Network Rail has awarded a contract to a consortium led by Thales Ground Transportation Systems Ltd to develop and trial Fibre Optic Acoustic Sensing (FOAS) technology that will support improvements in safety and performance on …
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Network Rail digital headset trials successful (RailTechnology)
Network Rail and The Central Railway Systems Alliance (CRSA) have successfully finished trialling brand new digital headsets which will help to log data, paving the way for future frontline maintenance teams. The test was carried …
Continue readingSpeeding up rail project delivery (RailEngineer)
“There can be no place, I believe, for deniers who are unable to acknowledge that the industry’s reputation, built over many years, was of rising costs, deadlines inevitably moving to the right and estimates wrong …
Continue readingNR save £40m with new electric resistant paint (RailTechMag)
In a revolutionary world-first, electric resistant paint combined with voltage-controlled clearance (VCC) has helped make a Victorian railway bridge ready for new electric trains, avoiding weeks of passenger disruption and train delays in the process. …
Continue readingThirty Centimetres of Safety: An Incident At Peckham Rye
In November 2017 a London Overground train came to a sudden halt just outside Peckham Rye station. It began a chain of events that would eventually lead to over eighty passengers standing at trackside while the electrical rail was still live.
Continue readingCalls for more Network Rail spending on reliability & safety (RailwayGazette)
On June 12 the Office of Rail & Road (ORR) issued its draft determination setting out its initial opinions on Network Rail’s £34bn strategic business plan for Control Period 6, which the infrastructure manager had …
Continue readingThe Cicadas Take Flight: Explaining The May Timetable Changes
Some species of American cicadas have evolved a strange ability: they have synchronised lifecycles lasting prime number lengths of years. For the cicadas this is an advantage – it helps them evade the development of …
Continue readingSoutheastern Detraining: Investigation over Assumption
On 2 March 2018, during a period of rail disruption caused by extreme weather conditions, an incident occurred just outside Lewisham station in London. That incident saw a number of passengers de-train from a Southeastern …
Continue readingBack to the Future: (Re)lengthening and Shortening at Waterloo
With the current three week blockade at Waterloo to lengthen platforms 1-4 coming to a close, we take a look at works, and at how the detail doesn’t necessarily always match the headlines. The rebuild …
Continue readingThe Lonely Life of Birkbeck: South London’s Bellwether Station
Last August one London station saw trains stop there on just two days in the entire month. Indeed in the end for 34 consecutive days no trains called at the station. We take a look …
Continue readingHigh Speed Buffers (Part 4): Terminal Policies and Priorities
In the latest part of our HS2 series, we look primarily at the options for London HS termini and/or through running. Some policy and funding issues are raised. Discussion about passenger volumes, and station and …
Continue readingA Study In Sussex part 13: Norwood Junction
Seemingly illogically, now is the time to look at Norwood Junction and its future importance in enabling an upgrade to the Brighton Main Line. Initially this station was not intended to form part of this …
Continue readingc2c: The Timetables, They Are A-Changin’
On Monday 14 December 2015 c2c introduced a new weekday timetable between Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness. By the next day they had already made their first changes and those changes have continued, with the latest …
Continue readingBreaking Down the 2015 TfL Fares Increase
After a slightly longer wait than is typical, this morning the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced the fares levels that will apply to TfL services and National Rail services within the TfL zonal area …
Continue readingLondon 2050 (Part 4): Towards Maximum Rail capacity
The well-being of London and its hinterland as a World City will depend heavily on its effective transport offer. We look at what the various main line projects (and more) mean for the Capital.
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