Rolling stock

Thameslink rolling stock delays threatening 2018 delivery date

05.06.13: Delays of more than three years in the Thameslink rolling stock programme are threatening to undo otherwise good progress that’s been made on the project as a whole, according to a new report from the National Audit Office. Phase one...

Newton Aycliffe factory contract signed

14.05.13: Hitachi Rail Europe has signed the contract for the construction of its new UK train factory. Merchant Place Developments will build the rolling stock manufacturing plant in Newton Aycliffe, Durham. The £82m investment will be initial...

Huge buzz at day two of Railtex 2013

01.05.13: Visitors poured through the doors for the second day of Railtex at Earls Court today. Network Rail chairman Richard Parry-Jones started the day off with a talk on innovation and transformation, urging railway businesses to stop coming up wi...

Passengers' best-loved and most-hated rolling stock discussed at ATOC event

18.04.13: The role of engineering in designing the railway of the future was the topic at yesterday’s ‘Future Train’ event, hosted by ATOC. Speakers discussed the role of organisations like RRUKA, the EIT and ATOC itself in promotin...

Railway Challenge 2013 competition launched

18.04.13: IMechE is launching its 2013 Railway Challenge competition, taking place near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. Five teams will compete to design and manufacture the most efficient small-scale locomotive. The locos will be judged on their a...

£40m traction upgrade for SWT’s Class 455s

16.04.13: South West Trains is launching a £40m upgrade for its Class 455 train fleet to increase reliability for services running from London Waterloo to Reading, the Hounslow loop and Shepperton branch. The trains will be fitted with new AC t...

Countdown to Railtex 2013

12.04.13: The UK’s definitive rail event returns to Earls Court, London for its 11th year from 30 April to 2 May 2013. Railtex showcases technological innovation from across the industry, and allows professionals the chance to network and build busi...

Class 321 upgrade complete at Clacton

11.04.13: Greater Anglia has completed the upgrade of its Class 321/4 train fleet at Clacton depot. 17 electric trains were refurbished as part of Greater Anglia’s franchise commitment, with work complete at the end of March. The upgrade includ...

From one track to another

01.04.13: Formula 1 engineers are used to developing high-end bespoke components and systems to improve the performance of their team’s drivers. But increasingly, technology developed for the sport is having an impact in the very different fi eld of...

Radical Train

01.04.13: Adam Hewitt reports on a major new competition being run by the Enabling Innovation Team to address the rail industry’s ‘innovation gap’, and hears from Richard Jones of engineering consultancy Frazer-Nash. The rail indus...

Top engineers and rail innovators look to the future at ATOC event

08.03.13: ATOC is bringing together leading figures from across the industry to examine the role of engineering innovation on ‘The Future Train’. The event on April 17, hosted by Young Engineers president and former Tomorrow’s World...

Improving Supplier Assurance

01.03.13: Porterbrook has just become the third ROSCO to achieve RISAS (Railway Industry Supplier Approval Scheme) certification. RTM talks to RSSB’s RISAS scheme manager Brian Evans about the value of RISAS and next steps in assurance. RISAS...

Future forecasts

28.02.13: Richard Brown, chairman of Eurostar and author of the Brown review of franchising, spoke at the DDRF’s annual conference 2013 on the newly published Passenger Rolling Stock Strategy and its implications for the industry. As well as hi...

Technical specifications for IEP published

20.02.13: The Government has published the technical specification and contracts for the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) with Hitachi’s Agility Trains consortium. The £4.5bn deal was finalised last July and the new trains will replace t...

Future demand could require 90% increase in electric fleet

13.02.13: A group of rail industry experts has published a forecast for the potential requirement for rolling stock over the next 30 years. The Passenger Rolling Stock Strategy sets out a range of scenarios for the future size and type of fleet that...