08.03.17
A celebration of rail achievement
Source: RTM Feb/Mar 17
Welcome to this special UK Rail Industry Awards (UKRIA) review issue of RTM. The fourth edition of the prestigious awards took place on 9 February at London’s Battersea Evolution and, once again, was a huge success.
With over 1,100 rail decision-makers in attendance, the black-tie event was a great place for networking and celebrating the success of the rail industry in the last 12 months. To see who won at this year’s event, we have a special section that starts on page 32.
Personally, I’d like to say a big well done to everyone who entered, was shortlisted and won an award at the 2017 edition of UKRIA. Your work, dedication and talent is truly inspiring, and I can’t wait for next year’s awards which promise to be even bigger and better. Entries will be opening soon for the 2018 Awards – visit ukria.com for updates.
Network Rail’s chair, Sir Peter Hendy, gave the keynote address at UKRIA, and following the awards RTM caught up with him to discuss the progress made on the infrastructure owner’s transformation plan, which is underlined by devolution and financial discipline. To learn more about the developments read Sir Peter’s exclusive article on page 30.
This RTM also includes sections dedicated to security and passenger safety, where the British Transport Police gives us an update on its counter-terrorism work (see page 74); rolling stock, and what progress is being made with ScotRail’s new Class 385 fleet (more on page 102) and the almost forgotten cascade work at GTR, which includes the introduction of Class 700s (more on page 98); and there is also a focus on major construction projects, including the work to install the Ordsall Chord’s iconic 600-tonne network arch (more on page 110).
Other contributions include the Rail Supply Group’s thoughts on the potential opportunities for rail created by the government’s Industrial Strategy; how virtual reality is being use to improve safety at the platform train interface; what challenges must be overcome to deliver effective e-ticketing; and what the future holds for the D-Train after the fire at Christmas during testing. I hope you enjoy this jam-packed edition of RTM.
All UKRIA imagery, including the front cover, supplied by David J Prior Photography.
David Stevenson
Editor