HS2 Ltd has invited Hitachi Rail GTS UK, Indra Sistemas and Siemens Mobility to tender for two contracts to supply and then maintain the control systems that will give trains approval to depart the platform at London Euston, Old Oak Common, Interchange and Birmingham Curzon Street. CCTV will ensure that passengers have boarded before the signal is given to close the doors. Platform edge doors, procured under a separate contract, will be installed at the Old Oak Common and Interchange through stations.
In her first address to Department for Transport staff on July 8, newly appointed Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh said ’the new motto of our department – our purpose – is simple: move fast and fix things’. Her five strategic priorities are: improving performance on the railways and driving forward rail reform; improving bus services and growing usage; transforming infrastructure to work for the whole country, promoting social mobility and tackling regional inequality; greener transport; and better integrating transport networks.
SPL Powerlines is using Tended‘s geofencing technology for track worker safety in Scotland, following pilot schemes in England. Tended’s latest feature is a red, amber, green colour-coded overview of all plant and machinery which flags potential unsafe events for immediate action. ’This feature is a completely new innovation that has the potential to transform how possessions are managed’, said Tended CEO Leo Scott Smith.
Greater Anglia has begun installing tables on its Stadler Class 745/1 Stansted Express trains, with four tables due to be fitted to a train each weekday night. There are already fold down seat-back tables on airline seats, but no tables in the bays. The changes is being made because the trains are being used on Great Eastern Main Line inter-city services more often than originally envisaged.
The second platform at Hartlepool station has been brought back into use and an accessible footbridge opened. This will enable Northern to increase services from one train per hour to three trains every 2 h.
A multidisciplinary team of Arup (economic and engineering), Grimshaw (design options) and 5th Studio (masterplanning, connectivity and public realm) is to develop an enhanced strategic outline business case and design for the planned redevelopment of Stratford station. Other team members include BAM, Corderoy, make:good and Kanda Consulting. They will work on the scheme with the London Legacy Development Corp, Network Rail, Transport for London, Places for London and Newham Council.
A total of 32 students from 12 universities who live or study in the West Midlands have secured places on a eight-week paid summer placement programme provided HS2 contractor Balfour Beatty Vinci. This covers a broad range of subjects, including civil engineering, quantity surveying and design engineering.
Network Rail has awarded Civils Plant Framework contracts for the hire of plant and operated machinery across the North West & Central Region to AP Webb Plant Hire, Pod-Trak, Land Recovery Rail and L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage.
Anne McMeel joined the Rail Safety & Standards Board on July 4 as a non-executive director and Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee. She is an experienced senior executive, having held roles at Transport for London and the Houses of Parliament Restoration & Renewal Delivery Authority.
ScotRail is undertaking a pre-tender market consultation on the possibility of installing on-train energy metering across its fleet.
Daisy Chapman-Chamberlain has joined the Rail North Partnership at Transport for the North as Specification Manager.
Danish Malik has joined the Light Rail Safety & Standards Board, tasked with refining its data-driven approach to risk reduction and management, including extracting maximum benefit from an enhanced Tramway Accident & Incident Reporting system.
RAIB makes two recommendations to Great Western Railway in its report into a member of staff being struck by a train at St Philips Marsh depot in Bristol on September 26 2023. The first is to review the personal track safety training and assessment for shunters. The second is to identify the places at depots where its staff might be required to walk foul of a train’s path and then manage the risk. There are also four learning points.
Sub-national transport body Midlands Connect has appointed Mike Bull as Programme Director. He joins after three years at HS2 Ltd.