A return to Portishead
When I was small, my grandparents lived in Bristol. My dad would drive us down at autumn half-terms to wander the Downs looking for conkers and to visit the zoo.…
Britain needs electric freight
Noel Dolphin is an enthusiast for electric trains. That shouldn’t surprise anyone because he works for Furrer+Frey, which is the Swiss company that developed the electrification system that Network Rail…
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…
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…
Department for Transport
Infrastructure
Network Rail
Operations
Planning
Politics
Rolling stock
Train operators
People make decisions, not systems or structures
Whether or not you believe that Keith Williams’ railway review will achieve lasting improvements, it gives chance to look at why steel wheels on steel rails help this small and…
Using energy to make rail greener
Talk in late January 2019 of greener, solar-powered trains conjured images of trains covered in panels. The reality, if it happens, is more likely to be lineside solar panels feeding…
Department for Transport
Network Rail
Rolling stock
Trade unions
Train operators
Transport Scotland
Uncategorized
Railway must avoid broken promises
At least the man with the ‘kick me’ sign on his backside didn’t pin it there himself. The railway pinned its own sign, judging by the kicking people gave it…
Crossrail
Department for Transport
Infrastructure
Network Rail
Politics
Rolling stock
Train operators
Transport Scotland
Problems that politicians cause on the railway
Ministers and civil servants cannot control aspects of the railway and then deny responsibility when things go wrong.