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The north has a plan

13 March 2018There has always been an incredible thirst for change in the north. Now, there is finally a plan robust and forward-thinking enough to make it happen, says Barry White, chief executive of Transport for the North (TfN). The north has a plan. It&rs...

EWR: Getting it right

13 March 2018Peter Austin, delivery director at East West Rail Company (EWRco), argues that completing the link between Oxford and Cambridge as quickly as possible through an innovative delivery model will unlock unprecedented growth in the region. The Varsit...

Quantifying protection

27 February 2018Dr Nicola Symonds, operations director of nC2, Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton, discusses issues around material selection. How protected are your components and systems from their environment? In most application...

A whole-journey approach

27 February 2018Tim Bellenger, director of policy and investigation at London TravelWatch, argues the government must take action on what passengers most want to see improved across the network: value for money. ‘Connecting people: a strategic vision for r...

One railway: Connecting the nation

27 February 2018Gordon Wakeford, industry chair of the Rail Supply Group (RSG), outlines the organisation’s work over the past few months as part of its ambition to deliver a world-leading transport network. Back in July, the RSG and the Rail Delivery Grou...

The future of rail surveying

27 February 2018Experts from The Survey Association (TSA) report on the main debates to take away from the organisation’s annual conference, all of which revolved around the future of surveying in the context of a changing industry. Geospatial technology i...

NCHSR: The possibilities are limitless

06 February 2018The National College for High Speed Rail (NCHSR) has been gifted with a brand-new lab dedicated to surveying and scanning technologies designed to further strengthen the next generation of engineers. RTM’s Luana Salles reports. The faciliti...

Keeping Britain's railway on track

06 February 2018Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, argues investment in track maintenance and rail infrastructure is fundamental to the economic success of the nation. In our industry, attention is often focused on passenger...

The Intelligent Infrastructure approach

06 February 2018Network Rail is seeking to improve asset management whilst cutting down on expenditure by implementing a new Intelligent Infrastructure programme, writes Tim Flower, its professional head of maintenance. Network Rail has recognised the opportunit...

Project Aura: Changing the game

02 February 2018Paul Boyle, head of ERTMS at Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC), describes how Project Aura has been revolutionising training across the organisation by harnessing immersive technology to prepare for Digital Railway and the Azuma fleet. When we star...

A busy festive period in Scotland

02 February 2018RTM’s Josh Mines reports on the works that have been delivered in Scotland over the festive period as part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP). While most the country has enjoyed a lazy period of overindulging in food, dri...

Making the railway safer with big data

30 January 2018Peter Hughes, principal research fellow at the Institute for Railway Research, argues big data is revolutionising close call reporting on our railways. Close call reporting systems are an important part of the GB railways safety management proces...

A transformation for the Midlands

30 January 2018Maria Machancoses, director of Midlands Connect, outlines how the region has the potential to become a world leader if the industry and government play their cards right. In the 2017 Budget, the government announced billions of pounds of deals wh...

Modernising asset data capture

30 January 2018David Shipman, innovations engineering manager in Infrastructure Projects Signalling at Network Rail, explains how automation and machine learning are transforming the safety of renewals work on the railway. In the last issue of RTM we looked at...

There is still much more to do: avoiding the boom and bust in CP6

30 January 2018Reflecting on the triumphs of the past year, Darren Caplan, chief executive of the Railway Industry Association (RIA), assesses what the government needs to do to ensure the rail industry avoids a potential ‘boom and bust’ scenario whe...