Major projects, new trains, bewildering technology: these are the big-ticket items that command everyone’s attention these days. And why wouldn’t they? Who cares about the high-volume, low-cost bits and pieces that literally hold the railway together? Nuts, bolts, pins, clips,...
No matter how reliable or how safe the railway becomes, incidents will always occur, be they related to weather, safety, technical or human problems. Many of these will be trivial, some will be serious, a few may be catastrophic, but...
A common bearer (transport layer) telecoms network takes advantage of the new digital technologies and ‘big data’ applications in order to provide a safe, efficient, reliable railway. In very simple terms, this unseen telecoms network is the ‘glue’ that binds...
Guest author: Alan Bamforth, managing director of ABG Ltd. Railway infrastructure has retaining walls and bridge abutments. Inherent in the design of these structures is the requirement for adequate water pressure relief behind the wall. This is...
Guest author: Nassar Majothi, director of the rail specialist services group at WSP London. All too often, major infrastructure programmes are subject to significant complications, which can delay delivery and breach the budget. In the rail...
Guest author: Tom Bowman, commercial director at Dura Composites. The year-long independent rail review announced by Chris Grayling in October, described as a “root and branch” review into the rail industry and led by...
At the time of year when days are shortest, nights longest, and when Network Rail carries out its most extensive work over the Christmas shutdown, leading manufacturer and supplier of temporary lighting Morris Site Machinery has been undergoing an...
Ballast dust continues to be a priority issue, with several high-profile campaigns such as ‘No Time to Lose’ and Network Rail’s Ballast Dust Working Group championing and educating the industry for greater control measures on dust. But the rail industry...
Across the UK, the rail network supports over 4.6 million passenger journeys a day and over 20,000 miles of track. As numbers grow year-on-year, delivering a reliable and modern service for today’s ‘always online’ passenger has placed great pressure...
With the number of railway journeys in Britain having doubled between 1998 and 2018, and passenger numbers predicted to increase by 40 per cent by 2040, the country’s rail network faces long-term capacity challenges. As a result, Britain’s railway infrastructure...
Crossrail opening goes back to 2021
The estimated completion date of Crossrail, the new railway running under London from West to East, has now been put back to...
