Rail Industry Focus

Connecting Oxford Parkway to the Chiltern Main Line

01.08.15: Track is now completely laid from Oxford Parkway to the Chiltern Main Line, with the final connection of the two lines expected in September. Andy Milne, senior programme manager at Network Rail, talks to RTM about this major milestone. Two...

Laying the way at Winchburgh

01.08.15: Neil Barnes (pictured), rail director at Morgan Sindall, explains how upgrading the railway through Winchburgh Tunnel during a 44-day blockade will play a vital role in the electrification of the main Edinburgh-Glasgow Queen Street line. Ov...

Comfort, cost and fuel-saving – the case for the D-Train

01.08.15: RTM’s Luana Salles visited Vivarail to see its converted D-Trains and came away impressed. Seeing a converted DMU D-Train parked side-by-side to the original D78 District Line car proved what Vivarail has been telling us ever since it...

Traffic management for the Thameslink core

01.08.15: RTM’s Adam Hewitt spoke to the people responsible for delivering traffic management for Thameslink: Hitachi Rail Europe managing director Karen Boswell, Tim Gray from Hitachi-owned TRE, and Network Rail’s Martin Chatfield and Gary Po...

More than 30,000 new Sentinel users in the next few years

01.08.15: With the Sentinel scheme about to enter a new phase, RTM looks back at its success up to now with Network Rail programme manager for the scheme, Andrew Bilous. Every month, 1,000 people get denied access to the live railway infrastructure t...

Government reiterates support for uk light rail sector

01.07.15: RTM’s David Stevenson attended the 10th UK Light Rail Conference in Nottingham and reports on some of the biggest issues raised at the event. The recent UK Light Rail Conference has been labelled a resounding success, as the governmen...

Strong case for light rail integration with HS2

01.07.15: Norman Baker, former light rail minister; Paul Buchanan, partner at Volterra Partners; David Ralph, chief executive of D2N2; and Martha Grekos, partner and head of the planning and infrastructure team in London at Irwin Mitchell, discuss the opp...

Trials and tribulations of tram-train

01.07.15: Simon Coulthard, head of tram-train projects at Network Rail; Peter Cushing, Metrolink director at Transport for Greater Manchester; Dave Haskins, project director of New Generation Transport at Metro; and Tim Kendall, an independent consultant...

The ORR's new highway role: An opportunity not a distraction

01.07.15: Anna Walker, chair of the Office of Rail and Road, explains the opportunities its new role to monitor Highways England will bring. As RTM went to press the newly named Office of Rail and Road (ORR) was closing a consultation on the proposed...

New government is committed to rail freight

01.07.15: Clare Moriarty, director general of the Rail Executive at the Department for Transport, discusses the role that freight can play in supporting economic growth in CP5. The new Conservative-led government says its priority for this next Parli...

Start of a long 'psychological evolution' in EU railway interoperability

01.07.15: Richard Lockett, head of the cross acceptance unit at the European Railway Agency, discusses the challenge of interoperability. The fourth railway package is a set of aims to remove the remaining barriers to the creation of a single Europea...

Leeds southern station entrance delivery update

01.07.15: During our site visit to Leeds station, Dave Carlyle, Carillion project manager, Penny Gilg, Network Rail scheme project manager, and Alex McDermott, Network Rail project engineer civils, gave RTM an update on the complex Leeds Southern Station...

An active Pantograph in action

01.07.15: Adam Hewitt reports on a demonstration of a new monitoring system to ensure reliable contact between pantographs and overhead lines. The 2014 winner of the Innovation Award from the Railway Industry Association and FutureRailway was Breckne...

Right on time

01.07.15: Heidi Lee, communications manager at the UK’s fastest-growing rolling stock consultancy, ESG Rail, outlines a new contract with Stagecoach. ESG Rail is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a contract by the Stagecoach Group...

Inspiring the next generation at iRail 2015

17.06.15: Adam Hewitt reports from an event showcasing what the rail industry has to offer to potential engineers of the future. Nearly 100 school and college students visited the Derby Roundhouse for the sixth annual iRail event in June, learning mo...