Awards, contracts & appointments

Railway Industry Association responds to the 2020 budget

11 March 2020Today the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced the 2020 budget. Among his announcements, he confirmed reports that the government will increase spending on infrastructure. "We’re going to build broadband, railway, roads, he...

Alstom’s world first hydrogen train completes tests in the Netherlands

09 March 2020After ten days of successful tests, Alstom’s Coradia iLint train ran 65 kilometres of line between Groningen and Leeuwarden in the northern area of the Netherlands. The tests follow 18 successful months of passenger service on the...

Britain's first all female operated train service runs today

06 March 2020In light of International Women’s Day, today (March 6th) Network Rail and Southeastern join forces to launch the first ever passenger service run entirely by women. A rush hour Southeastern service will leave London for Kent staffed by a fe...

Network Rail invests over £100m to upgrade network over Easter

02 March 2020Network Rail is encouraging passengers to check and plan their journeys in advance over Easter this year due to planned improvement works. Thousands of rail workers will carry out 420 projects over the Easter period to improve the reliability of...

Northern franchise enters government control

02 March 2020Following the news back in January that Northern would be stripped of its franchise and come under government control, today (March 1st) marked a new start for the future of the franchise. To show their commitment to rebuilding passenger confiden...

£20m Northern train depot refurb in Manchester

28 February 2020The £20m refurbishment of Arriva Rail North’s (Northern) Newton Heath train depot in Manchester is almost completed. Northern’s brand new diesel trains will be kept at Newton Heath and the team of 300 staff will also be responsi...

£20m funding for new railway stations across the country

28 February 2020The Rail Minister has announced today (Feb 28th) a £20m fund boost for rail connections across the country. The new £20m funding is the third round of the New Stations Fund and comes off the back of the £500m Reversing Beec...

New research partnership announced between University of Birmingham and Siemens Mobility Ltd

26 February 2020Siemens Mobility Limited and the University of Birmingham have announced a new, academic framework research partnership, strengthening the relationship between the two organisations. The Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE...

Hull Trains are the only UK operator with an entirely new fleet

26 February 2020The UK’s smallest rail operator, Hull Trains, is the only company which can promise every journey will be on a brand new, world-class train. Hull Trains’ fleet is less than six months old and has rolled out each new train as soon as t...

Bexleyheath line re-opens following £6.6m improvement work

25 February 2020After four landslips in the last decade, the 9-day closure involved 200 engineers and around the clock work at 17 sits along the railway between Kidbrooke and Barnehurst. The line was closed over half term, in which time 2,500 tones of mud and tr...

£21m investment by Grand Central in new North West route

25 February 2020Grand Central has invested more than £21m in trains that will run on their new North West to London route, with the restoration of the first locomotive complete with its iconic livery. Today (Feb 20th) it was revealed the operator has lease...

Improvement work begins across three level crossings in Staffordshire

24 February 2020Network Rail improvement work will begin this week on three level crossings in Staffordshire. Engineers will be replacing the older barrier gates and their components with new ones at Caverswall level crossing in Stoke-on-Trent, Hockley level cro...

£2.5m government funding set to improve CrossCountry

24 February 2020Announced today (Feb 24th) by the Rail Minister a £2.5m investment is set to benefit passengers across CrossCountry rail services. From May 2020, passengers travelling from Birmingham to Nottingham, Leicester and Cardiff will start to see l...

HS2’s latest designs for Old Oak Common Station revealed

20 February 2020HS2 Ltd yesterday (Feb 19th) revealed designs for Old Oak Common Station, as part of the Schedule 17 submission to the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC). The station, which is situated in West London, will deliver a world-clas...

Northern reaches milestone in new train introduction

19 February 2020Following a £500m investment in rail in the north of England, this week nine new trains were integrated into Arriva Rail North’s fleet. 75 per cent of the 101 trains ordered are now transporting Northern customers, travelling to more...