All articles by Rail Business UK – Page 127
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Rail Business UKStation Access Map aims to facilitate independent travel
UK: An ‘Access Map’ has been launched to provide rail users with information about accessibility at stations. This includes whether stations have step free or partial step free access; what facilities are available, including accessible toilets and changing places, and alternative accessible stations. Developed by the Rail Delivery Group, train ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
The House of Commons Transport Select Committee has launched the 'Trains fit for the future?' inquiry into the development of trains using alternative fuels such as hydrogen or batteries, and how vehicle design can be ‘future proofed’ to meet changing passenger needs. The deadline for written submissions is May 23. ...
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Rail Business UKVirgin Trains proposes airline model for long-distance rail travel
UK: A complete rethink of the way long-distance rail services in Great Britain are operated forms a key part of Virgin Trains’ submission to the government’s Williams Rail Review of the rail industry. Despite the possibility that Virgin Trains will cease operating rail services in the UK within the next ...
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Rail Business UKCo-operative proposes Wessex open access train service
UK: Ambitious plans to launch a network of open access regional passenger services in western England are being developed by independent not-for-profit co-operative society GO-OP Co-operative Ltd, which hopes to start operations in summer 2020. GO-OP is proposing to offer at least three direct trains each way per day between ...
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Rail Business UKYRP celebrates 10 years of success
Professional networking and educational group Young Rail Professionals has developed an important role in a fragmented UK rail sector. Nick Kingsley asks co-founder Paul Cooper and former Chair Sabrina Ihaddaden to reflect on the organisation’s achievements in its first decade.
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Rail Business UKSiemens Mobility submits plans for Goole rolling stock plant
UK: Siemens Mobility has submitted an outline planning application for a £200m rolling stock plant at Goole in East Yorkshire which would manufacture and commission vehicles for the UK market. This follows the signing last of November of a £1·5bn contract to supply 94 Inspiro London trainsets for London Underground’s ...
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Rail Business UKVivarail D-Train enters passenger service
UK: West Midlands Trains put its first Class 230 ‘D-Train’ DMU into passenger service on April 23, working the Marston Vale route between Bletchley and Bedford, which forms part of its London Northwestern Railway business unit. The Abellio-led franchise operator ordered the three two-car units from Vivarail to provide extra ...
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Rail Business UKTravel information and adverts at Stansted Airport
UK: The baggage reclaim area at Stansted Airport now has digital screens which show live car, coach and rail journey time comparisons for travel to London Liverpool Street station. The project was jointly devised and created by train operator Greater Anglia, creative agency LIDA and DOOH.com, with ads appearing on ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
Network Rail recorded 619 balloon-related incidents in the past year, many involving helium balloons getting tangled around high voltage overhead wires, with a total cost to the industry of around £1m. 'Ideally, we’d ask people not to bring balloons into our stations’, said James Dean, Chief Operating Officer for Network ...
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Rail Business UKFirm orders for Hybrid PowerPacks
EUROPE: Contracts have been signed for Rolls-Royce to supply nine MTU Hybrid PowerPacks to Ireland’s Iarnród Éireann and four to UK leasing company Porterbrook. The firm orders announced on April 16 follows letters of intent announced at InnoTrans 2018. The Hybrid PowerPacks are to be delivered between May 2020 ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
c2c has begun introducing the PICO4UK ticket issuing system, which by the end of the year will replace seven separate legacy retailing systems to integrate its ticket machines, ticket offices, website and app. PICO4UK has been developed for the UK market to replicate a system which parent company Trenitalia has ...
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Rail Business UKSouth Eastern franchise award delayed
UK: The start of the next South Eastern passenger franchise has been delayed ‘while we make a decision on the competition’, Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling confirmed to parliament on April 9. The Department for Transport is negotiating a short-term extension to its current agreement with Govia. This ...
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Rail Business UKStagecoach disqualified from three franchises in pension dispute
UK: Stagecoach Group has been disqualified from the Department for Transport’s three current passenger franchise competitions, the company announced on April 10. Incumbent Stagecoach had been shortlisted for the East Midlands franchise, which the DfT announced on April 10 had been won by Abellio, and for the West Coast Partnership ...
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Rail Business UKBimode and hydrogen trains as Abellio wins next East Midlands franchise
UK: The Department for Transport named Abellio as the winner of the next East Midlands passenger franchise on April 10. Formal award is subject to a regulatory standstill period. The contract is due to begin on August 18 2019 and run until at least August 21 2027, with DfT having ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee published a report into delays to the Crossrail project on April 3, saying a 'fixation' on a delivery deadline of December 2018 led to signs that the programme was in trouble being missed or ignored. 'It is clear that the delivery deadline of ...
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Rail Business UKFirst look inside new Caledonian Sleeper trains
UK: London to Scotland overnight train operator Caledonian Sleeper has unveiled the interiors of its new coaches, which are being built by CAF in northern Spain. Entry into service had originally been scheduled for April 2018 but is now expected by the end of May. The Lowlander route between London ...
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Rail Business UKProgress Rail to repower GB Railfreight locomotives
UK: GB Railfreight has awarded Progress Rail a contract to repower 16 serviceable, stored or non-running Class 56 diesel locomotives which it bought from UK Rail Leasing last June. The existing Ruston-Paxman RK3 engines and control gear on the locomotives dating from 1976-84 will be replaced with new EMD 12-710 ...
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Rail Business UKTalgo committed to UK expansion strategy
UK: Planning for the development of a rolling stock manufacturing plant in Scotland and a research facility in northern England is continuing ‘at full pace’, Talgo Group President Carlos de Palacio Oriol told Railway Gazette in Madrid on April 1. Pointing out that Talgo’s two Spanish plants at Las Matas ...
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Rail Business UKMaritime Transport launches rail freight business
UK: Logistics company Maritime Transport officially launched its Maritime Intermodal business on March 29. DB Cargo UK unveiled two specially-branded Class 66 locomotives to mark the start three days later of a 10-year contract to operate daily container trains from Southampton and Felixstowe to inland terminals on Maritime’s behalf. As ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
Govia Thameslink Railway began the gradual introduction of Siemens Mobility Class 717 EMUs into all-day passenger service on March 25, when the first two six-car units began operating Great Northern services from Moorgate. All 25 Class 717s are expected to be in service later this year. Transport for London announced ...