Thameslink resignalling contract awarded
July 30th, 2010
The £32m Thameslink core area resignalling contract has been awarded to Invensys Rail. It is a key part of Network Rail's project to increase the cross-London route's capacity, allowing 24 trains per hour to run via Loughborough Junction/London Bridge in the south, central London, and Kentish Town in the north.
The signalling will be commissioned ...
Regulator’s first health and safety report
July 27th, 2010
Ian Prosser, the Office of Rail Regulation's (ORR's) director of rail safety, says Britain has one of the safest railways in Europe, but some underlying safety trends warn that there can be no room for complacency.
He was launching the new annual ORR Health and Safety Report, which is a revamped ...
“Longer, more flexible” rail franchises
July 23rd, 2010
The Rail Minister, Theresa Villiers, has set out proposals for passenger rail franchises to be 'longer, more flexible and more responsive to the needs of passengers, and provide better value for taxpayers'.
Franchises would run for 15 years as standard, so long as performance levels were maintained. In return for more private investment in the ...
Cheap days out for Oyster card holders
June 29th, 2010
Oyster card holders are able to travel to popular UK towns and cities at massively discounted prices in a new month-long promotion.
From Saturday 26th June to Sunday 25th July inclusive, train companies in conjunction with Transport for London (TfL) are offering savings on off-peak journeys from London to more than ...
NFRIP – Hitachi’s position
June 24th, 2010
The following letter was printed in Modern Railways July 2010 issue. The data supplied by Mr Dormer is also shown here.
NFRIP
I refer to Roger Ford’s article on p27 of the June issue entitled ‘NFRIP - the great leveller’. I would like to apologise to anyone who was offended by the ...
Edinburgh – Oban Sunday service
June 21st, 2010
ScotRail is to launch a Sunday train service for day trippers to Oban from Edinburgh, Linlithgow and Polmont over six weeks this summer. It will start on Sunday 25 July and run each Sunday until 29 August inclusive.The service is timed to give passengers five hours in the West Highland town. The train will ...
Coucher steps down
June 17th, 2010
Iain Coucher has informed Network Rail’s Board of his intention to step down following eight years with the company, including three years as chief executive. He will remain in his post over the coming months and will be involved in the search and recruitment of a successor to allow for ...
West Highland derailment
June 7th, 2010
Unit No 156499 was the Class 156 working the 18.20 Queen Street-Oban service on 6 June. It hit what is thought to be boulders caused by a rock fall at Falls of Cruachan. The unit is on its side, with the front coach overhanging a drop of 15 metres. The ...
Caterpillar buys EMD
June 3rd, 2010
On 1 June, Electro-Motive Diesel announced that it had been bought by Progress Rail Services, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. EMD, manufacturer of the Class 66 and 67 locomotives used in the UK, has a locomotive manufacturing plant that employs 400 people in London, Ontario, Canada, plus an engine factory ...
Free travel on East London line on 23 May
May 19th, 2010
Ten thousand free tickets will be given out to passengers to travel on London Overground’s new East London railway on its first day of operating a full public service on Sunday 23 May.
The offer will mark the first time that passengers on London Overground’s new trains will be able to ...
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