Passenger expectations are no longer limited to punctuality or performance. Increasingly, it’s about experience. From airport-style lounges to onboard catering, the rail industry is evolving in an attempt to match the comfort levels found in air travel, and business class seating is leading the charge. This shift has meant re-imagining...

A very impressive international event focusing on level crossing safety took place in June at the National Railway Museum in York, England. This was the 17th International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD). A remarkable 220 dedicated passionate level crossing experts met from 22 countries, including Japan, Argentina, Canada, USA, plus...

As we celebrate Railway 200, we consider what the future holds for Britain’s railways. In doing so we imagine two quite different possibilities. One possible future envisages intolerable road congestion and increasingly common extreme climate events, that will make it politically acceptable to tax HGVs, motorists, and flights to encourage...

In recent times £4 billion has been invested in rolling stock and infrastructure on the East Coast Main Line (ECML). Infrastructure works have included power supply upgrades, the remodelling of Kings Cross station, and the dive-under at Werrington. Though these are impressive infrastructure projects, their benefits cannot be fully...

In its 150-year history, it is unlikely that the 90-acre railway workshops at Derby Litchurch Lane have ever welcomed 40,000 people over a three-day period. This was the Greatest Gathering, not of people, but of over 140 rail vehicles and other railway attractions. This made it by far the...

Electrification – it’s the subject on every rail professional’s mind and a key priority for the rail industry as it drives towards a greener, more sustainable future. But the pressure of tight possession windows, maintaining safety at height, the skills shortage, and the demand for continuous accuracy are significant...

Rail Engineer has devoted many column inches to ETCS but mostly about its cost and deployment issues. ETCS is much more than a signalling system as it requires information about train formation, loads, and other characteristics. Inevitably, for a new system, some of these requirements might conflict with current...

These days we are often encouraged to think disruptively. The phrase is used to suggest that if we change the way we do things we will get better products and processes, often at lower cost. Is moving to European Train Control System (ETCS) one such example? Moving from a lineside...

As part of the 200-year anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway on 27 September 1825, in Issue 213 (Mar-Apr 2025) we discussed the early developments in signalling during the 1800s.  We now take a look at developments in signalling since 1900. Train detection The Track Circuit (TC)...

It is now 40 years since the first Radio Electronic Token Block (RETB) system was introduced. As is so often the case, it had its origins in an urgent problem caused by a major storm in the north of Scotland that destroyed significant elements of the overhead pole route...

This year marked 40 years since the commissioning of the first conventional signalling Solid State Interlocking (SSI) at Leamington Spa on 8 September 1985. To mark the occasion John Slinn and Dr Alan Cribbens organised a celebratory lunch in Leamington, which was attended by approximately 37 S&T engineers. This...

The terms ‘global warming’ and ‘climate change’ are often used interchangeably, but they are not identical. Global warming refers specifically to the long-term rise in average temperatures, while climate change captures the broader shifts in weather patterns, rainfall, and storm events. Both have profound implications for the stability of...