Interviews

The skills and ideas to deliver Crossrail successfully

14 March 2014RTM speaks to Crossrail’s new strategic projects director, John Pelton, about programme management, innovation, organisational change and skills for the future. The programme partner for Crossrail is the Transcend joint venture of CH2M Hill...

Approaching the tipping point on fair payment

16 January 2014The Fair Payment Charter is driving better practice across the supply chain. RTM spoke to Network Rail Infrastructure Project’s commercial projects director, Stephen Blakey, about the charter’s progress. Getting paid on time is one of...

Confidence in contactless

16 January 2014More operators and transport authorities are making big strides on simplifying and modernising payment options for rail and tram tickets – and some are getting rid of tickets altogether. Adam Hewitt reports. Transport for London is soon to...

London Overground’s five-car extension: ‘A three-year programme delivered in 18 months’

16 January 2014Huw Edwards, head of programme delivery at London Overground, speaks to RTM about its ongoing capacity improvement programme (LOCIP), including the introduction of five-car services and associated upgrades to depots, sidings and signalling across...

Sleeper service

16 January 2014Network Rail requires up to a million concrete sleepers a year, but after the closure of one of the country’s two production facilities, it decided to seek a new contractor. RTM reports from the opening of the new sleeper factory at Doncaste...

The next twenty years

16 January 2014The DfT is part-funding Sheffield’s Supertram track replacement, Baroness Kramer has announced. David Young, deputy interim director general of SYPTE, speaks to RTM. Sheffield’s Supertram service is undergoing work to replace worn tra...

A whole-system approach

31 October 2013Phil Hufton, chief operating officer of London Underground, talks to RTM about efficiency and reliability. London Underground has been improving in reliability over a number of years, and its success is down to a multi-faceted approach, according...

Making stations more secure

31 October 2013The SecureStation project is looking at how to reduce the risks of general crime, fire, and terrorist attacks, and has been getting public views on the acceptability and intrusiveness of proposed security measures. RTM talked to Dr Emma Carter of...

Safety first

31 October 2013A level crossing upgrade at Llanelli in south Wales at two crossings either side of the station grew in scope to encompass some first-of-their-kind innovations to improve safety. RTM talked to Amey’s rail project manager Mark Bushnell and si...

Tram-train: reaching a compromise

31 October 2013Dr Paul Allen, Assistant Director of the Institute of Rail Research at the University of Huddersfield and project manager for work on an optimal interface for the tram-train pilot in Sheffield, talks to RTM. Among the many engineering challenges...

Fleet cascade

01 September 2013Gerry McFadden, fleet director at Southern, talks to RTM about an order for 116 new Electrostar carriages. Intermediate rolling stock to extend electric services across the country is well on its way. Southern has now confirmed an order with Bomb...

Project Guardian

01 September 2013RTM spoke to British Transport Police Chief Inspector Paul Garrett about a new drive to increase personal safety on London’s public transport. A recent survey by TfL showed that 9% of women had encountered some form of “unwelcome sexu...

Thameslink – the next steps

01 September 2013The recent confirmation of the official class number and livery for the new Thameslink fleet to be delivered by Siemens prompted us to check in on progress on the wider upgrade programme. First Capital Connect’s projects director Ian Duncan...

Selling off the family silver?

01 July 2013London Assembly member Gareth Bacon AM, author of ‘Untapped Resource: Bearing down on fares through sponsorship,’ talks to RTM about the potential for raising revenue through sponsorship of the Tube network.  Burberry by Bond Str...

Funding innovation

01 July 2013The Radical Train innovation competition has just reached its next stage, with the 57 shortlisted entrants whittled down to eight. RTM talked to Enabling Innovation Team director David Clarke. The Enabling Innovation Team, hosted by the RSSB but...