Network Rail faces capacity challenge on its Settle-Carlisle line
When news broke earlier this year of extensive closures coming to the northern half of the West Coast Main Line for renewals of overhead wires and signalling, it naturally begged…
How a ‘Big Six’ might provide a map for England’s railways
With Labour in power for a year, pledging to nationalise Britain’s railways, it’s worth a look at progress. After a rapid start, progress has slowed, perhaps even stalled. That quick…
Pollution harms air quality on trains
That diesel trains emit more pollution than electric trains is no surprise. Perhaps more surprising is that pollution levels inside trains can be higher than those found by city centre…
Lumo launches at King’s Cross
One of rail’s most enduring features is the small slip of paper or card that marks a passenger’s permission to travel. The physical ticket has survived the switch from steam…
Timetables must balance demand and costs
East Coast Main Line timetables will not change next May. Within barely three months of the rail industry launching a consultation into a new timetable, the Department for Transport has…
Unions raise prospect of rail strikes
Unions have a vital role in rail. Love them or loathe them, they provide a voice for railway staff. They provide a counter to managers’ more extreme ideas. In turn,…
When will passengers return?
I woke early the other morning. Too early. All was black outside and time dragged. It seemed to be hours before the eastern sky slowly lightened and the sun hauled…
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…
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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…
Raising the roof at Waverley
Around the dawn of privatisation, Railtrack planned to build over Edinburgh Waverley station, to plunge its platforms into a stygian gloom so familiar to generations of passengers at Birmingham New…