Rail Industry Focus

RSSB unveils trailblazing closed loop 'dynamic' pantograph

13.09.16: The cutting-edge pantograph developed by Somerset-based company Brecknell Willis, in conjunction with the RSSB, was unveiled at an industry event last week. The closed loop pantograph, which benefitted from a £300,000 innovation grant...

New Tube for London: learning from past mistakes

05.09.16: Transport for London (TfL) has committed to learn from the mistakes made in the Four Lines Modernisation Automatic Control (4LM ATC) programme in order to improve its signalling procurement for New Tube for London – but major issues have a...

Taking back flood control

05.09.16: Network Rail’s commercial scheme sponsor, Joanna Grew, talks to RTM about the recent flood alleviation works carried out at Hinksey. Over the last 14 years, flooding on the Didcot to Oxford railway line between Hinksey has led to 11 c...

Crossrail: Setting the bar high for commuter travel

05.09.16: During a site visit to Bombardier’s testing facility to see the Crossrail train first-hand, RTM caught up with Mark Wild, London Underground’s managing director, to find out more about the project’s development. Luana Salles re...

Gearing up for Severn Tunnel electrification

31.08.16: Brian Paynter, head of programme, planning and integration IP Track, Plain Line at Network Rail, and Daniel De Luca, project manager at the infrastructure owner, discuss the challenges in the enabling work ahead of a significant closure of the S...

Unleashing the potential of the Class 800s

31.08.16: Andy Rogers, projects director at Hitachi Rail Europe, talks to RTM’s David Stevenson after two of the company’s Class 800 InterCity Express Trains made test runs on the recently electrified Reading to Didcot section of the GWML. ...

A fresh look for VTEC

31.08.16: John Doughty, engineering director for Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC), talks to RTM about the progress that has been made on refreshing the operator’s 45-strong fleet. As RTM went to press, VTEC had reached the halfway point of its &...

Advanced Composites Materials Taking the Heat in Rail Applications

30.08.16: Alex Filsell from Scott Bader Company Limited explains how the firm’s advanced composites materials are being widely used in the rail industry. Scott Bader is a multi-national specialty chemicals group with annual sales of $287m, empl...

Plain sailing for the Northern Line extension?

01.07.16: RTM’s Luana Salles runs through the latest updates of TfL’s Northern Line extension, intended to regenerate the local area and improve transport links in the capital. Despite anxieties in late May that design changes to the Nort...

Focus: No mandate to privatise

01.07.16: John Helm, a journalist, author of the rail blog 21stcentury-rail.com, and one of RTM’s digital columnists, looks at the thorny issue of network Rail asset sell-offs. The government knows that full-blooded privatisation of Network Rai...

Paving the way for a modern Glasgow Queen Street

24.06.16: Ahead of the major redevelopment of Glasgow Queen Street station next year, Rodger Querns, programme director for the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), runs through the ongoing preparation works taking place at the tunnel and throa...

TravelSpirit and making Mobility as a Service a reality

24.06.16: Alex Burrows, CEO of TravelSpirit, discusses the work to make the concept of Mobility as a Service a reality. Over the past year a significant proportion of the transport sector across the world has become aware of the concept of Mobility a...

Class 700: the future of commuting in the capital

21.06.16: How can we meet the need for more trains with greater capacity while also ensuring a better experience for commuters? That’s the question Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) seeks to answer with its new Class 700 Desiro City train. RTM’s...

How could Brexit affect the rail sector?

21.06.16: Sean Thomas, senior consultant at economics consultancy Oxera, looks at the impact Brexit could have on the rail sector.  Brexit raises significant implications for the GB rail network and its operators. Here I consider two potential e...

A journey up the Chase Line

10.06.16: Sam Evans, Network Rail’s project manager for the Walsall to Rugeley electrification project, updates RTM’s Luana Salles on the scheme and the new technologies being used to deliver it more efficiently. The £90m Chase Line...