REPAIR programme for UK infrastructure
The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is almost ready to publish the results of its Rapid Evaluation and Planning Analysis Infrastructure for Railways (REPAIR). The programme is part of a drive to improve rail...Read more
Will rail freight play a role in UK’s blockage?
Pictures of queuing trucks, unable to leave UK freight ports are flooding the news worldwide. The situation caused by the attempt to stockpile goods before the 31 December Brexit deadline, worsened even more due to...Read more
3Squared working on Dynamic Train Planning for UK
Rail technology specialists 3Squared led a consortium earlier this year to a win development funding for a solution to help the rail freight sector plan short term paths more effectively. Dubbed Path Planner, it’s on...Read more
Proposals for Derbyshire rail freight terminal
Developers have secured a former heavy industry site situated between the cities of Derby and Nottingham, with plans to establish a rail-connected logistics park. The site is the disused Stanton Ironworks, on the southern edge...Read more
DB Cargo UK and NR put HVO ’66 to work
After extensive static testing of a class 67 at Nottingham, DB Cargo UK have been given clearance by Network Rail to test a class 66 locomotive fuelled with pure renewable Hydro-treated Vegetable Oil (HVO). The...Read more
A national investment strategy for rail freight
UK trade union RMT has renewed calls for the government in London to put in place a national investment strategy to fully support the rail freight sector. The union wants to see financial support for...Read more
Freight fears as Channel ports closure chaos descends on UK
Pictures of huge queues of trucks heading for the Channel ports of Dover and Folkestone have been all over he UK news all weekend. Now, with countries all over Europe closing their borders to UK...Read more
High-speed rail proposals for vaccine distribution in the UK
Rail could offer the best means of distributing COVID vaccines around the UK. With tens of millions of time-sensitive and difficult to transport doses to be delivered around the entire country, the best long-term solution...Read more
Network Rail responds to costs and consults on Ely project
Infrastructure enhancements around the East of England town of Ely are vital for east-west freight capacity and five passenger routes. This was said by Network Rail, the UK infrastructure agency. However, following reports of vast...Read more
Summer UK rail stats misty mix of disruption and resilience
The rail freight sector is fighting to maintain its profitability despite terrible trading conditions. The headlines from the latest official UK rail statistics make mixed reading. The government figures show a summer of disruption and...Read more
UK longer freight trains for longer term growth
A number of UK freight services are temporarily increasing in length and weight in support of the economic recovery after the pandemic. The longest trains, running at 775m, are in-line with the planned ambition to...Read more
These are the rail freight opportunities during COVID-19
Amid the disaster of the coronavirus pandemic, there are opportunities for rail freight and recovery. That’s the message from James Fox, co-founder and commercial director at rail technology specialists 3Squared. He says that the radical...Read more
New Brexit busting Liverpool – Mossend intermodal services
Partners in sea, ports and rail operations have launched a new service between Liverpool and Scotland, to help break Brexit congestion in the south of the UK. A collaboration between Peter D Stirling at the...Read more
Cemex rail moves two million tonnes across UK
The UK arm of concrete, cement and aggregates specialist Cemex has moved over two million tonnes of materials by rail in 2020, and still has a month to go. Despite the pandemic slowdown, the company...Read more
Is Ely the biggest cost overshoot in Britain?
Headlines of spiralling costs and massive overruns on a project to upgrade lines around Ely, in the east of England, fail to grasp the scope of the works planned. Minor improvements to the existing infrastructure...Read more
Intermodal trains forced to leave UK ports light loaded
Port and supply chain disruption has reached unprecedented levels in the UK. Intermodal trains leaving UK ports, including the busiest intermodal terminal in the country, Felixstowe, have been forced to depart with part of their...Read more