West Yorkshire plans ambitious network
It’s 20 years since Railtrack rebuilt Leeds station and its approach tracks to increase capacity into West Yorkshire. Dubbed Leeds 1st, it swept away the old dingy station roof and…
Queensbury Rules: The fight for old structures
Glance at a map of the West Riding’s rail network at its height and you cannot fail to be impressed by the sheer complexity of lines. Rather than share, rival…
Electrification sits at heart of Scotland’s transport agenda
Delve into the Scottish Government’s updated climate change plan and there’s a picture of an electrified railway on the title page of the chapter about transport. Look past the profusion…
Campaigners fight Highways England’s plans for old bridges
When Transport Ministers Ernie Marples and Barbara Castle swung Beeching’s axe across swathes of Britain’s railway in the 1960s, they left behind them isolated communities and gently decaying stations. Track…
Franchising: New rules… same old game?
Franchising is dead; long live, er, franchising. That’s because the law says the passenger operations taken over from British Rail must be franchises unless ministers produce secondary legislation exempting operators…
Department for Transport
Environment
Freight
Infrastructure
Network Rail
Operations
Planning
Politics
Decarbonisation shows rail’s route forward
Britain needs more electric railways. They are cleaner and greener. They provide lower operating costs but need heavy investment in masts and wires. Electric railways bring decarbonisation. It’s this heavy…
Could fibre optic sensors prevent a future Carmont accident?
To say the terrible derailment at Carmont shocked those running Scotland’s Railway is an understatement. Staff across ScotRail and Network Rail Scotland were busy – to borrow Scotland’s Railway’s tagline…
Clearing congestion from Castlefield Corridor
Whichever way you look at Manchester there are no easy answers to the congestion caused by pushing more trains along the twin-track Castlefield Corridor between Piccadilly and Deansgate stations. The…
Department for Transport
Freight
High Speed 2
Infrastructure
Network Rail
Planning
Train operators
Transport Scotland
Rail needs strategic direction yet local delivery
London’s Institute for Government sits in a classy part of town, just a stone’s throw from St James’ Palace and the clubs of Pall Mall. I was among a small…
Banish diesel to make the railway greener
Great Western Railway’s withdrawal of diesel High Speed Trains from Paddington leaves Brunel’s terminus almost wholly in the hands of electric trains. King’s Cross is about to see a similar…