Interviews

From 'average' to 'excellent'

01.03.12: Ian Prosser, director of railway safety at the ORR, talks to RTM about advances in passenger safety and driving improvements for the future. Safety on the railways is improving year on year, but there is still much that needs to be done to...

Making connections

01.03.12: Getting young people to choose careers in rail is a challenge for the whole industry. Paul Cooper, the new chairman of the Young Railway Professionals, explains how to provide vital support to this demographic. The Young Railway Professiona...

Remaining vigilant

01.03.12: Safety may have improved, but maintaining it in the face of whole-industry change is a challenge. RSSB’s director of policy, research and risk, Anson Jack, talks to RTM. No single factor or improvement can be credited with the gradual...

Setting the standard

01.03.12: When RTM talked to ITSO chief executive Michael Leach a year ago, there were tentative signs that, with Government support, a wider switch to smart ticketing was finally underway. The rapid increase in operators making the leap has meant that 20...

The restrictions of renewals

01.03.12: Clive Woods, programme manager for the Great Eastern OLE renewals project, discusses the vast task of replacing overhead cables with minimum disruption. The Great Eastern overhead line renewals project involves the replacement of cable equi...

The route ahead

01.03.12: The long-awaited Government confirmation that HS2 is to go ahead did not deter the project’s opponents, who are convinced it is a waste of money with few environmental benefits. RTM asked Julie Mills, of pro-HS2 research company Greengauge...

The wait is over for Wolverton station

01.03.12: John McLaughlin, Milton Keynes Council’s transport project manager, talks to RTM about the new station building in Wolverton. After years of campaigning for a new station building at Wolverton, its backers are now just weeks away from...

A new depot for Derby

01.01.12: The rail industry in Derby has not fully recovered from Bombardier’s loss to Siemens for the Thameslink rolling stock, but Network Rail is determined to invest in the city, with plans for a new depot which will become its regional headquar...

Costs and assets

01.01.12: Asset management and monitoring has long been a concern of freight operators, due to the structure of rail freight access charges and the need to pay to offset the costs of freight’s use of the track. Poor asset management can lead to...

'Even the best performing companies can still have things go wrong'

01.01.12: RTM discusses risk management in the rail industry with Office of Rail Regulation deputy chief inspector Allan Spence. Network Rail has been improving its management of health and safety risk – and management more generally – he...

Heavy lifting

01.01.12: The reconstruction of four rail bridges in north east London in the autumn required some deft lifting work, the relocation of some residents, and an awful lot of engineering prowess across four tight possession windows. RTM speaks to Network Rai...

Listen closely

01.01.12: The trial of trackside ‘listening’ technology has proved such a success for South West Trains that it is now being expanded to cover the whole fleet, as engineering director Christian Roth tells RTM. Axle bearing failures can be...

Mapping the future

01.01.12: Shirley Clark of Ordnance Survey discusses the organisation’s closer relationship with Network Rail, and the many ways in which smart use of geographic data helps the rail industry. Accurate topographical information is obviously vita...

Number crunching

01.01.12: Cutting unit costs on the railway is about more than just rolling stock, infrastructure and working practices – for an organisation the size of Network Rail, savings have to be made in the back office, too. Steve Swientozielskyj, head of f...

Shaking the timbers

01.01.12: RTM speaks to Network Rail’s Rosie Majer and co-ordinator of the South West Wales Integrated Transport Consortium, Sue Miles, about the reconstruction of the Loughor viaduct and plans to re-double the singled section of the Swansea to Llan...