Rail.co Latest News. 24th January 2012

Rail.co

• Stagecoach announces new rail division appointments
• Transport group Stagecoach has confirmed the senior management teams at its rail companies. This follows new South West Trains' Managing Director Tim Shoveller taking up his post earlier this month, and David Horne taking over as Managing Director of East Midlands Trains. The following management teams have now been confirmed: South West Trains Operations Director [...]
• Station receives $200,000 heritage boost
• Yarra Glen railway station has received a $200,000 heritage grant, Minister for Consumer Affairs Michael O’Brien and Member for Seymour Cindy McLeish recently announced. Mr O’Brien said the grant was one of 13 community projects around Victoria to preserve and protect significant heritage places and objects, with $500,000 of a total $1.13 million provided by [...]
• Crossing closures
• Network Rail says it has now closed 500 level crossings in Britain since April 2009. The company intends to close a further 250 by 31 March 2014. Many of these are user-worked crossings often connecting private land and are not public rights of way. Located in rural areas, many cross busy main lines. The barriers [...]
• Operation Tornado blows thieves off track
• A new trial scheme aimed at combating metal theft has been launched in the north east. Operation Tornado requires anyone selling scrap metal to participating dealers in Northumbria, County Durham and Cleveland to provide proof of identity via a photo card. The trial will last for six months. Lord Henley, Minister for Crime Prevention and [...]
• National Express completes station upgrade at Bury St. Edmunds
• The Mayor of St. Edmundsbury, Councillor Christopher Spicer officially opened the newly upgraded station facilities at Bury St. Edmunds on Friday 20 January. The £150k station upgrade has been delivered by operator National Express East Anglia (NXEA) as part of the Department for Transport's Access for All scheme. The station improvements include: Transformation of the [...]
• RMT suspends rail signal worker strike
• The RMT has suspended plans for strike action at the West of Scotland Signalling Centre this week, following ACAS-facilitated talks. 32 members of staff were due to walk out in a dispute over career progression. The union and Network Rail will instead ‘progress the union's grievance regarding appointing signallers on merit through the established collective [...]
• First Hull Trains £5m modification programme
• First Hull Trains has announced the beginning of a major mechanical and electrical modification and reliability improvement project on the company's fleet of trains. Part of a £5 million overhaul of the entire Class 180 fleet, along with those of other train operating companies, will go through a comprehensive programme to enable train operators ‘to [...]
• Network Rail plans to ˜form alliances" with train operators
• Network Rail has plans to form alliances with at least half a dozen train operators as it ‘looks to work more closely with operators and deliver passenger benefits more quickly’. Streamlined decision making and the delivery of a more passenger focused operation at lower cost are at the core of the move. Alliance framework agreements [...]