Interviews

Laying the foundation for a digital railway

01 March 2015Craig Ellis, Network Rail Telecoms head of technology & engineering, talks about the development and deployment of the FTNx network and the future benefits it will deliver. David Stevenson reports. Network Rail has gone live with its new FTNx...

Rail safety performance and trends

01 March 2015The RSSB has released its high-level Overview of Safety Performance for the calendar year 2014. RTM discussed the results with George Bearfield, director of system safety at RSSB. Overall 2014 was a good year for railway safety, and it was the se...

Keeping the Caledonian Sleeper as fresh as can be

01 March 2015Serco is soon to take over the operation of the Caledonian Sleeper service between Scotland and London, but has kept on Alstom as fleet maintainer.

Capital to coast, coast to capital, commitment to customers

01 March 2015c2c successfully retained the Essex Thameside franchise and has had a busy first 100 days. RTM spoke to managing director Julian Drury. The second long-term franchise to be announced in the current wave of refranchising agreements was Essex Thame...

Piling work underway at Crossrail’s eco-friendly Old Oak Common depot

14 January 2015Work is well underway to design and construct Crossrail’s new maintenance depot for its Bombardier-built train fleet at Old Oak Common (OOC), with piling starting as RTM went to press.  Bombardier Transportation UK Ltd awarded Taylor W...

Robust planning key to Watford renewals

09 January 2015Network Rail’s John Nixon gives RTM an update on the Watford Area Renewals Programme’s Christmas commissioning work. Work to renew track and signals at a junction connecting the line between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey and th...

The world of rail, from Afghanistan to Crossrail

01 January 2015A bright young engineer from Afghanistan has worked on Crossrail and is about to study for his Master’s in the USA, having received pointers on his career from the UK Rail Industry Training Trust, launched by RTM. Adam Hewitt reports. Ahmad...

Understanding the causes of low adhesion

01 January 2015Low adhesion is a major problem for the railways, in terms of performance, safety and cost, but a new research project aims to shed more light on the phenomenon. RTM spoke to Dr Helen Viner, chief scientist at the Transport Research Laboratory (TR...

HS2 in the virtual world

01 January 2015RTM interviews HS2’s head of management systems, Jon Kerbey. Many clients dream of a ‘single vendor solution’ when thinking about design and asset management, with every contractor at every tier of the supply chain using the sam...

‘The ambitions of the rail industry have filled me with excitement’

01 November 2014Atkins’ UK rail business got a new managing director this summer – Philip Hoare, who previously led the company’s highways and transportation division. Now that he has his feet under the table, RTM spoke with him to understand mo...

Major opportunities for SMEs on HS2

01 November 2014Approximately 60% of contract opportunities arising in the HS2 supply chain will be awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Simon Kirby, chief executive of HS2 Ltd, told delegates at the Manchester Supply Chain event. David Stevenson...

Midland Metro extension moving forward

01 November 2014Paul Griffiths, Metro and Sprint programme director at Centro, discusses the developments and progress on the Midland Metro extension. Midland Metro’s multi-million pound extension is due to be operational by autumn 2015, coming online at...

Silwood sidings set for five-car trains

01 November 2014Mike Stubbs, director at London Overground, discusses the completion of the Silwood sidings facility and the challenges faced by the contractors over the last 17 months. Work to deliver a 25% capacity increase on the London Overground network has...

Another step forward for ERTMS

01 September 2014Richard Tomlin, business development manager for signalling at Hitachi Rail Europe, discusses how the company will implement its European Train Control System (ETCS) technology on two Class 37 locomotives. Network Rail has awarded Hitachi Rail Eu...

More than a railway

01 September 2014Crossrail took the ‘Excellence in the Public Sector’ crown at the Investors in People Awards. After the ceremony, RTM caught up with the project’s head of organisational effectiveness, Rob Jones. Crossrail’s achievements a...