The unique perspective provided by a bird’s eye view can often reveal issues that go unnoticed on the ground, giving engineers an opportunity to spot potential failures before they happen. Network Rail took advantage of …
Continue readingCategory: Network Rail
The Curious Case of Platform 14 at Paddington
If you go to Paddington main line station and follow the signs to platform 14 you eventually end up at short curved platform located almost at the far end of the station. All of Paddington’s …
Continue readingNetwork Rail steps back from geofencing over safety fears (The Register)
Network Rail has become the latest company to flag the risks of smart technology implementations despite receiving a safety award for geofencing applications. Network Rail and Connected Places Catapult were given the award at an industry event …
Continue readingWhere is the UK railway strategic rolling stock & depot plan? (RailEngineer)
2018 saw the last Long Term Passenger Rolling Stock Strategy (LTPRSS). Yet with the UK’s rolling stock fleet comprising of 14,000 vehicles and costing £3 billion per annum, there is clearly a need for the …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 8 September 2023
• UK rail industry deeply frustrated by Network Rail’s extensive domestic air travel (RailTech) • Family Friendly Train operating companies Scorecard 2023 (FamilyFriendlyTrains) • Reuse of Philly’s City Branch downtown tunnel & RoW for transit …
Continue readingNetwork Rail details plan for more freight through Channel Tunnel (NewCivilEng)
Network Rail has laid out a £10M plan it hopes will unlock the capacity for freight trains travelling through the Channel Tunnel to be able to directly join the UK network to London. The freight …
Continue readingNetwork Rail to trial mid-week engineering work to avoid weekend disruption (RailAdvent)
Network Rail is to trial mid-week engineering work between Grantham and Doncaster later this month. Normally, Network Rail uses weekends and bank holidays to complete work as historically this is when people usually travel by rail less. However, since the pandemic, Network …
Continue readingBritish rail infrastructure agency running out of money: leaked report (RailFreight)
A leaked report has said there is not enough money to do more than make do and mend for the next five years, and Britain will have to live with a rising tide of unplanned …
Continue readinghyperTunnel’s produces 1st robot built underground structure for Network Rail (RailwayNews)
British technology company, hyperTunnel has presented the world’s first underground structure constructed entirely by robots as part of an ongoing project for Network Rail. The underground structure was built at hyperTunnel’s R&D facility in the …
Continue readingWhat are the differences between PACE vs GRIP? (RailDiary)
GRIP, a project by Network Rail to help deliver efficiency improvements on the rail network, has been replaced by a new programme called PACE. It’s been claimed that PACE will have an even greater impact …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 10 February 2023
• A sneak peek inside the DLR’s new trains (IanVisits) • Network Rail & TfL announce partnership to create 20,000 new London homes (RailUK) • The hideous pedestrian tunnels marring access to the IMAX Roundabout …
Continue readingUK signalling market not competitive enough: Regulator (RailTech)
The railway signalling market in the United Kingdom has too few suppliers, high costs, and Network Rail does not have he procurement practices in place to benefit from its considerable buyer power. That says the …
Continue readingLeaves on line excuse now blown away by new tech (E&T)
Engineers have developed a new rail track-cleaning system to remove leaves from lines – an issue that costs the rail industry millions of pounds each year. Delays to train services caused by leaves on the …
Continue reading1st recycled plastic railway sleepers laid on Network Rail (RailBusiness)
Trains in Wiltshire are now running on top of old bottles, food packaging and other unwanted plastics, with the introduction of the first composite railway sleepers on Network Rail’s main line tracks. Made from recycled …
Continue readingWhat does Great British Railways mean for infrastructure investment? (NewCivilEng)
The Williams Review, chaired by former British Airways boss Keith Williams, was launched in May 2018 and triggered by chaos created by timetable changes that year and the failure of the East Coast franchise. The …
Continue reading