Give the East Midlands easier journeys to Manchester
We all have closed lines we wish we’d travelled on. I’d have loved to traverse the Waverley Route through lonely Riccarton Junction but it closed before I was born. I…
There’s plenty of ambition and potential for Tyne and Wear Metro
There’s a gulf between deciding to do something and working out how to pay for it. Tyne and Wear’s Metrocars first appeared from Met-Camm’s Birmingham works in the late-1970s. They…
As the general election’s dust settles, the only certainty is uncertainty
A strong railway relies on a strong economy. And a strong economy needs a strong railway to move goods and ferry people to and from work, particularly into city centres,…
Horrific attacks remain rare on our railways
Just as I went to bed on Monday May 22 I noticed a tweet from the British Transport Police. It was dealing with an incident at Manchester Victoria. I thought…
Rail freight faces challenges as coal disappears
A day in April marked Britain’s first without using coal to generate electricity. Wind and solar power played their part but burning gas shouldered the bulk of electricity generation that…
NR hindered by DfT’s intervention on investment plans
A splash in The Independent newspaper on March 31 thrust into wider public perception a problem for Network Rail that’s been quietly worrying the railway for some time. The problem…
DfT’s decisions will keep external advice to a minimum
Back in September 2011, Network Rail published initial industry plans for England and Wales and for Scotland. The plans were one of several important milestones in ORR’s periodic review work…
Now is the time for rail bodies to get their high-speed Act together
There’s an incredible amount of detail within the High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Act 2017 – better known as the HS2 Act. It weighs in at 452 pages and provides…
Operators need to be less conservative and more ‘canny’
Sometimes we make a simple thing sound difficult. Take this phrase from a recent report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers: “On-demand door-to-door mobility solutions”. For context the report is…
Great Western fallout: repercussions further down the line
It started in the 1960s within the US defence industry. It’s just reaching Network Rail now, five decades later. What is it? Earned value management, usually abbreviated to EVM. It’s…