Industrial News

In his statement to Parliament – ‘Zero-emission vehicles, drivers and HS2’ – Transport Minister Mark Harper explained the Network North plan. He explained that the £36 billion that was to be spent on HS2 phase 2 to Manchester is now to be spent on a wide range of activities. This includes diverse, largely undeveloped projects…

The ‘Practical Electrification Challenge’ aims to give office-based professionals an understanding of electrification, in particular the practicalities of its installation.  It is a Permanent Way Institution (PWI) initiative that is, in effect, a hands-on crash course in electrification construction. This year’s challenge took place in October at Network Rail’s electrification training school in Swindon.  It…

In March 2019, the first Vivarail Class 230 train entered service on the Marston Vale line running from Bletchley to Bedford. Class 230 trains replaced Class 153 single car trains and class 150 units. Following Vivarail’s demise, until 20 November 2023 there was no passenger train service on this line since December 2022. Hourly rail…

The only parts of HS2 now certain to be built are from Old Oak Common to Birmingham and Handsacre Junction on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). When announcing his decision to cancel HS2 phase 2 and replace it with Network North, Prime Minister Sunak gave an assurance that HS2 would terminate at Euston. However,…

The Midland Main Line is a significant railway route in England, running from London to Sheffield in Yorkshire via the East Midlands. It comprises the lines from London’s St Pancras International station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham, and Chesterfield. Express passenger services on the line are operated by East Midlands Railway. The line hosts a London suburban…

During early October the Eastern region of Network Rail completed its first zero emissions engineering work. The engineering work was associated with renewal and upgrade of the overhead line equipment through, and either side of, Royston station, involving the replacement of components supporting the catenary and contact wires. Many of the parts being replaced dated…

The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) has vastly increased in size since the original £77 million line opened in 1987 with 11, 28-metre-long trains. With extensions to Bank, Lewisham, Beckton, Woolwich, and Stratford International, and trains now three times as long, it is sometimes hard to understand why it is still called a light railway. But…

Our companion article in this issue about the new Docklands Light Railway trains acknowledges the significant role of KeolisAmey Docklands (KAD) on the project and in delivering the DLR’s day-to-day service as Transport for London’s (TfL) Operations and Maintenance partner for Docklands Light Railway Limited (DLR), part of TfL. TfL / DLR owns the assets…

Rail Engineer described the outline design of London Underground’s forthcoming new Piccadilly line trains (2024 tube stock) in issue 190 (June/July 2021). Since then, Siemens or TfL have occasionally issued press releases showing progress with first bodyshells or mock-ups. On 1 August 2023, Siemens announced that the first complete train had arrived at its 44-hectare…