Should British HS2 be constructed despite increasing costs?
The long-pending UK’s High Speed 2 (HS2) project has got a new vague hope. Instead of the recommendations to close the project, a leaked government-commissioned draft report advises constructing the planned railway even the actual...Read more
ScotRail will offer new options for cyclists and skiers
British train operating company Abellio ScotRail will upgrade five single-coach diesel trains of Class 153. They will get special areas for carrying up to 20 bicycles in each vehicle. The retrofitted trains will run on...Read more
UK operators will replace over half of carriages by 2025
The UK’s passenger railway operators are planning to introduce over 1,000 new and refurbished carriages in 2020. This improvement is a part of a 8,000-coach investment scheduled for the period from 2017 to 2025. After...Read more
Airports outpace railways in implementing ATO
Aviation is moving faster in implementing Automatic Train Operation (ATO) compared to the rail sector. Over 50 airports in the world have their own automated guided transit systems. With their help, the airport operators are...Read more
Sun-powered trains closer than you think
Even in rainy Britain, the railway can be solar-powered. It sounds like science fiction, but it is very much fact. A modest solar farm has been installed at Aldershot in the south of England to...Read more
‘Rail has to be more resilient to major power failures’
To prevent that the entire rail operation gets distorted in the event of major power failures, the railway industry should evaluate the robustness of its systems, says George Clark, president of the Institution of Railway...Read more
European rail sector requires more female employees
To address the lack of staff, the European rail sector should recruit more female employees. Therefore, Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), representing railway sector employers, and European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), representing...Read more
Hitachi unveils concept of train station of future
Japanese technology company Hitachi Rail has unveiled its own vision of how train stations will look in the future. The concept is focused on introducing robots and digital solutions to serve passengers and implementing environmentally-friendly...Read more
UK’s busiest train stations will be covered with free Wi-Fi
British infrastructure manager Network Rail intends to install fast and free Wi-Fi at the busiest train stations in the United Kingdom. Currently, this service is available only at two stations – Euston and London Bridge. Network Rail...Read more
Thalys and Eurostar may merge into one entity
European cross-border high-speed railway operators Thalys and Eurostar may merge into one entity. By 2030, the combined company will serve 30 million passengers a year and make a significant contribution to the EU’s ‘shift to...Read more
Annual rail headache for treatment trains in Britain
Network Rail, the UK’s infrastructure body, has a fleet of sixty-one specialist trains and vehicles, dedicated to minimising the impact of autumn leaf fall. Companies like Direct Rail Services (DRS) put resources into getting Rail...Read more
High Speed Train to Highlands
They may be almost fifty years old, but the fastest ever production diesels have a new lease on life serving some iconic destinations. Often credited with saving British Rail, when the former publicly owned network was...Read more
Britain’s high speed rail five years late
The biggest infrastructure project in Europe is on hold, and that’s official. Britain’s controversial HS2 – the high speed rail line between London and Birmingham – is already under government review, and is now at...Read more