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Transforming the Welsh railway

24 July 2018Colin Lea, mobilisation director of rail services at Transport for Wales (TfW), takes a look at the promising future of the refreshed Wales and Borders franchise. TfW, a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government, has developed what is&...

Rail recruitment, then and now

24 July 2018The rail industry has changed massively over the last 30 years. With that, the way the sector has recruited its thousands of workers has also evolved. RTM’s Daniel Broadley sat down with Carl Stanyard, area driver manager at West Midlands Tr...

A radical solution to the employment crisis

24 July 2018Peter Cayless, founder and creative director at Working Eye, talks about an innovative solution to employment in the rail industry that might just help transform careers advice into career discovery. At the 2012 Latitude Festival, comedian Shappi...

Electrification: an uncertain future

24 July 2018Dr Stuart Hillmansen, senior lecturer in electrical energy systems at the University of Birmingham, and head of the Traction Research Group as part of the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE), considers the future of electr...

Elizabeth Line: a greener approach

17 July 2018Howard Smith, operations director for TfL Rail and the Elizabeth Line, outlines the key features of the brand-new, eco-friendly Old Oak Common depot which recently opened its doors in the capital. Operations have begun at the new, purpose-built t...

HS2: collaborate to innovate

17 July 2018Dr Chris Goodier and Dr Steve Yeomans, of Loughborough University’s Centre for Innovative and Collaborative Construction Engineering (CICE), talk about four new HS2 research projects which are set to challenge how we design, build and monito...

Hydrogen trains: bringing the success story to the UK

17 July 2018Hydrogen-powered trains are already a reality in other rail networks in Europe. Now, working alongside Eversholt Rail, Alstom UK plans to bring these same benefits to Britain in light of the country’s decarbonisation and electrification agen...

iRail: investing in the future

17 July 2018The rail industry today faces many challenges, one of those being the skills gap in high- speed rail. However, events like iRail are doing their part in engaging young people and investing the future workforce of our railways. RTM’s Daniel B...

Up north: a long-term strategy

17 July 2018Until April, David Hoggarth was director of Rail North. Now, after the amalgamation of Rail North with subnational body Transport for the North (TfN), he is the latter’s strategic rail director. Here, he talks about the importance of a long...

Electrification: an investigation

10 July 2018The Transport Select Committee has been hard at work to get to the root of the DfT’s reasoning behind the decision to cancel electrification plans. Lilian Greenwood, chair of the committee, investigates. Much of our rail network is under im...

The results are in

10 July 2018David Sidebottom, director at Transport Focus, investigates the results of the watchdog’s latest nationwide station survey. “Nice friendly staff. Very efficient.” Passengers have spoken, and London King’s Cross is the top...

What about Brexit?

10 July 2018Darren Caplan, chief executive of the Railway Industry Association (RIA), dares to investigate the potential impact of Brexit on the UK rail supply sector. Everyone’s talking about Brexit – except the rail supply sector, it seems. Hav...

RISQS: Assurance for the industry

10 July 2018Paul Ravenscroft, head of supplier assurance communications at RSSB, guides us through the new Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme (RISQS). The RISQS provides the assurance which enables 110-plus buyers to do business with confidence w...

VLR: The next generation

10 July 2018Olivia Brown, business development officer at the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) in the University of Warwick, updates us on the latest developments of three key Very Light Rail (VLR) projects. Climate change concerns have been the subject of...

Greater Anglia: The future of rail travel

03 July 2018Mike Kean, deputy MD and franchise and programmes director at Greater Anglia, gives us the lowdown on the train operator’s new bi-mode trains which are currently under construction in Switzerland. I’ve recently been over to Switzerlan...