All articles by Rail Business UK – Page 119
-
Rail Business UK
Rail Delivery Group CEO to stay on
UK: Paul Plummer is to stay on as Chief Executive of the Rail Delivery Group rather than go ahead with plans to retire which he had announced in May. On September 3 RDG said that despite attracting a ‘strong’ field of candidates to succeed Plummer, it ...
-
Rail Business UKHS2 benefits ‘substantially undervalued’ amid rising costs
UK: The Chairman of High Speed 2 Ltd Allan Cook believes that ‘the benefits of the current scheme are substantially undervalued’, according to a ‘stocktake report’ presented to the House of Commons by Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps on September 3. Updating Parliament on progress ...
-
Rail Business UKChannel Tunnel ‘ready for Brexit’
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel concessionaire Eurotunnel is prepared for the UK’s scheduled departure from the European Union on October 31 ‘no matter the outcome’, it said on September 2. The company said there would no change to immigration formalities for the 22 million passengers/year who use ...
-
Rail Business UKSystra buys British Steel’s TSP Projects business
UK: Systra announced the acquisition of British Steel’s TSP Projects subsidiary on August 30. The international transport consultancy said this would double its presence in the UK, with TSP Projects’ extensive experience of civils, electrification and track works complementing its existing UK rail engineering services and providing ...
-
Rail Business UKYoung Rail Tours to explore the world of rail
INTERNATIONAL: UK-based networking and educational association Young Rail Professionals has launched Young Rail Tours in partnership with the Young Members sections of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Railway Division, the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers and the Institution of Engineering & Technology Railway Technical Professional Network. YRT ...
-
Rail Business UKLNER to pilot UK rail ticketing reform
UK: East Coast Main Line operator LNER is to pilot proposed reforms to Great Britain’s fares system from January 2 2020, with tickets going on sale from November 29. Announcing the trial on August 29, the Department for Transport said its aim was to ‘significantly boost customer ...
-
Rail Business UKWest Coast Partnership contract signed
UK: The West Coast Partnership contract was formally signed by the Department for Transport and First Trenitalia West Coast Rail Ltd on August 28. The 70:30 joint venture of transport group FirstGroup plc and the Trenitalia UK Ltd subsidiary of Italy’s national railway holding group FS had ...
-
Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
Hull Trains has revealed that its five Hitachi AT300 electro-diesel trainsets will be branded the ‘Paragon’ fleet. Paragon is the traditional suffix of Hull’s main and now only station. Entry to service is planned from mid-November. TransPennine Express put the first of its 13 Nova 3 trainsets ...
-
Rail Business UKRail projects funded to support housing plans
UK: The government has announced the allocation of grants from its Housing Infrastructure Fund to transport projects which are intended to facilitate the development of new homes. This includes £80·8m for the Greater London Authority’s East London Line – Growth Capacity programme to support the development of 14 000 ...
-
Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
Network Rail has caught and moved 200 endangered white clawed crayfish as part of works to reinforce the 173-year-old Grade II listed Docker Garths viaduct on the West Coast Main Line in Cumbria. East Midlands franchisee Abellio and leasing company Eversholt Rail have awarded Bombardier Transportation a ...
-
Rail Business UKReview to consider whether and how to proceed with High Speed 2
UK: The terms of reference and timeline for an independently-led government review of whether and how to proceed with the High Speed 2 project were published by Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps on August 21. The ‘independent, thorough and objective’ review is to be chaired by Douglas ...
-
Rail Business UKEast Midlands Railway announces three brands
UK: Abellio officially launched East Midlands Railway as the new operator of the East Midlands franchise on August 19, the day after it formally took over from Stagecoach which had operated the services for 11 years under the East Midlands Trains brand. More than £600m is to be spent ...
-
Rail Business UKConsultation on trans-Pennine route modernisation
UK: Network Rail is to begin public consultation this summer on plans to rebuild and electrify a 13 km section of the trans-Pennine corridor between Manchester and York via Leeds. The plans form part of the infrastructure manager’s £2·9bn Transpennine Upgrade programme, which is intended to modernise the route ...
-
Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
Northern officially retired the first of its Class 142 Pacer DMUs on August 12. A further six will be put into storage but remain available for use ‘if required’ for special events and during the autumn low adhesion season. ‘They will be maintained and looked after, but ...
-
Rail Business UKFirst Trenitalia awarded West Coast Partnership
UK: The consortium of FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) has been selected for the West Coast Partnership franchise to operate intercity services on the West Coast Main Line and the first phase of High Speed 2, the Department for Transport announced on August 14. Final award is ...
-
Rail Business UKSnowdon Mountain Railway orders battery-diesel locos
UK: Snowdon Mountain Railway has ordered two battery-diesel hybrid locomotives from Clayton Equipment Ltd, which specialises in the production of bespoke designs for specialist railway, metro, mining and tunnelling applications. The 800 mm gauge railway runs steam and diesel locos up the highest mountain in Wales using ...
-
Rail Business UKLevenmouth reopening moves forward
UK: The Scottish Government has given the go-ahead for detailed design work to support the proposed reopening of the 6·5 km railway serving Levenmouth at an estimated cost of £70m, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure & Connectivity Michael Matheson confirmed on August 8. The rail link had been identified ...
-
Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
The Department for Transport is to provide £10m to support the construction of stations at Darlaston and Willenhall on the Walsall – Wolverhampton line. Planning applications are due to be submitted this year, with a view to reopening the line to passengers by the end of 2021. Further funding will ...
-
Rail Business UKUK in Interrail and Eurail ticketing dispute
UK: The Rail Delivery Group will cease to be a member of the Eurail Group of railway companies with effect from January 1 2020, ending the ability of visitors to Great Britain to use the Interrail and Eurail pass schemes. RDG offers its own its range of BritRail passes. ...
-
Rail Business UKSouth Eastern franchise competition cancelled pending Rail Review
UK: The Department for Transport terminated the competition for the next South Eastern franchise on August 7, saying it had ‘significant concerns’ that continuing with the process ‘would lead to additional costs incurred to the taxpayer, with no certainty that this would deliver envisaged benefits for passengers ...