BRITISH infrastructure manager Network Rail’s Thameslink Programme achieved a milestone on July 30 following the successful operation of a class 700 train through central London using European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2.

Coal was once the cornerstone of the British rail freight business, but changes in energy policy have triggered a steep and rapid decline in volumes. Keith Barrow looks at the prospects for the industry as it grapples with a seismic shift in the foundations of the market and uncertainty over Britain’s departure from the European Union.

LORAM, United States, has announced its acquisition of RVEL, the rolling stock engineering and operating specialist based in Derby, Britain, and now seeks to grow its customer base in Britain and Europe.

THE first trials with two Hitachi Rail Europe class 800 Intercity Express Programme (IEP) bi-mode trains under electric traction were conducted on Britain's Great Western Main Line on the night of July 16-17.

SCOTLAND's transport minister Mr Humza Yousaf has ordered an intensive review of Network Rail's (NR) infrastructure enhancement programme in Scotland after it emerged electrification of the Edinburgh - Falkirk High - Glasgow Queen Street line will not be completed until July 2017, seven months later than previously scheduled.

A £9m project to replace 66 separate passenger information systems with one national system called Darwin was launched across the British railway network on June 28.

BRITISH infrastructure manager Network Rail NR has awarded Alstom a £79m contract to resignal the 58km London Paddington - Reading section of the Great Western Main Line.

IRJ at Infrarail, London: Sir Peter Hendy, chairman of Network Rail (NR), outlined some of his thinking for the future of Britain infrastructure manager to Infrarail delegates.

Effective rail lubrication strategies play an important role in optimising wheel and rail life, but developments in rail and rolling stock technology in recent decades have shifted the goalposts for friction management. Barnaby Temple, head of technology with LB Foster Rail Technologies, explains how research into the issue in Britain is redefining top-of-rail friction management.

BRITAIN's infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) has formed an alliance with four companies to implement the Ordsall Chord project in Manchester now that the final legal challenge to the scheme has been overcome.