Union scaremongering does nothing to help passengers
Britain has a safe railway. It’s the safest in Europe by many measures, including the number of passenger fatalities and injuries per billion passenger train kilometres. It’s a record that’s…
A fascinating fight ahead for the East Midlands franchise
It’s easy to overlook the Midland Main Line as it sits between the two great Anglo-Scottish routes. That’s despite its southern terminus being St Pancras. This architectural masterpiece towers over…
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…
MPs sceptical about Network Rail’s digital railway plans
The message to Network Rail was clear: “Over ambitious claims for improvements in capacity must be met with scepticism, and Network Rail should be very cautious about how it uses…
Still time to revise plans and resolve the Euston dilemma
Euston. What to do about Euston? Recent years have seen various proposals to rebuild the station for High Speed 2. The latest came a little over a year ago when…
At 40, HSTs still provide sterling service
October 4 marked the 40th anniversary of British Rail introducing High Speed Trains into everyday service, between Paddington and Bristol/South Wales. Over those four decades, the HST has become Britain’s…
Government’s railfreight strategy is nothing of the sort
There’s a deep irony at the heart of the government newly published rail freight strategy. It boasts that each tonne of railfreight reduces carbon emissions by 76% compared with road…
London Bridge is building back up
London Bridge station’s new concourse provides a good glimpse of what’s to come when the station fully opens in January 2018. Even partially opened, it’s bigger than its predecessor. For…
Britain’s improved railway has to be funded somehow
Nationalisation will solve Britain’s problem with ever-increasing rail fares. That’s a view widely expressed on August 16 when the Office of National Statistics revealed the inflation figure that drives next…
There’s a role for a second train crew man – it’s just different from today
The strike by conductors working for Southern is not the first surrounding driver only operation (DOO), or driver controlled operation (DCO) as rail companies prefer to call it these days.…