The Sleeper's Blog

Too many accidents while working on the railway

19.06.15: Safety measures were found to be “not adequate” according to the RAIB in an accident where a track worker was struck by a train and lost his arm. The report details how in June last year a train travelling on the main line betwe...

Network Rail data quality still being questioned

12.06.15: Having attended many of the UK’s largest rail events over the last few years RTM has been constantly bombarded about the importance of one word: data.  The industry as a whole, as well as Network Rail, is so reliant on data that...

Cyber security not just a problem for the IT department

05.06.15: If cyber security continues to be considered as a purely IT problem it could lead to critical infrastructure failing, according to Network Rail’s head of cyber security. Peter Gibbons spoke during a panel session at Infosec where he m...

Rail strike Groundhog Day

29.05.15: It feels like Groundhog Day now that RMT has rejected the improved pay deal from Network Rail and will strike next week. Does anyone think the strike will actually happen? The overwhelming feeling at RTM is: Nope. Over the next week th...

A deserved pay rise?

22.05.15: Yesterday the rail unions cancelled their planned strike over pay due to an improved offer from Network Rail, proving that in the realm of public sector workers the rich get richer. No-one is disputing that rail workers – engineers, d...

One more Railtex in the books

15.05.15: The three day event of networking, learning and displaying innovation that was Railtex 2015 has come to a close. RTM was there prominently all three days, attending the talks and discussions in the Knowledge Hub and Seminar Theatre while al...

More of the same?

08.05.15: It is fair to say that the Conservatives did not make any radical or surprising pledges on rail policy in their manifesto – it was very much ‘more of the same’. Plough on with HS2 and electrification, freeze rail fare rise...

Rail passengers will win after general election – but by how much?

01.05.15: Guest blog by Russell McCullagh Much is being made of the likelihood of a hung parliament at the UK general election, of coalitions and of deals being struck behind closed doors. It all points to uncertainty and speculation about many...

‘London’s suburban rail services are awful’, says TfL’s top man

24.04.15: You’ve got to give it to Peter Hendy, he doesn’t hold back. The TfL commissioner is a man of opinions, and he is not shy of expressing them. So that’s exactly what he did in a recent interview with Management Today. Compar...

Crossrail’s final shipment of earth arrives at Wallasea Island

23.04.15: The last shipment of excavated material donated by Crossrail to one of Europe’s largest nature reserves has arrived at Wallasea Island in Essex. As part of a partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)...

Maglev train breaks own speed record

21.04.15: The state-of-the-art maglev train from Central Japan Railway set a world speed record on Tuesday hitting 603km/h (374mph). The seven-car maglev – magnetic levitation – train, hit a top speed of 603km/h and managed nearly 11 seco...

More needs to be done as containers ‘blown away’

17.04.15: The RAIB is currently investigating two cases of empty containers being blown of freight trains by high winds in Cumbria and Lincolnshire – both incidents happening in March. Fortunately both incidents occurred without injury, but the...

FGW insists new SETs won’t lead to job cuts

09.04.15: First Great Western (FGW) insists that it will be increasing rather than decreasing the number of staff on board long-distance trains when it introduces new Super Express Trains (SETs) from 2017.  This is despite rail union RMT saying...

Seeing is unbelieving

01.04.15: A recent press release from Transport for London contained this interesting sentence: “Once [resignalling is] completed, most Circle line customers will see a train up to every 4 minutes instead of 10 and once LU add in additional District...

Constructive scrutiny welcome for HS2

27.03.15: Earlier this week the House of Lords Economic Affairs Select Committee stated that the government has not yet made a “convincing case” for HS2 causing a media frenzy.  And while we at RTM feel it is only right that the Comm...