Martin Robinson

Reflections on a Railway Career In his final Keeping Track column, Chris Stokes reflects on a long #railway career, covering key changes in the industry including electrification, service frequency, devolution, freight, safety – and the way forward for Great British Railways.     Essential reading for rail sector professionals and stakeholders, the column can be viewed for free by clicking the link below: https://lnkd.in/eFzuehnc #Rail #GBR

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With the first 3 rail franchises selected for nationalisation in 2025. All have varying degrees of performance, is it right to take over the top performing, is it too soon or not soon enough? #rail #nationalisation #performance https://lnkd.in/dXyVncQH

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Today's rail headlines - #InTheNews: Impact of the cut of the Restoring Your Railway fund, All-Island Strategic Rail Review, works to upgrade a North London Underground station have been put on hold, and c2c (Trenitalia c2c Ltd) Secure Station Scheme. Listen here: #UKrail #railways #headlines

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Today's rail headlines - #InTheNews: National Infrastructure Commission Progress Review, extension to the scrapping of ScotRail peak fares, daytime tests on Metro trains, and LNER Azuma milestone. Listen here: #UKrail #railways #headlines

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Today's rail headlines - #InTheNews: Transport Secretary rail reform update, Great Western Railway battery powered trains charging trial, c2c tackling fare dodgers, Swanage Railway WiFi trial. Listen here: #UKrail #railways #headlines

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The Global Centre Of Rail Excellence is delighted to be referenced in a major new RSSB document: 'Guidance to railway testing and validation in Great Britain' published recently. The guidance provides a high-level overview of rail testing, offering information on roles and responsibilities in the industry, why testing is important and how and where testing can be carried out. It also points to key resources that those involved in testing should be aware of. As a site for world class rail research, testing and certification of rolling stock, infrastructure and cutting edge new technologies, the Global Centre Of Rail Excellence will be a facility unique in Europe in terms of the wide range of services it will provide. GCRE will significantly enhance the rail industry's testing and validation capabilities and support manufacturers, governments, regulators and infrastructure managers across Europe, the Middle East and beyond. You can find the guidance here: https://lnkd.in/eJNnFNDT #GCRE #GlobalCentreOfRailExcellence #RailInnovation

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'Do we really value our passgengers?'. This is the question asked by our RSSB colleague, Anup Chalisey, in this feature in Rail Business Daily. Read more here https://brnw.ch/21wO02c

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Today's rail headlines - #InTheNews: Report into stranded passengers on trains, wait to find out future for Portishead railway station plans, potential locations for GBR HQ, and first birthday for Thanet Parkway station. Listen here: #UKrail #railways #headlines

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🎙 Railway Industry Association (RIA) Chief Executive Darren Caplan joins us on the latest episode of the Rail Technology Magazine Podcast. 👀 Darren discusses the future of the UK’s rail industry under the new Labour Government, identifying a certain amount of continuity from the previous Government, including plans for continued devolution and the establishment of Great British Railways. 🚄 Darren also stresses the importance of targeting increased passenger numbers and revenue growth, despite a recommendation by the National Audit Office that the Department of Transport may have to dissuade people to travel by rail. 🗣 He also shows optimism for the future of the rail industry given positive global trends, and emphasises the crucial role that the sector has to play in achieving decarbonisation targets. Listen in full below https://lnkd.in/eVtibjyG Darren Caplan Railway Industry Association #rail #UKrail #HS2 #Government #GBR #GreatBritishRailways #investment #supplychain #decarbonisation #devolution #infrastructure

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On Friday the DfT ordered a review into the conditions at Euston station. While this appears an interim measure to alleviate the recent overcrowding incidents, it follows a statement from Louise Haigh who suggested they were working on a "permanent solution” for the station. Network Rail has in response released a 5-point plan to improve the station, covering: 1. Reviewing passenger information provision and circulation, including a shutdown and review of the use of overhead advertising boards 2. A review on how passengers are invited to, and board services, especially during disruption 3. Creating more concourse space and alleviating pinch-points, which will include more, and upgraded, toilet provision 4. Unifying station operation during disruption to ensure a holistic approach is taken for the benefit of all passengers 5. Driving up the reliability of both the infrastructure and train services to reduce disruptive events being experienced at the station As part of this, the £60m advertising board, which is the largest advertising display in Europe, has been switched off with immediate effect. In her statement, Louise Haigh said: “For too long, Euston station simply hasn’t been good enough for passengers. That’s why I’ve tasked Network Rail with coming up with a clear plan to immediately improve conditions for passengers. This includes a shutdown of the advertising boards from today to review their use. We know Euston needs a permanent solution and are working hard to agree this – but these immediate steps will help to alleviate some of the issues the station has been facing.” What are your thoughts on this? Will the plan proposed by NR have the desired impact? Let us know below👇

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Today's rail headlines - #InTheNews: HS2 contracts could be overhauled, RNEP, Norfolk rail services consultation, and Women in Rail Awards open for nominations. Listen here: #UKrail #railways #headlines

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Today's rail headlines - #InTheNews: HS2's rail systems contracts, railway repairs in Northampton after Storm Bert, Killingworth station, and Kemble Through The Ages. Listen here: #UKrail #railways #headlines

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🔵What Is the Midlands Rail Hub? The Midlands Rail Hub is a £1.75 billion rail upgrade project designed to transform rail connectivity across the Midlands region of England. Spearheaded by Midlands Connect and supported by the UK Government, this comprehensive infrastructure initiative aims to enhance capacity, reduce journey times, and improve services for both passengers and freight operators. Read More⤵️ 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ee94W2-e #MidlandsRailHub #RailInfrastructure #MidlandsConnect #UKTransport #BirminghamTransport #UKInfrastructure #RailInnovation

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Our Director of economics, finance and markets Will Godfrey will be discussing “PR23 and beyond: a platform for investment and a customer-focused railway in uncertain times” at the Rail Industry Forum 2024 on Wednesday 1 May. Find out more ➡ https://lnkd.in/epVWm8EY Register to hear Will speak on important topics such as how independent regulation has helped secure a clear set of outcomes in the face of the many changes affecting the rail industry. These are the regulatory outcomes that ORR will use to hold Network Rail to account over the next 5 years. #RailForum24 #rail #transport #events

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As an industry group, we will continue to push for a truly national HSR network in Britain. In our latest report ‘High Speed Rail: Exploiting the Potential’ we note the future capacity gap caused by the curtailment of Phase 2 of HS2 – and set out a five-point plan for the next Government that would allow the UK to begin the process of reversing the negative trend experienced across major UK infrastructure projects over the last few years. We urge the next Government to be decisive, consistent and imaginative, in order to rebuild industry confidence, not only in the rail sector but across the wide variety of areas HSR would help improve, or risk failing to realise the immense potential of HSR for a generation or more. #highspeedrail #hsr #highspeedrailnetwork #connectivitymatters #rail #railways #transportconnectivity #infrastructure #lowcarboninfrastructure https://lnkd.in/dnvpV_kr

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In our latest blog, Richard Hines, the new HM Chief Inspector of Railways, talks about the challenges the industry faces, including climate change and his collaborative approach to addressing these. Read: https://lnkd.in/eVBVFjqU

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Today's rail headlines - #InTheNews: Important step forward in new fleet of trains for Southeastern, new railway station could be built in Melton, HS2 Bromford Tunnel progress, and Jubilee line extension anniversary. Listen here: #UKrail #railways #headlines

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Culture change vital for Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) Railways to not be Network Rail 2.0, says chief executive The transition from Network Rail to the new #GreatBritishRailways (#GBR) must instill a culture change to avoid simply reinventing the existing organisation, according to its chief executive. Speaking at the Public Accounts Committee’s evidence session on 29 April regarding the current rail reform that is expected tot take place across the UK’s railway network, chair of the Transport Select Committee Iain Stewart asked Andrew Haines to make sure GBR does not become “Network Rail 2.0”. Haines, also Great British Railways Transition Team (#GBRTT) lead, responded: “I share that concern. “It would be a massive missed opportunity if GBR was some reinvention of Network Rail.” GBR will be a new government body that will also undertake an organisational role with the operation of train services too. It emerged from the William-Shapps Plan for Rail, published in May 2021, with the purpose of ending fragmentation and integrating the country’s railways. The conversation reflected comments made about the importance of similar culture issues that exist within Network Rail currently that must be eradicated in the transition of power. Network Rail’s new system operator group director, who has just returned from secondment at the Department for Transport (DfT), Anit Chandarana outlined how the transition itself has been trying to embed a significant culture change. He said: “I think it's worth taking a step back and saying that the culture we have in this industry is a function of how it is set up. “It's not just because there are bad people working in this industry. Network Rail has been set up for 30 years to think about assets or train operators who are very simply looking at revenue, and not the cost base. “That's what drives culture and the incentives. When we set up GBRTT, one of the things we have striven to do is to look at how do we bring people from the industry together that haven't worked across the piece “We've attracted people from across 17 different railway organisations from every owning group. “When we start putting people together, and they start seeing the full picture of the profit and loss statement (P&L), from revenue to cost to outcomes, they start taking decisions which are best for the whole system, rather than the individual parts of the system. “That begins to drive a different culture.” “If you look at the makeup of the transition team, we've got 52% of women in there, 26% of ethnic minorities and 5% of people with stated disabilities. “That creates a culture where decisions are taken that are much more representative of the customer base that uses the railways.” https://lnkd.in/dWBSHAbT

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