Engineering design consultancy Rendel has moved from serviced offices to a permanent Birmingham office following ‘significant’ contract wins including with HS2 Ltd and Coventry Very Light Rail. Birmingham is its fourth office after London, Bristol and Sydney, and it plans to create 40 jobs in the region over the next five years. ‘Birmingham’s deep pool of specialist talent, with over 30 000 students a year graduating in engineering and tech, can provide Rendel with an abundance of skilled people to fuel their growth plans’, said city council leader Ian Ward at the opening of the office.
The Global Centre of Rail Excellence is to hold a Meet the Buyer engagement event in near Swansea on March 17. ‘GCRE will be a success if we can build a high quality and resilient supply chain that gives us access to the best skills, knowledge and suppliers, including those that exist locally and regionally’, said Chief Executive Simon Jones. ‘I’d encourage local businesses and potential suppliers to come to our briefing event and get involved.’
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard is convening a Transport Summit in Doncaster on March 1 to ‘build a vision’ for the future of the region’s public transport. ‘I want to bring together experts in the field to help us fix our broken public transport system’, he said. ‘If the government aren’t going to do it, we need to take matters into our own hands and figure out what a London-style transport network that works for South Yorkshire looks like.’
Southeastern’s website has been awarded Shaw Trust accreditation for complying with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA standards.
AEGIS Engineering Systems and the University of Huddersfield’s Institute of Railway Research have signed a memorandum of understanding covering collaboration in R&D and training. ‘This is an important step in the AEGIS strategy to collaborate with the leading rail research academic institutions and industry organisations to accelerate the introduction of new products and services to the global rail market’, said AEGIS Managing Director Mark McCool.
ZF Services UK has appointed Warren Viviers as Technical Sales Engineer for its rail service arm.
As part of the national Open Doors event during the week of March 13, VolkerRail is to host events at its plant depot in Scunthorpe and training facility in Doncaster to give students the opportunity to see what it is like to work in the rail sector. The VolkerRailStory joint venture will also showcase its work on the Hope Valley Railway Upgrade project.
Decorum Vending has installed 79 snack vending machines at 51 stations served by Northern, with a further 34 locations to get machines in 2023. To deter vandalism, the machines are cash-free, with contactless payment by bank card or smart phone.
RAIB makes three recommendations in its report into the death of a driver who exited the cab and was stuck by another train at West Worthing in February 2022. The first recommendation to Govia Thameslink Railway requires that on-train staff have adequate access to toilets; the second and third cover forward-facing CCTV. Four learning points remind traincrew to arrange appropriate protection before leaving their cabs, highlight the importance of wearing suitable PPE, prompt infrastructure managers to remove tripping hazards, and remind employers to assure themselves that the correct PPE is being worn.