Network Rail studies into future long-distance rail demand in Britain are forecasting significant growth based on national economic and social trends and relative costs . The approach is explained in a draft report on long-distance travel that will inform capacity planning for Network Rail’s regulatory control period 6 (2019/20-2023/24) and beyond. The market study is the first of four to be prepared, with the other three covering regional urban passenger demand; London & South East

Kassel is a German city of 200,000 people, lying 150 kilometres north of Frankfurt and just over an hour away on the high-speed Deutsche Bahn ICE train from Frankfurt Airport station. In a league table of German cities ranked by economic development, conducted by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research and published in the magazine Wirtschaftswoche (Economic Weekly), Kassel has emerged as the most dynamic place in the entire country. That means not the top-performing city – more predi

According to National Rail’s Journey Planner, a simple trip in the Greater London area from Watford Junction to Woking requires two mainline trains and an Underground ride. First, there is a Midland Mainline (or London Overground)train to London Euston, followed by a transfer to London Underground’s Northern Line to Waterloo, followed by a second transfer at Waterloo to a Southwest Trains service to Woking. This journey requires coordinating three train schedules, passing through up

D espite having historically one of the most comprehensive of the world’s urban and commuter rail systems, London has been playing catch up to Paris, and indeed other cities with S-Bahn-type railways, on its rail network development. While Paris has a mature cross city rail network in the form of its five RER lines, and is now moving on to developing its Grand Paris Express network of orbital super metro lines, London is trying to do both at once, and coming from a long way behind. Thames

Biting the bullet on expensive, transformational, railway schemes is something that mainland European governments have been good at, as exemplified by the development of national high speed rail networks in various countries. But in France attention has turned to capital city Paris, and bullets haven’t come much bigger and faster than that of Grand Paris Express, a plan to revolutionise urban railways there, with a price tag to match. Spiralling costs and delays in estimated completion dat

Though Paris and London have attracted attention by developing their regional heavy rail networks to supplement existing tube/metro lines through new cross-city tunnels, they are not the only cities who have taken their city railways beyond the traditional model of large stations at surface level. Elsewhere in Europe Vienna is replacing its South terminal station with a new central Hauptbahnhof station which will link together the routes which converge on Vienna, including international servic

The majority of the world’s population now live in urban areas. That point was reached in 2008, according to official UN statistics, as the continuing migration from the countryside and population growth within metropolitan areas have combined to  change the way the majority of the world’s citizens live. 3.3 billion of us now live in urban areas. In 1950 there was just one city of over 10m people – New York. Now there are 27, and experts believe that by the end of 2015, t

T There’s little disagreement that electrification is the best power system for most railways. But what should be done about branch lines where the business case might not be as clear as that for mainline railway electrification? Without it, through trains from the mainline need to be diesel powered even while travelling the majority of their time under the wires – and diesel trains are less efficient and less reliable than electric ones. Two contrasting approaches in the UK give so

Any rail journey involving interchange across London is potentially a problem to explain to travellers. It is likely that business is lost to rail because users are baffled by proposed journey times that are longer than they often are in reality, and because the convenience of a high-frequency service is undersold by giving specific connecting times when they are not needed. It is amongst the unaddressed issues on the National Rail website. Generous margins may protect the train companies from

While waiting for a train I often inspect the promotional material and timetables on display at a station. It’s a simple check on what the railway has to offer. This nerdish activity can tell us something more general about weaknesses in the railway’s provision of information and how it perceives is the best way to present the available travel options.  Moreover, unless the industry thinks through the information it is providing, such weaknesses are all too likely to be transfer

Across the transport sector there are certain individuals whose activities stand out either as beyond the significance of their own specific role within an organisation, or for introducing new ideas from an inventive technological or entrepreneurial standpoint. In an era of rapid change to the way transport services are managed, marketed and paid for it is not surprising that a group of such people feature amongst our power list. Elaine Rosscraig, Stagecoach’s head of bus customer insigh

A group of fifty leading senior executives and managers form this year’s New Transit UK passenger transport providers Power List. There are several changes from last year as new appointments have lifted individuals into positions of greater responsibility and others have moved out. Four of the most senior UK passenger transport group heads are featured in our overall top 12 people listing on the previous pages- David Martin at Arriva, Sir Brian Souter at Stagecoach, Tim O’Toole at F

David Higgins, Chief Executive of Network Rail Why is he on the list? Higgins is the leader of Britain’s rail infrastructure company, about to be on the receiving end of the UK Government’s enthusiasm for infrastructure projects, and with freedom to innovate and experiment What kind of year has he had? Good. Alliancing with train operators has shown the potential for better working practices without the need for vertical integration where train operators might have taken on s

Extending the proposed London-West Midlands high-speed rail line on to Manchester and Leeds will drive regeneration and transform travel patterns, says the UK Government, which sees the project as a cornerstone of its bid to kick start economic growth and modernise British transport infrastructure. All the political heavyweights in the Coalition were on hand to unveil the phase two extensions of the existing project to open Britain’s second high-speed rail line from London to Birmingham

Crossrail 2, the plan for a new south-west to north-east line under London, is to be promoted as a regional rail scheme rather than a London-focused metro. Business lobby group London First, Transport for London and Network Rail have all been examining the options for the project which has been on and off the drawing board for more than half a century. It was once known as the Chelsea-Hackney link, living in the same scheme pool as the Victoria Line crossing London from Brixton to Walthamstow w

Advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal has appointed the former chief executive of Network Rail to spearhead a push in transport and infrastructure as it believes the sectors “have not woken up” to the threat of the financial crisis. Iain Coucher (pictured) becomes a Managing Director in its London office to head its transport and infrastructure-focused business across Europe. In addition to his time as chief executive at Network Rail, Coucher also served as chief executive of TubeLine

Like dinosaurs, a lot of people in public transport still remain wedded to a vision comprising a number of discrete modes.  The one they are concerned with themselves is the important one, of course- be it bus, rail or tram for example, and the rest have their acknowledged, but inferior, little world - with even a space maybe reserved in the mobility mix for active travel (foot and bike), boat and plane. But join them up as a seamless boundary-less offer, never!  You can’t mix ru

Network Rail Consulting, the international consultancy arm of Network Rail, has appointed Keith Ludeman (pictured) to its four man board. Ludeman, 62 retired last year as group chief executive of Go-Ahead. Since then he has also served as a non-executive director of Network Rail. Network Rail Consulting was established last year to harness the extensive range of skills and experience within the group to offer British expertise overseas, and be an international ambassador for Britain’s ra

Non-stop interchange One of the things that most spoils high speed rail is the need for trains to make intermediate stops. The faster the train’s design speed, the greater the penalty for stopping. While it’s no problem on a low speed rural branch line for a local train stop at a station, the amount of time it takes to decelerate a high speed train from 200mph to 0mph, and then back again, makes a huge addition to its journey time, which could otherwise be offered for end-to-end t

The concept of coach-train, or Car à Haut Niveau de Service (CHNS), is being explored as an interurban public transport solution in several locations in mainland Europe. But there are some agitators who believe that even the schemes proposed so far have barely scratched the surface of the potential for coaches. Leading the charge is transport data management company ITO World’s chief executive officer Peter Miller, who runs the Coachways UK blog, which is a focus for ideas in the

A potential contradiction lies at the heart of current developments in heavily used urban public transport:  Capacity versus comfort. To be popular, and play its part in the functioning of cities, most practitioners would agree that public transport in cities should be attracting motorists from their use of private cars, by providing a high quality alternative. To be cost effective however, particularly at peak times, each vehicle also needs to shift high volumes of people. The balancing

Step outside many European urban railway stations, and the first thing a passenger often encounters is the platforms of a tram stop, ensuring swift and efficient dispersal of passengers from the station. Increasingly it’s not only trams which run through these mini terminals. As trams and buses both run on roads, and low floor buses are intended to call at shallow platforms (or footways as they are often better known), it should not be a problem for all the local passenger transport serv

I t might be a conventional heavy rail infrastructure operator, but Britain’s Network Rail has been doing some very unconventional thinking about what sort of vehicles could run passenger services on its tracks. Railways don’t have to be operated by trains, it acknowledges. Blended mode technologies like guided buses and tram-trains might be just as appropriate, and even trains themselves might operate differently to today’s conventional understanding. Network Rail’s &

Success in a nice problem to have, but finding the best solution to the problem of a lack of capacity in the face of rising passenger numbers can prove challenging. A number of rapid transit systems across Europe are facing that challenge in different ways. Introducing Bus Rapid Transit has a record of building the market by changing perceptions of conventional bus services, and in the UK, the Cambridgeshire guided busway opened last year has proved a real hit. It carried its one-millionth pass

An on board train system from Clearsy  has been designed to measure the distance between the platform and the train before installing a gap-bridging system as well as authorising it and deploying it. The gap-filler is a mobile platform filling the space between the train and the platform edge to help passengers with reduced mobility. GAPS comprises lasers which scan the edge of the platform and receive the data to check whether or not the platform is compatible with the gap filler. It then

M ost public transit users in urban areas do not just take individual bus and rail services. They use “the system.” And that means alighting from a metro or rail station and connecting to a bus to complete a journey, or vice versa. It’s a regular activity but not always easy. How many cities make this process logical, convenient and user-friendly with wayfinding signage from the station exit directing people to the bus stop, with appropriate maps and supporting information to

Public transport needs to focus on its core asset: the network, and make visible to users and potential users the true extent and stability of the system available. The vehicles that run the services are transitory and the network is invisible, so perceived as less substantial and stable over time than it actually is. A key is to make the hubs the showcase for the system - the places where vehicles pick up and people can connect with the system: bus stops, stations and interchanges. High q

Public address and voice alarm specialist ATEÏS-Group have switched their UK activities away from ATEÏS UK to a new partner and distributor Fuzion. The new Walton on Thames based agents are professionals in audio distribution and system design including after-sales service and support, with almost 20 years of experience in the professional audio field. Fuzion’s drafting and rack-building facilities enable them to provide service from the drawing board to final commissioning. AT

We’ve all been stuck on a station platform or at a bus-stop at one time or another, and there’s nothing more frustrating than having no idea about when your transport is actually going to turn up. Recent research carried out by Passenger Focus showed getting this information during delays is passengers’ fifth highest priority for improvement, behind the most obvious needs of value for money, punctuality, frequency and being able to get a seat. That’s why we have spent

The digital revolution has unlocked a rush of new information systems that offer diverse ways of putting both encyclopaedic and highly specific rail and bus service information in front of users. But by their very diversity and variety such messages risk being overlooked in the resultant potential ‘information overload’. Sometimes, a single simple overriding ‘alert’ or ‘announcement’ needs to get through above the rest. The basic means to do this - the publi

The release of both scheduled and real-time travel information by the UK rail industry as open data is raising the quality of service advice to customers and offers a prospect of new national and regional multi-modal journey planners interfacing the rail and equivalent bus systems.  The key is the rail industry’s DARWIN national real-time database. The railway operates to a timetable and from this it should be possible to derive data that is capable of being fed to all users who pro

Relatively short connections in the transport network can have a disproportionate significance in both addressing end-to-end journey requirements, and complementing the accessibility needs of large activity sites and potential new development opportunities. In this field, some recent innovative systems are showing exciting potential to tackle problems in new ways – and even more economically and rapidly than hitherto. A group of emerging, new generation short transport concepts are offe

The future of public transport in Britain will be more electric, the UK government has decided, as it begins the process of catching up with mainland European thinking on public transport power supply. It has given the go ahead to substantial electrification works on the country’s rail network, and a commitment to fund plans to reintroduce the first electric trolleybuses in the country, since the last one was withdrawn from Bradford in 1972. While European mainland railways are electrifi

Virgin Trains’ chief operating officer, Chris Gibb, has been seconded to Network Rail for the remainder of this year to work with the Network Rail team on improving the performance of the infrastructure on the southern end of the West Coast Main Line, on which Virgin is franchise holder. Gibb will retain a number of his current duties and responsibilities for Virgin and will continue to undertake these alongside the role in Network Rail. He will report to Robin Gisby, Network Rail’s

Network Rail has promoted Jerry England to the role of group asset management director. He was formerly the group director of signalling and power asset management, and succeeds Peter Henderson who has stood down after a decade with the organisation. As well as for Network Rail, England has worked for the Highways Agency and Thames Water. In his new role he will be focusing on developing more customer-driven and efficient management of the company’s asset base, and the services provided t

US on-line grocer Peapod has turned a busy Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) L station at State and Lake Streets into a virtual supermarket aisle, enabling commuters to use their smartphones to scan and buy any of 70 regularly-bought items. Appearing overnight on formerly blank walls, 2.13m-high virtual shelves line both sides of a 18.3m-long pedestrian tunnel, filled with images of everyday items. Android and iPhone users can download a free Peapod mobile barcode scanner app from a section of t

We’re a pretty insular lot – us Brits that is. And I reckon we’re particularly insular in transport thinking, and how we make the best of our railways and improve their sustainability. For years we swallowed the Government’s mantra that rail electrification was not an important idea, whilst everyone else around the world was busy electrifying like it was going out of fashion. Were we right and the rest wrong? I don’t think so, and the wheel has turned full circle. D

France’s rail market is perceived as being one of the most difficult in Europe for any new operator to break into. And both the giant state-owned rail company and the government seem determined to keep it that way - whatever EU competition policy may say. Although complying with European regulations requiring the separation of train operations from infrastructure, intended to make on-rail competition and involvement by the private sector easier, France’s rail network still operates

­T­­he UK Government has issued its consultation paper on options for decentralising local and regional rail services within England. It’s a hot topic and the suggested options include some potentially radical stuff, but my suspicion is that we face a fairly tortuous journey to any new responsibility framework, with an uneven response, reflecting the lack of effective regional or sub-regional government in Britain. The UK does not have a clear federal structure like the USA

When I was doing management training some years ago a frequent theme in college lectures was the difference between supplier-led and consumer-led organisations. Our lecturer had clearly identified the fact that many passenger transport operators were then still in the former camp. Whilst I instinctively knew he was right, it required quite a major effort of will to bend one’s thinking to see things through the eyes of the customer, particularly when the surrounding culture was generally no

Plans in the UK government’s rail Command Paper for retailers close to stations, and potentially high street libraries, post offices and supermarkets, to sell rail tickets could draw on technology developed for Merseyrail’s MtoGo concept. The first MtoGo combined convenience store and ticket sales outlet was opened in 2006 at Liverpool’s Moorfields, and has since been extended to a further seven stations. The concept was enabled by a ticketing system developed by Fujitsu wh

We’ve commented before in New Transit about the ways in which the transport modes are coming together, with public transport increasingly seen as a key element in an integrated mobility offer. What we couldn’t have forecast however, was the fact that two very senior men from Ford Motor Company would be featuring in the same issue for their major impact on thinking and leadership of the passenger transport sector. In February, the head of Ford gave his thoughts on the future of tran

Transport system users face many choices in how they travel. In mode, route, types of service, price for different timings and speeds, payment mechanism and loyalty scheme discounts, and any enhancements they may wish to add, from class of service to seat reservation and catering extras. Finding out all these options to construct a journey, and its cost, has always been a challenge, with no comprehensive information point generally available, even within single operating organisations, about

Google is to add 360-degree pictures of the concourses of 13 major UK stations to its online Street View service. Network Rail said that the images would enable passengers to check station layouts and facilities before setting off. This would help people to better find their way around some of Britain’s busiest transport hubs. During February the ‘Google Trolley’ captured images of the concourses. Views of the following stations will be available on Google: Edinburgh Waverley

The insurance industry isn’t often looked upon as a paragon of retail virtue, so you might think it a bit odd if I suggest that those in the passenger transport business could learn a thing or two from that sector. But let’s see if I can persuade you. The proposition is my recurring concern: the reward from genuine customer focussed thinking. Once a year I fill in a form for my car insurance. It asks me to confirm some things about me (age, length of driving licence, etc), the vehi

Richard Parry-Jones, previously Vice President at Ford Motor Company, has been made Chairman-Designate of Network Rail. He will start with the company on 28 March as a non-executive director, taking up the position of chairman if his appointment is ratified by members at the company’s AGM in July when Rick Haythornthwaite steps down. Parry-Jones ,62, joined Ford as an apprentice and in 38 years with the company rose to be group vice president in charge of global product development, and c

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has been given the go-ahead for two public transport projects in the region. The Department for Transport (DFT) has approved an £11.5m transport interchange bus station in Rochdale town centre. The DfT is providing £6.97m towards the scheme, with the remainder of the funding coming from Rochdale Council and TfGM. Local transport minister Norman Baker said the government had approved the scheme to help “support growth and cut carbon&rdq

Why is he on the list? Higgins is the leader of UK reforms which could have a far reaching influence nationally and internationally. What kind of year has he had? Dynamic. Higgins has pre-empted government legislation by taking up the agenda of the McNulty rail review. Network Rail has devolved responsibility for operations to regional MDs and led the creation of new co-operative alliances with the company’s engineering contractors and train operator customers. However questions may s

Warwickshire County Council has appointed consultant Mott MacDonald to produce the outline designs for the new Stratford Parkway Station scheme. The consultant has previously designed the Warwick and Coleshill Parkway stations in the county. The outline design work on the £8.8m project is due to be completed by early summer 2012, with the new station scheduled to open by December 2013. The council has also appointed consultant SLC Rail to oversee the rail elements of the project includi

Paris-style dedicated lines. Almost all metro lines operate with just one route or line per tunnel, instead of multiple routes per tunnel as in New York City, or on the Metropolitan or Circle Line in London. This simplifies train operations and eliminates junction delays as different routes merge onto the same tracks. The disadvantage with this model is that customers must transfer between different lines—sometimes circuitously—instead of enjoying a one seat ride. No express service

­T­­he ‘rail product’ is only as strong as its weakest link, and that link is often the station. So it’s good to see some real positives emerging on the station front. Both big and small. I had a heart-warming start to 2012 when I travelled on a local train, in the ‘investment-starved’ North of England, and stopped at a brand new and impressive station. It’s called ‘Buckshaw Parkway’, located between Leyland and Chorley in Lancashire,

Mike Goggin has rejoined Steer Davies Gleave (SDG) as director – international advisory, after two years with Network Rail heading its stations activities. Before leaving SDG in 2009 Goggin led a number of high profile assignments for clients in the UK, North America and the Middle East.  As Network Rail’s director of stations and customer service, Goggin’s portfolio of activities included the organisation’s station strategy for its 2,500 plus railway stations, the

Peter Henderson, group asset management director at Network Rail, is to leave in 2012 after a decade with the organisation. He is one of the original board members of Network Rail, which he joined in 2002 as it acquired and succeeded Railtrack. Henderson has over 25 years experience as an engineer and project manager in the transport business, holding senior roles in  projects including the construction of the Tyne and Wear Metro and the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway.

­T­­he concept of ‘localism’ is one that’s set to have an increasing impact on the way transport is planned and managed. In Britain, the agenda is gathering momentum in several Government departments, and the Localism Bill received Royal Assent recently. There’s nothing in there specifically about transport, but that’s not the point. There’s a growing commitment to a culture of ‘localism’ which stretches well beyond the UK Coalition Gov

East Midlands Trains has installed 30 new collection-only ticket machines at eight of the major stations on its network. The Parkeon machines are designed to complement the full service ticket machines already in place at East Midlands Trains stations. Passengers can book their tickets in advance at www.eastmidlands.co.uk and then collect them at the station by using the credit or debit card they used for their booking. The new machines have been installed at Sheffield, Nottingham, Chesterfie

Next year, Network Rail, the UK’s rail infrastructure organisation,  will exhibit at the massive Innotrans show in Berlin in a bid to kick start its ambitions to offer international consultancy and project delivery services. By that time, the company could have some tangible results to present on reforms it is making to deliver a more efficient supply chain and potentially offer attractive new cost effective solutions in railway project delivery to customers around the world. The c

A pedestrian simulation tool has been launched by German software provider PTV to help inform railways station operators, city planners and architects. PTV says the new tool, Viswalk, can calculate the capacity of railway and underground stations, identify the best walking routes for passengers, assess queuing patterns at ticket windows and work out evacuation procedures. During the planning phase Viswalk can be used to help determine railway station design based on a set of criteria, accordin

Dynamic bus stations, already well established on the European mainland, are gaining ground in the UK. The latest, opening in October 2011 in Chatham, Medway, uses the dynamic bay allocation module of transport intelligence developer Vix-ACIS’ acis Interchange range of public transport terminal products. Conventional bus stations work by presetting the allocation of stands for specific journeys. While this has traditionally proved convenient for passengers, drivers and operations staff a

­I­­t seems slightly self-indulgent to use this ‘opinion’ column to go into the ins and outs of my local train service in the South Pennines, but hey – it is my opinion, and current plans perfectly highlight some of the dillemas surrounding the age-old question of what railways are for. I live in the large Yorkshire textile village of Slaithwaite, about four miles west of Huddersfield in the Colne Valley, on the busy Huddersfield to Manchester Trans-Pennine route.

Suzanne Wise, general counsel for Premier Foods plc, will join Network Rail as general counsel in the new year. She takes over from Hazel Walker, group company secretary, who left Network Rail in September after nine years with the company. The new title of general counsel reflects a broader scope to the role that will encompass a new department — transparency, covering data protection, business ethics and access to information.  

Seven directors have been chosen by Network Rail to help shape the new business unit being developed to deliver capital projects. Most of the appointments will come into effect in April 2012. Roger Dickinson (pictured) is appointed regional director responsible for the north, including Scotland and London North Eastern routes, while Neil Thompson will manage the central region, which covers London North Western, and the Birmingham Gateway and King’s Cross projects. Nick Elliott will look

The rail industry has put delivering a major capacity enhancement scheme in Manchester and further electrification projects at the top of investment priorities for the next five-year spending plan. Delivering the full £500m Northern Hub project in Manchester, and electrifying the trans-Pennine route and Cardiff Valley line commuter network, are among investments proposed in the rail industry’s Initial Industry Plan for Network Rail’s next five-year control period (CP5), coveri

New camera technology that provides detailed images of faults on overhead rail wires is being rolled out by Network Rail. It is supplying 30 cameras to maintenance delivery units across the UK. Engineers can safely operate the cameras without turning off the power and closing the line. When carrying out track patrols, engineers can attach the camera to the overhead wire and hold it steady using two stabilising arms on insulated poles. The camera, supplied by Kongsberg Maritime Ltd, can tilt so

A new and innovative travel app based on the principle of social networking is to be launched in October. The Mynet app, developed by My Travel Network, will inform users of disruptions, rate and view user ratings of rail operators and stations. The free service will initially be available on iPhone, with a Google Android version launched before the end of the year. “The primary source of information comes from our users,” said Colin Macgadie, My Travel Network’s creative dire

The announcement of plans for new international services has coincided with a series of private  schemes for new open access domestic routes unveiled this year. Several of the companies are backed by businessmen of international standing, and rival international operators, and reflect the pioneering approach to ‘open access’ followed in the UK.  In Italy, Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo is a shareholder in NTV which is expected to challenge Trenitalia on core routes

Network Rail’s chairman Rick Haythornthwaite has told the rail industry that it must address its failure to engage with the public, businesses and communities. In a speech announcing that he would not stand for re-election next year when his term expires, Haythornthwaite said there was a huge disconnect between the industry’s and the public’s view of the railway. While the industry could be proud of its record in growing business and improving service quality, issues such as f

The rail industry has taken the first steps in its bid to persuade the government to fund new infrastructure projects by setting out an agenda to cut costs and cater effectively for growing demand. The Initial Industry Plan (IIP) for 2014-2019 has been drawn up by all sectors of the industry from suppliers to operators and Network Rail. It details how efficiencies would be made in response to the McNulty Rail Value for Money Review and suggests that the cost of running the railway could be re

Nework Rail has appointed Patrick Hallgate as its new route-managing director to lead its devolved business unit on the Western route.  Hallgate will be responsible for the development and operation of about 1,000 miles of railway covering London Paddington, Thames Valley, and the South West of England. His duties will include asset management, planning, maintenance and enhancement work. Hallgate is currently Network Rail’s programme director signalling and electrification, and was o

Gareth Llewllyn has been appointed director of safety and sustainable development at Network Rail. He previously had senior safety roles with National Grid, Anglo American, and the Renewable Fuels Agency. Network Rail’s chief executive David Higgins said Llewllyn was joining at a time of great change “when we need to make a further significant improvement to the safety culture of the business. His enormous experience across sectors and across the globe will be invaluable in deliver

South West Trains has launched a ‘bike dock’ at Guildford rail station, which passengers can access to hire a folding Brompton cycle. The dock fits into a single car parking space but provides storage for up to 80 bikes. The bikes have no travel restrictions and can be carried out all services. However, all folding cycles must be stowed as luggage. Passengers can gain access to one of the Bromptons in the bike dock by registering with South West Trains online and buying a smartcard

Birmingham’s largest outdoor art installation has been unveiled on a site near to New Street station. Network Rail worked with local art group Regenerated and students from King Edward VI Sheldon Heath Academy to transform a bare wall covered in green mould into a space to showcase local artistic talent. The artists and students were briefed to create work inspired by the redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station and focus on the themes of movement, regeneration and the reflection o

Warrington Central is the 150th UK station to benefit from the National Stations Improvement Programme. Delivered by First TransPennine Express, which manages the station, the improvements at Warrington mean passengers now enjoy a new station entrance and refurbished station interior, including DDA-compliant windows. As well as NSIP funding of more than £400,000, Warrington Borough Council provided £300,000 funding to deliver the improvements.

The designs for a new public square have been unveiled by Network Rail as part of the redevelopment of King’s Cross station. At more than 7,000 square metres, the new King’s Cross Square will be 50% bigger than Leicester Square, opening up the space currently occupied by the 1970s concourse extension and revealing the Grade I listed Victorian station façade. Architects Stanton Williams were chosen to work on the new square after international competition, and the designs aim

Marple station near Stockport, Greater Manchester, is on course for accessibility improvements under the Access for All scheme. Work is due to start this winter. When finished, the old footbridge will have been removed and new lifts installed on both platforms, linked by a new single span footbridge. The ticket office building will be extended to accommodate new accessible toilet facilities. This follows completion of Access for All work at nearby Cheadle Hulme, where all four platforms are n

Spanish transport engineering consultantcy Ineco has designed a range of modular steel structures for Adif, the Spanish administrator of railway infrastructures. This includes a shelter, made from tubular galvanised steel, suited for stations handling less than 1,500 passengers a day. The shelters can be easily joined together or multiplied according to the needs of each station, says Ineco. The first shelter was installed at Las Zorreras commuter train station near El Escorial, a province of

­T­­he writings of Chopra admittedly don’t figure strongly in any university transport planning syllabus. He is a leading writer on spirituality, interpreting the Vedic tradition for modern-day life. He has a lot to say about the meaning of ‘co-incidence’, and my argument is that you can always find meaning and resonances if you look for them. It’s good to think out of our usual boxes, or carriages, and let destiny take control and ‘co-incidence’ m

The long-term strategy for developing the rail network in London and the south-east has been published. With the number of passengers travelling into London, especially at peak times, set to grow significantly by 2031, Network Rail’s London and South East Route Utilisation Strategy identifies ways to boost capacity, improve journeys and increase connectivity across the region. Produced in partnership with the rail industry, the Department for Transport and Transport for London, the strate

The long-term strategy for developing the rail network in London and the south-east has been published. With the number of passengers travelling into London, especially at peak times, set to grow significantly by 2031, Network Rail’s London and South East Route Utilisation Strategy identifies ways to boost capacity, improve journeys and increase connectivity across the region. Produced in partnership with the rail industry, the Department for Transport and Transport for London, the strate

Direct rail services from London to cities in Germany and Holland could be in operation by 2013 if a formal application by Deutsche Bahn (DB) to run trains through the Channel Tunnel is approved. The German train operator is the first continental rail company to express an interest in competing with Eurostar on the line since it was opened up to other operators in January 2010. If the application is approved, London’s St Pancras International will be able to serve passengers to Rotterdam

There is a potential revolution on the cards in how customers are offered their choices of how to travel. Rather than be faced with a myriad of options by different operators, each one of which offers an individual journey and requires separate research for information and a purchase transaction, the alternative could be a single source for the right combination to meet a traveller’s personal needs. Information is already being presented in multi-modal integrated forms with journey plann

The International Union of Public Transport has just produced a position paper challenging it 3,000-plus member authorities in 92 countries, to consider becoming “real mobility providers,” and promoting the joint mobility of public transport in combination with other modes like car-sharing, taxis and cycling. It is a significant moment for traditional public transport companies, as they decide where their future business prospects lie. If they do not rise to this challenge, there i

Why are the terms ‘innovative procurement’ and ‘strategic alignment’ ringing in the ears of transport scheme promoters and project managers?  Perhaps it’s because funding bodies have identified procurement processes and delivery arrangements as a significant opportunity for efficiency gains, cost savings and effective risk management based on emerging new understanding and experience of how effective relationships and working arrangements deliver the best outco

In my last piece, I mused on the way in which governmental approaches to regulation of passenger transport can have some unintended consequences; specifically, the difficulty in providing incentives for transport operators to innovate and even – in the name of competition management –how ‘steering’ an open market hobbles their ability to drive efficiency. It was rather apposite that since I wrote about that subject, the UK Competition Commission Report on the UK bus marke

Starting a ride, the public transport customer needs to get to the place where he/she can access the transport vehicle – if the idea is not to walk all the way to the destination. A greater part of all mobility trips form a transport chain: Walking – motorized transport – walking transfer – more motorized transport – final walk. The walking parts may be short – but they invariably exist. With no consideration towards these parts of the trips, the user will fe

Automatic ticket gates are being installed at five Glasgow stations in a bid to combat fare evasion and anti-social behaviour. ScotRail estimate that the gates will save around £2m a year in lost revenue. The gates are being supplied by Cubic Transportation Systems. “Cubic was the successful supplier — they met all criteria in terms of functionality, design, price and programme,” said ScotRail’s project manager Kirsty Watson. The gates have been installed at Charin

Network Rail has appointed Jo Kaye as its new route-managing director. She will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of over 2,000 miles of railway on the London North Western route. Kaye is currently the route’s director, but in an expanded role that takes effect from October, she will assume responsibility for maintenance and asset management as well as operating matters. The route covers the west coast main line from London Euston to the Scottish border north of Carlisle and th

Mark Langman is to lead Network Rail’s devolved business unit in Wales. He will lead a 1,400 strong team, and will oversee the management and operation of the railway throughout Wales and the English border counties from headquarters in Cardiff. The move forms part of the company’s recent devolution drive to increase its responsiveness to customers at a local level by creating the first independent Wales route in railway history. Langman said: “We have worked hard over the l

Network Rail’s former chief executive, Iain Coucher, received a £1m-plus compensation package on leaving the company in October, the company’s annual report and accounts have revealed. On termination of his contract, Coucher received a negotiated settlement to close out potential award rights under the long term incentive plan for Network Rail’s executives (£370,000), plus contractual payments for in lieu of notice amounting to 12 months’ salary. In total, hi

Network Rail has seen its profits rise by almost 11%, but there has also been a drop in performance as the number of trains running on time fell from 91.5% to 90.9%. Pre-tax profits at the government-backed company increased 10.8% from £395m to £438m in the year to 31 March. The company’s revenues increased from £5.66bn to £5.71bn last year, with operating profits rising from £1.9bn to £2bn. The major element of its income comes in the form of a &poun

Stations are as much a part of our nation’s history as they are the shop windows of the railway. They feature in films and in novels and are often focal points within our towns and cities. As these towns and cities grow and change, so must their stations. But the changes needed to cope with the growing popularity of the railway are rarely the same. Britain relies on rail, and the railway is nearly full. Major programmes like Crossrail and Thameslink are increasing capacity in London an

An independent report commissioned by Network Rail has cleared former chief executive Iain Coucher of allegations claiming he had taken illicit payments and rejected claims that the company had used offshore accounts and cash payments to discourage departing employees from talking publicly about the reasons for leaving or taking legal action. The report also said: “It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the TSSA (Transport and Salaried Staff Association) introduced a series of increasing

One of the great achievements of UK Government transport policy in the late 1960s was the creation of the passenger transport executives (PTEs) in metropolitan areas outside London. Well-funded and politically accountable, they achieved great things in developing integrated passenger networks from previously fragmented elements. The last few years have seen some of that momentum slipping away in Britain, whilst their European equivalents have flourished. It’s a long time since the PTEs ow

Network Rail and train operator Northern are working to deliver accessibility improvements at Cheadle Hulme station by the end of July. Funded by the Department for Transport’s Access for All programme, the station will get three passenger lifts and a footbridge linking all platforms from the car park and drop-off area. Lee Wasnidge, area director for Northern Rail, comments: “We are delighted to work with our partners to make these fantastic improvements allowing passengers, who

Network Rail has revealed how Manchester Victoria station could look in less than five years time. A brand new, state of the art roof will flood the station with natural light and encapsulate the historic building. It is likely to be made of ETFE – the material used at Piccadilly station and the Eden Project. The £20m cost is to be split between Network Rail (£16m) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) (£4m). The improvements will also future-proof the station, a

The first steps to transform the south side of Birmingham city centre have been taken with the submission of the planning application for a new John Lewis department store at Birmingham New Street station. Network Rail has submitted a detailed planning application to Birmingham City Council for a 250,000sq ft John Lewis department store to be located on the south side of the redeveloped station. The plans will also see the upgrade of the Pallasades Shopping Centre above the station. The plann

Plans to transform London Bridge into a bigger and better station have been published by Network Rail. The station’s concourse, which will be bigger than the pitch at Wembley Stadium, will sit underneath the tracks. Two new entrances will be constructed on Tooley Street and St Thomas Street, which will improve links between the areas around the station. Coupled with changes and improvements to the rail infrastructure around the station, the investment in the area will mark the final phas

The tens of thousands of passengers using Clapham Junction every day are benefitting from improved access, less congestion and improved facilities following the official opening of the new entrance and nine new lifts at the station on 19 May. The upgrade — funded by Department for Transport, South West Trains, Wandsworth council, Transport for London, Network Rail and the Railway Heritage Trust — also includes new ticketing facilities, travel information screens and toilets in a fu

The UK railway revolution begun by the privatisation legislation in 1993 has been an almost permanent one. The pioneering approach, now increasingly being applied elsewhere, has not been the smoothest journey. Over the past year, the government has been keen to promote the McNulty review of costs and efficiencies as an exercise in evolution not revolution. It has not quite turned out that way. Its conclusions are radical and far reaching and likely to lead to a further major change in industry s

Transport for London and developer Treasury Holdings are starting a public consultation on the proposed 3km extension of the Northern line from Kennington to Battersea Power Station, to be funded by developer contributions. In the first stage of the public consultation process in 2010, local residents were asked by Treasury Holdings to comment on four possible route options, all of which ran from Kennington to Battersea Power Station. The preferred option was the route via south Nine Elms. If t

Network Rail has published an analysis of passenger congestion at stations along with a ‘toolkit’ of solutions that could be used to relieve it in its Network Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) for stations. The plan sets out those stations where action is needed most urgently and proposes a range of potential measures, which can then be used as part of bespoke solutions developed to combat issues at specific stations in a process involving all interested parties. Paul Plummer, Networ

Women are the ‘great unseen’ in transport decision- making. Yet they make up the majority of bus users in Britain, and account for 46% of rail travellers. They are hugely under-represented in management, in many ‘front-line’ jobs such as drivers, and in policy and planning roles. Over the years a small number of determined campaigners and academics have produced plenty of evidence that women are losing out in transport provision and service delivery because their perspect

Transport for London has set out plans to make an extra £2.6bn of efficiency savings before 2018 in order to protect investment in frontline services. Total efficiencies are now expected to deliver savings of £7.6bn during the period. Major cost reductions highlighted by TfL in its new business plan include: £400m from ticket office changes driven by a reduction in 800 management and operations roles £375m from efficiencies in IT systems £460m in bu

Solar powered customer information screens are to be installed at seven ScotRail stations in the Highlands. The screens, developed by Nexus Alpha Low Power Systems (NALPS), are designed to operate during prolonged periods of cloudy and overcast conditions. He added that the screens combine solar power and stored batteries to store excess summer energy to offer back-up during the winter. The screens will also feature automated speech for the visually impaired. By pressing a button, customers wil

East Coast Trains has selected Interfleet’s monitoring system to manage on-board operations, maintenance and energy usage. Interfleet’s Guru solution, based on hardware technology from Arrowvale and software from Nexala, is designed to allow real-time operating and speeding decisions. The solution will enable East Coast Trains to increase rolling stock reliability and improve detection of infrastructure faults, says Interfleet. The system is due to go live this summer and be fully i

When I started as a guard with British Rail, back in the mid-1970s, I was given extensive training. It covered rules and regulations, how to use a shunting pole and set up a buckeye coupler (not easy), and basic operating procedures. That was followed by several weeks of route learning. One thing my training didn’t cover was anything about dealing with the public. In those days guards and drivers at most depots would do a mix of passenger and freight duties. Working a passenger train from

A unique policing environment, the transport system has a unique set of needs. To meet them, an independent body, British Transport Police (BTP), monitors the tracks, trains and stations, and provides a vital service to rail and other operators, their staff and passengers in making the system secure and safe. Chief Constable Andy Trotter has been at its helm for for the past 18 months, and for five years prior to that was BTP’s Deputy Chief. “We are a normal police force now operati

At national level, no transport group has had a dedicated customer service director since the departure of David Bird from National Express in 2009. In other consumer industries it is seen as a key strategic and commercial part of the business, with frameworks of central objectives and standards set by group and national level customer service directors – even in industries which have not traditionally been seen as customer-oriented. When he left National Express, Bird joined energy sup

The Independent Transport Commission has published a new paper showing that in the near future, bus and train operators will need to respond to a new set of customer expectations as the UK becomes a 24/7 society. The ITC paper draws on research which shows that by 2020 the number of people shopping, visiting restaurants, going to the cinema and theatres or carrying out household business via the internet between 6pm and 9am the following morning will have almost doubled to 13 million – a

How should a modern consumer industry set its objectives for providing its users with the services they want, retaining business and winning new custom? The passenger transport industry has its own well-established way:  find out what matters most to existing customers, measure performance in delivering it, and get that performance right. This has led to punctuality and reliability taking centre stage, coming through in survey after survey as the most important issue to passengers, and the

A mobile phone ticketing system, which will give passengers details of the cheapest prices and train times and then deliver the ticket as a 2D barcode, has been launched by Chiltern Railways. Scanners on gates at stations will read the iPhone screen to enable passengers to touch in and out of stations. The iPhone app will include details of delays and disruption. The app will remember favourite journeys and debit card details, so that travel can be made with “just a few touches of the sc

The Association of Train Operating Companies has published proposals for reforming the rail industry that would see Network Rail broken up and its component parts listed on the Stock Exchange. Although the infrastructure operator has announced plans to devolve responsibility from head office to regional managing directors, ATOC said the proposals did not go far enough in helping achieve the £1bn annual savings identified by the interim McNulty report into the rail industry’s value

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has given the go-ahead for a £4.5bn Intercity Express Programme (IEP) and £704m plans to electrify the Great Western Main Line (GWML) between Cardiff, Bristol and Didcot. The announcement means that the IEP procurement programme will now be resumed with  the Agility Trains (Hitachi and John Laing) consortium replacing 30-year old intercity high speed trains. Although the project has been sharply reduced from the original 1400-train, £7

In all the analysis undertaken using the station usage data published by the ORR I have yet to see anything on rail use by head of population. The ORR helpfully categorises every station by a number of spatial levels ranging from Government Office to unitary authority although they have not kept pace with the latest council changes. Whilst there is a fundamental issue that rail usage in some locations is inflated because certain locations, especially the inner London boroughs, receive a lot of i

Network Rail’s new chief executive David Higgins has announced that the company is to devolve powers from London to its regional offices. The aim is to enable Network Rail to make quicker local decisions which are more focused on the needs of train operators and passengers rather than Network Rail’s corporate requirements, and to work collaboratively with operators. Network Rail’s regional organisations will now become fully-devolved businesses run by managing directors with

Every year the ORR publishes station usage data which provides a fascinating insight into use of the rail sector. The latest figures for 2009-10 have just been published and while they come with some caveats about the reliability of the data they are still worthy of analysis. According to the data 2.13 billion entries and exits were made through 2,525 stations (that is 1.065bn people used the network) in 2009-10. That is down by 0.8% over 2008-9 which is not bad given the severity of the recess

Why is he on the list? The traffic commissioner is one of the bus industry’s regulators. They are responsible for ensuring that services are safe and reliable. What kind of year has he had? Balancing the need to secure the fundamental guarantee of the independent role that traffic commissioners perform in the unique context of their regulatory and judicial functions as a tribunal is an issue which Brown believes has been addressed robustly during 2009-10. What’s coming up in 2011

Why is he on the list? Gisby is the Network Rail board member responsible for ensuring trains run on time and minimising the impact of Network Rail's engineering work on train operations. What kind of year has he had? In a speech last Autumn, Gisby signalled the start of the change of direction for Network Rail that chairman Rick Haythornthwaite has started, and David Higgins has helped to steer behind the scenes, before he formally takes up the role of chief exective in February. Gisby proms

Why is she on the list? Walker heads the Office of Rail Regulation, the independent safety and economic regulator of Britain's railways. What kind of year has she had? Less eventful than it could have been. Conservative sabre rattling in opposition never led to proposals for significant rail budget reductions. It has saved Walker from having to defend the industry’s five-year settlement or finding a way round complex legal issues in order to cut it. A generally low profile. Does that in

Why is he on the list? Network Rail owns and operates Britain's rail infrastructure. It employs 35,000 people across 850 sites and handles annual revenues of £6.1bn. What kind of year has he had? In September, Higgins was appointed as Network Rail’s new chief executive and successor to Iain Coucher, who stepped down in October. Higgins was previously chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, where he has been for five years. He left the Olympic Park on time, within bud

Go Ahead-owned Brighton & Hove Buses deployed snow chains during the worst of the snow on the south coast on December 2. “Following our trial with snow chain fitted coaches in February we took the precaution of buying 30 sets of snow chains in the Spring”, Roger French, managing director of Brighton & Hove, explained. “These were used to good effect during the heavy snowfall on December 2 which otherwise would have led to a white-out for all services as happened in mo

Pioneering methods to remove ice and compacted snow from trains helped ScotRail to keep its services running. The use of innovative polytunnels and train ‘skirts’, plus hot water lances and a new biodegradable de-icing spray, resulted in 30% more ScotRail trains being available for use in the second half of December compared to the first half of the month. The polytunnels - traditionally used to protect young fruit and vegetable crops - are wrapped round trains, allowing hot air bl

In spite of very difficult conditions, including black ice and snow of up to about a foot on the ground, bus company Trent Barton estimated that estimate that we were able to cover around 85% of our services in early December, with near 100% in Derby and Nottingham. “Whilst our drivers should obviously be congratulated for going beyond the call of duty, driving 12-metre buses along roads that people were worried to drive a car, the whole team have pulled together to keep our service runn

So, my time at the Department for Transport has come to an end. Having joined as a director general in 2002 it was clearly time for me to move on - although whether moving back to Works and Pensions is really “moving on” is a moot point I guess! Still, I’ve had a pretty good time at transport even if my achievements may not be quite as dramatic as I might wish. After all, it takes so long to get things done, and because transport affects everybody’s daily lives and every

Transport for London is placing increased emphasis on finding sites for its cycle hire scheme at or near railway stations. The docking stations at Waterloo have proved the most popular of the 360 across London, with an average of 5,740 hires/month. Strong demand also being recorded at the other stations where the scheme is in operation – King’s Cross, London Bridge and Liverpool Street. “We didn’t start out looking at it as a way for people to complete their train jou

An entire floor of the former NCP car park next to Birmingham New Street station has been removed to create space for the new platform concourse at the heart of the £425m station redevelopment. It is part of a suite of improvements being carried out as part of the Gateway redevelopment project The new concourse will be three-and-a-half times bigger than at present  and enclosed by a giant, light-filled atrium. When it opens in autumn 2012, the first half of the new station alone will

Solum Regeneration, the joint venture between Network Rail and Kier Property, has begun site work on its first scheme. The company was formed  in 2008 as a vehicle to regenerate railway stations in the south-east of England, and in November work began on a £31m project at Epsom station. The mixed use scheme in Epsom will create a new retail, hotel and residential development surrounding and on top of the station. It will provide Epsom with 54 affordable apartments for developer Orbit

The first phase of the six-year, £850m project to remove bottlenecks around Reading station and improve the station environment was completed over Christmas and the New Year. The work included re-signalling 100 miles of railway around Reading, and lifting a 1,000 tonne railway bridge into place. The work required 16,000 man hours. Bill Henry, project director for Network Rail in Reading said: “The work is the launch pad for our project to improve Reading’s station and railway

The reopening of Blackfriars station in January after an eight week closure provided passengers with a view of the spectacular new design which is due to be completed by the end of the year. Construction of the framework for a new roof spanning the width of the Thames is nearly finished, while new  track, signalling, telecoms and passenger information systems have been installed. The works at Blackfriars are a key part of the first phase of the £6bn Thameslink Programme which will en

It’s great to see people’s creativity in action at dozens of stations around Britain. Gardens, works of art, new community facilities, poetry and herb beds are just some of the things which are going on, transforming many unstaffed stations into vibrant community facilities. Along the Caldervale Line, in the heart of the Pennines, community-based station partnerships have created a ‘necklace effect’ of activities at virtually every station, like a string of pearls. The

Sir Roy McNulty, chairman of the Rail Value for Money Study, may be a class act, but like every other leader of a "what is wrong with the railway" review, he started off by complaining about leadership, complicated tickets, lack of innovation, misaligned incentives: all the usual guff. It is enough to make you a cynic, but after nine months work, the study is now getting somewhere. In September, ATOC set out some very sensible proposals in a document called ‘Better alignment of

Traditionally, the public transport industry has struggled with the concept of interchange, seeing it as a necessary evil which its customers simply have to put up with even though interchange can be seen by passengers as removing them from the safety and comfort of the vehicle to a “desert area”.  From the late 1990s, much research activity has been devoted to establishing concepts of best practice for public transport interchange – firstly with DETR and CILT from 1998 an

Thursday 9th December, 2010, saw the official opening of the new Accrington Eco Station. This innovative project developed out of a report jointly commissioned by Northern Rail and Lancashire County Council that was aptly named ‘Eco Stations’. Published in November 2006 it was the brainchild of Paul Salveson, then with Northern Rail, and John French of Transport Regeneration, and championed by Richard Watts, the Lancashire County Council rail projects manager. The project is innovati

1993-1994 - Management Trainee, British Rail After graduating from the University of Wales with a BSc in International Transport, Goggin went through BR’s Management Training Scheme. 1994-1997 - Railtrack & Regulatory Affairs Manager, Merseyrail Electrics 1997-1998 - Business Analyst, MTL This role saw Goggin investigate the feasibility of setting up a bus business in Pakistan while providing policy advice to MTL’s two rail franchises. 1998-2004 - Various roles, Rail

For years, stations have had a reputation as the Cinderellas of the rail network, most recently because they have been perceived as having a low priority on Network Rail’s agenda. Train operators have complained that the company has been a poor landlord, distant and slow to respond to requests for improvements. However, last year Network Rail sent a powerful signal that a change of direction could be imminent with the creation of a new role - director of stations and customer service. Th

Killing my time hanging around at airports, or on the low cost airlines’ planes, I play a little fantasy management game. What would happen if we swapped Souter with Stelios; Ludeman with O’Leary; and by a little extension, David Martin at Arriva for Tim Martin at Wetherspoons – the chief of the High Street pub chain that is something of a parallel to the budget air transport providers. The product development is remarkable at all these highly-focussed customer businesses, who

Network Rail has unveiled plans for over 75,000 sq ft of new retail space at four stations on its network. This will focus on enhancing passenger experience through the creation of “destination stations” and building strong partnerships with retailers. Investment in stations will see increased capacity and improve the environment for passengers, said Network Rail. New retail space will be created at London’s Waterloo and King’s Cross, Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham

Network Rail has launched the search for a development partner to undertake commercial development at Queen Street Station in Glasgow. The development will provide enhanced station facilities for passengers and a landmark mixed-use development in the airspace above the station car park. A notice has been issued in the Official Journal of the European Union seeking registrations of interest to undertake the development of the site, which extends to approximately 1.85 acres. All proposals will

A new high-speed line between London, Birmingham and Manchester will be essential in preventing overcrowding on the West Coast Main Line, a Network Rail report has found. West Coast Main Line draft RUS predicts the line will be out of capacity by 2024 as passenger demand is set to grow by as much as 61% between London and Manchester. A new high speed line would free up much needed capacity allowing more and faster services giving more seats to commuters to operate on the route’s southern

Passenger numbers have increased over the year following the acquisition of former municipal bus operator Plymouth Citybus by the London-based transport group Go Ahead.  Plymouth Citybus managing director Andrew Wickham says that the key changes to routes and timetables made in July and September have helped to achieve a steady growth in passenger numbers with recent months showing a 9% rise. “We have our drivers and support team to thank for this achievement,” said Andrew

Transport secretary Philip Hammond this morning revealed that the Department for Transport intends to continue consulting on possible changes to the rail franchising system in parallel with a value for money review of Britain's rail network. However, he added that franchising reform needs to be coordinated with the review of infrastructure manager Network Rail. This will result in a short-term contract for the operation of the Greater Anglia franchise being let in 2011, with much longer contr

The first of four new 11-car Pendolino trains to be delivered by Alstom arrived on Merseyside this week. The new unit was brought by rail from Italy to the Liverpool Traincare Centre at Edge Hill, one of five maintenance depots where Alstom maintains the current Pendolino fleet and where a six-month programme of testing and commissioning of the train will now begin. In line with the agreement signed between train lessor, Angel Trains, the Department for Transport and Alstom in 2008, the

Kent’s big transport priorities and significant new funding opportunities to pay for them were revealed this week in Growth without Gridlock, KCC’s landmark transport delivery plan for the county. The plan calls for an additional Thames Crossing, road improvements and the development of a new Parkway railway station to support economic regeneration in Thanet. Speaking at the launch to transport partners from across Kent, KCC Leader Paul Carter stated: “Today we set out our pr

The redeveloped uni-link transport interchange at Southampton University’s Highfield campus has opened. As a major transport hub for the city, the £1.5 million project was jointly funded by the University, from its Student Centredness budget, in partnership with Southampton City Council and the Go Ahead Group. The new interchange has space for three buses, real-time information, a well-lit covered waiting area, a refreshment kiosk, and welfare facilities for the uni-link drivers. un

The secretary of state for transport has announced plans for a major investment in Britain's railways. Philip Hammond has confirmed the full completion of the Thameslink and Crossrail programmes and announced plans for the procurement of 2,000 new carriages for use across the network. However, Hammond revealed that the delivery of the Thameslink programme will be "re-profiled" to achieve completion in 2018. In a written statement issued this morning, he said that delivery of the or

A public consultation has been launched into proposals close the Mosley Street Metrolink stop in Manchester city centre. Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority has asked the Department for Transport for permission to close the stop following a report to the Authority's Capital Projects Committee earlier this year. The department has assessed the proposal and, as part of the statutory process, launched a consultation on the plans today (Wednesday) that will end on February 9, 2011.

Work will get underway later this month on a dramatic facelift of London Bridge bus station. The new look bus station, set to open in May 2012, will have more space for buses and taxis, improved waiting facilities and an improved road layout to ease congestion.  The upgrade, which will also include improvements to the train station concourse, will make the area more open, attractive and welcoming to passengers. The new bus station was part of the planning agreement for the development o

Network Rail today unveiled plans for over 75,000 sq ft of new retail space in stations, along with a new vision for the future of station retailing which focuses on enhancing passenger experience through the creation of destination stations and building strong partnerships with retailers. As part of the continued investment in stations to increase capacity and improve the environment for passengers, new retail space will be created at Waterloo, Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street and

The Big Society has become one of the cornerstones of the coalition government’s policies. It was at the heart of the Conservative Party’s 2010 election campaign and has been endorsed by their Liberal Democrat partners. The Government has said that “we want to give citizens, communities and local government the power and information they need to come together, solve the problems they face and build the Britain they want” (‘Building the Big Society’, Cabinet Of

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has warned that rail users contending with overcrowding on trains face continuing capacity issues in the coming decade. MPs added that they are concerned that the "already unacceptable levels of overcrowding will simply get worse and ever more intolerable". Committee members have warned that Department for Transport plans show that all the relevant targets for increasing the number of passenger places on trains by March 2014 will be mis

The first phase of Stagecoach Yorkshire’s £10m investment in bus transport in Sheffield has been marked with the launch of fifteen new double deckers for the city. They were unveiled by group chief executive Brian Souter at a special event at the City Hall and will spearhead three new Stagecoach routes in Sheffield, which represent a 30% increase in the company’s city area operations Costing £2.5m, the 80-seater Scania Enviro400s are the first double deckers Stagecoa

Directly Operated Railways, the state-owned operator of the East Coast intercity rail franchise, today published its first Annual Report which reveals that the firm made a profit after tax of £1.2m between its incorporation in July 2009 and March 31 2010. The firm has also revealed passenger growth of 3% over the period. Turnover for the nine months to March 31 2010 amounted to £233.8m, mainly reflecting ticket revenue earned from passenger services at East Coast and associated inc

Crossrail has revealed striking new designs for Tottenham Court Road's Crossrail station, one of the biggest stations on the Crossrail route. The updated designs not only provide a first glimpse of the new station but also an indication of the scale of the station's eventual size. The new Crossrail station will be integrated with the Tube station to form a combined station that will stretch from Soho to Centre Point. Designed by architects Hawkins Brown, the new station will transform the dail

Barclays Cycle Hire operator Serco today began work on a 124-space 'super' cycle hire docking station close to the main entrance of Waterloo station. The new station will be the biggest yet for the London cycle hire scheme, which now has more than 100,000 members, and aims to cut problems with cycle availability at peak periods around the station. The docking station will be installed next to the existing cycle parking facilities on Station Approach between the Victory Arch and central concou

French train manufacturer Alstom has lost its High Court bid to stop international train operator Eurostar from signing a contract with German rival Siemens for new trains. Alstom sought an injunction to prevent the order for 10 Siemens Velaro high speed trains, worth a reported £525m, before a full High Court trial over issues surrounding the procurement process. Eurostar announced the order last month as part of plans to expand services on new routes from 2014. This could see the opera

Rail punctuality between mid September and mid October matched last year's 'best ever' record during the seventh period of the year. From 19 September to 16 October (period 7), 92.8% of services arrived on time with c2c being the most punctual. This is identical to the same period last year, the best ever October since records began well over a decade ago. Robin Gisby, director of operations and customer services, said: "October has been a good month for delivering a high-quality, punctua

Network Rail faces a £3m penalty after it breached its licence for failing to run an effective and efficient timetabling process for Britain’s rail network, the Office of Rail Regulation announced today. The proposed financial penalty follows confirmation in September 2010 that Network Rail had breached its licence after problems arose from the introduction of the Integrated Train Planning System for the May 2010 timetable. System faults left some operators temporarily unable to p

Transport secretary Philip Hammond has announced funding for 16 transport schemes in the wake of last week's Spending Review. However, the DfT has warned that the level of funding required for schemes already under construction is such that it is unlikely that any new schemes in a new 'development group' will be able to begin construction before 2012/13. The move will impact a number of projects including Bus Rapid Transit schemes in Leeds, Bath, Bristol, South Essex and South Yorkshire.

Prime minister David Cameron today announced the publication of the UK’s first ever infrastructure plan, identifying the scale of the infrastructure challenge and the major economic investment that is needed to underpin sustainable growth in the UK over the coming decades. For transport the plan backs rail projects such as high speed rail, the Midland Metro light rail system, the construction of Crossrail and upgrades to the East Coast Main Line. Speaking at a CBI conferen

Growth in demand for rail travel during the summer months has risen to levels witnessed on only a handful of occasions in the last decade, according to new analysis published this week. The figures from the Association of Train Operating Companies show that passenger journeys grew by 8% in Quarter 3 of the calendar year of 2010 when compared to the same period last year. From late June to late September there were 298.6 million journeys on the railways compared to 276.4 million in the same per

Chancellor George Osborne has now delivered the coalition government's Comprehensive Spending Review and the impact for transport is starting to emerge. The Department for Transport will reduce overall spending by 15% in real terms, making savings of 21% from its resource budget and an 11% reduction in capital spending. However, a number of capital projects have gained approval. The CSR document reveals that the capital allocation for the Department has been relatively protected; in 2014-15

The number of passengers using the North's rail system is set to soar over the next ten and twenty years, according to a new report published by Network Rail. 30 - 45% rises by 2019 could see hundreds of thousands more people a year arriving in cities like Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield at peak times, according to the operator and maintainer of Britain’s rail network. The report makes a series of recommendations for targeted investment in the railways of the nor

When the Northern Rail franchise was formed in December 2004 with the amalgamation of the First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern companies, it was against the backdrop of a review which was expected to lead to some significant service cuts, fare rises or both. In virtually the same breath as the contract was awarded to the Serco/Abellio joint venture, the Strategic Rail Authority initiated a study which was designed to find ways to reduce the £2.4bn subsidy Northern had been grante

The Association of Train Operating Companies has set out a route map for train operators to gain greater control over the day to day running of the railway. The plan envisages large sections of the network ultimately becoming vertically integrated franchises, and Network Rail being reorganised into regional businesses prior to the company being broken up and sold off. It reflects ATOC’s submissions to both Sir Roy McNulty’s cost cutting review of the rail industry and the government&

Train operator Northern Rail has launched what it says is the UK’s first Dutch-style CyclePoint at Leeds station. Opened by transport minister, Norman Baker, and the Dutch Ambassador, his excellency Pim Waldeck, CyclePoint will give passengers using Leeds station an important new choice for continuing their journey -the bike. Based on a successful Dutch model brought to the UK by Abellio, joint owners of Northern Rail, CyclePoint offers fully secure and staffed parking, alongside bike ren

Rail infrastructure operator Network Rail has announced that David Higgins, the current chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, has been named as its new chief executive. Higgins will assume his new role in February following the decision by Iain Coucher to step down from Network Rail at the end of October. Before joining the ODA in 2006, Higgins was the chief executive of Lend Lease, an international property and construction company from 1995 to 2002 before joining English Partner

A NEW report by the Campaign for Better Transport has revealed England’s least and most car dependent cities. The study has named Nottingham as Britain’s most public transport friendly city. The 2010 Car Dependency Scorecard ranked England’s 19 largest cities or conurbations in eight regions, plus Cambridge and Milton Keynes to balance out the high levels of commuting in the South East. Each area was then scored against 17 indicators, derived from a variety of governmental and

A little bit of Amsterdam arrived in Leeds yesterday with the official launch of the UK’s first CyclePoint at Leeds station. Opened by Transport Minister, Norman Baker, and the Dutch Ambassador, His Excellency Pim Waldeck, CyclePoint will give passengers using Leeds station an important new choice for continuing their journey – the bike. Commenting on the launch, Transport Minister Norman Baker said, “It’s vitally important we make the beginning and end of people’

The temporary station at Workington North will close on October 8, it was announced today (September 14). The temporary station was built in November when the railway provided a vital lifeline in the aftermath of flooding. The rail industry worked quickly to ensure that the Cumbrian Coast Line kept communities connected when the road network was disrupted, and it carried unprecedented numbers of passengers. When it first opened Workington North was used by over 2000 passengers every day but wi

Journey Solutions have joined BRT UK and ITS UK in support of Septembers Travel 2020 event. The British Transport Police have today confirmed their involvement in the efficient passenger interchange section of the conference presenting their paper: Safety and security for passengers staff and systems. Keynote speaker Minister Norman Baker has underlined the significance of Travel 2020 with his comments last week about creating a national multi-modal system for easy and flexible travel pay

This month will see the start of the party conference season and the case for supporting public transport will be put forward at fringe meetings in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. The tone is different from previous years. Public transport faces huge spending cuts and its supporters are keen to remind those in power of the important job it plays, both as an employer and as a facilitator of economic growth. But they also wants to highlight the green credentials of bus and rail. As part of

On the subject the government’s transport spending plans, we’ve heard from politicians, industry leaders and users. But now we have an opportunity to hear what the men and women who made their careers in the transport sector have to say on the key priorities for the government’s forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review. A total of 1,244 members of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport participated in an online survey carried out between July 7 and 21, 2010. 

Even on holiday, someone would lean across the table, retsina in hand, wine dark sea behind, the perfume from hot thyme in the air and say, “the mistake you made was to separate running the trains from managing the network”. “No,” I would say, “you’ve got to break bulk somewhere and the train-track split is as good a place as any; besides, it’s European law. But look, look, over there, there’s a party going on, let’s go and join them.&rdquo

We are in a very different situation following the general election in May. The coalition government is organising a ‘bonfire of commitments’ from the previous government, and many rail schemes are likely to go up in smoke. The emphasis is on cost reduction above all else, though the government appears to be avoiding any softening-up for possible line or station closures. How the railways maintain the existing network with less financial support is going to be a key challenge, and

Investment in Britain’s railway is vital to keep pace with demand which is expected to double in the coming decades. The investment programme that Network Rail is carrying out to 2014 is unprecedented in scale and is vital to increase rail’s contribution to the economy.  It is being supported by a significant commitment to new train orders, needed to allow operators to keep pace with demand which is already recovering. The challenge for the industry is to ensure this programme

A significant increase in demand for rail travel during the first six months of 2010 has seen a return to growth in passenger numbers on the railways not witnessed since before the recession. Analysis published by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) shows that October 2009 marked a turning point when demand on the railways began to recover and that since the start of 2010 overall demand for rail travel has begun to grow significantly. The research reveals: During the fi

Brighton’s bus users have been revealed to be the most satisfied in a new survey investigating bus user satisfaction undertaken by watchdog Passenger Focus. The survey casts light on the attitudes and perceptions of local bus services by more than 18,500 passengers in a mix of 14 areas of England - a mix of metropolitan, urban and rural areas to reflect the different types of journeys that passengers make. It reveals that 92% of those questioned in Brighton are satisfied with the service

I’d like to share some experiences I’ve had looking at how buses and trains interact with each other (or don’t, more to the point). I’ll focus on a particular route - ‘somewhere up North’. I’m not going to tell you where it is, as it’s unfair to the bus and train operators, and local authorities along the route. I don’t believe it’s much better anywhere else. However, if you do guess the line I’ll award you a Grand Central pen as

According to the Olympic Delivery Authority, the 2012 Games in London represent the biggest logistical challenge that the country has faced in peace time. The scale of the operation is vast. Throughout the 16 days of competition, the capital’s transport system will have to cater for an average of 500,000 spectators a day, plus 140,000 games workers and volunteers and 55,000 members of the Olympic family, including athletes, officials and media. The Olympic Park is the centre of the action

The new coalition government has claimed that rail franchises will no longer be awarded almost solely on the basis of price. Instead it intends to put greater emphasis on operators’ proposals to invest in the railway and improve service quality, and the benefits that will bring to passengers and the wider economy. The proposals set out by the Department for Transport would also see control over rail services pass substantially from civil servants to train operators, with contracts contai

Transport for London has published details of an £820m package of rail improvements for Network Rail’s next five-year spending period (2014-2019). The biggest part of the package is a £540m programme to increase capacity on West Anglia services. TfL says the project has a benefit/cost ratio of 2:1. A £170m proposal to improve London Overground services includes electrifying the Gospel Oak to Barking railway and has a benefit/cost ratio of 2.5:1. The other projects are: w

As we enter a period of austerity, it is clear that investment in public transport is going to dry up. There will be less money for new infrastructure and new vehicles, and this is causing anxiety throughout the sector. However, little or no mention has been made of the threat to one of the most important investments made in public transport - it’s management. Public transport requires a wide range of skills. It requires people skills: even junior managers in this labour-intensive industr

I was interested to see Peter Stonham’s comments about connections between public transport and refuse disposal operations. Not for the first time, I recently saw a classic example of this overlap when waiting for a bus locally. What should pull in to one of the bays at the bus station but a large refuse disposal truck, whose driver clearly thought nothing of using this space as a pick up area. There was no obvious concern amongst the site management that this should happen, and rather mo

In his article on open access Paul Salveson argues that it adds value to today's railway. He presses the right buttons about competition, supposedly-neglected towns and little companies against the big boys. He declares his interest. I declare mine, as a railwayman who questions where the public interest lies. It is time for some counter-propositions. The article ignores concerns about differing access charges for franchised and open-access operators; the problem that open-access business model

Last December saw the launch of high speed domestic rail services in Britain. Linking Kent and the emerging Thames?Gateway region with London’s St Pancras International station via the High Speed 1 route, the service, operated by train operator Southeastern, has proven to be a success with consistent passenger growth. Whilst a limited preview service was introduced between?Ashford International, Ebbsfleet International and London’s St Pancras station in June last year, Southeastern

Recent visits to the Continent have once again underlined to me the substantial difference in approach that exists in the way transport is provided, and decisions made about its design and development. Since deregulation and privatisation the UK industry has maintained a suspicious, and relatively detached, attitude to what is going on in France, Germany, The Netherlands, Scandinavia and beyond. It is as though there is a ‘them’ and ‘us’ approach and ‘we’ are

Most great and effective leaders seek control - Reagan didn’t but war leaders from Stalin to MacArthur did, and Wellington had a microscopic knowledge of and control over his forces. So, coming rapidly down to earth, we should not hold Iain Coucher’s mania for centralisation against him. What separates the great and effective from the failures is not about style, it is about being right, and it is about working with, and not against, the grain of events. The story of the Coucher ye

Over the past year Brian Souter has been more excited about the progress of one of Stagecoach’s business than at any time since the take off of Stagecoach Express in the early 1980s. The long distance Stagecoach Express coach services expanded rapidly from initial routes from Dundee and Perth to London, and demand grew hugely following a strike by British Rail. Passengers stayed when the strike ended. The success of Stagecoach Express is regarded by Souter as the engine of his group’

Hallgate has risen fast through the Network Rail ranks, beginning his railway career on the Railtrack graduate scheme in 1999. After several months of placements and training, his first job was as a performance manager on the Great Eastern route, followed shortly by promotion to acting route production manager (now known as an area operations manager). By 2002 Patrick became involved in the maintenance function and project managed the ‘New Maintenance Programme’ until summer 2003,

London-born Kaye read biology at Imperial College London and followed it up with an MSc in passenger transport management. She joined the Railtrack graduate training scheme in 1995 and has worked on the operational side of the business ever since. She was head of west coast in 2008, where she was the interface between the project team delivering the west coast upgrade and the train operating companies that use the line, ensuring Network Rail and customers were ready for the introduction of the

At just 32 years of age, Burchell became the country’s youngest train company managing director when he took charge at Go Ahead’s Southern franchise. His youth led one minister to ask him if his previous job had been as a school prefect! After four years in the job, however, he is recognised as one of the industry’s brightest young talents. Burchell wanted to be a diplomat but he failed to get into the Foreign Office after leaving university. Instead he joined Railtrack as a

Hopwood joined the railway aged 17 as a clerical officer, and his talent was immediately spotted. BR sponsored him through university and he joined their management trainee scheme. After privatisation he had commercial and operational management roles at Thames Trains before joining Railtrack as passenger negotiations manager. Hopwood returned to train operation in 2001 as operations director of First North Western and with David Franks transformed punctuality. He has pulled off similar tricks

Despite recent progress in developing the new generation of managers, barriers still remain to making public transport a career of choice for the most talented graduates. The industry’s image is one of the most significant. Adrian Thomas, Network Rail’s head of resourcing acknowledges that work needs to be done to change perceptions of the railway which he says is still perceived by many as “old fashioned, akin to the old steel and coal industries, when the reality is that it i

Stations have always been the poor relation to trains on Britain’s railways. The last few years have seen major investment in new rolling stock across much of the network, but improvements to stations have been patchy at best. The much-heralded Better Stations report by Chris Green and Sir Peter Hall had lots of useful suggestions – and some damning descriptions – but it’s looking like the promised £50m investment to address some of the report’s recommendation

Network Rail has announced that Iain Coucher has informed the firm's board of his intention to step down following eight years with the company, including three years as chief executive. He will remain in his post over the coming months and will be involved in the search and recruitment of a successor to allow for a smooth and orderly transition. Network Rail chairman, Rick Haythornthwaite, said: "Iain has been an outstanding leader for Network Rail both as chief executive and deputy chi

Network Rail has announced a 75% slide in profits as a result of growing debts but says that it is continuing to "drive efficiencies" through the control of costs. The not-for-profit infrastructure operator revealed pretax profits for the year to March 31, 2010 of £395m, down from the £1.5bn it generated the year before. The firm's net debt increased by £1bn to reach £23.8bn as a result of the financial demands of its asset investment programme. However, Netwo

A new report has discovered that rail industry bosses have forecast an encouraging financial year for their individual train operating companies. The figures reveal that there is unanimous agreement passenger numbers will rise in the new financial year compared to the current one. Meanwhile, 80% expect the financial picture to improve with operating profits returning to their former levels. All respondents intend to invest in their network or services during the next 12 months at an average of

Steam trains are making a return to London mainline railway termini with a vengeance it would seem. Late last month, filming of the latest Harry Potter film moved to King’s Cross station, creating much excitement for rail users who were treated to the sight of the Hogwart’s Express at rest in one of the station’s platforms. Meanwhile, arguments continue about what to do with the disused former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo station, but this summer will see the platforms at th

The Competition Commission has a mountain of reading to get through over the summer. They have demanded vast quantities of information from the bus industry as part of their investigation into the supply of local bus services outside of London. But if they really want to enhance their understanding of the business, they would do well to also read a new book by Roger French, the managing director of Brighton & Hove - Pride & Joy. My amazing 25 year journey with Brighton & Hove. Frenc

Change was the buzzword in run-up to May’s general election, and change is what is now going to happen. The world of public transport is no stranger to major upheavals. The bus industry experienced its fair share of them following privatisation in the mid-1980s, and it was the rail industry’s turn a decade later. But now, in 2010, we appear to be at the beginning of a new era. A combination of factors are coming together to create a new formula for the future. Perhaps the most obvio

Construction work to redevelop Wolverhampton Bus Station into a new £21m facility got underway last month, with demolition work to clear the site that will allow new building work to start. Project partners Wolverhampton City Council, Centro and National Express West Midlands closed the old bus station on Easter Sunday, with all services now picking up passengers from temporary bus stops on city centre streets. It is expected that the new bus station will open for public use by the end of

Network Rail’s redevelopment of King’s Cross station reached another crucial milestone today with the official opening of Platform 0 by transport secretary Philip Hammond. The addition of the new platform means Network Rail can begin refurbishing the station’s existing platforms, which will be taken out of service on a rolling basis, without affecting services. Built on what was for many years a taxi rank at the eastern side of the station, Platform 0 will provide greate

The coalition between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives has announced its 'Programme for Government', a move that prime minister David Cameron described as one that would provide "Strong, stable government". The transport element of the programme are a mixture of the two parties policies and express a firm commitment to take forward plans for a high speed rail network, support for Crossrail and further electrification of the rail network. The coalition also plans to refor

Ten thousand free tickets will be given out to passengers to travel on London Overground’s new East London Railway on its first day of operating a full public service this Sunday. The offer will mark the first time that passengers on London Overground’s new trains will be able to travel the complete length of the new £1bn route from Dalston Junction in the north all the way to West Croydon, Crystal Palace and New Cross in south London. London mayor Boris Johnson, said: "

Train operator Northern Rail has confirmed that it has secured a two-year extension to its franchise as a result of beating performance targets. The Department for Transport has confirmed that operator, which is owned by a joint venture of Serco and Abellio, will now run the franchise until September 15 2013. Northern has improved the punctuality of its train services from 83.7% in the 12 months to December 2004 to 91.6% in the last 12 months, meaning that on average 200 more trains arrive on

The number of trains arriving on time hit a new record high in April with 94% of trains across the country arriving punctually. Almost 98% of trains on the c2c route arrived on time, pushing the operator's performance for the past year up to 96.7% - a new all time record for any British train operator and well ahead of services in continental Europe, including Switzerland. The figures were released today in Network Rail's regular monthly report on train performance. During the period from 1 Ap

London mayor Boris Johnson and a number of London business leaders have today called for any incoming government administration to protect funding for improvements to the capital's transport networks. The group, whose letter was published in the Guardian this morning, includes City of London policy chairman Stuart Fraser, Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, and Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It sends a united message that building

Stagecoach subsidiary South West Trains is to invest over £2m in regenerative braking technology on 200 of its trains. The first two trains, part of the Class 458 fleet, are currently testing the equipment in passenger service on the London to Guildford and London to Reading routes. The whole fleet of 30 Class 458 trains is expected to be fitted with the new regenerative braking software by the end of May 2010. The system will then be rolled out to South West Trains’ fleet of 172 D

If the market for long distance travel is a game then the airlines had an unlucky throw of the dice in April. The five-day closure of UK airspace due to a huge cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland cost them many millions of pounds. But, as ever, one man’s misfortune is another man’s gain. With thousands of would-be air travellers forced to change their plans, land-based transport like Virgin Trains, East Coast, National Express and Megabus carried thousands of extra passengers. The ep

It would be an unusual election if transport featured prominently, but the 2010 contest has produced some interesting commitments from each of the three main parties, not least on rail policy and scope for not-for-profit solutions, including co-operatives. There is a consensus that rail is a ‘good thing’ and needs strong government backing; this in itself is a major breakthrough. Both Tories and Lib Dems talk about re-opening disused lines. High speed rail is naturally the big issue

Consultancy Atkins has revealed preliminary designs for the new Hung Hom Station on the Shatin to Central Link of Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR), on which it is now undertaking detailed design work. The line will form part of the link between Hong Kong Island and Mainland China. Atkins’ role on the line also includes lead consultant for the preliminary design studies on the North South Corridor and sub-consultant on preliminary design of the East-West Corridor. The company

No matter what they do, the train operators of Great Britain will be forever be at the mercy of the public who claim that trains always run late, despite punctuality on the network now being better than ever. So perhaps it’s time to resort to desperate measures? At Waterloo Station recently, the famous clock on the concourse was plastered with signs that, in a nice bit of jargon, noted that it was ‘out of service’. As our spy noted, is it an attempt to pull the wool over the

Perhaps unsurprisingly, bus passengers have revealed that their overwhelming priority for improvement from local operators is that buses operate on-time or within five minutes of their scheduled arrival time, according to new research produced by watchdog Passenger Focus. Passengers also say that more frequent services and the ability for all passengers to have a seat, no what matter the journey length, are key concerns. Bus Passenger Priorities for Improvement was produced by transport consul

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to open thousands of miles of new railway in their election manifesto, funded by £3bn Rail Expansion Fund. The fund would allow councils and transport authorities to bid for funding to pay for rail improvement and expansion projects. Lib Dem transport spokesman Norman Baker said that funding would come from cuts made to the roads budget. "The Liberal Democrats will transform the railways with the biggest expansion since the Victorian age,"

At present, the situation facing the UK’s public services is akin to a phoney war. Central government spending has continued to rise in an effort to bring the country out of recession, but shortly after the election decisive action will have to be taken to rectify the country’s £170bn budget deficit. To date the government is working on the basis of halving it by 2014. The day when change comes is fast approaching. Over the past year, transport has been one of the beneficiarie

High Speed Rail Have pledged to provide a comprehensive high speed rail network that would serve all parts of Britain. The Lib Dems claim that they are the only party that has been clear about how they would pay for high speed rail. They propose to introduce a new lorry road user pricing scheme, which they claim would bring in around £2bn per year, even after the cost of running such a scheme is taken into account. Railways Would introduce 22-year franchises to encourage investment in r

High Speed Rail Would give the go ahead for a new high speed rail line linking London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. This would later be extended to Newcastle and Scotland with further new lines connecting other cities across the country to our high speed rail network. If they win the next general election, they would target construction to begin in 2015, with full completion of the network by 2027. Railways Will make 15-20 year franchises the norm to encourage investment in new trains an

High Speed Rail A 250mph network from London to Birmingham with a western branch to Manchester and an eastern branch to Sheffield and Leeds. Connections onto existing tracks would allow direct high speed services to cities including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Liverpool. Heathrow would initially be served by a connecting Crossrail interchange at Old Oak Common, but a station at the airport itself will also be examined. Railways New franchise policy includes standard franchise term of 10

For most of the last two years there has been absolute confidence that the Tories would win the general election, and that Theresa Villiers would be the new transport secretary. The narrowing of the polls since the new year has thrown that into doubt, bringing excited talk of a hung Parliament. But the betting exchanges (always the best guide) and most pundits back a Conservative win – albeit with a small majority – and for now I agree. So what will face the new, Conservative, secre

Britain has a network of over 60 community rail partnerships, each bringing together train operators and Network Rail with local authorities and community groups. They have proved remarkably successful in safeguarding the future of local railways and have helped drive up ridership as well as bringing in external investment. They have worked wonders on small budgets, mostly based on contributions from local authorities and train operators. Most community rail partnerships have paid staff &ndash

So many transport secretaries have achieved very little during their time in office, so why single out Alistair Darling? One reason it that he made so much time to make a difference, but he failed to make use of it. Darling served for almost four years as secretary of state for transport. Over the last half century only two people have had more time in charge of the nation’s transport provision - Ernest Marples (1959-1964) and John Prescott (1997-2001). Barbara Castle, one of his predec

As the general election approaches it’s a good time to consider the impact that individual politicians with vision and sheer force of will can have on a sector like transport. And few, if any, have had a greater and more positive impact than Barbara Castle. The fiery left winger was at first disappointed to be offered the role of minister of transport in December 1965, but later said that she had enjoyed it more than any of her ministerial posts. Prime minister Harold Wilson told her that

Answer, from a railway perspective: a lot better than it might have been - no retro renationalisation, and not much meddling either. Post-Hatfield chaos could have led to any number of silly restructuring but instead the 2004 White Paper, Alistair Darling’s creation, set out a rational and centre stage role for government and properly defined roles for Network Rail, the TOCs, ORR and the safety inspector to the extent that it is now possible to do railway planning. While this was going on

Very disappointing, especially in railways. There’s the 10-year transport plan, now in pieces and almost officially denied. The disastrous creation and, three years later, deserved abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority. The political assassination of Railtrack on unsound legal grounds. The incremental renationalisation of rail, including the creation of Network Rail, the Department for Transport’s tightening grip on franchisees, and an ill-judged assault on the rolling stock leas

They tried to do too much and as a result achieved too little. More time should have been spent prioritising objectives before the tidal wave of cash was released. Local authorities and the devolved assemblies received truck-loads of ‘free money’ from Westminster to pursue high cost, low impact capital projects and got away with ducking unpopular demand management policies. The London Congestion Charge is a real achievement, but the political decision to punish Railtrack and spend b

For years politicians have exploited the fact that, for most of us, pensions policy – like American Football - manages to be both complex and boring at the same time. This is odd, because what we earn in retirement ought to be pretty high on most people’s list of personal finance priorities. Part of the problem is that the lag between policy and effect in the pensions world is very long. A highly technical change to the taxation of pension funds’ dividends, buried on page 872

Not bad, but it could be better was the verdict of a survey of the public transport networks of 23 European cities undertaken by the EuroTest consortium of 16 motoring associations across the continent. The German city of Munich was judged to have Europe’s best public transport network, with fast connections, good transport information at stops in vehicles and on the internet, as well as excellent accessibility all winning plaudits from EuroTest’s inspectors. The only downside to th

Passenger Focus is calling for the rail industry to put adopt tighter punctuality performance measures. Currently, the industry’s Passenger Performance Measure logs trains as ‘on time’ if they arrive at the final station within five or 10 minutes (depending on journey length). However, research by the rail consumer watchdog suggests that a high PPM score is not always accompanied by happy passengers. With the help of National Express East Anglia, Passenger Focus has undertaken

It has been some months now since ‘Station Champions’ Sir Peter Hall and Chris Green delivered their verdict on the UK’s rail station infrastructure and last month’s New Transit-presented UK?Rail?Stations 2010 conference in London gave Hall an opportunity to describe his vision for Britain’s stations. Hall said there was a long way to go before passengers were signing the praises of stations. “Research shows that there’s a great deal of satisfaction amo

Construction work on new Metrolink extensions in Tameside and South Manchester has been given the green light by the Department for Transport. Transport Minister Sadiq Khan announced the government’s full approval of plans to extend the Metrolink from Droylsden to Ashton-under-Lyne in Tameside and from Chorlton to Didsbury in South Manchester. A further eight new trams will be ordered to serve Greater Manchester’s expanding Metrolink network, six of which will be funded by the DfT.

Construction work on the new East Manchester Metrolink line is progressing well, with the first sets of tracks being laid on Ashton New Road. Councillors from Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority and Tony Lloyd, MP for Manchester Central, have been inspecting the latest sections of construction work on the line. Piling rigs have recently been in use to create the retaining walls of a new underpass under Great Ancoats Street, and the first sets of tracks have been laid on Ashton Ne

The Office of Rail Regulation has rejected an application by Arriva Trains Wales to introduce a direct rail service between Aberystwyth and London Marylebone. In rejecting the application, the ORR said that ATW had overstated the size of the potential market for such a service and the only alternative to make the service viable would be to abstract revenue from other operators. ATW said that the main focus of the proposal was to unlock the potential of the Mid Wales rail market which has no di

The redevelopment of Farringdon Station promises to set a new standard in transport interchanges. When complete, it will connect Thameslink, Crossrail and London Underground, provide much needed extra capacity to this key part of London and also give direct access to Heathrow, Gatwick, City and Luton airports along with St. Pancras International rail station.    Atkins’ involvement in the project is wide-ranging.  They were appointed by N

Atkins’ stations capability is comprehensive. From concept design to detailed design, the company prides itself in offering multidisciplinary solutions which span entire project lifecycles. This capability is, however, bolstered by a capacity to harness additional expertise which complements any traditional design work undertaken. The case studies below, for example, illustrate how Atkins has called upon its own specialists to provide the likes of interior design, geotechnical engineerin

The arrival of French transport groups, Keolis, Veolia and Transdev, in the UK over the past decade has brought with it its fair share of legendary Gallic shrugs. The two countries may only be separated by 20 miles of English Channel, but the environment French transport professionals are used to in their homeland and the systems they have encountered in this country can often seem as though they are from a different planet. In the UK, promoting competition, minimising subsidy and proving the v

The rejuvenation of St. Pancras station in London has transformed a once threatened building and restored it in all its Gothic splendour. And one fan has paid tribute to the building in a very unique way. Lego enthusiast Warren Elsmore spent eight weeks of his life recreating the distinctive building using more than 60,000 bricks. However, this isn’t the first railway structure Elsmore has tackled - he has also built a nine metre-long model of the Forth rail bridge complete with scale tr

Sexist and outdated public perceptions about job opportunities for women in the rail industry are a damaging barrier to building a bigger and better railway Britain, according to Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher. The infrastructure controller last month launched a new campaign to attract more talented women to the company, further improving the overall skills of the workforce and addressing the poor male:female balance. It will begin by aiming to attract more women to its award winnin

London’s Victoria station was the backdrop to this year’s New Transit-sponsored UK Rail Stations conference, now in its ninth year. The event has become the premier annual event for all those involved in rail stations in the UK, and this year’s event took place at the Grosvenor Hotel, adjacent to Victoria station, on February 24. Over 110 delegates heard presentations from a range of speakers, including the government’s “Station Champions”, Chris Green and Si

I was interested to read the last edition of New Transit (February) in which the cover story questioned the levels of communication between local authorities and their transport operators. Partnerships are indeed key to successful project implementation and there are indeed many worthy of mention from around the United Kingdom. One such example is Hertfordshire County Council. HCC became a pilot for greater partnership working between the authority and its local transport operators back in 1999

As you read this article, we may be on the point of achieving something almost unheard of in political debate around Britain’s transport network - political consensus for a high speed north-south line. The government is shortly due to pronounce its response to the report submitted by its subsidiary company, High Speed Two, just before the new year. With its rail-passionate secretary of state, Lord Adonis, who has a clear desire to leave a political legacy, that response is likely to be an

Transport minister Sadiq Khan last month helped move the construction of the new Crossrail station at Canary Wharf into its next phase with the switch on of pumps draining nearly 100 million litres of water from the construction site at West India Quay. The pumps will transfer water from inside the site's specially constructed coffer dam to the North Dock at a maximum rate of 13,500 litres per minute over a six week period. The move will allow construction of the 260-metre-long station box the

SNCF’s multi-modal station concept is illustrated by the renovation of Dijon station which had been rebuilt as a model of integrated transport. The bus interchange has been located on the station forecourt and redesigned to make changing modes easier. The redesign has also included making taxi access more convenient and making the station easier to navigate for customers. It has wider pedestrian zones, a dedicated bike park and information screens covering all modes of transport, including

The current merger discussions between Arriva and French operator Keolis appear certain to kick off a new wave of consolidation in the European passenger transport industry. Whether or not the Arriva/Keolis deal eventually goes ahead, French groups are being actively encouraged to increase their presence on the world stage by their government as restrictions on competition are lifted. The ripples are being felt throughout the European transport industry as a whole. The move towards the long-pr

British passengers in France often admire near seamless integration. Ticketing (often smart) is highly flexible with little cash payment on vehicle. Travellers generally pay for the full journey with no separate payment on transfer between services and modes. Convenient for the user - one transaction: good for society - faster journeys, minimum dwell time at stops, less traffic delay. Contrast with the UK, even London, where full journey tickets are very much the exception. This results from a

The Office of Rail Regulation has today approved track access applications giving train companies rights to run additional and/or amended passenger services on the East Coast Main Line. Following industry-wide consultation, new access rights on the ECML will allow East Coast and open access operators Grand Central and Hull Trains to run more trains and improve services for passengers. John Thomas, ORR’s director railway markets and economics said: “Today’s announcement will b

Work at the Canary Wharf Crossrail station took a major step forward today as transport minister Sadiq Khan flicked the switch on pumps draining nearly 100 million litres - the equivalent to 40 Olympic swimming pools - from the worksite over the next six weeks. The pumps will transfer water from inside the site's specially constructed coffer dam to the North Dock at a maximum rate of 13,500 litres per minute. A station 'box' will then be constructed in a dry environment - a similar technique t

Network Rail has unveiled a £2.5m plan to upgrade Swansea's railway station in a move that it says will create  a bright, accessible, clean and secure station fit for the 21st century. The upgrade will also help boost Swansea’s public transport network as the scheme sits alongside ongoing works to refurbish the city’s Quadrant bus station, as well as improving the user experience for the station's 1.6 million annual passengers. The scheme, which is part of the Depart

Network Rail has today announced additional non-executive board appointments and the departure of Stations Champion Chris Green from its board. David Higgins and Graham Eccles will joard the rail infrastructure firm's board. Higgins is a successful chief executive, civil engineer and project manager with over 20 years of experience in leading roles. He is currently the chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, but was latterly the chief executive of English Partnerships between 2003

The transformation of New Street station took a major step forward today as the design was given the stamp of approval by Birmingham City Council’s planning committee. The Gateway project will turn New Street into the world-class station that passengers deserve with more light and space, additional entrances, easier access to platforms and a stunning new exterior. Work is expected to start in the station later this year and has been planned to minimise the impact on passengers. All trai

The majority of rail passengers across Great Britain are satisfied with the overall service they receive on the railway, the National Passenger Survey has revealed today. Commenting on the findings of Great Britain’s largest passenger survey, Passenger Focus welcomed improvements to London Midland (87%), First TransPennine Express (89%) and Virgin Trains (89%) overall satisfaction scores.?? Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said: “The investment in faster and more freq

Transport secretary Lord Adonis has announced the start of work on the UK’s first Cyclepoint at Leeds station. The Cyclepoint, scheduled to open in May, will give rail passengers a new option to continue their journey by bike. It will provide: secure, fully manned storage for over 300 bicycles maintenance and repairs services on a ‘bring in the morning, take in the evening’ basis bike and accessory sales rental bikes cycling information and demonst

April will see Passenger Focus finally take up its role as the champion for England’s bus users. It’s a move that David Sidebottom, the watchdog’s recently appointed bus passenger director, says he relishes. “I can’t wait to get started!” he says with genuine enthusiasm. “There’s a lot more for Passenger Focus to do as we build upon the great start we’ve had developing our knowledge and experience of how we can make a real difference for bus

January’s big freeze saw council workers working hard to keep roads clear with, in many cases, minimal equipment, and they should be quite rightly thanked for their endeavors. However, they were let down by the poor planning of their employers, the multitude of local authorities, and the application of an overall approach to what is a shared position. As a result, grit and salt supplies, the very tool needed to clear roads and ensure the country didn’t grind to a halt, began to run

The recent cold weather has caught much of the country, like the MetOffice it would seem, by surprise. However, it also showed how managers, and even more junior employees, in the bus industry are dedicated to customer service and are ready to work hard to keep the wheels turning in very difficult circumstances. Social networking has helped a lot in opening up new channels of communication. Many operators, including Go Ahead subsidiaries Bluestar and Metrobus who have had a significant presence

The government looks set to beat its target of growing bus use over the 10-year period between 2000 and 2010 by 12%, but the latest figures from the bus and light rail patronage figures from the Office of National Statistics reveal that after considerable patronage gains over the last decade, the recession has led to a fall in volumes across the board over the last year. Bus and light rail passenger journeys in the UK fell by 3.1% between July and September 2009 compared to the same quarter in

Chiltern Railways is expecting its £250m Evergreen III upgrade to increase its share of the London-Birmingham rail market from 33% at present to 40%, taking passengers from Virgin West Coast and attracting people from road to rail. The project will see 50 miles of track on the Chiltern line with 60 and 75mph speed restrictions upgraded to 100mph, slashing journey times by 20% across the Chiltern route. Chiltern’s fastest journey time to Birmingham will fall from 1hr 47 minutes to 1h

Passengers want to see more station toilets, waiting rooms and better information on train arrival-times prioritised in works to improve small and medium-sized stations, according to a survey carried out for Passenger Focus and Network Rail. The national passenger watchdog has asked passengers their views on what improvements should be made to small to medium-sized stations as part of planning for the five year National Stations Improvement Programme (NSIP). NSIP has been designed to improve f

The debate about the appropriate level of ‘bus subsidy’ began well before New Labour took office in 1997 and looks like it will out-last the government itself. The recent ministerial announcement on BSOG (Bus Service Operators’ Grant) ended some of the uncertainty, but also leaves many issues hanging in the air. Whilst a great deal has changed in the bus world since Things Can Only Get Better, the fundamental laws of economics haven’t, so it might be useful to set out som

A £250m investment to create a new main line from London Marylebone station to Oxfordshire and the Midlands was today announced by the chairman of Chiltern Railways, Adrian Shooter, at an event attended by the secretary of state for transport Lord Adonis. In an ambitious drive to get motorists onto trains, the Chiltern Railways route will be upgraded - resulting in faster trains and reduced journey times. Average journey times will fall by 20%, including from the M40 park and ride hubs at

Untroubled by major organisational reforms, the decade revealed an unhealthy bias towards London, which was favoured with every investment on offer in the rail sector, and consumed a large proportion of bus subsidy for good measure. Meanwhile the remainder of the country was denied investment in even its better LRT systems. For rail, this was the restoration decade, with Network Rail collecting a huge funding uplift from an enraged regulator to put the network back into shape following Hatfield

Why is he on the list? Gisby is the Network Rail board member responsible for ensuring trains run on time and minimising the impact of Network Rail's engineering work on train operations. What kind of year has he had? Record punctuality month after month including the best autumn ever, with signs that the improvement has yet to come to an end. Has said the right thing in admitting past failures in the quality of renewals work. What’s coming up in 2010? Gisby needs to change the compan

Why is he on the list? Network Rail owns and operates Britain's rail infrastructure. It employs 35,000 people across 850 sites and handles annual revenues of £6.1bn. What kind of year has he had? Network Rail has made progress in reducing its maintenance bill, but over a quarter of renewal work has been deferred to allow new processes to be developed to reduce costs. New chairman Rick Haythornthwaite has criticised the company for paying too little attention to passengers' and operator

Royalty Rail users at King’s Cross station were surprised just before Christmas when they realised the little old lady in the headscarf boarding the 10.45 First?Capital Connect commuter service to King’s Lynn was none other than the Queen. It turns out HRH has been eschewing the use of cars, private jets and even the Royal Train over the last couple of years and using scheduled rail services in a bid to cut her carbon footprint. Seated in First?Class with her bodyguards for the 95-

Mind That Elf Bus passengers in Manchester got a little surprise over the Christmas season when a flock (is that the right term we wonder?) of elves descended on bus stations in the city as part of a safety awareness campaign. The elves, in full costume, gave passengers gifts of candy canes as well as leaflets reminding them to take extra care when using bus stations. “Our safety campaign is a fun, friendly, eye-catching way to get the message across to travellers of all ages, and we hop

You book a room at a nice hotel at the standard rate. When you arrive they announce that they can’t accommodate you, but there’s a disappointing alternative along the road at the same price. Are you happy? Or maybe you go to the supermarket and ask for the brand leading biscuits you like. They haven’t got them, but they can do the anonymous own label version at the same price. Is that okay? So what about pitching up for the train, that normally takes an hour to get you direct

Some progress but Europe-wide booking system is shelved The ‘Railteam’ alliance was formed in July 2007 to make train journeys across international borders seamless. The alliance brings together cross-Channel operator Eurostar and the high speed train operators of six European countries - Deutsche Bahn (Germany), SNCF (France), SNCB (Belgium), NS Hispeed (Netherlands), ÖBB (Austria) and SBB (Switzerland). At a press conference at Brussels Midi International station in November

He has yet to turn 40 years of age but Alex Warner has already experienced life in all corners of the public transport sector There are few people in public transport with a CV as varied as Alex Warner. The 38-year old has worked for London Underground, British Airways, the erstwhile Strategic Rail Authority, four train operating companies and FirstGroup’s UK bus division. To add to this modal mix, in 2009 he was appointed managing director of FirstGroup’s new Greyhound UK coach o

Lord Soley argues that an expanded Heathrow, plugged into the national rail network, is vital for our economy The countries of the European Union have developed an impressive integrated transport system to service the growing power of the single market and to link them into the emerging global economy. A key part of this is the hub airports which allow people to interchange and connect within Europe and the wider world. Hub airports like Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam advertise their interco

North West in-fill scheme will mean more than two thirds of the network is electric Transport secretary Lord Adonis has announced a further round of rail electrification schemes on routes around the North West of England, first disclosed as part of chancellor Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report last month. The move follows the £1.1bn electrification announcement by Adonis over the summer that will see the 200-mile London to Swansea line and the 32 mile line from Liverpool to Manch

Workington North opens to connect flood hit town Network Rail last month opened Workington North station, a new temporary station planned and constructed in record time to reconnect Workington after floods led to the collapse of the town’s two road bridges. After four days planning and construction work, the station opened allowing the introduction of a free shuttle service between Workington and Maryport on the Cumbria Coast Line. The line is the only way of crossing the River Derwent w

The New Transit ‘Power 50’ list shows the most powerful and influential people in public transport. As with any assessment of the most powerful people, companies and institutions, it will inevitably provoke an array of questions. Do the ‘Big Five’ transport groups wield more power than the government? Do ministers or civil servants hold the whip hand in the Department for Transport? Do local government’s representatives or the negotiators from the transport indust

Chancellor Alistair Darling has confirmed plans for further rail electrification schemes in this morning's Pre Budget Report. He also revealed that the government will respond to plans for a new high speed rail route between London and the West Midlands and on to the North and Scotland early next year. Darling said that public sector investment in infrastructure has reached a 30-year high. "This year public sector investment reached a 30-year high and has delivered over 70 road and mot

The Office of Rail Regulation today outlined a series of initiatives aimed at reducing the risks of accidents at level crossings. Level crossing misuse poses a safety risk to those travelling by rail, road and foot. ORR is also clear that safety at level crossings needs to be continuously improved. To help the rail industry best mitigate risks, the regulator has set out its short, medium and long-term work, including: Continued support of the Law Commissions’ work to update level c

Network Rail has pledged to reduce the need for rail replacement bus services with new plans to divert trains on 20 key routes in the future. The new plan, which has been devised in partnership the Association of Train Operating Companies, with support from Passenger Focus, aims to keep passengers on trains rather than have their rail journey interrupted by a bus journey. The partners believe that the introduction of diversionary routes will be a significant step towards the industry&rsquo

The key must lie in improving the design and capacity of our road network. If we are seeking substantial impact there are just two factors to consider: 92% of our passenger travel is carried by road and Highways Agency data demonstrate that allowing traffic to flow freely halves emissions. Looking at our European neighbours we see their vastly superior high speed rail systems increasing their rail usage by just a few percentage points. Rail will bring us equally meagre carbon reductions. Polic

Network Rail says that work is progressing well on building a temporary rail station to serve the communities ‘cut off’ on the north side of the River Derwent in Workington following the recent devastating floods. The new station is being built on waste-land just over half a mile to the north of the existing station, reconnecting the two halves of the town that have been cut off following flood damage to the footbridges and road bridges in the area. Network Rail has agreed a tw

it was perhaps expected that Stagecoach would react somewhat angrily to the news last month that the Competition Commission was forcing the Perth-based group to sell its recently acquired Preston Bus business, and react it did. In a furious statement, the group said that it “fundamentally “ disagreed with the order that it dispose of the 200-vehicle business that it fought so hard to buy. Of course buying Preston Bus was not just any old transaction. The decision by the operator&rsq

Transport secretary Lord Adonis has launched a new £50m fund for improvements to ten key stations in England as he warmly welcomed the independent Station Champions’ report on the state of facilities for passengers across the country. body He supports the Champions’ call for a comprehensive list of minimum standards for all stations, aimed at improving the daily travelling experience of passengers and attracting more passengers onto the railways. More than £3bn is

Network Rail’s new national centre moved a step closer today with the formal submission of a planning application to Milton Keynes Council. The submission follows a series of public exhibitions held by Network Rail across the city, where residents had the chance to speak to the team behind the project, and provide feedback. Nearly 900 people took the time to stop by whilst a further 1,000 visited Network Rail’s consultation website to have their say electronically. Network Rail sa

Network Rail has announced performance statistics that reveal another improvement in rail punctuality in the last month. The latest data discloses that 92.8% of trains in the UK were on-time, with significant performance improvements for Virgin Trains, National Express East Anglia and Arriva Trains Wales. It is also the first time that ever train operator has reported punctuality above 90%. Robin Gisby, director of operations and customer service, said: “Passengers rightly demand on-ti

A plan to expand the electrified network that would increase capacity, improve journeys while reducing costs and carbon emissions was unveiled today following a year-long study by Network Rail. The study concludes that the electrification of the Midland Main Line - the main route from London St Pancras to Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield - has an extremely attractive business case and could, over the course of 60 years, pay for itself with the savings made from cheaper running costs and mainte

Train operator Southeastern today published its new timetable which will come into effect on December 13. The timetable brings about the biggest change in over 40 years and will mean an entirely new service pattern throughout the parts of Kent, East Sussex and South East London served by the company. The changes also includes the UK’s first ever high speed domestic service which is currently running as a limited ‘preview’ service. The timetable is based on a specification set

New rail timetables introduced in December last year show that the services which cover the East of Scotland, from Edinburgh, through Fife and Dundee to Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland have resulted in many services seeing a significant increase in passengers, in some cases by almost 30%.   The timetables were redesigned to improve journey times and connections on key routes serving the major cities, as well as to enhance links for local stations. This has included addition

GMPTE has submitted an application to Rochdale Council for detailed planning consent for a new interchange on Smith Street, next to the River Roch, in Rochdale town centre. It will replace the existing bus station in the town centre and will also be next to the proposed town centre Metrolink stop. Michael Renshaw, GMPTE’s interim bus & rail director, said: “Rochdale’s new transport interchange will be a vast improvement for both passengers and bus operators, who currently

London mayor Boris Johnson last month unveiled his shopping trolley of schemes to improve transport infrastructure in the capital over the next 20 years and there were more than a few surprises. The draft Mayor’s Transport Strategy reveals the shape of the capital’s transport system and how it will developed. Amongst the proposals are plans for Tube extensions, the long mooted Chelsea-Hackney Line, or Chelney, that is now branded firmly as Crossrail 2, improvements to the bus networ

The board of Transport for London yesterday approved TfL's updated business plan that sets out how investment in front line services and London's critical transport projects will be maintained up to 2018. Although the plan calls for a strict focus on delivering the major upgrades of the capital's public transport infrastructure, it also tasks TfL with a continuous search for efficiencies and an emphasis on value for money. Several key projects are due for completion within the next year, incl

Of all the new entrants to the embryonic open access rail market, Grand Central had something of a long drawn-out labour. After a decade-long struggle, and numerous applications to begin a variety of services, Grand Central finally opened for business in?December 2007 with a restricted service linking Sunderland and London via the Durham coast line and York. The decision to allow the Grand Central to begin operations was memorably branded “arrogant”, “stupid” and “

At the Conservative Party conference in Manchester last week, I was impressed to discover that, despite the economic downturn, train passenger numbers continue to grow in the North West at an extraordinary rate. In the year up until July, the route from Liverpool into Manchester Victoria achieved 17.1% growth. I accept that this is not the case everywhere, but the long-term trend is clearly this: demand for public transport will continue to grow. We should not be seeking to contain this growt

The role of flying the flag for genuinely innovative thinking and new practice in British public transport has not had that many takers over the years. Neither the Confederation of Passenger Transport or the Association of Train Operating Companies have been at the forefront of promoting radical thinking, often seemingly held back by their less progressive members, and acting merely as ‘moaning minnies’ for what they feel is a misunderstood sector. That’s not the approach of J

The progress of smart ticketing schemes in the United Kingdom, outside of London’s Oyster card scheme of course, has been slow the say the least. However, integrated smartcard-based ticketing has taken a step forward in Northern Ireland with the commencement of the iLink card by state-owned bus and rail operator Translink. The new system, which was launched last month by Translink chief executive Catherine Mason and Antoinette McKeown, the chief executive of the Consumer Council for North

The Department for Transport recently published statistics that reveal that public perceptions towards rail travel are changing and becoming more favourable. It also finds that rail use amongst adults is increasing, with 30% of those questioned having travelled by long distance train in the year preceding the 2009 survey. This is an increase from 25% in 2006. The Attitudes to Rail Travel report found 71% of respondents rated short distance services as good (compared with 63% in 2006) and 12% a

The past month has seen Britain's train service maintain its record high levels of punctuality with the release of the latest performance results which saw 93.6% of trains arrive on time. In its regular monthly performance update, Network Rail announced that period six (23 August to 19 September) proved to be one of the highest on record. Robin Gisby, director of operations and customer service, said: “Passengers have seen good train punctuality over the past six months and our challenge

Clackmannanshire passengers have been taking advantage of the new direct morning and evening rail services between Alloa and Edinburgh – with around 4,000 trips made to and from Alloa on these services alone since their introduction in May this year. Passenger services returned to Alloa for the first time since 1968 when the new Alloa station opened on 15 May 2008. The Alloa – Stirling – Glasgow Queen Street service has proved very popular since its launch last year,

The RMT union has this week launched a confidential email hotline for members amid growing concerns over planned maintenance cuts by Network Rail. Network Rail announced last month that it was investigating cuts to its maintenance workforce that could see around 2,000 employees loose their job. Briefings for RMT safety reps have confirmed that the cuts will be spread across the whole Network Rail maintenance operation including track, signalling and overhead lines. As part of a campaign strat

Govia subsidiary London Midland today announced that from December there will be an extra 1,600 seats on peak commuter services into and out of London. The extra seats are part of a successful bid London Midland has made to the Department for Transport for extra trains and extra services as part of the government's High Level Output Specification (HLOS). Commenting on the move, transport minister Chris Mole said: "More people nationally travel by train now that at any time in the last 40

Network Rail is promising more benefits for passengers as it continues with plans to invest high-tech track renewals technology. Disruption will be significantly reduced using high-output technology which can carry out track renewals quicker than conventional methods. Today, Network Rail announced Amey Colas as its preferred bidder for a new contract to operate and maintain its fleet of high-tech, high-output track renewal systems. Over the next few years, Network Rail is increasingly moving to

Thousands of West Londoners will benefit from rail access to the capital's transport system, as mayor Boris Johnson today opened a new London Overground station at Imperial Wharf. The £7.8m Imperial Wharf station in the new Imperial Wharf development provides residents in Hammersmith and Fulham, Chelsea, and West Brompton with high frequency rail connections to the major transport interchanges of Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction. The station, partially funded by Transport for Lond

There’s no doubt that access to airports is an emotive topic, provoking myriad opinions, many of which are in conflict. If you’re catching a flight, even the most seasoned traveller is anxious to arrive in good time. If you’re travelling in the vicinity of an airport you may be frustrated by the airport-bound traffic. If you’re a bus operator, a potentially unsustainable service routed via an airport becomes a viable prospect. Planning access to an airport is also a maj

The biggest challenge facing the rail industry is the provision of capacity to allow rail to meet the forecasted doubling of demand over the next 30 years. Train operators want to see continued investment in rail. There is now a political consensus that a north-south high speed line is needed. This will mean less demand for domestic air travel, but its main benefit is to allow passengers to travel between major cities and the continent easily and quickly whilst freeing capacity on the existing

1985 - 1994 British Rail Starting his career as a BR graduate trainee Haines gained wide ranging operational experience. 1994 - 1997 Railtrack Haines gained rapid promotions and was regarded by TOCs as one of the few Railtrack managers to have a genuine commitment to customer service. 1997 - 2005 South West Trains After joining SWT Haines held various roles prior to his promotion to Managing Director in 2000. 2005 - 2008 Firstgroup Managing Director - UK Rail At FirstGroup

When FirstGroup announced that Andrew Haines had left his job as head of its rail division last December it was a genuine shock. But the sense of surprise in the industry was, if anything, exceeded by Haines’s re-emergence as the Civil Aviation Authority’s first chief executive in August. It was not as if Haines was short of options to continue his career on the railway, where he was regarded as among the next generation of industry leaders. During the six months gardening leave he

Tyne &?Wear PTE Nexus has unveiled final designs for the transformation of Sunderland’s railway station as work on the project enters its final phase.  Completion of the £7m upgrade of the station’s platform areas is currently expected in May 2010. Nexus has commissioned artist Jason Bruges to create a 140-metre animated ‘light wall’, with an ever-changing display powered by thousands of individual LED units.  

Lord Adonis was preaching to the converted when he extolled the virtues of high speed rail to a railway audience at September’s HSR Summit in London. However, he believes that it’s no longer a case of ‘if’ Britain should build a new High Speed 2 rail line, but ‘when’. The political consensus behind HSR is growing and the transport secretary says it will be vital to making this vision a reality. His opposite number, Theresa Villiers, restated her support for H

Airline industry opinion The airline industry generally accepts that HSR operation has an environmental advantage over air, however, its scale is disputed. Short haul airline VLM has described rail industry claims as “often unaudited, and based on questionable logic”. It quoted research by the Sustainable Aviation Network Europe showing the latest generation of regional aircraft such as its Fokker 50s may actually be more environmentally friendly than rail, emitting 95g of CO2 per

It’s a fact that the UK transport industry should be proud of. We are the only country in the world to have an integrated transport ticket that has been created, managed and expanded purely through the private sector. Journey Solutions, the promoter of the PlusBus bus and rail ticket, should be justifiably proud, especially with what has been achieved in recent years. Of course it doesn’t stop here. Journey Solutions commercial director Jonathan Radley bubbles with enthusiasm at wh

There are few things as closely tied to the quality of life in this country as our ability to move around. As soon any one of us leaves their front door, we are reliant on a network of roads, buses, trains, planes, and pavements to enable us to get where we need to go. Our transport network provides the veins and arteries of our economy and is a daily experience - a necessity - for nearly everyone in Britain. The quality of that experience is in decline. It has been for more than a decade.

The government is placing its bets on public transport. In the midst of the worst economic crisis for a generation, ministers appear to have decided that there is a strong case for investing in bus, tram and rail schemes to help stimulate the economy, hasten the recovery and meet environmental obligations. A number of projects of varying sizes have been given the green light at a time when public finances are under increased pressure. So, is this strategy a sure bet or a big gamble? Recent mont

Rick Haythornthwaite has taken over as chairman of Network Rail following the departure of Sir Ian McAllister. Commenting on his appointment, Haythornthwaite said: “It will be a privilege to lead this large, complex and important company as it delivers some big challenges in the years ahead. Success is vital for the three million people who use our railways every day as well as to the economy of the UK.” Haythornthwaite, 52, was CEO of Invensys plc, from 2001 to 2005, leading the r

It is hard to believe that it is less than a decade since the dark days of Hatfield and the demise of Railtrack. Since then, there has been a significant investment in Britain’s railway network, with a modern fleet of vehicles, a comprehensive national timetable and a raft of new schemes in the planning, including Crossrail and Thameslink. As Network Rail have correctly noted, more passengers are using more services than ever. And now the government has announced the electrification of the

Network Rail has concluded that a new 200mph high-speed line to the Midlands, the North West and Scotland, halving travel time to Scotland to just over two hours, was the best option generating almost £55bn of value with a capital construction cost of £34bn - according to results of a detailed investigation into the need for new capacity on Britain's railway network. The Network Rail’s study, totalling over 1,500 pages of research, modelling and analysis, concluded that in

FirstGroup  today unveiled the first Greyhound coaches which will introduce  to  the UK  on September 14 between  London, Portsmouth and Southampton. The well-established brand comes over from the  USA  and  Canada, where Greyhound is alone in providing a countrywide network of coach services. First has said that Greyhound UK will offer "an unrivalled  product  and  service quality" and "industry-leading customer service&

Transport secretary Lord Adonis has approved plans for the £695m upgrade of London's Victoria tube station. The move follows a three-month public inquiry, which ended in January this year. Used by more than 80 million passengers each year, Victoria Underground station is at the heart of London's transport network. However, severe congestion during the morning rush hour often makes it necessary to stop passengers coming into the station for several minutes, to avoid overcrowding on the T

The quality of service passengers using ScotRail trains and stations have experienced in the past year is illustrated in the latest annual performance review, published yb Transport Scotland today.  The Service Quality Incentive Regime (SQUIRE) is one the toughest regimes of its kind in the UK and is used by Transport Scotland to monitor the train operator’s performance.The regime is designed to drive quality improvements in rail services and deliver customer service benefits for

Mention financial crisis, climate change, congestion and it isn’t long before building high speed railways pops up. We have one already which, very belatedly, is going to start running Kent to London domestic services in December. If we are planning to do such a thing again it's useful to see how we fared last time. It is a dogs breakfast. There are a number of reasons for this, two being where it goes from and where it goes to. The main Kent station should be near Blue Bell Hill right sl

I have been told that the ministerial team at transport now changes more often than at any other department of state. Whether or not that’s true, it certainly seems that way. The 2008 Local Transport Act was steered through parliament by an unprecedented succession of ministers, and is all the worse for that lack of consistency. Before the ink dried on the new act, the department was up to its tricks changing the basis of central government funding on which the industry works (see below).

The Olympic Delivery?Authority last month reached another major milestone in getting London ready for the 2012 Olympic Games. The 1,600 tonne Town Centre Link Bridge was successfully pushed over 11 live railway lines at Stratford Station. Both before the Games and in legacy, the structure it will provide a vital link from the existing town centre to Westfield’s £1.45bn Stratford City project that will play host to the Olympic Park. “This project took a great deal of planning a

In late June transport secretary Lord Adonis announced that £5m of funding was to be provided to 10 rail terminals to enable them to upgrade their bicycle facilities. The list of the 10 stations to benefit from this cash is due to be announced later this summer. This announcement came less than one week after the government and public transport operators had launched their national station travel plans initiative. 24 pilot plans encompassing 31 stations across the country will, it is ho

The elderly and young people under the age of 25 remain key markets for the bus industry according to survey data investigating public attitudes to bus travel that was released by the Department for Transport last month. The data reveals 51% of 16 to 24-year olds use the bus at least once a week, the highest out of all of all age groups, closely followed by those aged over 75, 38% of whom use the bus at least once a week. However, a significant number of age groups remain unconvinced by the me

Internal Department for Transport figures obtained by New Transit show that capital spending on transport is expected to be cut by around a third in the eight years to 2018/19 compared to pre-recession figures projected following the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review. The total reduction is £29bn, and throws doubt over the DfT’s ability to fund major infrastructure upgrades such as Crossrail and large rail schemes for which funding was committed in Network Rail’s 2009-14 settl

Last month London to Essex commuter railway c2c celebrated the news that its annual Passenger Performance Measure, the yardstick for reliability, had set a new record and matched that of SBB, the Swiss Federal Railway, with a moving annual average of 95.8% on-time. Of course the industry as a whole has come a long way since the dark days of the Hatfield rail disaster where rail punctuality as a whole dropped off the graph, but is there much to celebrate? c2c is right to celebrate, after all th

We wrote on the subject of station travel plans in November, saying then that they had considerable potential to alter the balance of journey-making whilst also providing train operators with the prospect of new patronage between the peaks (Transit November 6).  What has happened since then? A key development relates to the national station travel plan pilot programme for which we have acted as the core consultant on behalf of the sponsors, the Department for Transport, the Association of

Network Rail has completed a new £15m maintenance building in Liverpool and handed over to depot managers Alstom to fit out for extending Virgin’s Pendolino fleet from nine to 11 carriages. The additional vehicles will be shipped over from Italy, offloaded at Liverpool docks onto road vehicles for the short journey to Edge Hill. The first of the new trains will arrive by end of 2010 with the initial batch of 44 vehicles built up into four completely new 11-carriage Pendolin

Eurostar, the international train operator, has reported a 22% rise in travellers between London and Amsterdam via Brussels. The growth in rail travel between the two cities comes as Dutch and Belgian Railways today unveiled the new high-speed service that will operate between Brussels and Amsterdam from next year. The Fyra high-speed trains will connect with Eurostar services at Brussels-Midi and call at Antwerp, Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport en-route to Amsterdam. Simon Montague, director

Virgin Trains have said that their "performance is not good enough yet” in response to the latest figures from the National Passenger Survey for Spring 2009. The results show that satisfaction has increased to 86% the overall satisfaction score from its customers - one percentage point higher than last spring. Out of 18 ‘train factor’ categories, Virgin Trains was above the long distance average in 16, and its scores rose from 87% satisfaction to 92% on the length of

81% of passengers across the UK are satisfied with their rail experience, the Passenger Focus National Passenger Survey for spring 2009 has revealed today, one percentage point up from spring 2008; 89% of passengers are satisfied with ScotRail services in Scotland, and 87% satisfied with Arriva Trains Wales services in Wales. Passenger Focus welcomed improvements to passenger satisfaction with c2c (91%), First Great Western (81%), TransPennine Express (87%) and London Overground (75%). Th

Stagecoach Sheffield has clocked up more than 100,000 extra journeys per week during the last 12 months compared to the same period in 2005 – when Stagecoach took over Yorkshire Traction and its Sheffield operation, Yorkshire Terrier.   The figures also show that the number of adult fare paying passengers has increased by 8.1% in the last 12 months and by 106% since 2005.   On Stagecoach’s 83 (Bents Green – Ecclesfield) and 88 (Bents Green to High Green) services,

The Office of Rail Regulation has today welcomed the signing of a joint performance improvement plan between Network Rail and Virgin Trains aimed at improving performance on the West Coast Main Line. The plan sets out a number of steps to improve: the basic reliability of assets on the line; information about the performance of assets to allow action to be taken before there is a negative impact on train services; and management focus and speed of resp

Three years ago Graham Eccles retired as main board director of Stagecoach’s rail division stating: “I’m leaving the heavy rail industry and I won’t be back.” There is little doubt he meant it. Eccles was 60, and been working on the railways for 43 years after joining BR from school as a porter. He had actually intended to leave a year earlier but was persuaded to postpone his departure. So the announcement that Eccles has agreed to become deputy chairman of Go A

A?giant mural has helped to revitalise Poole’s 40-year-old bus station. A consortium, formed by the Borough of Poole with bus company Wilts &?Dorset and Grosvenor Estates, asked Penson Architects to come up with a £300,000 plan for refurbishing the facility, which included the mural.

A roof-top park and 100,000 square feet of retail space are among the features of the new Crossrail Canary Wharf station, on which work has now begun. London mayor Boris Johnson and transport minister Lord Adonis sunk the 1st steel pile that will form part of the new station on May 15. The station is being built below the water of North Dock. To enable the station box to be constructed, 396 steel piles measuring 18.5 metres high and 1.2 metres wide are being sunk into the door of the North Dock

The Office of Rail Regulation has today published its national rail review, looking back over the past five years, and Network Rail monitor covering performance over the past year. Bill Emery, ORR chief executive said: "Network Rail's performance over the past year has been mixed. "While it has met many of its regulatory targets, it has missed others. Most notably it has failed to make the efficiency savings expected of it over the five year period to April 2009, and has fallen

Three out of every five trains on Britain's busiest railway line have been running late despite a £9bn upgrade, the TSSA have claimed. The Transport Salaried Staffs Association said it had obtained figures showing that punctuality had dropped as low as 39.4% on the West Coast main line between London and Glasgow during April. Figures for the whole month for trains on time, including allowing long distance trains to be counted as punctual if they are 10 minutes late, were 80% but d

The rail industry has today set out its vision for what the railway should look like and be able to deliver for passengers and freight users in 20 to 30 years time. In Planning ahead a paper published today, Network Rail, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) and the Rail Freight Operators' Association (RFOA), look beyond recent improvements in punctuality and the work already agreed to develop the railway over the next five years. It signals the start of more detailed furt

Things must be serious if you get people across the rail industry agreeing with Bob Crow. But the unreconstructed left-wing leader of RMT has struck a chord with his warning about Network Rail's decision to put a huge slice of its maintenance work on hold.   He has probably gone over the top in suggesting that safety has been put at risk by what is politely described as "rephasing"... Click here

Train passengers face an increase in delays and disruptions because of a funding row between Network Rail and a Government quango. Network Rail, in charge of railway infrastructure, has shelved more than a quarter of its track renewal programme after being ordered to make cost savings of just under £3bn by the Office of Rail Regulation. The postponements could lead to an increase in unscheduled delays and cancellations, as the decaying infrastructure will be more vulnerable...

Train punctuality has exceeded the 90% mark for the first time, as 90.6% of train services arrived on time between April 2008 to March 2009 - the highest since records began in 1992. NR says that April this year was a record month in its own right with 93.5% of trains arriving on time over the course of the month - the highest ever recorded. The company have this week created a new crack maintenance team at the southern end of the route tasked with improving the reliability of the infrast

More than 7,000 rail services  run by the firm that operates trains between Exeter and London were cancelled in one year alone. Around half were the fault of First Great Western itself,  while the rest were blamed on Network Rail, which is responsible for the track, or other train  operators. Despite this the Government  says FGW was currently meeting its target to cut the number  cancellations...

Passenger growth of more than 7% since 2006 has marked the second anniversary of Stagecoach Yorkshire’s major revamp of its Barnsley and Dearne Valley network.   Bus users are now making 1.4 million extra journeys a year compared to the twelve-month period before the operator altered the network inherited from Yorkshire Traction - an increase of 7.2%.   Stagecoach Yorkshire has also clocked up a massive 8.2% increase in adult fare paying passengers, which is an extra 730,000

Passengers believe train services are worse since the Department for Transport awarded a franchise to London Midland, an inquiry has warned. The operator, which runs local services in the West Midlands and a route from London to Birmingham and Liverpool, was awarded the franchise in 2007. But a survey found that passengers believed trains were less punctual and reliable, and were unhappy about changes to car parking arrangements at stations... Click

Out going Tube Lines executive Terry Morgan questions the future of the company. Senior public officials are risking the improvements in efficiency and performance on some London Underground lines by questioning the future of the private company responsible for them, the company’s out going chief executive says. In a Financial Times interview, Terry Morgan, who is stepping down as chief executive of Tube Lines, said the comments of senior figures at Transport for London, the London m

German national railway seeks deal to let trains run direct to UK Deutsche Bahn is close to securing a concession from Eurotunnel that would allow the German national railway to send its high-speed trains through the Channel tunnel and offer direct services from Germany to London. The German transport operator wants to develop freight and passenger routes into Britain using High Speed 1, the new fast track from the Channel Tunnel to St Pancras, but present safety regulations permit only

Keighley’s bus company is tackling congestion problems - by introducing another vehicle. Transdev Keighley and District has added an extra 662 bus on the route between Keighley and Bradford after a satellite tracking system highlighted where traffic hotspots were causing difficulties. Transdev marketing director, Nigel Eggleton, said the main difference commuters would notice thanks to the £100,000 investment was improved reliability, especially at peak times...

Network Rail has called for the government to endorse a detailed long term vision for the rail industry. Without such a vision, the company warned that it will inevitably make wrong investment decisions. “We can’t keep planning in five year bites, we need a longer term view so we can do the right things now,” Network Rail economic analysis manager James Angus told the National Rail Conference in London this month. For example, he said that it was vital to establish as soon as

First has issued punctuality statistics for its UK bus division that reveal that none of its operations around the country met the group’s target of 95% of vehicles operating within the traffic commissioner’s six minute window of tolerance. The figures, which relate to the October to December period of last year, show that First Manchester was the worst performing group subsidiary with just 81.5% of the operator’s services meeting the target of being no more than five minutes

Train operators will be required to meet more rigorous station standards when new franchises are let, transport minister Andrew Adonis has announced. Adonis’s decision follows his tour of the country’s rail network during which time he used over 50 stations. In a speech to the National Rail Conference, Adonis said he was left with a marked impression “that the quality of stations is now far more variable than the quality of the trains that serve them, and that at some of our m

Rail minister Andrew Adonis said that the West Coast Main Line upgrade has "changed the transport map of Britain" and helped to better connect it, as officially opened the line this week. The £8.9bn upgrade of the line, which runs from London to Glasgow serving destinations including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, has been completely overhauled over the past five years. It sees journey times fall by up to 30% and a 45% increase in long distance train services on the lin

Network Rail's chief executive, Iain Coucher, has said that he will forgo any annual bonus this year to avoid clouding NR's success story on performance. Coucher informed the company's remuneration committee that he has taken a personal decision to withdraw from the annual bonus scheme for 2008/9, although he will still receive payment for the long term element of the bonus scheme, designed to replicate share options within a plc. "Today I want to be able to talk freely about Network

Siemens Mobility, Transport Scotland, ScotRail, First Group, and Network Rail representatives gathered at the Shields traincare depot in Glasgow to signal the start of the £24m construction works to redevelop the site.  An interworking agreement was signed by all parties and a ‘ground-breaking’ ceremony marked the occasion. The depot, due to be completed by the end of August 2010, will house and maintain a new fleet of 38 Siemens Desiro Class 380 electric trains on

In one month's time, the shining efforts and talent of some of the industry's best managers will be recognised at the second annual Passenger Transport Management Awards ceremony. Supported by Local Transport Today, the 12 awards are designed to foster management talent in the industry's ground passenger transport modes in the UK. They range from rewarding innovation and new thinking, local and operational management, and engineering to Young Passenger Transport Professional, Unsung Heroes

Estimates show that Network Rail has missed its efficiency target to cut costs over the last five years. The company that owns Britain's rail network has missed its target to cut costs over the past five years, according to preliminary estimates, fueling calls for rail bosses to forgo their six-figure bonuses. People familiar with early figures for the efficiency target say Network Rail cut the cost for each unit of work by 27%, instead of the 31% it was set by regulators for the 2004-09

TRAIN operator TransPennine Express recorded a sharp increase in operating and pre-tax profits during the year to March 31  2008, according to its annual accounts. The company provides urban and inter-urban rail services across northern England, serving Tyneside and Teesside, West & South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside. Routes are also operated between Manchester Airport, Blackpool the North West and - since November 2007 - to Edinburgh and Glasgow.  The franchise is

STATISTICS published by Transport for London show that demand for travel continued to grow in the third quarter of 2008/09, albeit at a slower rate and generally below budgeted levels. The report shows that 830 million journeys were made on the TfL network during the quarter, 2.8% more than in the same quarter last year. The London Underground network carried 265 million passenger journeys, which represented growth of 1.5% over last year, but this fell 2.4 million below the target for the quar

Last week I went to a High Speed Rail seminar and came away feeling much more persuaded about the prospects than I had expected. Hitherto I had placed myself in the camp of the sceptics - and not just because of the political consensus building for the idea. When politicians are unanimous in their view on something it is usually because the inevitable has already happened. In this case it could simply be that an election is looming. Or then again, perhaps they are right. Let’s put asid

The Northern Way has set Network Rail the challenge of devising a strategy to radically improve rail services in the Manchester area by focusing on providing better cross city connections, what would amount to an all-day service to the airport, ensuring rail has a competitive advantage over car travel and providing for an increase in patronage of at least 39% by 2020. The 10-point manifesto has been produced in response to a request from former transport minister Rosie Winterton for the Norther

An expansion of the 140mph domestic Channel Tunnel Rail Link services has been put forward by Network Rail as the only practical means of meeting future demand for rail travel from Kent towns to London in a meaningful way. In its Kent Route Utilisation Strategy, the company forecasts that demand for rail travel in the area will increase by 32% between 2007 and 2019. It states that, even after all peak services and the busiest shoulder peak services on the ‘classic network’ have been

Go Ahead Group chief executive Keith Ludeman is demanding daily updates from his London Midland management team on their efforts to restore punctuality to acceptable levels following the introduction of the company’s new timetable in December. The new timetable coincided with a considerable drop in punctuality with 82% of trains arriving on time in January and February compared to close to 90% in the first two months of last year. Punctuality at London Midland improved in March to 88%, bu

Transport Minister Lord Adonis offered comments on Britain’s best and worst rail stations during a five day rail tour around the UK last month. In a tour diary the minister hailed Sheffield station as “a real delight”. “It has been beautifully restored in recent years and has excellent retail and waiting facilities for passengers,” he wrote. However, the minister was far less complementary about other major UK stations. Edinburgh Waverley was found to be “cr

London Underground has been named Best Metro in Europe at this year's Metro Awards, beating off stiff competition from Paris, Madrid, Berlin and Copenhagen. LU has carried more than a billion passengers for the third year running - 1,089 million passengers travelled on the Tube in 2008/9, the highest in its 146-year history, and passenger satisfaction ratings also hit a new high with average scores reaching 79 out of 100. "The London Underground is the artery through which the lifebloo

Train operator First Great Western’s “star employee”, Wayne Spence, has received an MBE for going the extra mile for passengers. Platform supervisor, Spence, aged 48, was honoured in the New Year Honours at Buckingham Palace following 28 years of service to the transport industry. Currently based at Bristol Temple Meads, Wayne is always to happy to provide up-to-date information to First Great Western customers and has even been known to find passengers in the café to

The Department for Transport has backed plans to upgrade the Swindon-Kemble rail line despite funding for the £40m project being rejected by the Office of Rail Regulation. Transport minister Andrew Adonis has given his personal backing to the scheme after meeting with West of England MPs and rail lobby groups, and has announced £2.5m of funding for a study into double tracking the 12-mile stretch of track. The £2.5m for the study consists of £1.6m from the latest round

Network Rail has published a vision of the demand the long distance rail network will have to cater for over the next 30 years. The work forms the first part of the Network Route Utilisation Strategy and has been carried out by a cross-industry group including the Department for Transport, the Association of Train Operating Companies, Network Rail and the Passenger Transport Executive Group. Its forecasts are based on four scenarios which paint a dramatically different picture of future dema

I have had a thing about good grammar since it was drummed into me by my teacher father when I was a rising five. So when is a “criterion” a “criteria”? Answer - never. When is Network Rail’s Licence a “license”? Answer - it isn’t except when the infrastructure operator is “licensing” a third party to undertake repairs. The most irritating example of deteriorating grammar is the commonly used “practise” when “practice&

According to transport minister Andrew Adonis, there are a number of crucial Terms of Engagement that transport ministers observe when attending rail industry events. Top of the list are: “leave as soon as practical after your speech” and “avoid contact, let alone debate, with spokespeople from the other political parties”. However, as Adonis said last week, with regard to new north-south rail route High Speed Two, he intends to break these rules as a matter of course.

Virgin Trains has placed a series of large posters denigrating Chiltern Railways’s service right outside a number of its key stations including Moor Street in Birmingham and Leamington Spa. The posters include one headlined Chiltern Snailways in reference to the company’s London-Birmingham journey time. Chiltern’s quickest journey on the route is 2hrs 10mins which is 50 minutes slower than Virgin’s 1hr 20mins. Another poster includes the statement ‘Time is money,

Network Rail has set out a commitment to overhaul the way it operates in order to radically improve the quality of service it provides to train operators and passengers. The company’s Transformation Programme is outlined in its first five-year delivery plan which acknowledges that it is not meeting its customers’ requirements and sets out a far reaching culture change agenda. Shortcomings which Network Rail pledges to put right include failure to work closely enough with operators w

The Merseyside Route Utilisation Strategy, calling for an immediate package of investment for a 30% increase in platform capacity at Liverpool Central Station, is ready to be presented to the Office of Rail Regulation. The strategy, which ORR has 60 days to consider before it becomes an established strategy, was drawn up by Network Rail along with stakeholders including Merseyrail, Merseytravel PTE, the Department for Transport and Passenger Focus. It recommends longer trains and improving

Major construction works on the Thameslink Programme of upgrade start this week - set in motion with the introduction of a new timetable. Blackfriars Underground station closed earlier this month to enable the station to be redevelopment into a new interchange complex to serve London Underground and Network Rail services, which is due to be completed in 2011. The station remains open for main line services with a temporary entrance/exit. As part of massive improvement work, the Farringdon

Network Rail has confirmed the appointment of its future chairman, Rick Haythornthwaite, who has now started with the company as a non-executive director. The confirmation follows a Network Rail meeting with its members, Network Rail's equivalent of shareholder - ahead of formal ratification in its July AGM as a normal election resolution, when current chairman Sir Ian McAllister steps down. Haythornthwaite is currently non-executive chairman of Mastercard and was CEO of Invensys between 200

Network Rail has called on the government to support equality for apprenticeship schemes and reduce their bureaucracy to stimulate the country’s economy and get people into work. Responding to the government’s ‘Apprenticeship, Skills, Children and Learning Bill’, the rail infrastructure controller, one of the UK’s largest investors in vocational training,  wants apprenticeships for people over 19 years of age fully funded. It also wants a significant reductio

The Commission for Integrated Transport very much agrees that the future of the bus subsidy hangs in the balance, as Ben Colson suggests (Transit February 20). As part of the most comprehensive scrutiny the bus industry has ever seen, we recommended public subsidy into the bus industry should firmly put passengers at the heart of the government’s sustainable transport agenda. Bus services in many parts of the UK are suffering from a combination of falling passengers and new pressure on ca

It is an important year for GoSkills, the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for passenger transport. This year it will discover whether the government intends to renew its license, which expires in November. The process has now begun and GoSkills must show that it is succeeding in its mission to work with employers UK-wide to improve the skills that make a difference to the performance of the passenger transport sector. GoSkills chairman Nick Mitchell believes that its time for the SSC to raise its p

Volumes of road?traffic fell during the fourth quarter of last year on most vehicle types and on almost all road types, according to the latest survey undertaken by the Department for Transport. The quarterly index for the September-December quarter for all motor vehicles dropped by 1.4% compared with the same quarter in 2007, taken it down to 122.4 (1993=100). Across the year as a whole, the index was one per cent down at 123.2. The Department estimates that the total number of vehicle kilomet

The?latest bus passenger satisfaction surveys, published by the Department for Transport earlier in the year, show high and rising levels of satisfaction in England. Overall satisfaction was over 80% in the summer 2009 survey for the first time ever, whilst satisfaction with reliability also showed an improvement in all areas except London, where it was unchanged. Customer satisfaction with the overall product was at its highest in PTE and Shire areas, on 84% each. In London, it was slightly l

Bus garage performance league tables for London that have been obtained by Transit reveal that Go Ahead subsidiary London General secured the top three spots, but its Docklands Buses garage at Silvertown was London’s worst performing. The figures, which cover the period between October 11 and January 2, reveal Silvertown scored an Excess Waiting Time variance of -0.43 below the garage’s minimum standard of 1.19 minutes. East London’s Rainham garage was also at the bottom of t

Network Rail is planning a major reorganisation of its National Delivery Service (NDS) with over 200 staff from Waterloo, Birmingham, York and Glasgow set to be relocated to Milton Keynes, starting in September. The move will mark the beginning of Network Rail’s programme to transfer several thousand personnel to a new headquarters in the town. Network Rail said the NDS, which provides planning support, equipment and materials to engineering teams, was being reorganised as part of its pre

National Express Group has announced that it will be making further job cuts and cost reductions, paring back investment and cutting its dividend. The moves, announced at the presentation of the company’s full year results, are designed to free up at least £100m of additional cash next year, enabling the company to pay off debt, minimise the expected fall in profit and prevent it from breaching its banking covenants. Although NEG made a pre-tax profit of £194m in 2008, the i

Eurostar, the high-speed passenger service that links the UK and mainland Europe, has achieved almost 95% punctuality in the first full two weeks since the restoration of faster journeys through the Channel Tunnel. For the fortnight ending on Sunday, Eurostar achieved 94.7% of trains on time or within 15 minutes of schedule (the standard measure for international services), ahead of its overall target of 93% punctuality for 2009. It was Eurostar’s first two weeks of operating a full timet

The advent of New Labour heralded the end of ideology in politics. Now we have managerial politics in which parties vie with each other to improve the effectiveness of public services.  The current debate about regulation of financial services is an example. Strip away the “yah boo sucks” about Sir Fred Goodwin’s pension from RBS and the parties are arguing over mechanisms, not fundamentals. The publication of the Conservatives’ policy for the railways falls exac

We’ve all heard the old joke. ”Why is the number 11 like a banana? Because it comes in bunches”. Unfortunately, this is the perception that many people have of bus services. Of course, sometimes, and despite the industry’s best efforts, bunching on high frequency services is unavoidable. Traffic lights and congestion make an evenly spaced service difficult to achieve even in the best run companies. ‘Why imagine that buses timed at 1705, 1706 and 1725 are less lik

YES The case for regulating customer service standards in the transport sector was taken on by Sheena Pickersgill of Metro, the West Yorkshire PTE. She said that she felt that customer service should not have to be prescriptive, however, the actual reality of the current bus market, particularly in West Yorkshire, meant that she felt there were grounds for making minimum standards of customer service mandatory. Pickersgill agreed with other speakers that good customer service should be

Over recent years there has been a growing recognition of the importance of delivering excellent customer service in the passenger transport sector. Formerly state-run utilities, the bus and rail industries are seeking to complete the transition to customer-orientated retailers. There are a band of people in the industry who are absolutely passionate about the need to do this and they have been winning the argument. However, with the economy heading into recession and businesses under pressure t

Since its creation, Network Rail, has regularly been forced to draw up battle lines against train operators pressing for vertical integration trials on the basis that the company is bureaucratic, expensive and insufficiently focussed on customers’ requirements. Unsurprisingly, given the threatening nature of the proposals to take over its infrastructure, Network Rail has concentrated on scuppering all attempts to impose them, and refused to make any public statement of substance on the sub

Nottingham Tram has achieved overall passenger satisfaction of 92%, according to a survey carried out last autumn. However, reliability/frequency scores have dropped from last year. The survey, commissioned by Nottingham Tram Consortium  and running for a fifth year, saw responses from 1400 NET passengers. The results show that journey reliability is down seven percentage points on last year’s score to 80% and journey time is down eight percentage points to 80%. Ease of buying a t

Network Rail has invited train operators to carry out hundreds of small infrastructure works which the company would rather not manage and believes others may be better placed to deliver. At a seminar last week sponsored by Transit and consultancy First Class Partnerships, Network Rail operations and customer services director Robin Gisby acknowledged that carrying out certain small projects is not one of his company's strengths. He issued a direct invitation to operators to share the workload

Network Rail has spoken out against claims by the TSSA rail union that a letter from Network Rail’s senior non-executive director, Jim Cornell, means senior executives will get ‘gigantic bonuses’. A spokesperson for Network Rail said: "This is palpably misleading. The Jim Cornell letter is not about bonuses but all about proposed changes to next year's management incentive plan for all Network Rail people. "The letter details adding further stretching targets to

The “Our People” section of the CSR reports could have been the dullest of all: vocational training, driver retention, ethnic diversity – yawn, yawn - but it isn’t. You have to read between the lines. If you do, you will see how five groups in their different ways are struggling to create added value from the one distinguishing thing they do: manage people. Their business is to organise large numbers of people, in small groups or alone, doing fairly simple things consiste

If you make the effort, and read between the lines, Corporate and Social Responsibility reports are very, very interesting. Even the housekeeping stuff, driver retention rates, safety stats, training initiatives, tells a story. The ‘big five’ transport groups have developed in very different ways. Besides, there is one huge issue, climate change, where the transport groups are in the front line. On a matter crucial to the public, they use CSR statements to set out their vision for

Shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers has called for "better co-operation between track and train" and for rail operators to have more say in the governance of Network Rail. A report outlining the results of the Conservatives' review of UK rail, Getting the Best for Passengers published today, says that "practical solutions" such as longer trains, longer platforms and additional lines are needed to end "chronic overcrowding". It also highlights issues of Ne

It’s been a record year for passenger satisfaction according to Passenger Focus on the latest release of the National Passenger Survey. This result is not bad for an industry that has often been and still is criticised for its lack of customer service. The problem, and perhaps bitter irony, is whether operators can afford to keep up the good work, at a time when ruthless cutbacks to both services and staff are being, and might still have to be made? So what makes the National Passenger Su

Network Rail has appointed Patrick Butcher as its new group finance director. He will take over from Ron Henderson, who recently announced his retirement, in April. Butcher (pictured) was latterly finance director at freight operator English Welsh & Scottish Railway, between 2004 and 2008, where he led the refinancing of the business and was part of the team that oversaw the transition of the ownership of EWS to DB Schenker. He also spent two years with London Underground as finance direct

It is of course a cross they have to bear; Network Rail that is. From the slightest gripes and groans of the commuter on the journey home (“leaves on the line at Surbiton” of the Reggie Perrin variety) to the sometimes rather more headline grabbing disruptions surrounding Christmas engineering works, Network Rail will always be in the headlines. They will be talked about at dinner parties the length and breadth of the land along with the bank, the building society, the estate agent,

When the railways were privatised and the first franchises let, I published an assessment of their prospects. Drawing heavily on my business knowledge at the time it was possible - given what I knew of the cost, operating and market environment of each TOC - to make some predictions about their prospects in the light of the franchise commitments made by the early “winners”. I was of course careful to call these “assessments” rather than predictions. I was not inclined to

“Record passenger satisfaction scores in the latest National Passenger Survey is good news and evidence that the rail industry is moving in the right direction. Season-by-season, year-on-year train companies are getting better at running services on time and more passengers are consequently choosing to travel by train.  The rail industry takes NPS scores seriously and uses the results to identify areas where services need to be improved. Our research team and passenger managers are

Latest figures show that over 4,000 journeys have already been made or have been booked for travel to and from the new East Midlands Parkway railway station (pictured) since its opening last week, East Midlands Trains has announced. The station is situated just one mile from Junction 24 of the M1 to encourage people to move out of their car and onto the train. More than 100 East Midlands Trains services call at the station every day, with trains to and from London every 15-20 minutes at peak t

Six teams of architects have been short-listed to develop their ideas for a brand new public square for London at King’s Cross station. Bigger than Leicester Square, the new square at King’s Cross station will give London its first dedicated open approach to a major station. The new square will be created as part of Network Rail’s major £450m station redevelopment and will be located on the site of the current Euston Road concourse which is set to be demolished followin

Network Rail has accepted the £28.5bn five-year funding package proposed by the Office of Rail Regulation and withdrawn its threat to refer the ORR’s decision to the Competition Commission. Network Rail had originally demanded £31bn for the period from 2009-2014. However, a softening of both sides’ positions has seen the company accept the compromise package, although there is still a £1.5bn-plus funding gap between the funding Network Rail will receive and the amo

Network Rail’s board has appointed Rick Haythornthwaite as its new designate chairman; his election will be formally put before members at the company’s annual general meeting in July as a normal election resolution. The appointment comes after existing chairman Sir Ian McAllister announced, in October last year, that he would step down from the board following this year’s AGM. As chief executive officer of Invensys between 2001 and 2005, Haythornthwaite (pictured) led the

34th place isn’t a bad place to enter the Power 50 - hot off Transit’s press last issue (Transit January 9) - and Anthony Smith, chief executive of the ever-expanding Passenger Focus is “dead chuffed” at achieving this. He even cracked open a bottle of champagne the day he found out. Before this year, the organisation could be called a ‘rail watchdog,’ but 2009 is, as Smith himself says, “the year of the bus”. In April, Passenger Focus takes the

The much awaited Edinburgh tram is expected to be to be running by 2011 - bringing trams to the streets of Edinburgh for the first time in more than 50 years. The integrated tram network will be delivered using a phased approach to construction. Phase 1a will run from Edinburgh Airport to Leith, and phase 1b will serve the Granton area of the city, connecting it through Craigleith and Roseburn to the city centre. Phase 2 will link Granton to Leith, completing the loop, and phase 3 will connect

January It was a difficult start to 2008 for Network Rail. The infrastructure controller came under fire after engineering works over Christmas and New Year overran by several days. It coincided with the company’s chairman, Sir Ian McAllister, being awarded a knighthood in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List. The auction of Laing Rail concludes with Deutsche Bahn agreeing to pay fund manager Henderson a very full price of around £130m, so securing th

In the last couple of years the dwindling band of municipally-owned bus operators have raised their game. Indeed this burst of creativity is perhaps best demonstrated by the sector’s trophy haul at this year’s UK Bus Awards, led by the bus operator of the year, Warrington Borough Transport. No longer are council-owned operators seen as the deeply traditional businesses that they once were, perhaps in part due to the growing number of experienced industry managers that have switched

SIR Moir Lockhead began the New Year on a high when he claimed top spot in the Transit ‘Power 50’ list of the most powerful and influential people in UK passenger transport. Having appeared as number one on the first ever Power 50 list last year, the First Group chief executive has retained his position. The Power 50 list includes industry executives, politicians, regulators and public officials. It is enclosed with this issue of Transit. “Last year was a very good year for S

National Express East Coast has taken a huge hit from the nation’s economic downturn, with revenue growth falling severely. The effect on NXEC was revealed in National Express Group’s most recent trading statement which said that revenue growth at the east coast franchise had fallen from 11% at the beginning of October to 9.5% at the beginning of December. Railway statisticians calculated that the scale of the drop meant that revenue growth at NXEC during these two months would have

In five years of operating the Wales & Borders network, Arriva Trains Wales has arguably achieved more than it gets credit for. The Standard Pattern Timetable of December 2005 brought more efficient use of resources and additional services which stimulated significant growth, especially on the two-hourly services between Holyhead, Wrexham and Cardiff. ATW improved reliability of the struggling Valley Lines Pacers, and other fleets. Revenue protection has improved, with ticket gates install

There is no doubt that the role of the railway station and the emphasis placed on it is changing in the eyes of the rail industry. Yes, its primary and most basic function is for passengers to get on and off trains, but for many of the speakers at the Transit UK Rail Stations 2008 conference last week, the station is or should be much more than that:? a gateway to a city, to a community; a retail hub; a stress-free environment where people want to linger, meet, and shop - in a move that transcen

Two single-track bottle necks will be doubled under a Rail Forward Programme announced by the Welsh Assembly Government this week. The limitations of the single track between Chester and Wrexham became a political issue this autumn when it emerged that a new express service linking North and South Wales from 15 December would omit Wrexham, North Wales’ largest town, because no suitable paths were identified. WAG has earmarked £27m to restore double track there, and £20m for a

Network Rail and Merseyrail have renewed calls for funding to improve Liverpool Central station and for a debate on when, not if, it should be redeveloped or a new station built.  Other developments to the Merseyside network, which Network Rail says should be examined, include building a new 13-mile rail line to link the large town of Skelmersdale to Liverpool. With a population of 40,000, it is the second largest town in the north west without a rail station. The proposal precedes a fort

Stagecoach is one of Britain’s top 10 “Most Admired Companies”, according to an authoritative survey of corporate reputation. The annual review by Management Today of Britain’s top companies, now in its 15th year, has placed Stagecoach sixth out of more than 200 businesses assessed in the survey - just one place behind Tesco. The groups nearest transport sector rival was National Express, which finished 33rd. First Group, the UK’s largest passenger transport group

The Office of Rail Regulation has said that the process for approving new access rights for operators needs to be improved. ORR's chief executive Bill Emery said today that the approval of new access rights has not been reached for East Midlands Trains and Virgin's West Coast Main Line only two weeks before their new timetables are due to commence on December 14. Emery explained that when the contracts which operators have with Network Rail to run their trains come to an end, as in the case

East Midlands Trains' managing director, Tim Shoveller, has been under fire by commuters sending him tins of sardines, in protest over overcrowding on trains. Campaign group TrainSardine.org has targetted the operator for turning "passengers into sardines by sending two carriage trains when it should send four" on the Norwich to Liverpool line, and is calling for more carriages. "We are not sardines - we are people," said a spokesman for the group. "We are not sta

Leasing prices negotiated for new rolling stock orders will be 30-50% higher in today’s market than last year’s, one of Europe’s leading train financiers has warned. Haydn Abbott, chief executive of Angel Trains International, said part of the increase was accounted for by the sale of the rolling stock leasing companies from banks to consortiums of equity investors. He said the new ownership structures created a “totally different situation” and calculated that the

Northern has 471 stations across its network and most of them are unstaffed. Many are in urban areas and face the sort of problems of anti-social behaviour common across much of the rail network. Even rural stations are not immune to vandalism and graffiti. This presents us with major difficulties but also opportunities. We are looking to ‘re-invent’ the small station to bring it much closer to the community it serves. Getting the community positively involved is critical to that, to

National Express’s London bus operations have been revealed to be the capital’s worst performing,  according to Transport for London performance statistics obtained by Transit. During TfL’s period seven between July 19 and October 10, Travel London managed an average Excess Waiting Time of 1.22 minutes against a London bus services average of 1.39 minutes. The operator did manage to beat the minimum performance standard for its contracted routes of 1.25 minutes. Topping

A report from the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts, published today, recommends more effective management of incidents on the railway. The document calls for the DfT to strengthen the governance and accountability arrangements of the rail industry to make Network Rail more directly accountable to the taxpayer for its funding and for improving passenger rail services. Network Rail should make more use of its incident review process to identify and disseminate good practice and scope

Bonuses paid to Network Rail’s executive directors will be influenced by train operators’ satisfaction with the company from next year. The main criteria on which bonuses are awarded are expected to remain narrowly focussed on meeting punctuality, infrastructure reliability and financial targets. However, the company’s remuneration committee has specifically committed to taking account of operators’ view of the company’s performance in future. From 2009/10 it will

The Office of Rail Regulation has refused to back down on the cost reduction targets set for Network Rail over the next five years, describing them as “conservative” and “generous”. In its final judgement on Network Rail’s funding for 2009-14, ORR confirmed that the company would have to make a 21% improvement in efficiency, and presented a vast suite of evidence to counter its claim that the target is unachievable. “What we are saying is that Network Rail r

Stagecoach-owned East Midlands Trains believes that revenue lost from ticketless travel at its main regional stations is at least 10% and could be significantly higher. Managing director Tim Shoveller told Transit that surveys at Sheffield had consistently shown total revenue lost by operators using the station was “well into double digits” with one exercise indicating losses as high as 30%. He added that at Nottingham and Derby lost revenue was also 10%-plus.  Shoveller sai

We may be feeling gloomy right now about the future, but long term growth in the rail market remains a near certainty. And this has both train operating companies and local authorities wondering what they need to do to take advantage/cope. A common problem is trains running at capacity in the peaks but with considerable space at other times. There may be many reasons why more travel isn’t taking place between the peaks but what should be done? Station travel plans are emerging as part of t

Like many people, John Teller, or Jed to his customers and colleagues, knew what he wanted to be when he was a child. But like less people, he achieved his dream. “You know when you’re a wee boy, you want to be something, I wanted to be a bus driver,” he says. Teller is now a bus station controller in Glasgow for Stagecoach’s West?Scotland operations. He joined the industry in 1991 working as a driver for Western Buses in Paisley, having first been a porter due to having

Ten years ago the rail industry embarked on a major experiment. British Rail’s ‘Quality Through People’ programme was a bold and successful initiative to incorporate the principles and practice of quality management into the state Leviathan. It ran for about 10 years until the demise of BR and during that decade was credited with bringing many innovations to the way things were done. Starting in 1988 with ‘Leadership 500’ - a series of seminars in which the top cadr

The first thing that is apparent about the background information provided by the recruitment agency engaged to secure a new “chair” for Network Rail is that experience of the railway is neither a prerequisite nor even considered desirable. The press ad said that “working in the rail industry is not essential” but on the website there is just no mention at all. The transport and logistics sectors are not mentioned either. See for yourself and go to http://appointments.ego

George Muir will chair the eighth annual UK Rail Stations conference at the Hilton Paddington Hotel on November 27, 2008. For further details visit www.railstations.org.uk .  We have an Institution of Railway Operations. Do we now need one for Station Management? Why? Because, actually, Cinderella has had a lot of money spent on her and she is due for another billion in the next five years. She often looks pretty good - glam even - but there are holes in her tights and the make-up smu

Albert Burch’s career has been a varied and colourful one. Concluding his career at Chiltern Railways, he started work when he was just 13 years old. But then a spell in the Royal Navy took him to the West Indies and the Falkland Islands. After this Burch lived in Australia, where he worked in Sydney and Adelaide. Returning to the UK he later spent two years working for British Rail as a goods guard in Euston, and a spell at Pergamon Press with Robert Maxwell who Burch says was “a d

The introduction of free concessionary travel is fueling significant bus patronage growth, delegates attending the Transit-supported The National Concessionary Fares Scheme:?Six Months On conference heard. Caroline Green, the senior policy consultant at the Local Government Association said that the start of nationwide free travel in England earlier this year had already resulted in a 20% increase in trips, but “in some areas this is much higher”. She said that in Devon there had

“Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind ... We might as well require a man to wear the coat that fitted him as a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regime of their ancestors.” So said Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. They are inscribed on the interior of the rotunda of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC, and should be remembered by transport professionals who face a

Network Rail has relented to pressure from National Express East Coast and the Office of Rail Regulation and agreed that it would be possible for NXEC to implement its planned service expansion in December 2009. However, its report came with a large number of “health warnings” over issues including punctuality and journey times. Network Rail’s new position in the dispute over capacity on the East Coast Main Line is outlined in a study demanded by the ORR. Whereas the company

The world is going mad! The most right wing government in recent American history nationalises the country’s two largest mortgage lenders - Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac. President Bush promotes a $700bn bail out of toxic debts for US banks only a fortnight after shovelling $80bn into the floundering insurance giant, AIG. Meanwhile the Bank of England and its European cousins pump more liquidity into the system, whilst Gordon Brown’s government is criticised for returning to its left win

The Association of Train Operating Companies is planning a major marketing programme to improve public perceptions of rail travel. Chairman Mike Alexander told Transit that Network Rail and train operators had indicated that they would contribute to an industry pot to finance the campaign, and that he will approach the major transport groups for funding when ATOC’s ideas have been finalised. Alexander explained that action is needed to change the railway’s image because public perc

Network Rail has appointed three new executive directors in a move which could prove to be the forerunner of a major overhaul of the company’s management structure and culture. Infrastructure investment director Simon Kirby, operations and customer service director Robin Gisby, and planning and regulation director Paul Plummer have been promoted to the board in response to the huge growth agenda the government has approved over the next five years. Network Rail head of media Kevin Gr

Prospective open access operator Platinum Trains would cut nearly 20 minutes off the fastest rail journeys currently offered between London and Edinburgh if it gains approval to run on the East Coast Main Line. Revealing further details of Platinum’s proposals, director Gary Jones told Transit that paths between Edinburgh and Kings Cross had been identified during Network Rail’s East Coast capacity study, with journey times of four hours three minutes. He has applied to the Of

A promised new station in South Wales has been abandoned, seven years after a government minister held a turf-cutting ceremony at the site. Network Rail says the station is no longer being considered after feedback from the Welsh Assembly Government, which previously allocated £2.9m to it. In March 2001, the Transport Framework for Wales was launched by the then Welsh minister for the environment, Sue Essex, at the future Brackla Park and Ride facility near Bridgend, alongside the ce

Train operators have called for sweeping changes to the way Network Rail is managed. Their responses to the industry’s current consultation on NR’s targets have just been released. They make it clear that Network Rail’s current record and management structure inspires little confidence in its ability to deliver the £9bn enhancement programme approved by the government over the next five years. Without a major rethink which devolves greater power to regional directors,

Transport Scotland has indicated that it is facing problems financing its five-year rail programme published last summer. Chief executive Malcolm Reed has told the Office of Rail Regulation that the funding situation north of the border has changed since the Scottish government set out its £3.6bn HLOS rail plan for 2009-2014. And he has told the regulator to alter its draft determination of Network Rail’s financial settlement for the period to take account of Transport Scotland&rs

It’s a truism that to achieve our aspirations as a leading country in a global economy, efficient public transport is critical. Ultimately our transport networks will succeed or fail to deliver their potential by virtue of their ability to deliver customer convenience, an arbiter of customer choice. Encouraging customers to choose public transport has become more focussed with the environmental challenge to reduce our carbon footprint by 2020. This is made harder against a growing tran

The designs for Birmingham New Street station, part of the £600m Gateway project, were unveiled to passengers last week. Set to double passenger capacity, the project is a joint scheme between Birmingham City Council, Network Rail, regional development agency, Advantage West Midlands, and PTE Centro. The design is the work of Foreign Office Architects, and will see the station covered in reflective metal sheets with three digital displays aimed to make the entrances clear  and e

High speed rail in the UK will be pushed forward, with the creation of a new Public Interest Group, spear-headed by Greengauge 21, whose planned programme of work will be informed by Network Rail’s New Lines study. The group, comprised of members ranging from PTEs and regional development agencies to Network Rail, the Association of Train Operating Companies and BAA, will take forward a £750,000 programme to develop a HSR network strategy for Great Britain. Delivered by principal

The Liberal Democrats oppose returning the rail network to direct state control, but they believe that local government should have greater powers over bus networks. Speaking at a Transit/Go Ahead-sponsored fringe meeting at last week’s Liberal Democrat Party conference in Bournemouth, Norman Baker, the Lib Dem shadow transport secretary, said renationalisation was the wrong route to take. The Lewes MP told the meeting said that renationalisation would disincentivise the train operat

Public transport is about to enter a bright new era, according to Keith Ludeman, chief executive of bus and rail group Go Ahead. Ludeman was speaking a well attended fringe meeting, sponsored by Go Ahead and Transit, at this week’s Labour Party conference in Manchester. “I firmly believe we are at a tipping point,” said Ludeman, who has spent 37 years working in public transport. “I spent a lot of my early career cutting mileage,” he continued. “For 10

Award-winning Cornish independent operator Western Greyhound has announced that it has seen passenger growth of  18% on its network of rural bus services. Commenting on the news, Western Greyhound’s managing director Mark Howarth said: “Our passenger volumes have increased year on year by a staggering 18.4% across our entire network. This figure is for our ongoing business only and excludes the newly added routes which have yielded even further growth for our business.”

National Express East Anglia is taking measures to improve  the ticket office at London Liverpool Street station and enhance the environment for customers, as part of a £250,000 investment programme. Work has begun on new open-style ticket counters complete with displays, making it easier for customers to see which desk to use. They feature adjustable height-counter for those using wheelchairs or disability scooters; hearing induction loops at every ticket desk; and a new lighting

Stagecoach is seeing full year passenger growth of over 14% on its upmarket Goldline bus route in Warwickshire, 12 months since the concept was first test launched there and in the group’s home patch of Perth. Research and development manager Elaine Rosscraig, was instrumental in the creation of the service. She said that the concept, which features specially designed vehicles and tailored marketing, was also having great success in tempting a small group of regular users from the A and

Chiltern railways is working up plans which would enable it to contest the London-Birmingham market more effectively and compete against Great Western for Oxford-London passengers. If delivered, the upgrade project known as Evergreen III would deliver a further increase to Chiltern’s franchise term. The new Oxford-London Marylebone route involves dual tracking and resignalling the Oxford-Bicester Town line and constructing a new quarter-mile chord linking it to the Chiltern Line. T

C2C, the British Transport Police and Network Rail took to the sky this month in a bid to tackle the rising problem of cable theft on the nation’s railway. Company representatives took flight in the Network Rail helicopter, which is kitted out with state-of-the-art crime fighting camera equipment. The camera includes a high powered zoom lens, a recording ability and infrared facilities, making it capable of identifying people attempting to hide. They flew along the entire c2c route a