All articles by Rail Business UK
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Rail Business UKScotRail launches Tap&Pay ticketing app
UK: Following a six-month pilot scheme, ScotRail has launched a Tap&Pay pay-as-you-go ticketing app developed by Tracsis Rail Technology & Services using its Hopsta platform. The app is initially available for travel on ScotRail services in the Strathclyde area and between Strathclyde and Edinburgh. If the deployment ...
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Rail Business UKTransition zone management method wins UK patent
UK: Geotechnical contractor Geobear has been granted a UK patent for its track strengthening method for use in transition zones. Transition zones are found at the change from flexible formations like ballast to rigid foundations like concrete. These abrupt changes can cause differential settlement, leading to ...
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Rail Business UKEnhanced toolkit aims to reduce SPAD risk
UK: In late spring the Rail Safety & Standards Board is to launch an enhanced version of a toolkit designed to reduce the risk of trains passing a signal at danger. Originally launched in 2019, the Red Aspect Approaches to Signals toolkit uses signal status and ...
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Rail Business UKScenarios developed to help the rail industry plan for climate change
UK: The Rail Safety & Standards Board has developed a standardised set of climate change scenarios to enable the industry to take a consistent approach to risk assessments, asset design and strategic planning. The projections based on different scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions set out how ...
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Rail Business UKSLC to support South Yorkshire rail ambitions
UK: South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority has appointed rail development and delivery consultancy SLC to assist with its railway plans. ‘We’ve witnessed first-hand how improved connectivity can transform a region through our work on various projects, most recently the Northumberland Line’, said SLC Engineering Director Sam ...
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Rail Business UKRailway time and date standard issued
UK: The Rail Safety & Standards Board has released a standard promoting the wider use of Coordinated Universal Time and the consistent formatting of date and time values across the railway network. This aims to help the industry combine and analyse data, specify new systems and ...
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Rail Business UKSimulators to transform traincrew training
UK: Northern has taken delivery of a prototype of the semi-immersive static cab simulators it has ordered as part of a ‘major transformation’ of its training which aims to speed up the time it takes for traincrew to achieve their rolling stock and route competence. The ...
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Rail Business UKHigh Speed 2 SME Innovation Accelerator gets underway
UK: High speed line project promoter HS2 Ltd has launched its seventh Innovation Accelerator programme, with six SMEs selected to develop ideas for automating asset management, maximising site productivity and future-proofing operations. Archangel Imaging will refine its AI-equipped security camera technology to monitor security across HS2’s ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
This week’s round-up of business news from the UK railway industry.
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Rail Business UKPhased integration of Manchester rail services into Bee Network confirmed
UK: Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has set out a phased approach to bring rail into the Bee Network of public transport services which is now being rolled out across the conurbation. Burnham said on January 21 that he expected eight commuter rail lines covering ...
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Rail Business UKLondon St Pancras International expansion planning advances
UK: Almost 40 companies have so far expressed interest in a contract to further develop plans for the expansion of facilities for handling international passengers at London St Pancras station. An initial study which infrastructure concessionaire HS1 Ltd commissioned from customer experience design agency Active Thinking ...
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Rail Business UKHull Trains eyes Worksop and Sheffield launch
UK: Hull Trains’ proposed London King’s Cross – Worksop – Sheffield open access service would ‘give people more choice’, offer more flexibility in train fares and make the area better known, according to Labour Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw Jo White. Speaking at the launch of ...
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Rail Business UKGreat British Railways and private sector to compete for ticket sales
UK: The Department for Transport has announced that the future Great British Railways will sell tickets online, while retaining a ‘thriving’ private sector market where third party ticket retailers can compete in an ‘open and fair’ manner. Plans to create a centralised GBR online ticket retailer ...
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Rail Business UKQuarry shunting loco to be converted to battery power
UK: Positive Traction has been awarded an order to rebuild a Class 08 diesel shunter used by Heidelberg Materials at Whatley Quarry into an 08e zero-emission battery locomotive. This follows two weeks of trials with the prototype 08e loco at the quarry in October. The production ...
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Rail Business UKColour blindness testing change opens rail jobs to more people
UK: More people with colour blindness will be able to work in safety critical railway roles such as train driving as a result of research undertaken by the Rail Safety & Standards Board at the request of drivers’ union ASLEF. The Ishihara test commonly used to ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
This week’s round-up of business news from the UK railway industry.
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Rail Business UKTransport Secretary sets out five priorities for Shadow Great British Railways in 2025
UK: Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander set out five priorities for Shadow Great British Railways in her first major rail-focused speech in the role. Speaking to staff from the government’s in-house operator DfT Operator Ltd in Manchester on January 20, Alexander confirmed that an industry-wide Rail Plan ...
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Rail Business UKFirstGroup makes its case for open access alongside Great British Railways
UK: FirstGroup has set out its case for retaining a ‘thriving’ open access sector as part of the restructured railway, arguing that privately-funded services without government contracts can drive growth across all operators including those to be controlled by Great British Railways.
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NewsRail freight operators propose four measures to boost growth
UK: Ahead of consultation on the government’s rail reform bill, operating group association Rail Partners and its five freight members have published A Greener Track making four proposals to support growth. The first is for the bill to include legal protections to maintain investor confidence in ...
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Rail Business UKSoutheastern brings Class 395 maintenance in-house
UK: Southeastern’s Train Service Agreement for manufacturer Hitachi Rail to maintain its Class 395 EMU fleet has been replaced with in-house maintenance backed by a Technical Support & Spares Supply Agreement. The operator said the Class 395s were its only trains not maintained in-house, and the ...