All articles by Rail Business UK
-
Rail Business UKRedundant coal wagons to be converted for construction traffic
UK: WH Davis is to convert coal wagons owned by leasing company Porterbrook for use by Freightliner to transport aggregates. ’This is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate what can be achieved by giving redundant fleets a purpose for the next 30-plus years’, said WH Davis Managing ...
-
Rail Business UKTrain driver psychometric assessment standard updated
UK: The Rail Safety & Standards Board has updated the standard related to psychometric assessments in train driver selection, to provide greater clarity on the process and validity of psychometric tests and to increase the number of attempts that can be made at passing from two ...
-
Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
This week’s round-up of business news from the UK railway industry.
-
Rail Business UKQuestions remain for the rail sector in English devolution plans
UK: The rail sector has welcomed the outline plans for local politicians to have greater control of passenger rail services which are set out in the government’s white paper on devolution in England, but questions remain about the future scope and structure.
-
Rail Business UKMPs to investigate how rail investment pipelines could help the supply industry
UK: The House of Commons Transport Committee is to launch an inquiry into how the government could ensure a stable pipeline of projects and procurements to end ‘boom and bust’ in the supply industry and give passengers, staff, suppliers and investors more certainty about development priorities. ...
-
Rail Business UKScottish diesel operations to continue to 2045
UK: The deadline for removing diesel powered passenger trains from the Scottish rail network has been put back from 2035 to 2045. The Scottish government is undertaking an update of the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan which it published in July 2020 in collaboration with Network ...
-
Rail Business UKScotRail begins HST replacement process
UK: ScotRail has formally begun the procurement of trainsets to replace the current fleet of 25 HST sets used on Inter7City services. On behalf of Transport Scotland, the operator is seeking proposals for the supply of a single class of existing rolling stock to operate a ...
-
Rail Business UKSkills Late to help young people kickstart transport careers
UK: The London Transport Museum is to host a free Skills Late event on January 30 where people aged 16 to 25 and their friends and family can meet employers and learn about job opportunities in transport, engineering and infrastructure. Businesses highlighting their entry level vacancies, apprenticeships ...
-
Rail Business UKNorthumberland Line service from Newcastle to Ashington launched
UK: Cheers greeted the arrival of the first Northumberland Line passenger service at Ashington station on December 15, more than 60 years after services to Newcastle were withdrawn in November 1964 and the route became freight-only. Initially only the new stations at Ashington and Seaton Delaval ...
-
Rail Business UKLondon stations added to Google Street View
UK: Google Street View now includes 18 London rail and Underground stations, with a further 18 to be added by the end of the year. Google used 360° backpack cameras to create virtual representations of London’s busiest stations. These will help people plan journeys and more ...
-
Rail Business UKGreater Anglia expands paper roll ticketing
UK: Following a trial backed by the Rail Delivery Group, a further 194 Scheidt & Bachmann ticket machines on Greater Anglia routes are to switch to using paper roll ticket instead of the traditional orange magnetic stripe cards. S&B worked with Nagels to develop the recyclable ...
-
Rail Business UKCIRO to launch rail MBA course with Keele University
UK: The Chartered Institution of Railway Operators and Keele University are to launch a rail MBA programme in February 2025. This is designed to enable rail professionals to gain access to affordable and industry specific master’s level higher education. It will provide senior leader experience, combining ...
-
Rail Business UKRail regulator seeks feedback on assessment of assistance to disabled passengers
UK: The Office of Rail & Road is asking for views on its plans for annual assessments rating how train operators and Network Rail provide assistance to disabled passengers. The regulator said this would strengthen its ability to hold operators to account for poor performance, highlight ...
-
Rail Business UKStudy finds international passenger capacity at London St Pancras could be doubled
UK: A study has found that international passenger capacity at London St Pancras station could be more than doubled to improve the user experience and potentially facilitate new train services. Station operator HS1 Ltd commissioned the study from customer experience design agency Active Thinking, which has ...
-
Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
This week’s round-up of business news from the UK railway industry.
-
Rail Business UK‘We grow, they grow’: FirstGroup sets out open access rail aims
Following FirstGroup’s announcement that it is to order more trains to support its growth drive in the open access market, First Rail Managing Director Steve Montgomery explains the next steps to Rail Business UK.
-
Rail Business UKAluminium producer leases smart wagons
UK: VTG Rail UK has secured a 10-year wagon leasing agreement with new customer Alvance British Aluminium, which will take on 20 JPA powder tank wagons retrofitted with VTG’s iWagon technology. The wagons are expected to be used by Alvance from June 2025, carrying alumina powder ...
-
Rail Business UKSwiss rail electrification firm opens Nottingham hub to help ‘ditch dirty diesel’
UK: Swiss electrification firm Furrer+Frey has chosen Nottingham as the base for its expanding UK operations, saying it will bring highly skilled engineering jobs to the East Midlands. The office, warehousing and assembly hub in Beeston joins the family-owned company’s global sites including Bern, Berlin, Essen, ...
-
Rail Business UKSoutheastern to support supply chain in driving environmental and social change
UK: Train operator Southeastern has partnered with consultancy Action Sustainability to help small and medium-sized enterprises in its supply chain drive positive environmental and social change. The initiative aims to overcome barriers such as limited resources, knowledge gaps or uncertainty about where to begin. There will ...
-
Rail Business UKFirstGroup orders more Hitachi trains to underpin open access growth ambitions
UK: FirstGroup is to expand its open access fleet with an order for 14 Class 80X trainsets from Hitachi Rail.