Track and signalling

Crossrail to open by March 2021 as bosses confirm new timetable

26 April 2019The Elizabeth Line will open by March 2021 at the latest as a new six-month delivery window for the Crossrail’s crisis-hit central section is revealed by the project’s bosses. The announcement confirms that Crossrail, already heavily...

Safety concerns raised over Network Rail’s £1.4bn railway arches sell-off

25 April 2019Concerns over safety and hidden defects regarding Network Rail’s widely publicised £1.46bn sale of railway arches and 5,200 commercial estate properties have been reported to a confidential structural safety body. Anonymised concerns...

Dawlish sea wall gets council planning approval with construction to begin in May

17 April 2019Plans for an £80m sea wall to protect the Dawlish coastal rail line from extreme weather have been by approved by Teignbridge District Council. Construction of the new sea wall will now begin at the end of May, and once completed will provi...

Mother of girl killed by ‘silent’ train suing Network Rail for breaching its duty of care

15 April 2019Network Rail is being sued by the mother of a teenager who was killed by a ‘silent’ midnight train in Halifax. Milena Gagic, 16, died instantly when she was hit by a night train travelling at 55mph at a level crossing in December 2014...

RAIB launches investigation after ‘vulnerable’ man fell on Metrolink tracks as tram departed

15 April 2019An investigation has been launched after a “vulnerable” passenger fell onto the track on the Manchester Metrolink after the tram he was leaning on pulled away, the RAIB has said. The man, described by the RAIB as “in a vulnerabl...

Cornwall train with 14 passengers onboard derailed after track jumped to wrong position, RAIB finds

12 April 2019A train with 14 passengers on board derailed at a Cornish station after the points which allow trains to switch between tracks jumped into the wrong position, the RAIB has found. The passenger train was left straddling between two lines as it ent...

Train ‘fortunate’ to avoid collision after breaking through barriers at a level crossing, RAIB reports

11 April 2019The RAIB has published a raft of safety measures after a train ran onto a level crossing and broke through the barriers in what could have been a fatal incident. The engineering train was approaching a level crossing at Penrhyn in Wales on 6 Janu...

Corbyn calls for new electrified West Country rail line bypassing Dawlish

09 April 2019The Labour Party leader has called for a new electrified rail line connecting the West Country with London which will bypass Dawlish. The inland rail line would avoid Dawlish, where the current railway clings to the coast between Plymouth and Exe...

Hull Trains loans another high-speed train as it waits for arrival of new £60m Hitachi fleet

08 April 2019Hull Trains has agreed to loan another high-speed train as it tries to avoid service disruption before the arrival of its new £60m fleet in November. The train operator has loaned an additional intercity 125 HST from Great Western Railway (...

Network Rail buys up old Croydon sites in plans to fix Britain’s busiest railway bottleneck

02 April 2019Network Rail has bought two old Royal Mail depots and Volkswagen sites next to East Croydon Station as part of its plans to “unblock the London-Brighton railway bottleneck at Croydon.” The purchase of the old Royal Mail building site...

Network Rail unveils £2bn CP6 investment for Wales and Borders railway

01 April 2019Plans for a £2bn investment over the next five years across the Wales and Borders have been published by Network Rail. This includes investing £176m on track renewals and refurbishments, £135m to improve signalling in west Wales...

UK Government announces support for feasibility study into Borders Railway extension

01 April 2019The UK Government has announced its backing for a feasibility study into an extension of the Borders Railway. The plans could see the 30-mile route between Edinburgh and Tweedbank extended a further 18 miles to Hawick, Newcastleton and Carlisle. ...

Network Rail to spend £42bn on railway improvements to ‘restore public trust’

28 March 2019Network Rail is to spend £42bn on the railway over the next five years in a bid to improve poor punctuality in “the biggest modernisation of our rail network in over a century.” The arm’s length body has published detailed...

Picking up the pace with high-speed track handovers

26 March 2019In 2018 Steve Featherstone, programme director of track at Network Rail, set his team a challenge to secure 100 high-speed track handovers in a year. Following a concerted effort by team members on the project, the challenge was met in just nine m...

Failings found as passengers on stranded train walk on live track in ‘potentially lethal’ incident, RAIB says

25 March 2019Dozens of passengers left “increasingly uncomfortable” on a stranded train at Lewisham left their train and walked along icy tracks still open to traffic, a “shocking” RAIB report has revealed. The RMT stated it was &ldquo...