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Our responsibility to shape a more diverse rail industry

Our responsibility to shape a more diverse rail industry

04 June 2019Angie Doll, passenger services director for Southern and Gatwick Express, outlines Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR) role in diversifying and inspiring the next generation of the rail sector’s workforce. At GTR, we have embarked upon t...

Birmingham Moor Street vision embraces the future and celebrates the past

Birmingham Moor Street vision embraces the future and celebrates the past

31 May 2019Maria Machancoses, director of Midlands Connect, looks forward to what the Birmingham Moor Street's redevelopment will mean for the region. Over the years, many of Birmingham’s beautiful, historic buildings have been lost to the bulldozers....

The railway franchising model is broken, and passengers are paying the price

The railway franchising model is broken, and passengers are paying the price

13 May 2019Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch and chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), gives her view on the state of the UK’s rail franchising structure. The PAC has repeatedly raised concerns about the current franchising mode...

5G: An opportunity to revolutionise on-train connectivity

5G: An opportunity to revolutionise on-train connectivity

13 May 2019Simon Holmes, group head of digital (engineering) at FirstGroup, introduces us to the 5G solution being delivered for the rail sector.  FirstGroup and its partners are excited to be close to delivering a viable 5G millimetre Wave (mmWave) so...

Delivering cost-effective electrification

Delivering cost-effective electrification

13 May 2019David Clarke, technical director of the Railway Industry Association (RIA), sets out the findings of a new report on how rail electrification can be delivered more cost effectively. In 2017, the government announced the cancelation of a number of...

NSAR: Tackling the digital skills shortage

NSAR: Tackling the digital skills shortage

13 May 2019The National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR) chief executive Neil Robertson returns to write for RTM, this time, to assess the digital skills shortage facing the rail sector. How often do you look in the mirror and ask yourself the question: &ldqu...

Changing the London skyline with HS2

Changing the London skyline with HS2

26 March 2019Lisa Hogben, HS2 programme delivery manager for area south enabling works, explains how the arrival of HS2’s first tower cranes shows change is coming to London Euston. On Monday 14 January, HS2’s first cranes appeared on the capital&...

Picking up the pace with high-speed track handovers

Picking up the pace with high-speed track handovers

26 March 2019In 2018 Steve Featherstone, programme director of track at Network Rail, set his team a challenge to secure 100 high-speed track handovers in a year. Following a concerted effort by team members on the project, the challenge was met in just nine m...

26-30 Railcard: taking advantage of opportunities

26-30 Railcard: taking advantage of opportunities

19 March 2019After a nine-month national trial, the rail industry launched its seventh National Railcard for 26-30-year-olds on 2 January 2019. Rail Delivery Group managing director of customer experience, Jacqueline Starr, reveals how the proposition came int...

Caledonian Sleeper: a railway icon re-imagined

Caledonian Sleeper: a railway icon re-imagined

19 March 2019The world-renowned Caledonian Sleeper, due to begin operations at the end of spring 2019, completed its first Scotland to London journey earlier this year. Ryan Flaherty, Serco’s managing director for Caledonian Sleeper, tells more about the...

East West Rail: the next steps

East West Rail: the next steps

19 March 2019In January, five route options for the central section of East West Rail were published as part of a public consultation on the next phase of the scheme. Stephen Barker, engineering director at the East West Rail Company (EWRCo.), tells more on th...

Rail's role in transit-orientated developments

Rail's role in transit-orientated developments

19 March 2019Jonathan Bray, director at the Urban Transport Group (UTG), argues that transit-oriented developments are the future – and that rail has a vital role to play. Imagine this scenario: you finish work for the day, catch a commuter train from w...

Are you an apprentice or provider in the rail industry? We want to hear from you…

Are you an apprentice or provider in the rail industry? We want to hear from you…

13 March 2019Last week was National Apprenticeship Week (NAW), celebrating the positive impact apprenticeships make not just on the individual apprentices themselves, but also the companies and wider economy and industry they serve in. The theme this year was...

Delivering innovation through collaboration with Rambus

Delivering innovation through collaboration with Rambus

12 March 2019Russell McCullagh, vice president and general manager of ticketing at Rambus, tells more on the company’s collaboration with Worldline to advance opportunities in the smart-ticketing sector. In January, Rambus announced the expansion of a c...

Safety of technical systems: the next 30 years

Safety of technical systems: the next 30 years

12 March 2019George Bearfield, visiting professor of railway system safety at the University of Huddersfield and director of health and safety at Rock Rail, takes a look at how the rail industry can future-proof its systems for the coming decades. Railway sys...

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Versatile coating system enhances Indestructible Paint rail industry role

12/08/2020Versatile coating system enhances Indestructible Paint rail industry role

A highly versatile and robust epoxy coating s... more >
Network Rail partners with Cycling UK for new initiative

03/08/2020Network Rail partners with Cycling UK for new initiative

Network Rail and Cycling UK have launched a p... more >

editor's comment

23/01/2018Out with the old...

Despite a few disappointing policy announcements, especially for the electrification aficionados amongst us, 2017 was, like Darren Caplan writes on page 20, a year generally marked by positive news for the rail industry. We polished off the iconic Ordsall Chord (p32), hit some solid milestones on Thameslink (p40), progressed on ambitious rolling stock orders (p16), and finally started moving forward on HS2 (p14) ‒ paving the way for a New Year with brand-new infrastructrure to... read more >

last word

Encouraging youngsters to be safe on the railway

Encouraging youngsters to be safe on the railway

This summer, Arriva Group's CrossCountry and the Scout Association joined to launch a new partnership to promote rail safety among young people. Chris Leech MBE, business community manager at the TOC, gives RTM an update on the innovative scheme. Recognising that young people are more likely to take a risk trespassing on railway tracks, C... more > more last word articles >

'the sleepers' daily blog

On the right track, Sulzer is awarded RISAS accreditation for Nottingham Service Centre

29/06/2020On the right track, Sulzer is awarded RISAS accreditation for Nottingham Service Centre

Following an independent audit, Sulzer’s Nottingham Service Centre has been accepted as part of the rail industry supplier approval scheme (RISAS). The accreditation reinforces the high-quality standards that are maintained by Sulzer’s network of independent repair facilities across the UK and further afield in its global network. ... more >
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interviews

Andrew Haines, CE of Network Rail, tells BBC News his organisation could issue future rail franchises

24/06/2019Andrew Haines, CE of Network Rail, tells BBC News his organisation could issue future rail franchises

Andrew Haines, the Chief Executive of Network Rail, has told the Today programme on Radio 4's BBC’s flagship news programme that he wo... more >
Advancing the rail industry with management degree apprenticeships

08/05/2019Advancing the rail industry with management degree apprenticeships

In answering the pressing questions of how current and future generations of managers can provide solutions to high-profile infrastructure projec... more >
Women in rail - is the industry on the right track?

12/03/2019Women in rail - is the industry on the right track?

RTM sits down with Samantha Smith, sole female member of the TransPennine Route Upgrade Alliance Leadership Team, to find out more about encourag... more >
TfN Strategic Transport Plan: not just for transport's sake

22/01/2019TfN Strategic Transport Plan: not just for transport's sake

Peter Molyneux, Transport for the North’s (TfN’s) strategic roads director, has been leading on the development of the seven economic... more >