing outside the UK. Rail Europe said inbound demand to Britain continues to grow, with international visits increasingly focused on regional diversification and more immersive travel experiences. The company says it sees potential to further develop international distribution of the BritRail Pass, ‘helping travel partners unlock demand from overseas markets and encourage rail-based itineraries across the country’.