Network Rail regulation and performance

Digital Railway: All change on the ECML

06 November 2018Network Rail route programme director, Toufic Machnouk, explains why only a radically new approach to contracting will deliver a better service for passengers. Network Rail’s current search for a train control partner to renew train control...

Network Rail warn of Christmas upgrade disruption to one of UK’s busiest rail junctions

02 November 2018Network Rail has announced winter plans for an £8.2m upgrade to Battersea Pier, one of the UK’s busiest railway junctions, which will cause disruption to passengers across Sussex, Surrey and South London this Christmas. The plans will...

Network Rail urge businesses to join innovation project to improve passenger journeys

02 November 2018  Network Rail has launched a project with Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) to build live demonstrators of innovative technologies which could improve passenger journeys, and are seeking partners to help. The TSC-led project aims to find te...

ORR approves Network Rail’s £35bn CP6 spending plans

31 October 2018The ORR has today set outs its final determination on Network Rail’s £35bn plans for CP6, the five-year period from 1 April next year. The rail regulator has approved £7.7bn of spending for the maintenance of existing railways...

Understanding the sale of the arches

30 October 2018David Biggs, managing director of Network Rail Property, sheds some light on the sale of the infrastructure owner’s commercial estate. We announced last month that we’d agreed terms with a joint venture of Telereal Trillium and Blacks...

Progress on East West Rail project will allow building to begin next year

08 October 2018Progress on enabling works for the East West Rail (EWR) line are near completion, with the transport secretary arguing the new rail line between Oxford and Cambridge will “transform” travel for passengers. Transport secretary Chris Gr...

Leaf-busting trains launched to prepare railways for autumn

03 October 2018Network Rail is rolling out its fleet of 61 Railhead Treatment Trains (RHTT) and Multi-Purpose Vehicles (MPV), amongst other measures, to combat leaves on railway tracks this autumn. Despite opposition from environmental groups, Network Rail made...

Hundreds of London railway arches to be opened after Network Rail’s £1.46bn sale

11 September 2018The new owners of over 5,200 properties following Network Rail’s £1.46bn sale of commercial property portfolio have announced plans to invest in reopening up to 430 of the empty arches in London. Adam Dakin, the managing director of o...

New Network Rail boss tells MPs he will put passengers’ interests first

11 September 2018The new chief executive of Network Rail Andrew Haines has told MPs he will put “passenger’s interests front and centre” following “seven sustained years of decline in performance.” Haines outlined his priorities for...

3D printing: from virtual to real

11 September 2018Like so many other technological advancements, 3D printing has moved from being the stuff of science fiction, through niche industrial application, to increasingly becoming a common industry tool and even a reality in the home. David Shipman, inno...

Network Rail agrees to £1.46bn sale of railway arches

10 September 2018Network Rail has agreed to terms for its widely-publicised £1.46bn sale of commercial estate portfolio made up of 5,200 properties and railway arches. The company’s announcement to sell off the assets were met with considerable backla...

NR seeks ‘true long-term partner’ for ECML digital railway roll-out

06 September 2018Network Rail has launched the first stage of its procurement process to find a partner to deliver the first inter-city digital railway on the East Coast Main Line (ECML). In what has been described as “an entirely new way of working,”...

First stage of repairs to Nottingham station complete

03 September 2018The first stage of repairs to Nottingham train station after damage caused by a fire has been completed by Network Rail, whose engineers have been on site since January. Most of the repairs are now complete, but Network Rail will now carry out th...

Network Rail: We have been listening

30 August 2018Network Rail has heard you – and now, it is easier to work with. Mona Sihota, the organisation’s national professional head of asset protection and optimisation (ASPRO), a brand-new role within the company, talks about what’s in...

Network Rail completes major upgrades on Norwich to London mainline

29 August 2018Engineers at Network Rail have completed improvements on the Norwich to London mainline over the three-day bank holiday as part of its Railway Upgrade Plan. Amongst the improvements are the completion of the 120m track, one set of points, one new...