Rail Industry Focus

Bringing all of Waterloo back to life

06.05.16: RTM’s Luana Salles reports on the major programme of works taking place at London Waterloo station, including bringing the former Eurostar platforms back into use and building a new concourse. Work in the UK’s busiest station ha...

Alstom’s ‘star trek’ scanner that transformed virgin fleet maintenance

28.04.16: A new laser scanner, developed by Alstom, has the potential to transform rolling stock fleet management by detecting maintenance problems in trains automatically. Rosemary Collins reports. Alstom’s Barcelona research and development t...

School pupils get a taste of railway careers at iRail 2016

21.04.16: RTM’s Rosemary Collins reports from the seventh annual iRail event held in Derby. Young people got to test out their visions for the future of the railway industry at the seventh annual iRail event, held at the iPro football stadium i...

Looking to the future at Victorian Paddington

21.04.16: Natalie Holden, senior commercial scheme sponsor for the Paddington project at Network Rail, talks to RTM’s Luana Salles about the ongoing work to replace the station’s intricate glass roof, upgrade its retail hub, and of the changes...

On the cusp of change

19.04.16: Speaking at Infrarail, rail training leaders outline the industry’s reliance on the supply chain to ensure it hits training targets, as well as the need to open up courses, transfer skills and offset levy costs. Luana Salles reports. ...

Thameslink benefits already on the horizon

19.04.16: Nick Gray, principal programme sponsor for Thameslink, reveals the latest statistics and changes taking place in and around London Bridge ahead of project completion in 2018. In the last edition of RTM, rail systems project director on the...

Delivering high-quality training for the next generation

18.04.16: Andrew Spencer, director of commercial services at The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), discusses the recent acquisition of Amber Train and the plans for its future. Delivering high-quality training for the next generation of r...

Crossrail: moving towards operations

15.04.16: Howard Smith, Crossrail operations director at TfL, runs through the project’s latest updates and highlights the ongoing shift from construction to operation. With tracks already laid and station refurbs gathering pace, the time has c...

Infrastructure planning: Moving away from stop-start investment

12.04.16: Devolution of Network Rail’s routes should not be seen as the panacea for solving every problem the industry comes up against, according to Jo Kaye, director of network strategy and capacity planning at Network Rail.  Following t...

Changing the conservative approach to rail innovation

11.04.16: As the UK rail industry starts its journey towards enabling the Digital Railway, supply chain leaders discuss the need for a change of approach to unlocking innovation. David Stevenson reports. Accelerating the uptake of innovation in the r...

‘Euston, we have a problem’

08.04.16: The CEO of the soon-to-open National College for High Speed Rail, John Evans, discusses the problems currently facing rail engineering recruitment in the UK and the need to drive forward the diversity agenda in the future. The rail industry...

Getting an aerial view

06.04.16: Edd Fowler from the Rail Infrastructure Network Model (RINM) team at Network Rail discusses the roll-out of the company’s aerial survey data, and the benefits it will deliver. Back in 2014, Network Rail conducted and completed an aeri...

Ticket machines: A question of trust

04.04.16: In a world where passengers increasingly want to do things virtually, David Sidebottom, passenger director at Transport Focus, asks why so many make an exception when buying train tickets. Proposed changes to the way in which passengers buy...

Ordsall Chord delivery needs certainty as work starts to progress

16.03.16: Martyn Angus, LNW route senior programme sponsor at Network Rail, talks to RTM about how work is progressing on the Ordsall Chord. Delivering the much-delayed £85m Ordsall Chord by December 2017 is achievable but certainty over the pr...

Deterring cable theft through DNA

14.03.16: James Brown, managing director at Selectamark Security Systems plc, discusses the successful work of the rail industry in reducing cable thefts. The use of DNA markers and warning signs saying it is in use have been key factors in ensuring...