All articles by Rail Business UK – Page 128
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Rail Business UKMayor calls for TfL to replace Network Rail as infrastructure manager
UK: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called for Transport for London to replace Network Rail as the infrastructure manager for routes which are used by suburban passenger services operated under concessions awarded by TfL. The proposal forms part of TfL’s submission of its views to a review of the ...
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Rail Business UKFive recommendations in Lewisham detrainment report
UK: The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has published its report into an incident on March 2 2018 when nine Southeastern trains became stranded near Lewisham in London during bad weather and passengers evacuated themselves onto third-rail electrified tracks. The report published on March 25 is separate from an action plan ...
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Rail Business UKRevised punctuality measure aims to improve performance
UK: The Rail Delivery Group has announced that passenger operators and Network Rail will publish new measures of train punctuality from the beginning of April, as part of an ongoing plan to improve performance and reduce delays. The approach will see services measured to the minute at all stops, replacing ...
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Rail Business UKTrains ordered for 2021 launch of ‘high-quality, low fare’ London – Edinburgh service
UK: FirstGroup has finalised an order for five Hitachi AT300 electric trainsets which it will use to launch a London – Edinburgh open access service in autumn 2021. The £100m deal completed on March 20 is being financed by Beacon Rail Leasing and includes 10 years of maintenance by ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
An independent organisation should be established to enhance accountability and enable a more joined-up, long-term approach to decisions about the railway in England and Wales, Rail Delivery Group Chief Executive Paul Plummer told the Accelerate Rail conference on March 19. ‘We are calling for a new arms-length organising body to ...
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Rail Business UKEurotunnel awards Shuttle refurbishment contract
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel concessionaire Eurotunnel has appointed Bombardier Transportation to undertake the mid-life refurbishment of its nine passenger Shuttle trainsets, which carry cars, coaches and their occupants between the terminals in the UK and France. The contract announced on March 20 is worth €150m over seven years, with deliveries of ...
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Rail Business UKOverhead Line Electrification for Railways
Book Review Overhead Line Electrification for Railways By Garry Keenor Developed over several years by an experienced electrification engineer, this book is intended to provide ‘an approachable and reasonably comprehensive’ study of overhead electrification systems, setting out ‘the why as well as the what’ for readers with some basic engineering ...
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Rail Business UKCost of UK electrification could be cut by half
UK: Better planning of projects, wider adoption of best practice and a long-term commitment to a rolling programme could reduce the cost of overhead line electrification by between 33% and 50%, according to a report published by the UK’s Railway Industry Association on March 14. The Electrification Cost Challenge review ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
The Department for Transport has invited stakeholder views on the interoperability of the draft Control Command & Signalling, Energy, Noise, Operations & Traffic Management, Safety in Railway Tunnels and Rolling Stock - Wagons National Technical Specification Notices, which would replace the EU’s Technical Specifications for Interoperability in the event of ...
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Rail Business UKRail Alliance and BCRRE join forces to foster innovation
UK: Trade association Rail Alliance and Birmingham Centre for Railway Research & Education announced the formal integration of the two organisations on March 11. The merger is intended to foster a closer partnership between the supply industry and academia to support a more focused approach to railway ...
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Rail Business UKLNER Azuma Class 800 authorised for passenger service
UK: InterCity East Coast operator LNER has finally received approval for its Class 800 ‘Azuma’ trainsets to enter passenger service on the East Coast Main Line, subject to the completion of final testing. In a letter to manufacturer Hitachi Rail Europe, the Office of Road & Rail has authorised the ...
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Rail Business UKNorthern Class 331s to serve Leeds from May
UK: Regional franchisee Northern expects to put its first CAF-built Class 331 EMUs into passenger services between Leeds and Doncaster with the May 19 timetable change, having received regulatory authorisation from the Office of Road & Rail. The approval applies to the 31 three-car sets and the 12 four-car versions. ...
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Rail Business UKGemini confirms Springburn works closure
UK: Gemini Rail has confirmed that it is to close its Springburn rolling stock maintenance works in Glasgow, citing ‘severely adverse market conditions affecting its core business’ and losses of £1m per month throughout 2018. The site has work in place until July, but closure is planned by March 2020 ...
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Rail Business UKUK railway news round-up
The Railways (Interoperability) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 were laid before Parliament on February 26, and would come into effect in the event of a no-deal Brexit to maintain the regulatory status quo for obtaining authorisation to put rolling stock and infrastructure into service. DfT is consulting on a new ...
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Rail Business UKElectrification to reach Market Harborough
UK: The Department for Transport has confirmed that infrastructure manager Network Rail has been instructed to design an extension of the Midland Main Line electrification by around 15 km from Kettering to Market Harborough, which would enable a new connection to a power supply at Braybrooke. In a written answer ...
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Rail Business UK5G roll out to begin on South Western Railway
UK: FirstGroup has announced that its Rail Division will be the exclusive supplier of Blu Wireless’s 5G communications for ontrain connectivity. This follows a 2½ year development programme undertaken with Network Rail, the Department for Transport and the Department for Culture Media & Sport. Roll-out is to begin ...
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Rail Business UKChannel Tunnel Brexit works funded in out-of-court settlement
EUROPE: On March 1 the UK government agreed to pay Eurotunnel up to £33m in an out-of-out-court settlement to bring to an end the Channel Tunnel concessionaire’s legal challenge against the Department for Transport’s decision to award ferry companies DFDS and Brittany Ferries contracts to provide cross-Channel freight transport services ...
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Rail Business UKMSSL acquires Bombardier UK rolling stock component business
UK: Indian automotive and transport component supplier Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd's PKC Group announced on February 28 that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bombardier Transportation’s UK rolling stock electrical component and system production and installation activities. This includes the manufacturing of wiring harnesses, panels and cabinets and ...
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Rail Business UKPolicymakers back HS2 as contractors challenge costs
UK: Representatives of the High Speed Rail Industry Leaders group joined national and regional politicians in Birmingham on February 25 to unveil a giant jigsaw of Britain, writes Tony Miles. This was intended to highlight the regional connectivity benefits of High Speed 2, with the ‘missing piece’ in the jigsaw, ...
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Rail Business UKFirst new Stansted Express trainset delivered
UK: The first of 10 Stadler Flirt electric multiple-units which Greater Anglia has ordered for use on Stansted Express branded services between London Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport was delivered to the operator’s Norwich depot on February 28. It will now undergo safety and performance testing before it is approved ...