Small bridge replacements have big impact across north of England
A programme of bridge replacements have future-proofed reliability on a vital route, connecting from north of Crewe on England’s West Coast Main Line. This is the busiest mixed-use railway in Europe. Two adjacent bridges have...Read more
Services resume after Bradford fire
A huge line-side fire has disrupted rail services in and around the north of England city of Bradford for a full week. However, Network Rail has confirmed that a full train service is expected to...Read more
Major London derailment caused by track rot, says report
A failure to repair infrastructure seems to be the main cause of the derailment in London in January this year. This is the conclusion of the UK’s independent Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB). The accident...Read more
Sheffield recovering after derailment, still work to be done
Trains are running again through the partly damaged Sheffield Midland station northern England. Infrastructure repair works continued over the weekend so that services could partially resume on Monday. Last Wednesday, a slow-moving freight train conveying...Read more
Walking on waves to protect South West England
Network Rail and contractors are all at sea as work begins on the defensive works to protect a vulnerable coastal main line in southwest England. The sea wall at Dawlish, in Devon, is being hugely...Read more
Network Rail combats global warming
The UK infrastructure agency, Network Rail, is the first railway company in the world to set ambitious science-based targets to limit global warming. The commitments are independently qualified and quantified, committing Network Rail to cutting...Read more
UK requires brake checks after Wales derailment and fire
Look again at the maintenance arrangements for wagons that primarily carry dangerous goods. That is the word from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, the independent watchdog for safe operation of the railway network in the...Read more
Scotland’s oil capital reconnected today after summer derailment
The mainline south from Aberdeen is reopening today, Tuesday, 3 November. The city at the centre of the UK offshore oil industry has been blocked since August, when a passenger train derailed and badly damaged the...Read more
What does Wascosa’s wagon leasing deal say about UK rolling stock?
Lucerne-based Wascosa secured a major wagon leasing contract with Network Rail. The Swiss leasing company will supply 570 wagons to the UK infrastructure management agency. The order will be fulfilled by Greenbrier Europe, who have...Read more
Network Rail awards crossings contract overseas
Progress Rail, a Scottish head-quartered engineering firm, is in danger of closure. This is according to the Transport and Salaried Staff’s Association (TSSA) trades union. They say that Network Rail has decided to buy what...Read more
Optimism as UK rail freight stages recovery
More than 90 per cent of pre-pandemic rail freight traffic volume is back in operation. That seems like good news for the future says Network Rail’s Andy Saunders. The recovery comes despite a thirty per...Read more
Wales to nationalise railways from early 2021
The devolved government in Wales, which acts autonomously of the UK government for transport and other matters, has announced today that it will take direct public control of the entire rail network within the principality....Read more
UK’s oil line remains severed for another month
A month more is required to repair the line that connects most of the UK into Aberdeen, the centre of the offshore oil industry. All services have been suspended since a landslide and fatal derailment...Read more
Southampton port funding and UK Brexit ferry contracts
The UK government has handed a funding package to the South of England, around the Port of Southampton, for improvements to the local rail freight infrastructure. The port, best known for intermodal and automotive traffic,...Read more
UK Network Rail chairman to review ‘union connectivity’
Sir Peter Hendy, the chairman of the infrastructure management agency Network Rail, has been appointed by the government in London to examine transport links between the four nations of the United Kingdom. Under the terms...Read more
Network Rail adds to Transpennine improvements call
Network Rail plans to radically increase capacity at a bottleneck on a key rail route across the North of England. It is not the notorious Castlefield Corridor in Manchester – yet. The troublesome section in...Read more