Use road crisis to boost rail freight
Never waste a good crisis. And it’s fair to say that road transport is having a crisis. Attentive watchers will not be surprised. In 2016, the House of Commons Transport…
NR creates London freight blueprint
In West London there’s a pair of tracks known as the Up Poplar and Down Poplar. They link the Great Western Main Line with the North London Line. A train…
Hurdles remain in the path to freight decarbonisation
Shifting freight from road to rail provides the best short-term route to reducing freight’s carbon emissions. That’s because an HGV produces four times more carbon emissions than even a diesel…
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…
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…
Restoring operations to rail’s frontline
Halfway between Littleborough and the western portal of Summit Tunnel lies a little-used trailing crossover. Littleborough marks the traditional boundary for Greater Manchester. Venture further east and you’ll be through…
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…
McNulty’s ‘Damp squib’ still offers valuable lessons
Jumping on a train the other day, I found a Transport Focus questionnaire abandoned on my seat. I can guess what passengers will say in this latest survey. They will…