Rail Industry Focus

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...

Japanese knotweed an ‘unknown’ quantity for rail

09.03.16: Will Sillar, founder and managing director of National Knotweed Survey, talks to RTM about the impact Japanese knotweed could have on rail assets in the UK. Japanese knotweed is a highly invasive, non-native plant found in the UK, which is...

A series of firsts for the Victoria line

07.03.16: David Waboso, capital programmes director at London Underground, reminisces about the 13 years’ worth of works that made Victoria Line one of the most reliable in the capital, and previews what its future could look like. Luana Salles repo...

Our holy grail is to provide a pantograph that reacts to the environment

04.03.16: Lee Brun, development and WPS manager at Brecknell Willis, a Wabtec Company, updates RTM on the work to deliver an active pantograph. Last year, RTM reported on the demonstration of a new monitoring system which has been developed to delive...

Personalisation is the future – but how do we get there?

23.02.16: Joanne Thompson, CEO at Penrillian, discusses one of the key topics covered at this year’s Transport Ticketing & Passenger Information Global Conference: personalisation. One of the buzzwords on everyone’s lips at this year&...

Thameslink transformation taking effect at London bridge

12.02.16: Mark Somers, rail systems project director on the Thameslink programme, updates RTM on the latest developments taking place in and around London Bridge station. The London Bridge station redevelopment is a key part of the mammoth £6.5...

LSSE: Network rail entering a new era of station design

10.02.16: Penny Gilg, Network Rail’s project manager on the Leeds Southern Station Entrance (LSSE), discusses how the infrastructure owner is changing its approach to station design. The opening of the new Leeds Southern Station Entrance (LSSE)...

Rail companies heading down wrong track when sourcing supplier financial information

02.02.16: Suzanne O’Keane, community manager in rail and transport at Achilles, asks why rail companies aren’t doing everything to protect themselves from financial risk. It seems not a week goes by when rail companies are not the subject...