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TECHNOLOGY
Empowering Ticket
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Ministers have published their long-awaited consultation on rail reform, prompting a mixed response from industry leaders who broadly welcome the direction of travel while flagging key areas of concern. The 50-page document, released yesterday by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, outlines proposals for integrating track and train under Great British Railways (GBR), with industry stakeholders highlighting both opportunities and potential pitfalls in the planned reforms.
The freight sector has emerged as an early focus of scrutiny, with Logistics UK calling for robust mechanisms to protect access rights. ‘The Railways Bill must include robust mechanisms to protect fair access for freight operators and grow rail freight,’ warns Ellis Shelton, the organization's Senior Policy Advisor, who is pushing for GBR to produce annual reports to Parliament on freight access and growth measures.
Rail Partners Chief Executive Andy Bagnall struck a cautious tone, noting that while the government has taken responsibility through the Public Ownership Act, the consultation is ‘only the start of the process’ of addressing fundamental questions about performance and financial sustainability.
Supply chain confidence appears to be another key concern. Railway Industry Association Chair Noel Travers welcomed the commitment to long-term strategy but emphasized that ‘businesses supplying the railway need clarity and certainty’ to invest with confidence.
Coming to this month’s issue we’re focussed on ticketing technology and stations and I had the pleasure of speaking to several different experts in both areas. Starting with Anthony Smith of the of Independent Rail Retailers, who provides fascinating insights into how digital innovation is reshaping rail retail, particularly as we approach the establishment of Great British Railways. His perspective on the future of ticket sales and the vital role of third-party retailers could not be timelier, as the industry grapples with post-pandemic travel patterns and the push for more efficient, consumer-focused ticketing solutions.
The stations focus features in-depth conversations with Colin Bennie of John McCaslin and Partners, who shares his practice's unique approach to infrastructure and placemaking, drawing on experiences from Sydney to Belfast. We also hear from Andrew Woodward and Andrew Postings about their intricate work modernising Paddington Station's ticket hall – a masterclass in delivering complex infrastructure upgrades while maintaining operations.
Finally, an extensive look at Bristol Temple Quarter's Southern Gateway project reveals how ambitious station developments can serve as catalysts for wider urban regeneration.
We also have features from David Smith, Sight Loss Council Engagement Manager at Thomas Pocklington Trust, Tom Wilne, Senior Programme Director at Jacobs, Richard Pill, CEO of British Regional Transport Association and an interview with Danny Patel, Managing Director of Avondale Environmental Services.
SAM SHERWOOD-HALE EDITOR
rail depots and infrastructure
(Alstom, Central Rivers Facility built by Cairn Cross)
In this issue
Stories from Network Rail, HS2, Alstom, and more
INTERVIEW
14 Sam Sherwood-Hale spoke to Anthony Smith about the future of rail retail, exploring how digital innovation, changing consumer behaviour, and new governance structures are reshaping ticket sales across Britain's railways
20 Sam Sherwood-Hale spoke to Danny Patel, Managing Director of Avondale Environmental Services, about the company's innovative approach to railway maintenance, their specialist tunnel washing capabilities, and the challenges facing SMEs in the rail sector
InterCity and Regional Franchises show
29 LAYING DOWN THE
Court of
VIEWPOINT
Forward-thinking solutions to violence against women and girls
Richard Pill, CEO of British Regional Transport Association (BRTA), on why the East West Rail consultation's single route option between Bedford and Tempsford risks missing opportunities for better local connectivity and value for money
NIS Group secures 500 new jobs with the launch of Transport, Rail and Infrastructure Academy in Aston
VIEWPOINT
A look back at the human factors lessons learnt from Ladbroke Grove
VIEWPOINT
An essential pairing for major rail programme delivery by Tom Wilne, Senior Programme Director at Jacobs
Sam Sherwood-Hale spoke to Colin Bennie, Director at John McAslan + Partners about how the practice approaches infrastructure and railways with a unique perspective that extends beyond engineering to embrace placemaking and urban renewal
21st
46 STATIONS
David Smith, Sight Loss Council Engagement Manager at Thomas Pocklington Trust, describes how regional groups of blind and partially sighted people are working with transport operators to ensure inclusivity
50 IN CONVERSATION
Jenny Dempsey, Managing Director at Diamond Rail Services
53 STATIONS
Bristol Temple Quarter's Southern Gateway
57 IN CONVERSATION
Dave Watson Managing Director at HAHN Plastics and Byron Summers Managing Director at The Railway Shop
60 STATIONS
As Britain's railways celebrate their bicentenary year, an unprecedented wave of station improvements and developments is transforming the network
63 STATIONS
Sam Sherwood-Hale spoke Andrew Woodward of WSP and Andrew Postings of Scott Brownrigg about the intricate process of modernising Paddington Station’s ticket hall while maintaining operations
& SECURITY
The transport sector’s confidential safety hotline, CIRAS can help you listen in new ways and hear unheard voices
70 IN CONVERSATION
Dr. Nadine Artelt CEO of Saarstahl Rail
74 IN CONVERSATION
Bastian Thiel, Business Development Manager at Technotrans SE
78 IN CONVERSATION
Nick Koiza, Chief Executive Officer at Smart Component Technologies Ltd
81 IN CONVERSATION
Tim Jenkins, Non-Executive Director at Assenta Rail
BUSINESS PROFILES
83 DCA Design
Velociti Solutions
Maccaferri
90
PEOPLE
Jim Hartshorne, Carol Rose-Burke, Dr David McGorman, Richard Gifford, Damian Joseph Bridgeman, Mark Cutter, Carly Danesh Jones, Mary Doyle, Paul Finnegan, Dr Miro Griffiths, Prof Mari Martiskainen, Rachael Mole, Ruth Murran, Maral Nozratzadeh, David Sindall, Zamila Skingsley, Edward Trewhella, Rachael Everard, James Arnott
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AtkinsRéalis Appointed to Deliver Network Rail Property Digital Programme
AtkinsRéalis, a world-class engineering services and nuclear company with offices around the world, has been appointed by Network Rail to lead its ambitious Property Digital Programme, managing the digital systems essential to the operations of one of the largest property portfolios in the UK.
AtkinsRéalis will take on a system integrator role over the next three years to manage and upgrade the digital architecture of Network Rail's property division, including lease management, data analysis, point of sale and digital asset management. With 600,000 square feet of prime retail space across major towns and cities, Network Rail Property manages a significant and complex portfolio comprising 19 of the UK’s largest and most iconic stations along with 39,000 properties, 78,000 rental spaces, and 9,000 tenants.
AtkinsRéalis will be responsible for delivering a comprehensive programme of digital solutions, including running a sophisticated Property Digital Hub which provides end-to-end management of the entire property portfolio. The company will introduce innovative technologies, such as upgrading the retail customer footfall and heatmapping system which provides insights into station usage patterns of the 700 million people who use Network Rail’s destination stations annually. Additionally, the programme encompasses the procurement and management of critical IT systems that will support Network Rail's property operations.
Colette Carroll, AtkinsRéalis Managing Director for Transportation in the UK, said: ‘Network Rail is always seeking ways to maximise the value of its property portfolio to deliver positive experiences to both retailers and passengers, and robust
digital systems and informative data are essential to this goal. Our appointment builds on our longstanding relationship with Network Rail and recognises our unique ability to integrate engineering, asset management, and digital delivery in passenger environments with safety considerations. We look forward to helping Network Rail evolve its property management systems and data to meet the future needs of its customers.’
Hamish Kiernan, Commercial Director, Network Rail Property, said: ‘We’re committed to delivering positive experiences not only for our passengers and customers, but also for our partners. Working with AtkinsRéalis, we will be able to drive efficiencies and increase revenue which is reinvested back into the railway. The new systems and processes we will develop together will bring significant improvements for our tenants, and enable us to work simpler and better.’
Drawing on extensive experience in asset management, including previous work with critical infrastructure such as Heathrow, AtkinsRéalis will bring scalable innovation and draw on its international capabilities for Network Rail Property. This represents AtkinsRéalis’ first opportunity to manage digital systems for a digital property portfolio of this magnitude.
Network Rail’s Property Digital Programme aims to support its vision of creating ‘Destination Stations’ by implementing operational, technological, financial, and process improvements to generate new and increased revenue while maintaining the highest safety standards.
Kim Johnson MP Explores Rail Innovation at RS Clare
Kim Johnson MP recently visited Liverpool based RS Clare, the specialist manufacturer of advanced lubricants and highperformance greases to multiple industries including the railways. The visit was part of the Railway Industry Association’s (RIA) Rail Fellowship Programme, an initiative designed to give politicians a deeper understanding of the work of companies across the UK rail supply chain.
During the visit, the Liverpool Riverside MP gained insight into RS Clare’s
investment in innovative products and application equipment which support the rail industry. She also heard how the company’s acquisition of Swiss based rail lubrication firm Igralub in 2023 was transforming the business and its ability to meet the evolving needs of the rail sector across the UK.
The MP also toured the Liverpool site and facilities including the Technical Centre and laboratory, where she saw the company’s cutting-edge research and development processes. Mrs Johnson met employees from across the business shared details of RS Clare’s ongoing projects and future investment plans.
Kim Johnson MP said: ‘I was thrilled to visit RS Clare, a cornerstone of Liverpool’s industrial heritage and one of the city’s oldest firms, with 277 years of history. What stood out to me was their impressive ability to blend tradition with innovation, creating cutting-edge products that meet the
demands of a rapidly evolving rail industry. Their forward-thinking approach reflects a deep understanding of the need to adapt and thrive in changing times. After an insightful and detailed tour, I have every confidence that RS Clare will remain a vital part of Liverpool’s economy, driving progress, creating jobs, and contributing to our city’s prosperity for generations to come.’
David Meadows, Managing Director at RS Clare said: ‘We were delighted to welcome Kim Johnson MP and James McGowan, RIA to our Liverpool facility today and showcase the hard work, investments and innovation driving our success in the rail industry. Their visit highlights the importance of collaboration between business and Government to drive growth and opportunity within the rail sector.’
Ross Walker Business Engagement Manager at RIA North said: ‘Today’s visit is a reminder of the superb innovation and research and development across the UK rail supply chain. RS Clare’s long-term investment in jobs and skills supports growth not just in Liverpool and the North West of England but their products and applications help deliver a better performing railway across the UK.’
Design a Railway Station Awards Celebrate Creativity and Innovation
Walsall Football Club played host to an inspiring day of celebration at the Design a Railway Station Awards Ceremony. The competition challenged over 100 students from across the West Midlands and Black Country to envision the railway station of 2030—free from budget constraints. This initiative encouraged participants to think big, push the boundaries of innovation, and design the future of rail travel.
The competition attracted a diverse group of students from SEN and mainstream schools and colleges, including:
• Halesbury School
• Wolverhampton College
• Penn Fields School
• Baginton Fields Academy
• Calshot Primary School
• Hive College
• Phoenix Collegiate
• Tettenhall Wood School
• King Edward VI Aston School
Judging such a wealth of creativity was no small task. The esteemed panel included representatives from the West Midlands Combined Authority Careers Hub, Women in Rail, and leading organisations in the rail sector such as Balfour Beatty, RSS Infrastructure, Midlands Rail Alliance, Tended, Young Rail Professionals, Network Rail, and West Midlands Trains. Their collective expertise helped select the most visionary designs, highlighting the ingenuity and problem-solving skills of young minds.
A highlight of the event was a surprise appearance by Perry the Bull, the beloved mascot from the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Perry delighted attendees and congratulated the students on their remarkable achievements, adding an extra layer of excitement to an already memorable day.
Monica Barbosa, Client Services Director at RSS Infrastructure, expressed her pride in the competition’s impact: ‘This competition has been a shining example of what happens when we encourage young people to think beyond limits and dream big. Their designs were imaginative, forward-thinking, and a real testament to the talent we have in the region. Well done to all the participants –you have made us incredibly proud! I can’t wait to see what next year brings.’
Leanda Waring, Community Manager at Auctus Management Group, echoed these sentiments: ‘What a fantastic showcase of creativity and innovation! It’s inspiring to see young minds pushing boundaries and
coming up with such imaginative ideas. This competition truly highlights the incredible talent on display. Congratulations to all the participants – you've set the bar high! We are looking forward to seeing what the next competition brings.’
The Design a Railway Station Awards provided students with an opportunity to showcase their creativity and served as a valuable platform to engage with the rail industry. The competition underscored the importance of innovation and imagination in shaping the future of transport while celebrating the incredible potential of the next generation.
Booth Secures Additional HS2 Contract
Bolton-based Booth Industries, part of Avingtrans PLC’s Advanced Engineering Systems (AES) division has started 2025 on the right foot with a new £4.5 million contract to supply pressure-rated fire doors for HS2.
The contract builds on Booth Industries’ existing presence on the project, having
previously secured a £36 million contract in September 2020 to provide cross passage doors for the London to West Midlands phase of the route.
Booth will begin mass production of the cross-passage sliding doorsets in its 600m², state-of-the-art production cell towards the end of 2025. Designed to meet a CO2
emission rate of 38.2kg/CO2/m2, the new facility uses a variety of thermal, lighting and energy-saving advances to improve the energy efficiency of the building and limit CO2 emissions.
The new contract will also be fulfilled in this advanced production facility, with the first doorsets scheduled for delivery in 2026.
Parcel Lockers Introduced at Stations Across Scotland
Quadient a global automation platform powering secure and sustainable business connections, announces a partnership with ScotRail to deploy Parcel Pending by Quadient automated lockers across Scotland’s rail network. ScotRail, Scotland’s national rail operator, is enhancing its passenger experience and operational efficiency with the installation of parcel lockers in its stations.
Provided by Quadient, the state-of-the-art lockers simplify parcel delivery and collection, providing passengers with a convenient, 24/7 secure, and contactless service that seamlessly integrates into their travel routines. Quadient operates a rapidly growing network of smart lockers designed to streamline deliveries and returns for major carriers, including Royal Mail, DPD, Evri, and UPS. These lockers also provide services beyond parcels, such as hassle-free key drop-offs through Keynest.
By partnering with Quadient, ScotRail leverages innovative technology to meet growing demand for flexible and efficient parcel solutions. This initiative also supports sustainability efforts by reducing the carbon footprint associated with traditional delivery
methods, optimising logistics, and decreasing last-mile emissions.
Derek Murray, Advertising, Media & Contracts Manager said: ‘Scotland’s Railway is so much more than running trains from A to B. At ScotRail, we aim to support local communities, innovate with customer-focused services, and we are always looking at ways to make life easier for our customers and add value to their journey.
The introduction of Quadient parcel lockers allows customers to combine their commute with the convenience of parcel collection and drop-off, saving time and reducing the hassle. This partnership strengthens our offering as a modern, customer-centric rail service.’
‘ScotRail plays a vital role in connecting people and places across Scotland’ said Katia Bourgeais Crémel, EVP Lockers Automation Europe at Quadient. ‘Our lockers provide an invaluable link between carriers, retailers, and consumers, fostering a seamless and flexible approach to parcel logistics. We proudly contribute to ScotRail’s commitment to serving Scotland’s communities while promoting sustainable practices.’
Alstom Expands Technical Support and Spares Supply Contract with GTR
Alstom has signed a £24.5 million variation contract with passenger operator Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to help reactivate a fleet of 30 Class 379 trains. The Electrostar trains will be used by the UK’s largest railway franchise on their Great Northern network, connecting London King’s Cross with Cambridge, Peterborough and King’s Lynn. The fleet was acquired by Porterbrook from Akiem in March 2024.
As part of the variation contract under the current Technical Support and Spares Supply Agreement (TSSSA), Alstom has been providing both engineering and ontrain technical support to ensure the first units could enter service as soon as possible. Their reactivation underscores the growing confidence in rail travel post-pandemic and the industry’s focus on delivering reliable, passenger-focused services.
The Class 379 trains are also be the first GTR fleet to utilise Alstom’s HealthHub webbased platform that analyses and displays all the data captured by the train. Every 30 seconds, a train will send data on more than 200 parameters – everything from the speed of the train to the temperature inside the carriages, to the GPS coordinates that give its location. This provides real-time monitoring that alerts the team if there is anything wrong with the train or supports to prevent incidents happening in the future.
The first trains entered service on Monday 10 February (379002 and 379022)
and will initially be used on a number of Great Northern services to and from Letchworth Garden City. Several new roles are being supported by the variation contract, with work being carried out at existing Alstom sites, including its historic Crewe Works. Home to Alstom’s UK Centre of Excellence for Bogie and Traction Motor Overhaul, the Crewe facility has overhauled over 20,000 bogies – which house the train’s wheelsets – during the past ten years for the UK rail market. The site is now be responsible for overhauling the Class
379 bogies, alongside heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units for the GTR trains.
The original TSSSA was signed between Alstom and GTR in October 2022 for around £256 million, with a duration that aligns with the length of the operator’s National Rail Contract. This saw Alstom continue to support the Derby-built Class 377 and Class 387 Electrostar fleets in operation on Southern, Gatwick Express and Great Northern services into London’s Victoria and King’s Cross stations.
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Nearly 80 Per Cent of EMR Tickets
The number of customers using digital tickets on East Midlands Railway (EMR) services has hit a record high, with the latest figures showing an uptake of nearly 80 per cent. The figures, which cover the period from Sunday, 5 January 2025, to Saturday, 1 February 2025, show that 79.90 per cent of all tickets bought were digital, with customers opting for the convenience of purchasing tickets on their own devices.
Digital train tickets offer several benefits compared to traditional paper tickets. Firstly, they are more convenient, as they can be easily purchased, stored, and accessed on customers' smartphones or other
Now Paper-free™
digital devices. There is no need to visit a physical ticket office or wait for tickets to be delivered by post. Digital tickets also reduce the risk of losing or forgetting paper tickets, as they are securely stored in a digital wallet or email.
Furthermore, digital train tickets are environmentally friendly, as they help to reduce paper usage and waste. They also provide greater flexibility, allowing passengers to access their tickets at any time without the worry of carrying physical copies. Lastly, digital tickets can often be exchanged or refunded online, providing added convenience for travellers.
As part of a joint investment with Northern, the new wheel lathe at the Allerton TrainCare Centre will make train maintenance more efficient. The machine, affectionately named ‘Tina’, after the Proud Mary singer, allows for the reshaping, balancing and repairing of wheels without
needing to remove them from trains, minimising disruption to passenger services. In collaboration with Northern, Network Rail has introduced this advanced wheel lathe to ensure the smooth operation of the train fleet, making sure train ‘wheels keep on turning’ seamlessly. The work to
bring the wheel lathe into service began in September 2023, with Network Rail contributing £6.8 million as part of the joint investment with Northern. This upgrade continues Allerton Depot’s history of wheel lathe use, dating back to the 1950s.
Project to Restore Historic West Highland Line Viaduct Completed
Network Rail has completed a £3.5 million project to refurbish Awe viaduct near Taynuilt on the Oban branch of the West Highland Line. The three-span wrought iron viaduct, completed in 1879, carries the railway to Oban over the River Awe, south of Taynuilt. Work began in Summer 2024, with engineers replacing the existing timber deck which supports the track. The old paint was removed to allow repairs to the structure to be carried out. Once repairs were complete, the viaduct was repainted. This work will extend the life of the viaduct and help Network Rail to run a safe and reliable railway.
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Anthony Smith
Chair of Independent Rail Retailers
Anthony Smith was the voice of Britain’s transport users for almost 25 years as Chief Executive of Transport Focus and its predecessor bodies since 1999 until stepping down to take over as Chair of Independent Rail Retailers (IRR) in January last year. Established in 2017, the IRR is the membership and lobbying group representing Britain’s independent ticket retailers, together responsible for over £5 billion in ticket sales each year.
Sam Sherwood-Hale spoke to Anthony Smith about the future of rail retail, exploring how digital innovation, changing consumer behaviour, and new governance structures are reshaping ticket sales across Britain's railways
SSH: In November last year, you took part in Transport Ticketing Global's Travel & Transport Payment Week digital edition seminar. During the panel discussion, you mentioned that passengers have ‘voted with their feet’ regarding third-party retail apps and split ticketing. Given the recent Great British Rail Sale where independent retailers accounted for 66 per cent of tickets sold despite having a smaller market share, what does this tell us about the future of rail retail?
AS: With the announcement that Great British Railways is going to be selling its own tickets, the future for the retail market is going to be very competitive and consumer-focused. It's going to be led by the quality of service that any provider can give to consumers, which I think will be very good for passengers because they're going to have a choice. In an area of the railway that's becoming more publicly owned, consumers can still exercise choice where there's a chance to demonstrate innovation, technology prowess and use of data. I think the future's very bright.
Our members are perfectly incentivised to increase sales and keep costs under control. Given the commission envelope they have at the moment, which is five per cent going down to 4.5 per cent on a lot of retail sales, that's a pretty efficient cost of sale. The public sector comparator is going to have to be pretty good to compete with that.
The future licensing regime will be very important – how licenses to sell tickets are granted will be crucial to ensure parity of access between different parts of the industry. The government's statements about the ongoing involvement of private sector retailers are very positive, and there's going to be a consultation about how the retail market could work in the future. This will run alongside the Great British Railways legislation consultation, which must be out quite soon. That's an opportunity to shape the market to really go for growth, so we've got a rail industry with a retail front end that's absolutely focused on growth, keeping costs down, and trying to fill those empty seats.
SSH: What involvement will the IRR and your members have in that consultation?
AS: It's a very big opportunity to restate what our members would like to see in terms of the retail market's future. The fact that conversation is going on is very welcome and gives some flesh to the notion that the
private sector is going to be involved in the vanguard of this and not just told what to do. I think that's a very sensible decision because the private sector can be creatively deployed to really help drive innovation and the use of data, really pushing sales.
We expect to be very heavily involved and are ready to play our part, but very much in terms of partnership and trying to build this up in a way that benefits the rail industry and our members, but most of all ensures passengers benefit by getting the best value for money tickets and the best service they can from app providers or online providers.
SSH: In your previous interview with us, you discussed the importance of station staff being visible rather than confined to ticket offices. On the panel, you emphasised that complexity must be hidden from consumers while maintaining human contact. How do you envision balancing these aspects as digital ticketing continues to grow?
AS: I think the advance of digital ticketing really helps clarity at time of purchase. The fact that you can get far more information into an app, giving people access to more information about what they're buying, should reduce some of the conflicts we've seen recently on the front line.
There have been some very high-profile cases about people with railcards who've got the wrong ticket and been prosecuted. While digital doesn't eliminate these issues entirely, it reduces the chances because you can get more consistent information to people in a very clear format.
Nobody wants conflict between staff and passengers on the front line – it's very negative and really bad for staff to have to deal with. They should be checking somebody's ticket and it should be clear: you've bought the right ticket, you're on the right train, end of story. Anything that digital can do to reduce that complexity will be very welcome. Our members are currently very heavily engaged in reviewing the prosecution practices of the train companies to see if we can do even more to help smooth this out.
Most people are shifting to buying on their phones. People like the ease of being able to buy on their phones, and with that comes a great opportunity to make the process clearer. There can be improvements to the way that fares are presented without necessarily having to go through the nightmare of trying to clear out all the underlying complexity which has grown up
‘The future for the retail market is going to be very competitive and consumer-focused. It's going to be led by the quality of service that any provider can give to consumers, which I think will be very good for passengers because they're going to have a choice.’
over years. It's like airline tickets – they're complex, but the way they're presented isn't. The more we can move towards that on the railways, the better it will be for everybody.
SSH: The IRR's written evidence to Parliament suggests that around 400,000 discounted tickets went unsold during the previous Great British Rail Sale. You've advocated for more intelligent searching systems – could you elaborate on how this technology could help fill these empty seats?
AS: I think the current reservation and inquiry system we've got is a fairly legacy product which has grown up over time and is fairly limited in its functionality. What it doesn't really do is allow the rail industry to be able to sell itself. Rather than just retailing – where somebody turns up and says: ‘I want to go to Edinburgh next Monday at 10:00’ – selling rail is about saying ‘Have you thought of going to Edinburgh next month for £25?’ It's getting out there with a positive message and positive pricing.
The ability to have systems that support that and underlying reservation systems that are very flexible in the way that airlines and hotels have – Eurostar has it to a degree
– is what will drive investment in the future. Our members are quite happy to invest in that sort of development because they can see that it would help them sell more tickets. There could be some very creative thinking about the ownership and placing of a reservation system which perhaps mirrors more what the airlines have got – a kind of private sector solution that is invested in, makes a profit, and sells its services to all retailers, but allows this very positive longterm selling of rail. So that in things like the ticketing sale, you may be searching for ‘Can you go to Brighton on Thursday?’ but then the system could say ‘Have you thought about going next week? You could go much more cheaply.’ It's about pushing offers rather than simply responding to inquiries.
SSH: You've mentioned Transport for Wales' trial of the Payzone concept as an alternative to traditional ticket offices. Could you explain this and how you see this type of solution fitting into the broader future of rail retail?
AS: It's simply the notion that the more places you get your products placed, the more chance you've got of selling and the more accessibility there is for people to get hold of the right ticket. If you have one ticket office which is closed at various times, it limits that accessibility. Whereas if you had the ability to sell, possibly even a basic range of tickets, in surrounding shops, it's good for everybody. These shops tend to be open all the time, and if you go in to buy a rail ticket, you'll probably buy something else too.
It takes the pressure away from the station and members of staff having to explain things when people just perhaps want a very simple ticket. This frees station staff up to do other things, like guide passengers or help them with luggage. You've seen that sort of success with lottery tickets. Merseyrail have done a bit of it with some of their retail outlets, which I think has been reasonably successful. In terms of looking at the future and costs of retail, it might help lower some of those costs, and there's going to be real pressure on costs in future.
SSH: What other roles could station staff take on if freed from ticket office duties?
AS: The visibility of staff is very important. Passengers like to be able to see staff because it's reassuring and if they need help, they know who to turn to. In terms of accessibility and dealing with disruption, station staff have a crucial role in a crisis – people turn to staff, not technology. Being able to be more multitasking around the station also makes for a slightly more interesting job. They're there when they're needed, but when they're not needed, they can do something positive to help passengers and give the railway a more human front.
SSH: During the panel, you touched on the rise of urban multimodal fare ecosystems spreading from London. How can independent retailers help passengers navigate these increasingly complex transport environments?
AS: For a start, we now have the ability to do mobile pay as you go, which is quite exciting. There's no need to have the infrastructure that has previously accompanied pay-asyou-go type ticketing systems. The accuracy of the data and the pinpoint accuracy of phones allows you to do that sort of thing, which potentially avoids a huge amount of investment and physical barriers at gate lines.
I think while multimodal pay-as-yougo zonal systems are very good for denser urban areas, the case weakens the further you get out because there's an elasticity of price in some of those markets which isn't reflected in a kind of single one-price-fits-all approach. You need to be careful about that.
While it's great to have lots of islands of multimodal flexibility, you want to make sure those islands are joined in future. If you're travelling from Brighton to New Brighton, you would go through two islands of pay-as-you-go ticketing. You don't want to have to use three cards or three tickets or three bits of your phone – you want to be able to buy a ticket all the way through.
One of the things that came out of privatisation was so-called network benefits, where the network still works as a network because it is a railway network. Preserving that's very important.
SSH: There's a £2 billion gap between operating subsidy and income. How significant a role can enhanced retail capabilities play in addressing this financial challenge?
AS: I think they can play a very significant role in bridging that gap. Costs are only going in one direction on the railways –that's up – and anything you can do to bring in more income will just help the Treasury and others see the railways as an investment for the future rather than just being a subsidy drain. When the railways are competing with hospitals, schools, and defence, it's going to be tough in future. The golden age of railway funding has gone, and the railways are going to have to stand on their own two feet more, so the need to maximise revenue is going to become absolutely crucial.
SSH: What insights do your members have about post-pandemic travel patterns, and how are these influencing retail strategies?
AS: There are three major trends which our members are seeing. One is price sensitivity – the cost of living crisis is pushing people into buying more advance purchase tickets, going for split ticketing because it can offer
‘The golden age of railway funding has gone, and the railways are going to have to stand on their own two feet more, so the need to maximise revenue is going to become absolutely crucial.’
very good value, and trading down – so trading down from first class to standard premier or standard, trading down from flexible tickets to more fixed tickets.
There's a real cost sensitivity which I think the railway needs to be very alert to because people have more choice now about when they travel, how they travel, if they travel, and therefore it's much more of a consumer product. It's got to be the right product at the right price.
Business travel continues to be relatively depressed. It's picking up a bit but remains relatively depressed, and even within the business market, you are seeing a move away from first class and cost sensitivity. We're also seeing increased environmental consciousness – companies want to be seen to be corporately responsible, and therefore they are using our members to manage their travel for them, which gives them sort of a 'greenness' which they like, pushing people toward rail rather than driving, for example.
But underlying all this, the market's quite strong. Revenue is going up. People want experiences, they want to travel, they want to get around. You're seeing that with air travel booming at the moment. There's a market there to be had, but you've got to service it in a way that's quite different from before. You've got to have really good apps that really work, are really intuitive, and push people towards rail as a choice.
SSH: Could you elaborate on specific lessons rail retail could learn from aviation?
AS: I think there are two things. One is making the presentation of fares very simple. Rail does have a different market product in a sense because it does have flexible products, whereas with air you tend to be on the plane you're on and that's it, which does simplify things to a degree.
But it's the clarity of presentation and the ability to market air positively a long time ahead – as I said, selling travel rather than just retailing it. It's a very different mentality.
The airlines, being private sector, are totally incentivised to fill every seat because every time the plane or train is ready to go, costs are absolutely fixed. It's cost that much to get that train ready to depart at 8:00, therefore you must get every pound of revenue out of that investment.
The airlines have been very good at that over the years because they offer sometimes amazingly good value for money, which the railway can as well, but it's just got to be really alert to that in future.
SSH: In your previous interview, you referenced Airport Coordination Limited as a potential model for future governance. Given your panel comments about the value of passenger email data and the competition for it, how might a similar jointly-owned structure help manage data sharing between public and private sector retailers?
AS: I think it would make it much more transparent, so that everybody knew that if you wanted to have a license to retail tickets, you had to take part in data sharing and certain other activities which are for the general good. It would mean that the data was very malleable and very accessible so that all retailers could really think about new products they could bring to the market on the basis of very good quality information. And of course, it brings in private sector money.
The beauty of that is you're not tied to treasury investment cases, and could underpin the market in future. The way the industry's grown up is probably not the way you would start again. Now we have an opportunity to start again, and the ability to share data is going to be very important in terms of trust and building the services of the future.
There's obviously commercial value that goes with that data to a degree, and I think that needs to be carefully managed, but fears can be assuaged if everyone's got access to a basic set of data and core fares information that gives a very level playing field. That's all our members want – they don't want an advantage, they just want a level playing field so they can compete with Great British Railways, they can compete with each other, and then compete on the basis of price, quality of service, and how consumers like them. Because if you don't like one app, you can go and find another one.
SSH: Given your experience with the recent ticket office closure consultation, what governance structures do you think would best achieve this balance?
AS: I think what's absolutely crucial is independent licensing of retailers. At
the moment the licensing is done by the Rail Delivery Group – that's the way it's grown up over the past. But there's now an opportunity to get that licensing done by an independent third party, possibly the Office of Rail and Road. They will be granting licenses to train operators for other activities, and it would seem to make sense that they have that role in relation to granting retail licenses. With those licenses will come certain benefits and certain obligations, and everybody will be subject to them. This is a great opportunity to make that happen.
SSH: The IRR's parliamentary evidence mentions that your members provide ‘many of the retail services branded by train companies’. Could you explain how these white-label arrangements work in practice?
AS: The train companies at the moment, by and large, have their online presence provided by our members, with the exception of LNER which has its own platform. For example, Southeastern's web presence and app presence is provided by one of our members, On Track Retail. This white labelling, which is very common in tech, works very well and keeps costs down. It means there's competition every once in a while, for the provision of that service. Obviously, one of the big decisions Great British Railways will have to make is how it provides its own retail platform –whether it contracts it out and maybe one or two or even three providers provide it in future, or parts of it. It may choose to build itself a platform, but in terms of flexibility and long-term sustainability, I think the contracting out of that would seem to make sense, but that's a decision for the government.
SSH: You've noted that barcode e-ticketing was ‘essentially funded and introduced by’ the independent retail sector. As we see the growth of new ticketing technologies, what specific investments are your members currently making or planning, and what regulatory changes would help facilitate these innovations?
AS: There are lots of innovations happening around travel management systems, helping companies manage their rail travel in an easy and transparent way. There are lots of investments around constantly making the apps better to keep them relevant and usable by members. You constantly see the deployment of data to understand how people are buying and purchasing, repeat habits, etc., to try and get people the right tickets, and constant tweaking of the algorithms underlying the booking information so that you get people value for money.
Once that new landscape is clearer, that will unlock potentially a whole new wave of investment in retail products.
‘Rather than just retailing – where somebody turns up and says: 'I want to go to Edinburgh next Monday at 10:00' –selling rail is about saying 'Have you thought of going to Edinburgh next month for £25?' It's getting out there with a positive message and positive pricing.’
SSH: Your local station, Wandsworth Common, is ‘dominated by tap-in-tapout, pay-as-you-go Transport for London products’. What challenges do you foresee as PAYG products expand beyond London?
AS: I think the main challenge is making sure that you preserve the integrity of a national rail network. We've got this bizarre situation at the moment where you can't cross London with a barcode ticket on the underground – you have to show it at the gate and be let through. Hopefully in future you'll be able to move across the whole country with one barcode ticket which will cover all of what you've purchased. I think the technology is there, I think the willingness is there, it just needs to be some very detailed discussions with local authorities to make it happen and for them to think beyond their boundaries to make sure that the whole rail network still works as a network.
SSH: Do you have faith that all of these ideas and concepts that you and your members are coming up with are going to be put into action? Is the direction of travel the right one?
AS: Yes, I do. I think the government is being honest about its desire to consult. I think they understand the challenges and there's an absolute overriding need to get more people traveling by rail. There's a huge amount of detail to be gone through, but I think the direction is now set and it's positive – it's good for the railways, it's good for the country, it's good for passengers, and it's good for everybody. So let's get on with it and let's go sell.
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Danny Patel Managing Director of Avondale Environmental Services
Danny graduated from Westminster University with a business management degree. He developed his career across various sectors, including retail and facilities management, before joining Avondale. As former Operations Director, where he oversaw 900 employees, Danny gained valuable expertise in scaling operations –knowledge he now applies to Avondale's growth strategy.
Avondale operates from Fort Horsted, a historic Napoleonic fort in Kent. This unique site features extensive underground tunnels, some reaching 50 meters beneath the moat, and retains evidence of its military history, including firing positions from both World Wars. Accessible via a drawbridge and large wooden doors, the tunnels house most of the company's offices and boardrooms. Protected by English Heritage, Fort Horsted offers Avondale ample space for equipment storage, maintenance, and training, doubling as an impressive venue for client demonstrations.
Sam Sherwood-Hale spoke to Danny Patel, Managing Director of Avondale Environmental Services, about the company's innovative approach to railway maintenance, their specialist tunnel washing capabilities, and the challenges facing SMEs in the rail sector
SSH: Tell us about your journey to Avondale?
DP: My career has taken me through a diverse range of industries, each shaping my approach to business and leadership. After earning a business management degree from Westminster, I started in training and development, first with Virgin Holidays and later at Moss Bros. I’ve always been passionate about helping people grow, but I wanted to expand beyond training. That led me to run retail businesses in Brighton with my brother, managing DVD rental shops and off-licences – an experience that taught me the importance of adapting to shifting markets, especially when Netflix and other streaming platforms disrupted the industry.
Moving into facilities management was a turning point. At Just Ask Estate Services, I transitioned from having no experience in grounds maintenance to becoming Operations Manager, overseeing growth from £2 million to £27 million in revenue. Those years were invaluable in teaching me about client relationships, service delivery, and scaling a business.
Joining Avondale felt different from any of my previous roles. Here was a familyowned business that's been operating for 32 years but still has this huge untapped potential. While we’re already active in rail, highways, and grounds maintenance, there’s so much room to grow. It’s a blank canvas – but one where we’re committed to preserving what makes Avondale special: our family ethos and 24/7 dedication to service.
SSH: Can you tell us about Avondale's role within the rail sector and how the company has developed its specialist services?
DP: Avondale has been operating for 32 years, but we're still considered a small family-owned business with huge potential. We currently work across rail, highways, grounds maintenance, and local authorities. We're part of Network Rail frameworks for fencing and drainage in the southern region, covering Kent, Wessex, and Anglia, and we also hold a national contract for On-Track Plant (OTP).
Our approach lies in mechanised solutions, particularly our fleet of Unimogs – versatile Mercedes-Benz vehicles that we’ve adapted for rail use. These units can travel on regular roads to access sites before converting into rail vehicles at designated
entry points. Each Unimog is equipped with a front arm that extends up to seven metres, enabling us to cover substantial distances efficiently – typically completing around a mile of vegetation clearance in a single shift.
We have made significant investments in both our equipment and workforce, ensuring the highest levels of qualification and competence for track work. While we've seen strong results in highway verge maintenance and tunnel washing, our key objective is to secure more long-term, guaranteed contracts rather than relying solely on intermittent framework agreements.
SSH: You've had significant success in Wales recently. Could you tell us about that project and what it demonstrates about your capabilities?
DP: In January 2024, we delivered a presentation for Network Rail Wales, showcasing our full fleet of Unimogs and their attachments. As a result, we were awarded a six-week trial project near Wrexham, tasked with managing vegetation along a 28-mile stretch of track. We deployed four Unimogs – two equipped with mulcher and flail attachments for cutting, and two with chippers at the rear. Any cuttings left on the track were processed through the chipper, with the mulch returned to the banks to meet ecological requirements.
The project was completed within the six-week timeframe, achieving a rate of 0.8 miles per shift. This success drew significant attention within Network Rail, leading to our current twelve-week project in Wales, now in its fifth week. Additionally, we've just secured another five-week contract, with further discussions underway for more opportunities.
SSH: How do you manage the balance between cost and productivity when introducing these innovative solutions?
DP: When comparing cost against productivity, our solution proves to be more cost-effective than traditional methods, such as using a 360 flail arm for spot work. While there’s a perception that our approach is expensive, our high productivity rate actually makes it more economical than existing methods – the data we keep for analysis demonstrates this.
One of the key challenges in the Southern region is the restricted possession times due to London traffic. Unlike Wales, where we
‘Fort Horsted offers us a unique base – we can conduct training, showcase equipment to clients, and maintain our fleet all in one historic location. But we're now looking ahead to the future.’
get ten-hour possessions, we often have just two or three hours overnight. Since it takes 15 minutes to get a Unimog on track and another 15 minutes to off-track, that leaves us with only about two and a half hours of actual working time in a three-hour window. Our track record shows that once clients see what we can deliver, they return for more. The Wales project is a prime example – what started as a six-week trial expanded into a twelve-week project, with further work now under discussion. The challenge lies in securing that initial opportunity to showcase our capabilities and that’s why relationship building is so important.
SSH: You have a significant presence in tunnel washing. Could you tell us more about this specialised service?
DP: We manage 80 per cent of the highway tunnels across the UK, including major infrastructure such as the Blackwall Tunnel and locations like Lime Street in London. Tunnels typically feature white panelling or concrete walls with next-generation LED lighting, which requires proper reflection to meet safety standards. The standard requirement is 60 per cent visibility –while I’m still investigating the exact measurement method, our machines use a dirt scale with colour graphs to assess whether visibility falls below this threshold. After a wash, we can reduce dirt levels to around ten per cent, achieving 90 per cent light reflection.
Our Unimogs are equipped with advanced washing systems designed for tunnel cleaning. The front arm features a
‘No business thrives without a dedicated workforce and looking after them is essential to our success. While I'm clear on the vision I have for the business, it's our people who will help bring it to life.’
rotating brush, similar to old-style petrol station car washes. It applies detergent, agitates the surface, and then uses a highpressure spray for rinsing. For context, cleaning one bore of the Blackwall Tunnel from south to north takes approximately five hours, whereas smaller tunnels can be completed in just a couple of hours.
We continuously innovate to enhance efficiency. Recently, we've upgraded from 1.2-metre to 1.8-metre brush heads, reducing the number of passes required from four to three while maintaining cleaning quality. Additionally, we're increasing our water tank capacity from 4,000 to 5,000 litres. While most tunnels have fire hydrants for refilling, this upgrade will further reduce downtime and improve productivity.
SSH: How do you manage quality control and client requirements for tunnel washing
DP: We have effectively set the industry standard. Our process begins with a thorough pre-inspection to identify any loose panels or obstacles before work starts. We use pH-neutral chemicals and carefully controlled brush agitation to ensure tunnel surfaces are cleaned safely and effectively. Our method, reliability, flexibility and results set us apart from the competition.
Our approach is highly adaptable. A prime example is our work at Heathrow Airport, where the panel manufacturer initially insisted on a maximum pressure of 50 PSI to avoid potential damage. However, during trials, the operations director asked us to demonstrate our full capability at 150 PSI. The results were outstanding, with no panel damage, leading to us to potentially securing the contract for Heathrow’s three tunnels, which begins in April.
For every project, we provide detailed end-of-shift reports, documenting timing, chemical usage, pressure levels, and photographic evidence. With our tunnel supervisors on-site, we receive minimal complaints or quality concerns – our results speak for themselves, with tunnels visibly transformed from dirty to clean.
We’re also exploring opportunities to expand our tunnel services. In addition
to routine cleaning, we offer annual deep cleans using specialist detergents and high-quality brushes to restore tunnels to near-new condition. Our ambition is to identify sites without a structured maintenance programme or where current cleaning methods need to be delivered more efficiently or with better results which our newer technology allows capability for.
SSH: What would you say are the biggest challenges in railway infrastructure maintenance currently?
DP: We've had to ensure full compliance with RISQS audits and have recently completed ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001
certification. The industry is constantly evolving, with new regulations and competency requirements emerging regularly. However, one of our biggest challenges remains workforce retention and recruitment.
In housing grounds maintenance, formal qualifications aren’t typically required –clients mainly want assurance that staff are competent with basic equipment like strimmers and lawn mowers. In contrast, rail work demands PTS tickets and a range of other certifications to ensure high level safety and low risk to operators. While we invest heavily in training and upskilling our workforce, we often lose skilled employees to competitors or Network Rail, offering higher wages.
A clear example of this challenge was in Orpington, where after two years on the job, our entire team was recruited by Network Rail for better pay. Unfortunately, industrywide support for training and workforce development is minimal - it’s a highly competitive, dog-eat-dog environment where companies must bear the full burden of training, only to risk losing staff once they become qualified.
SSH: How do you approach training and development given these challenges?
DP: We have to be strategic in our approach. Through one-to-one meetings, we focus on understanding each employee’s career
aspirations and interests. Forcing someone into rail work when they have no interest would only lead to higher turnover. Some employees prefer to stay in grounds maintenance across other sectors, and that’s completely fine – we want to place people where they are most engaged and productive.
Training providers are available, but the challenge lies in negotiating rates and securing discounts for group bookings. Tier-one contractors have significantly more buying power, benefiting from apprenticeship levies and discounted – or even free – training courses. As an SME, we have to be more innovative in how we manage training, finding cost-effective solutions to upskill our workforce while remaining competitive.
SSH: How could the industry be made more attractive to workers?
DP: Communication is a major challenge. With Network Rail, everything tends to be last-minute – projects get internally approved, and then there's a scramble to put everything in place. There's rarely a clear strategy that accounts for resource availability, cost, or proper planning.
The industry required immediate deployment which isn’t always possible – if you can’t react, you risk being sidelined. Shift patterns are another concern. Currently, we're working Monday to Thursday, 40 hours a week, ten hours per night, which is manageable. However, our next project involves 13-day stretches. While it fits within fatigue calculator guidelines, we're suggesting adding breaks for our teams to rest and reset. It’s a delicate balance because pushing back on Network Rail's demands could result in them turning to someone else.
We have to carefully consider several factors – the work itself, our brand reputation, profitability all while ensuring the wellbeing of our staff. Working on track involves strict safety protocols, and we need to make sure we are providing the necessary support for our people.
SSH: You mentioned the slow adoption of technology in the sector. Could you expand on that?
DP: There’s a lot of technology available today, but resistance is common – Network Rail tends to stick with traditional methods. However, this is starting to change, especially with the rise of AI, which could help eliminate human error in inspections. For instance, AI technologies like ChatGPT or DeepSeek could process reports at the end of the day before they enter the CRM system, ensuring consistency and accuracy, but assist with data analysis and real time mapping.
The challenge isn’t just having the technology – we have plenty of mechanised solutions – but getting clients to adopt new approaches. When we showcase our capabilities, like we did in Wales, it opens their eyes to what's possible. However, securing those initial opportunities can be difficult.
SSH: Looking ahead to the next decade, what developments do you expect to see in railway maintenance technology and techniques?
DP: We're seeing growing potential for AIdriven inspections and automated reporting systems. However, any technological advancement must take the human element into account. We need to ensure that while we're enhancing efficiency, we're not compromising safety or overburdening our workers.
‘What started as a sixweek trial expanded into a twelveweek project, with further work now under discussion. The challenge lies in securing that initial opportunity to showcase our capabilities.’
The private sector, especially SMEs like ours, can be more agile in adopting new technologies. For example, we're always exploring ways to improve our Unimog capabilities, whether it’s larger brush heads for tunnel washing or more efficient vegetation management systems. But for progress to really take hold, the industry needs to be more open to innovation, particularly in the southern region where possession times are so limited.
SSH: Finally, what are your plans for Avondale's growth?
DP: First and foremost, we want to preserve our identity as a family-owned business while expanding our capabilities. Fort Horsted offers us a unique base – we can conduct training, showcase equipment to clients, and maintain our fleet all in one historic location. But we’re now looking ahead to the future.
We have a young management team that we’re developing, giving them valuable exposure to high-level client management and operations. While we currently have five grounds maintenance teams based at the Fort, we expect to grow to the point where
teams will be working remotely. This will require us to implement new processes for tracking timekeeping and performance.
One significant opportunity lies in housing contracts, which would provide more predictable revenue alongside our rail work. We’re actively tendering for long-term contracts while maintaining our existing frameworks with Network Rail and highways authorities.
The challenge will be managing growth without sacrificing quality. Each time we succeed with a project, like the one in Wales, it opens new doors. But we must ensure we have the right people with the correct skill set, training, and solid systems in place to maintain high standards. It’s not just about taking on every contract – it’s about achieving sustainable growth that aligns with our core values and service quality.
Above all, investing in our people is crucial. No business thrives without a dedicated workforce and looking after them is essential to our success. While I’m clear on the vision I have for the business, it’s our people who will help bring it to life. Whether it's through training, managing shift patterns better, or offering the right support, taking care of our team is key to securing our future.
by Chris Cheek
Summer Sun Shines on the Rail Market
InterCity and Regional Franchises show strong summer growth, but changing work patterns and ticket buying habits leave the rail industry's financial recovery in question
Demand growth in the British rail industry accelerated again during the summer: non-Elizabeth Line passenger numbers were 8.9 per cent higher than the same quarter in 2023, reaching a new post-Covid high. Including traffic on the recently opened line, growth was 9.1 per cent.
Overall, demand rose to 97.2 per cent of pre-Covid levels, according to National Rail Trends statistics, published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). However, without the Elizabeth Line, the recovery was limited to 86.1 per cent.
The provisional figures cover the second quarter of fiscal year 2024/25, finishing at the end of September: across the network, 433.1 million passenger journeys were made during the twelve-week period, up from 397.1 million in 2023. Between them, they covered 16.7 billion passenger kilometres, 6.5 per cent up, and paid a total of £2.98 billion in fares, 13.1 per cent more than in 2023.
Looking at demand by ticket type, advance tickets were up by 17.3 per cent, taking sales 65.9 per cent higher than before the pandemic. Anytime peak and off-peak fares were up by 11.9 and 7.9 per cent respectively, leaving them 18.9 per cent and 23.3 per cent ahead of the pre-Covid figure. Season ticket holders made 0.3 per cent more journeys than last year, but the 49.9 million total remained 64.2 per cent below the 2019 figure.
Aside from the Elizabeth Line, services in London and South East moved ahead by 8.2 per cent during the quarter, but even so was the slowest growing sector. Between them, the operators carried 243.6 million passengers in the twelve weeks, but
remained 16.9 per cent below 2018/19. Amongst individual operators, Chiltern saw the fastest growth on 14.6 per cent, followed by West Midlands Trains (12.4 per cent) and South Western (11.8 per cent). London Overground saw the weakest growth at just 0.9 per cent.
The Elizabeth Line carried 61.0 million passengers in its ninth full quarter of operation, 10.2 per cent up in the year, meaning that the line accounted for 14.5 per cent of the national network’s patronage in the July to September quarter, second only to GTR’s 18.1 per cent.
The long-distance InterCity sector saw demand increase by 10.9 per cent compared with 2023, leaving passenger numbers just 1.5 per cent short of 2019 levels. Cross Country saw the largest growth, on 17.8 per cent, 6.6 per cent below pre-pandemic levels. EMR grew by 12.3 per cent, taking passenger numbers 22.0 per cent above pre-pandemic levels. GWR advanced by 11.7 per cent to 91.7 per cent of pre-Covid patronage, this comparison handicapped in part by the loss of Thames Valley suburban passengers to the Elizabeth Line since 2022. Avanti West Coast saw 11.5 per cent growth, still 8.0 per cent down from 2018/19. LNER saw the weakest growth, up by 6.7 per cent on the quarter, taking demand to 16.2 per cent above its 2018/19 numbers. The freshly nationalised Caledonian Sleeper operation saw a second successive fall, this time of two per cent, taking the business to 10.9 per cent short of previous highs.
Amongst the regional franchises, total patronage was 10.1 per cent up on 2023 but remained 12.9 per cent below 2019 levels. Amongst individual TOCs, TransPennine saw the strongest growth, with passenger numbers up by 25.3 per cent during the
quarter, reducing the shortfall against their 2018/19 figure to just 0.9 per cent. TfW came next, advancing by 25.0 per cent, but still 18.8 per cent short of its 2019 figures. Northern saw a rise of 8.7 per cent in passenger journeys, leaving a shortfall of 9.8 per cent. Merseyrail saw growth of 5.5 per cent but demand remained 29.6 per cent down on 2018/19. Scotrail only managed a 0.6 per cent rise, even before the reimposition of peak fares last October, leaving it 12.9 per cent short of preCovid levels.
Amongst the non-franchised operators, First’s operations at Hull Trains and Lumo each saw double digit growth – eleven per cent at Hull Trains, taking patronage to over 54 per cent more than in 2018/19. Lumo achieved a hefty 20.3 per cent uplift. East Coast rivals Grand Central saw numbers fall back for the second successive quarter, but only by a barely perceptible 0.3 per cent, remaining 13.6 per cent ahead of their preCovid patronage. Competition from the Elizabeth Line drove patronage on Heathrow Express down for the third successive quarter, this time by 7.7 per cent. This left patronage on the premium route 35.2 per cent down on 2018/19.
Rolling year figures
The national totals for the twelve months ended 30 September show that, compared with the last pre-Covid year of 2018/19, the number of passenger journeys was 5.7 per cent lower at 1,675.9 million. However, excluding the Elizabeth Line, passenger numbers remained 16.4 per cent short of the 2018/19 figure. Passenger kilometres travelled were 10.2 per cent lower at 61.2 billion, whilst passenger revenue saw a shortfall of 2.7 per cent at £10,242 million. However, adjusted for inflation, revenue was 17.9 per cent down on pre-pandemic earnings.
As in previous quarters, performance varied between the sectors. Passenger journeys were still 19.3 per cent below 2019 levels in London and South East and 13.2 per cent on the regional networks but moved to within 2.7 per cent on the InterCity routes.
Comment
This quarter saw the change of government after July’s general election, and an immediate change of pace on rail reform, with legislation rapidly tabled to exclude the private sector from train operation before the end of this Parliament. Meanwhile, robust growth was achieved by the ‘ancien regime’ against a backdrop of faltering GDP growth and depressed consumer spending, as the country entered a prolonged period of limbo ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s October budget: as I’ve observed before, it is a backdrop that hardly presages a boom in demand for transport.
The rolling year patronage of total takes the network back to within 1.5 per cent of patronage levels in the June-September
NEWS IN BRIEF
INNOVATION IN RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION DEMONSTRATION DAY
The Global Centre of Rail Excellence will stage its second industry demonstration day at the GCRE site in South Wales this month. On Thursday 20 March, the Global Centre of Rail Excellence will be holding an Innovation in Railway Construction Demonstration Day in partnership with Innovate UK. The all-day event will be held at the GCRE site in South Wales. The event will showcase twelve ground-breaking projects that have come through the £7.4 million Innovation in Railway Construction Programme.
quarter of 2018/19 – even if a hefty slice of the recovery is down to the Elizabeth Line. To the casual observer, this should mean that the crisis is over, shouldn’t it? After all, when we were at this sort of patronage levels in 2015, the government was making an £800 million+ annual profit out of the passenger railway.
However, it is clear that, underneath the surface, shifts in the market have fundamentally changed the way customers use the network. As well as affecting the distribution of traffic across the working day and the days of the week, the changes have meant big shifts in revenue yields, so that the network is earning less money from the same number of passengers. At the same time, average journey lengths are shorter –12.9 per cent lower in London and the South East and 7.9 per cent on the long distance InterCity routes.
‘Demand growth in the British rail industry accelerated again during the summer, with nonElizabeth Line passenger numbers 8.9 per cent higher than the same quarter in 2023, reaching a new post-Covid high’
INNOVATION IN RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION DEMONSTRATION DAY
The Global Centre of Rail Excellence will stage its second industry demonstration day at the GCRE site in South Wales this month. On Thursday 20 March, the Global Centre of Rail Excellence will be holding an Innovation in Railway Construction Demonstration Day in partnership with Innovate UK. The all-day event will be held at the GCRE site in South Wales. The event will showcase twelve ground-breaking projects that have come through the £7.4 million Innovation in Railway Construction Programme.
Before the pandemic, season ticket holders accounted for 52.4 per cent of total demand on the railway. That’s 619 million journeys covering 16.1 billion passenger kilometres, contributing £2.7 billion in revenue, giving a yield per passenger kilometre of 16.65p in the year to 30 September 2018. In the year to 30 September 2024, the season ticket market share had dropped to 218 million journeys, just 22.7 per cent of the total, covering 5.4 billion passenger km and earning revenue of £874 million at 16.08p. That’s 67.4 per cent less revenue from 64.8 per cent fewer passengers, whilst earning 3.4 per cent less from each passenger kilometre travelled.
The number of anytime/peak ticketholders accounted for 36 per cent of passengers in 2018. That was 425 million, covering twelve billion passenger kilometres, earning £3.8 billion at a yield of 31.39p. In the most recent period, the number of passengers had risen to 534 million, but only travelled for only 6.3 per cent more passenger km, whilst the revenue had actually fallen to £3.4 billion at a yield of 27.00p. That’s 25 per cent more passengers but a revenue loss of 8.4 per cent and a yield reduction of 14 per cent.
Only two ticket categories show a real increase in revenue since the last preCovid year – advance purchase tickets and off-peak tickets. Advance purchases yield 13.01p, down by 10.8 per cent from 14.59p. Passenger journeys by this ticket type have rocketed by 72.6 per cent, but the growth in passenger kilometres has been much lower at 25.8 per cent. Revenue, meanwhile, has only grown by 12.2 per cent. Sales of offpeak tickets show a similar pattern, with a 21 per cent increase in passengers, but just 9.5 per cent in passenger kilometres. Revenue growth is restricted to 3.5 per cent, with yields 5.5 per cent lower at 16.26p.
The net result of all this is that, in the year to 30 September, the network carried 98.5 per cent of its pre-pandemic patronage, but only earned 82 per cent of its real-term revenue. The bill for the resulting revenue shortfall of £2.3 billion lands of the desk of the Chancellor, alongside the cost of supporting Network Rail and the cost of HS2. That extra bill for the passenger railway might only be 1.3 per cent of the annual NHS budget, but it is nevertheless unwelcome in the current parlous state of the government’s finances.
One of the many questions facing DfT and the new GBR board is whether that shortfall can be made up from growth in revenue before the axe falls on service levels and investment. It may prove to be a closerun thing.
Accessibility
we’re with you every step of the way
RSSB. Optimising safe and satisfied passengers
Millions depend on the rail network every day. But challenges remain: shifting demands, evolving safety concerns, and the need to enhance the customer experience.
At RSSB, we’re committed to empowering the industry to make rail safer, more comfortable, and more enjoyable for everyone.
We’ve achieved significant progress in this area, from new guidance for seat comfort, maximising capacity on the network, to enhancing driver awareness through improved adhesion information delivery, thereby reducing incidents.
We also focused on improving accessibility to critical information, such as trespass and suicide prevention resources, and enhancing the usability of health and safety data.
Discover how we’re supporting the industry in delivering an exceptional passenger experience.
www.rssb.co.uk/safesatisfiedpassengers
Network Rail and CIRO Celebrate the Launch of the Diploma in Initial Signaller Training Endorsed Programme
The Chartered Institution of Railway Operators Awarding Organisation (CIRO AO) and Network Rail are proud to announce the launch of the Diploma in Initial Signaller Training (IST) endorsed programme, marking a significant step forward in professional development for aspiring railway signallers. This innovative programme combines industry expertise with a rigorous and practical training framework, ensuring learners are equipped with the skills and knowledge required to excel in one of the rail industry’s most critical roles.
The 10-week IST programme, delivered at Network Rail’s dedicated regional training centres, blends comprehensive theoretical learning with state-of-the-art virtual simulator experiences. Participants are trained in areas such as signalling regulations, safety protocols, and effective communication. IST is designed to provide the underpinning knowledge in signalling trains safely and supporting the professional growth of those in railway operations.
Network Rail’s commitment to internal quality assurance ensures that its training meets the highest
industry standards. As a CIRO AO Centre, the endorsement and external quality assurance provided by CIRO further underscore Network Rail’s dedication to advancing professional excellence within the railway sector. This collaboration highlights CIRO’s esteemed position as the UK’s sole Chartered Professional Institution for Railway Operators, reinforcing its reputation for supporting and elevating industry standards.
Reflecting on the success of the programme, Justin Willett (FCIRO), Director of Operational Capability at Network Rail, stated:
“The Diploma in Initial Signaller Training (IST) represents an exciting step forward in shaping the future of railway operations. Our collaboration with the CIRO marks a pivotal moment in the professionalisation of our signaller colleagues. With this endorsement, the programme not only meets the highest industry standards but sets a bold new benchmark for excellence. By developing the next generation of signallers with technical expertise, and operational integrity, we are not just preparing a highly skilled workforce and recognising the professionalism of the role- we are
shaping the future of the rail industry and driving innovation across the network”.
Representatives from CIRO recently visited the second cohort of IST learners at Network Rail’s training facility in York to mark a significant milestone for the IST programme. The visit took place just ahead of programme completion, as participants prepared for their final exam. Team members from both CIRO and the Network Rail IST Product Development Team were in attendance to acknowledge the learners’ hard work and dedication. Nadine Schmid, Head of Awarding Organisation Centres and Quality Assurance, added:
“CIRO AO is thrilled to announce our partnership with Network Rail to launch this innovative endorsed programme. This collaboration marks a significant achievement, combining our expertise to empower the next generation of skilled professionals with the knowledge and tools they need to excel in signaller training. This programme stands as a testament to our ongoing commitment to advancing professional development within the rail industry and underscores CIRO’s mission to lead, inspire, and accelerate the growth of rail professionals, cultivating collaboration to support the success of rail organisations now and in the future.”
The IST programme builds on the success of previous CIRO and Network Rail collaborations, with further opportunities being explored to develop tailored training products that meet the evolving needs of the railway sector.
“The Diploma in Initial Signaller Training (IST) represents an exciting step forward in shaping the future of railway operations. Our collaboration with the CIRO marks a pivotal moment in the professionalisation of our signaller colleagues”.
For more information on CIROendorsed training or how CIRO’s Awarding Organisation can work with you to enhance your training programmes, visit https://www. ciro.org/awarding-organisation/ or contact ciroao@railwayoperators. co.uk.
Justin Willett (FCIRO), Director of Operational Capability, Network Rail
Above: Phil Sherratt, CIRO CEO, Justin Willett, Director of Operational Capability, Network Rail
LAYING DOWN THE LAW
by Martin Fleetwood
New Standards for Managing Tender Errors
New clarification on how a contracting authority should manage a bidder's mistakes in a procurement tender response
Given the public nature of the rail industry many contracts are awarded by way of competitive tender. In a number of cases the Invitation to Tender (ITT) may stipulate a number of requirements that the tender response must comply with in its bid. If these requirements are not met, the contracting authority issuing the ITT can decide to reject the contractor's bid. However, a recent Court of Appeal judgement in the case of Wellbeing Ltd Trading as Optima Health v (1) Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2) Department for Work and Pensions has clarified some areas where bidders may receive some relief from an overly strict interpretation of such requirements.
Limited errors saw tender rejected
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had used a mini tender under a Crown Commercial Services framework for a call-off contract to provide occupational health and employee assistance programmes.
Optima Health (Optima) was one of a number of bidders to respond. The ITT required a pricing schedule to be completed by the bidders as part of their submission. The ITT explained that any bids for a service line that exceeded the ‘Framework Maximum Prices’ would be ‘discounted’. When evaluating Optima's bid, DWP discovered that Optima had exceeded their Framework Maximum Prices in three out of 133 service lines due to not spotting some changes in a revised pricing schedule issued by DWP and by making some ‘cut and paste errors’. While the errors in question had negligible impact on the overall pricing score, DWP decided that they were not
permitted by the tendering rules to seek clarification of the errors as they would not be treating all bidders equally. As some Framework Maximum Prices breached the requirements, Optima was excluded from the competition.
Optima brought legal proceedings against DWP's decision. While the High Court agreed with DWP's actions, Optima appealed and the Court of Appeal (the Court) found in favour of Optima, deciding that: (i) DWP had not exercised its discretion properly by excluding Optima from the competition and (ii) failing to seek clarification of perceived errors in Optima's tender.
The Court considered that DWP was obliged to seek clarification in the circumstances and that common sense was required when applying the public procurement rules to ensure a healthy and fair competition and permit the proper evaluation of the tenders. The Court also warned against adopting a strict and over-literal approach which may lead to the exclusion of the best tender for no objectively justifiable reason.
Did the ITT provide a ‘mandatory’ exclusion provision?
In interpreting the ITT, the Court applied the test of ‘What would a reasonably wellinformed and normally diligent tenderer do in the circumstance?’ (the ‘RWIND tenderer’ test). This meant that the issue to be considered was not what the ITT meant, but whether its meaning would be clear to any RWIND tenderer. If part of an ITT was being relied on to disqualify a tender, the ITT ‘must clearly and transparently set that out’. In DWP's mini-tender there was reference to bids being ‘discounted’ and in the opinion of the Court the obvious meaning
Martin Fleetwood is a Consultant at Addleshaw Goddard’s Transport practice. The Rail Team has over 30 lawyers who advise clients in both the private and public sectors across a wide range of legal areas. As well as contractual issues, the team advises on operational matters, franchises, concessions, finance, regulatory, property, employment, environmental and procurement issues.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It is recommended that specific professional advice is sought before acting on any of the information given.
‘The Court warned against adopting a strict and overliteral approach which may lead to the exclusion of the best tender for no objectively justifiable reason’
of ‘discounted’ was ‘reduced’, not ‘excluded’ or ‘disqualified’. The obvious discount, or reduction, was a reduction down to the Framework Maximum Price. Prices should have been rebalanced rather than the tender being excluded.
Exercising discretion once errors have been noted
The Court then considered whether DWP could have sought clarification of the Optima bid. It set out a three stage process for a contracting authority to consider when addressing whether, in any given case: (i) a contracting authority has the discretion to seek clarification, (ii) when that discretion becomes a duty, and (iii) what the permissible limits are to any response to a request for clarification:
• Stage one – the error or ambiguity has to be (i) obvious to the contracting authority and (ii) material to the outcome of the competition. This is likely to be rare. If the error or ambiguity is immaterial or irrelevant to the final outcome of the competition, no further action is necessary.
• Stage two – if stage one is met, the contracting authority must consider whether clarification ‘should’ or ‘must’ be sought. The Public Contracts Regulations
2015 which governed this procurement expressly include a discretion to seek clarifications. Only the factual circumstances of a case can turn that discretion into an obligation. In taking action, a contracting authority must choose the least onerous option, which will usually be to seek clarification rather than to exclude the tender.
• Stage three – the clarification must be limited, both in the question(s) and the response. A bidder cannot use clarification to put in a new bid or make substantial amendments to the
Maximum Prices. Such an answer would not have amounted to a new bid or a substantial amendment to the existing bid.
Applying the tests to the Procurement Act 2023
While the Optima case was under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 the Procurement Act 2023 (the Act), which comes into force for new procurements from 24 February 2025, contains a similar right for contracting authorities to request bidders to clarify their tenders providing the principles of equal treatment and
• Acting and being seen to act with integrity.
They will, however, need to be balanced with a contracting authority's general duty to treat suppliers the same.
The facts of each case are important
While the Court's decision is helpful for bidders who have made an error in their tender submission, it also needs to be considered in the context of this case. The errors by Optima had negligible impact on the overall pricing score such that if Optima
RAIL LIFTING
JACKS & PIT EXPERTS
Kieran Mackie is the Managing Director of Amulet Security, an award-winning security provider with innovative and technical security solutions that specialises in the rail sector. Kieran focuses on fostering a people-centric culture and making a career in security an attractive position through training and personal development programmes.
Forward-thinking Solutions to Violence Against Women and Girls
Since 2021, violent attacks against women on Britain’s railways increased by over 50 per cent. Kieran Mackie, Managing Director of Amulet details how violence against women and girls needs to be tackled at every touchpoint of women’s journeys
‘With enhanced security protections in place, we can ensure that women and girls are safe not only on railway networks, but at every touchpoint of their journey’
Violence against women and girls: forward-thinking solutions
For many young people, going out at night is a regular part of their social life.
Unfortunately for young women, this often entails being followed, harassed, and treated inappropriately by strangers at every part of their journey, whether walking in the dark
after work, socialising in a club, or travelling on public transport.
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) refers to all forms of abuse including harassment, stalking, assault and homicide. Though men and boys also suffer from these forms of abuse, they disproportionately affect women – The National Police Chief’s Council reported that a woman is killed by a man every three days in the UK.
Recent data from the British Transport Police found that since 2021, violent attacks against women on Britain’s railways increased by over 50 per cent. On buses it’s not much different; only 41 per cent of women surveyed by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority felt safe travelling by night bus.
In the rail industry, as well as other travel networks and nighttime services, security needs to be more attuned to women’s needs. With enhanced security protections in place, we can ensure that women and girls are safe not only on railway networks, but at every touchpoint of their journey.
VAWG trial with the University of Cambridge
To target a reduction in the rates of VAWG, The University of Cambridge, Amulet and one of our train operating company clients came together in a landmark research
project that changed security measures in 10 stations identified as VAWG hotspots.
60 Amulet Travel Safety Officers (TSOs) were hand-selected and briefed on the project. TSOs are specially trained staff who deal with low-level nuisance and disorder and champion strategies that tackle VAWG. During the project, TSOs patrolled hotspots multiple times daily for at least 15 minutes, with a focus on visibility during evenings and weekends.
The TSOs were deployed at the target stations to increase security presence and were trained on how to identify potentially vulnerable victims, like, for example, excessively drunk young passengers, younger passengers travelling alone late at night, those travelling around nighttime economy facilities, and potentially aggressive passengers. Rather than focusing on arrests as the outcome of success, TSOs focused on the ability to provide assurance, support and deterrence dependent on the situation.
TSOs used handheld devices to record patrols and interventions. A tracking portal was also developed and accessible on mobile devices to monitor and assess all interactions in the project. The project ran for six months and thousands of patrols were conducted. The intervention resulted in a 66 per cent reduction in unwanted sexual behaviour. It was also completed without an increase in funding or resources, demonstrating how safety can be enhanced through strategic planning and reallocating existing resources.
Changing the perception of officers
An increased security presence is a promising way of reducing VAWG. But what if women still find the presence of men in authority positions imposing? Furthermore, an enhanced security presence may be helpful for one part of their journey like rail travel, but what about at the other locations they visit?
These questions were a key part of Amulet’s recent roundtable discussion, held with stakeholders from the rail industry, universities, corporate spaces and retail. Attendees discussed the future of offering support catered to making women and girls feel invited and safe in a security presence.
The group reflected on different factors, like parts of uniforms (such as anti-knife crime vests), stance, and body language that could make approaching an officer seem daunting for young women.
If that’s the case, their perception could become reality and eventually reduce safety across the nighttime economy. If women feel unsafe approaching officers for help, they are less likely to report any incidents. Reduced reports could mean that fewer officers are required on the ground, which could reduce the quality of services. In turn, that decline in service reduces profit and means there is less budget to allocate to safety.
One solution is the further implementation of TSOs. They focus on
NEWS IN BRIEF
WSP AND MOTT MACDONALD WIN EAST WEST RAIL DESIGN ROLE
Leading multi-disciplinary professional services consulting firm WSP, in partnership with Mott MacDonald (MWJV), has been appointed as Principal Designer for the East West Rail project. Plans for East West Rail (EWR) – which will connect Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford, and Cambridge – are progressing after the Government committed to delivering the railway in full in the Autumn Budget. MWJV’s appointment as Principal Designer (PD) underlines EWR Co’s commitment to safety, collaboration, and excellence in project delivery and will help drive forward the next scheme development phase of the programme to build a new railway between Oxford and Cambridge.
soft skills, an empathetic approach and communication. In Manchester, Amulet’s TravelSafe Enforcement Officers (TSEOs) for Travel for Greater Manchester’s Bee Network are now being implemented in a new night bus service to enhance their presence.
Amulet is one of a select few companies endorsed by the Police Crime Prevention Agency to deliver training for the Community Safe Accreditation Scheme. The accreditation gives TSEOs enhanced powers, including the right to take someone’s name and address. The night bus pilot stationed officers in routes near key nighttime employment sites, like bars, clubs, hotels, as well as hospitals and distribution centres. With a softer, more empathetic approach, women and girl’s perception of security officers can improve.
Looking ahead
The training of officers, their demeanour, and the spaces available for women to approach and report services at every point in the lifecycle of their journeys all need to be considered. Though schemes like Ask for Angela are used in nighttime economy spaces like bars, clubs, and more recently piloted in gyms and leisure centres, their implementation is only as strong
as the training given to staff, who are often not security personnel and may be inexperienced in emergency situations.
Increasing the awareness of emergency resources, home-safe cab services, and safety interventions funded with the Safety of Women at Night Fund can help women know where to turn to in emergencies. That could involve promotional posters and QR codes at more touchpoints and engaging with local communities to ask women and girls what would make them feel safer.
Another idea discussed at Amulet’s roundtable was introducing safe spaces for women at railway stations, where they could spend time in a private room, with services like phone chargers, water, and soft furnishings that feel inviting. Offering comfortable spaces like that could be the difference between a woman filing a police report or suffering in silence.
The roundtable concluded that though an increased security presence and the approach of officers are vital for reducing VAWG, so are the different measures taken and options available at every point of their journey – whether that includes a trip to the pub after work, travelling home in the dark, going out to a club, taking the train, bus or walking. Woman and girls deserve to feel safe, no matter where they go.
Is East West Rail's Northern Route the Only Way?
Richard Pill, CEO of British Regional Transport Association (BRTA), on why the East West Rail consultation's single route option between Bedford and Tempsford risks missing opportunities for better local connectivity and value for money
East-West Rail Recent Consultation and BRTA’s before, during and after views for a better approach to re-railing between Bedford and Tempsford.
In December 2024 to January 2025, the East West Company for an Oxford-BedfordCambridge Rail Link held a consultation across the regions the railway would serve. It presented one route choice between Bedford and Tempsford where the eastwest railway would meet the East Coast Main Line (ECML) via a segregated railway station interchange. The foundations of this Northern Route E were laid in a 2019 Consultation by the same company, but unfortunately the consultation failed to include the original route as an option for the public and turned its back on the route the East West Consortium had supported and worked tirelessly with from formation in 1995 until 2017.
A key factor in abandoning this longheld view of the route east of Bedford was the Office for Road and Rail (ORR) ruling against level crossings for new builds and reopenings of railways following several accidents. It is BRTA’s view that level crossings are safe if used properly and maintained adequately. Bridge design and underpasses incur much higher costs, as evidenced by lines like the March-Wisbech reopening, where the flat Fenland area faces intrusive bridges and spiralling costs, making reopening much harder.
The ORR ruling's deterrent effect on local rail reopenings is detrimental to the goals of modal choice and cutting congestion, with associated pollution and public health impacts. HS2 costs have spiralled due to similar design engineering considerations, setting back the reopenings agenda. This concerns BRTA, and we would like it reviewed with a more pragmatic approach and greater flexibility. While we understand 'special dispensation' can be considered, the terms and criteria remain unclear.
For example, on Bedford-ECML, Priory Park in Bedford entrance via the old route
would require a level crossing due to the road crossing a bridge over a river course at right angles to the railway. While a road bridge here would be impracticable, the ruling means all consideration of reinstating the railway was abandoned by the East West Railway Company and Consultation Process. This directs public view toward the Northern Route, with its great cost and upheaval but few benefits.
The East West Rail Company proposes a rail link entering Bedford from the South West off the existing Bedford-Bletchley Railway (part of Oxford-Bedford but also a railway in its own right) through Bedford Midland Railway Station going North. It would then depart the Midland Main Line slows (or add twin tracks) to head at an incline circumventing northern Bedford, arc and tunnel under Ravensden area, tunnel eastward under the revamped A1/ A421 Black Cat Junction, and head for the ECML Tempsford area. Here it would burrow under the ECML on a flood plain with a new segregated railway station before continuing to Cambridge South via the new Cambourne settlement, which would also have a station.
BRTA sees problems with this route option, solely set before the public as follows:
1. Let the people decide! Choice means at least two routes, instead the public have but one. West of Bedford it is the old Oxbridge route, which has always been accepted. East of Tempsford, the new route to Cambridge is the only option, as the northern access to Cambridge via the former St Ives line Chesterton Junction now has Cambridge North Station sitting on that former junction area.
2. BRTA believes that after 20 years of support, study, and work, to abandon that work and cost, and not let the public have a say before ditching the route east of Bedford via the old St John's Station area, was wrong. We support east of Bedford via St John's. But we have been ignored, swept aside by the big headlines,
Richard Pill is CEO of BRTA. The British Regional Transport Association (BRTA) is a voluntary campaign association, seeking more and better, accessible public transport. Find out more at www.brtarail.com/ our-campaigns/ or contact Richard at richard.brta@gmail.com
‘Locally, a railway for local people is a very important dynamic to grasp. It is local upwards and outwards which makes for a better appeal to choose rail as relevant and accessible, not a remote ideal that isn't first choice for everyday transport commuting’
media blackout and the local dual loyalty of wanting a Bedford-Cambridge rail link while not wanting the ruination of North Beds rural areas. This has rightly informed much local hostility to what is basically a good idea for a new railway.
Our old route approach
Our predecessor organisations acknowledged that encroachment on the old route into Sandy (on the ECML) was blocked from the mid-1970s, and a new route north of built Sandy would be required on what was then (1980s onwards) agricultural land, now built over. BRTA accepts a new route to link with Tempsford, but proposes following the old route east of Bedford to west of Willington, either bypassing to the north or reclaiming the old route to east of Willington. Then, whereas the old route went south of Blunham, ours would be new build north of Blunham, approaching Tempsford either side of Station Road to have physical rail linkage with the ECML. This would open up direct running south of Peterborough to the Oxford corridor, north of Stevenage and East Bedfordshire to the County Town of Bedford and beyond. Will people from Biggleswade really take a train to Tempsford, change, and wait for a Bedford train when they can drive for 20 minutes? The local competitiveness and cost will be challenged, even if the Oxbridge effect overall makes such considerations relatively insignificant. Locally, a railway for local people is a very important dynamic to grasp, as BRTA believes based on experience. It is local upwards and outwards which
makes for a better appeal to choose rail as relevant and accessible, not a remote ideal that isn't first choice for everyday transport commuting.
Our old-new route adaptation was studied by Bedford Borough Council and found feasible.
Our route has the following qualities to commend it:
1. East of Bedford via St John's with a new triangle would enable east to Midland Main Line (MML) north and vice versa freight and passenger interactions. The northern route has no direct running rail links to MML northwards or onwards to Northampton; ours does have that design. Bletchley and Bicester do not cater for north-east direct running either, nor Oxford, although in former years there was a direct rail link arcing to and from the Cotswold line, now obliterated.
2. It is flat land mainly between Bedford and Willington, climbing over embankment (flood defence) and at height to cross River Ivel-Great Ouse confluences and the A1 Trunk Road to descend to the Tempsford plains either side of Station Road, Tempsford.
3. Costs are comparable, but the benefit for passenger and freight, not just
passenger, commends greater reach and range of scope for fuller use of the twin track solution to road proliferation, gridlock congestion in urban areas and tackling sustainability balance in transport demand, use and deployment of method of mode.
BRTA may lose its call for its route to be tabled and included in a final consultation, but the contrast is stark. The northern route requires 60 houses for an extra pair of tracks north of Bedford, while our route needs fewer than 20 homes (albeit more expensive ones). This echoes the 1980s onwards rejection of our predecessors' Bedford-Sandy rail proposal, where blockages led to opting out of even studying reopening merits beyond the Colhoun Report of 1989 (circa).
Though Bedford Borough Council recommended the railway, it was ignored and discounted at the 1993 Side Roads Order Inquiry, which allowed the A421 Bypass to sit on the old railway trackbed rather than bridge it – a decision that could have benefited equestrian and cycling access had the road bridged the railway corridor. BRTA continues to voice its views and challenge what seems a straitjacketed approach of northern route or nothing. Government support appears broad brush,
not considering detailed points about wider regenerative benefits and market share for rail. We need to put people, places and the environment at the heart of planning, design and development, not impose solutions through consultations that appear rigged as to outcomes. Yes, we want a railway, but we require a route alternative choice too!
The timing is telling. Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP's January 2025 speech at Eynsham in Oxfordshire was followed days later by the Transport Minister quashing a long-standing campaign to re-rail Witney for commuting off the A40 into Oxford. This rejection, combined with the cancellation of the already underfunded Local Rail Reopenings Fund in 2024, contrasts sharply with the £27 billion new roads fund and announcements like the Lower Thames Road Crossing. This demonstrates acute pandering to the roads lobby and raises grave concerns for BRTA about how we balance transport and access inclusion.
Capacity on the rails is a real issue if we want modal shift back to rail. Our reopening proposals and more are the way forward, and all effort is needed in a timely manner – not new money per se, but a modal switch of roads money to enable local rail modal shift for people and goods.
Rail Academy Brings 500 Jobs to Aston
NIS Group secures 500 new jobs with the launch of Transport, Rail and Infrastructure Academy in Aston
Anew specialist infrastructure and rail training centre was launched in Aston yesterday, with employers from multiple infrastructure sectors pledging more than 500 new jobs for learners.
NIS Group and City of Wolverhampton College officially unveiled its latest Transport, Rail and Infrastructure Academy (TRIA) site in front of more than 100 people, including Cllr Sharon Thompson, deputy mayor of the West Midlands.
Delegates heard how the leading training provider has partnered with the college to develop the academy and jointly invested £250,000 into transforming the building into a dedicated facility, offering a 15-metre high-speed slab track, 30 metres of conventional track, one high speed set of points, one level crossing barrier and training facilities for civil engineering programmes.
Employers – including Buildforce Solutions, Linsco, Randstad and Danny Sullivan Group – have thrown their support behind the venture, guaranteeing opportunities for people progressing through the courses to work on a host of existing and future construction and rail projects across the region.
In addition, ISS and NIS Group have launched the official training and employment partnership, which will ensure learners interested in rail career opportunities will be offered work across the Network Rail infrastructure.
‘Everything we do is focused on helping people secure sustainable long-term jobs’
said Davie Carns, Chief Executive Officer and founder of NIS Group.
‘The fact we had over 500 jobs pledged by employers before the centre officially opened shows the urgent need for workers in the infrastructure, rail and construction sectors, not to mention the belief these companies have in our ability to train individuals to industry standards.’
He continued: ‘This is such an incentive for people considering a career in this field. They can immediately see that by embarking on the training with us that there is a guaranteed job at the end of it. We’ll make sure that by the time they finish with us they will have the base skills, the qualifications and, in some cases, specialist knowledge of certain disciplines to be an immediate success.’
TRIA Aston is the third dedicated academy in the NIS Group’s West Midlands portfolio and follows its original base
at City of Wolverhampton College’s Wellington Road campus in Bilston and the Black Country Innovative Manufacturing Organisation (BCIMO)’s Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre in Dudley.
Up to one thousand people will benefit from entry level courses at Aston to give them qualifications required to access site, whilst hundreds more will train on specialist equipment and tracks to help them progress in infrastructure and rail. This includes small plant and NSAR-accredited courses showing NIS Group’s continued commitment to the upskilling and retention of the workforce.
Away from rail and in the highways and construction sector, Buildforce Solutions has pledged 100 jobs to the scheme. Jim Fleming, Director, said: “The skills shortage in the construction and infrastructure industries is well documented which is why facilities like this are really important.
‘Our relationship with NIS Group means we have taken candidates out of the TRIA programme and been able to put them on construction sites almost immediately. We look forward to being able to continue this and strengthening our relationship with NIS Group and City of Wolverhampton College.’
A strong commitment to inclusivity means NIS Group will aim to help young people, those with mental health and learning disabilities, the long-term unemployed and former Armed Forces as part of this latest investment. The company’s trainers and support team are experienced in providing wraparound support, mentoring and assistance to ensure any obstacles to employment can be overcome.
Cllr Sharon Thompson, Deputy Mayor of the West Midlands, added her support: ‘We have too many young people out of work in the West Midlands, which is why reducing youth unemployment is a key priority.
‘At a time of huge investment in rail across our region, this academy will get hundreds of young people ready to begin a rewarding career building and supporting the railways of the future.’
Peter Merry, Deputy Principal and Chief Executive at the college, concluded: ‘In setting up the Transport and Rail Infrastructure Academy, the partnership between the college and NIS Group is contributing to the regeneration of the region by equipping local people of all ages, abilities and levels of experience with the skills needed to work in the construction and maintenance of train lines, tram routes and stations across the West Midlands and beyond.
‘Alongside the existing TRIA sites in Wolverhampton and Dudley, the opening of the third site in Aston is fantastic news as it will enable even more people to access high quality specialist industry-specific training to enable them to work in this priority sector.’
For further information, please visit www.nisgroup.co.uk or follow the company across its social channels.
TRIA learners with Davie Carns (NIS Group), Cllr Sharon Thompson (Deputy Mayor of the West Midlands), Louise Fall and Peter Merry (both City of Wolverhampton College).
Looking Back to Look Forward
A look back at the human factors lessons learnt from Ladbroke Grove and an exploration of the implications for today’s railway in the context of growing social, financial and environmental pressures and the continued drive for improved safety and performance to meet the evolving needs of passengers and freight customers
‘Whilst adopting technology and reducing reliance on individual workers may seem like progress, automating everything isn't always the best approach. Automation can offer significant benefits, but railways are complex sociotechnical systems, involving humans at every stage of the lifecycle’
At about 08:09 on Tuesday 5 October 1999, a commuter service bound for Bedwyn passed signal SN109 at danger and collided head-on with an express at Ladbroke Grove, just outside Paddington.
Thirty-one people, including both drivers, were killed and over 400 were injured. The accident prompted a significant change in how the rail industry considered
safety and brought to the fore the importance of integrating human factors into all aspects of the railway system.
This was instigated by Lord Cullen’s public inquiry, which had drawn on the expertise of ergonomics and human factors specialists to help identify how job, workplace and organisational factors contributed to the accident. As a result, five recommendations from Cullen’s Part 1 report (2001) set out the need for significant improvements to the integration of the human factors discipline across the rail industry. This led to a decade of focussed work on the design of systems and processes to optimise human performance, using ergonomics and human factors methods and processes to build resilience into the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the railway.
Taking an ergonomics and human factors approach (‘ergonomics’ and ‘human factors’ are often used together or interchangeably) has improved railway safety and performance by enhancing how it considers people’s needs and requirements through engineering design, operations, accident investigation, training and competence and the development of safety management systems and safety culture.
Twenty-five years on from Ladbroke Grove, the understanding and application of human factors is still a prerequisite to continuous improvement in safety and performance. In recognition of this, the rail industry's Human Factors Strategy Group was set up to provide direction on human factors and to support and drive the delivery of key strategic human factors capability improvements for the rail industry.
What led to Ladbroke Grove?
The immediate cause of the event was that the driver had a signal passed at danger (SPAD) event and the train travelling in the opposite direction was unable to stop in time to avoid a collision. This (oversimplified) explanation masks a range of wider considerations, including custom and
The Human Factors Strategy Group includes representatives from a wide range of organisations, including RSSB, the ORR, RAIB, Amey, Eurostar, HS2 and Network Rail. It was set up to help facilitate this and to highlight current and future human factors issues that need addressing. During 2025, the group will be publishing articles, videos and interviews on human factors risks, challenges and solutions that we believe the industry must consider.
Visit the RSSB website to find out more about the Human Factors Strategy Group.
practice in the use of in-cab warning systems and reminder appliances, the presentation of signalling and route information, and the use of speed restrictions – all of which create opportunities for error on today’s railway. Like all accidents, the underlying causes of the Ladbroke Grove crash were multifactorial and multidisciplinary, emerging from an interplay of job, workplace and organisational considerations that significantly affected railway system performance. Specific issues related to the accident (the lessons from which inform current human factors engineering practices, user-centred design processes and human factors integration methods) include:
• Signal sighting and the introduction of overhead line equipment (noting that design changes over time can introduce new risks that may go undetected).
• Train protection strategy (showing how the way that industry makes riskbased investment decisions can have unintended consequences in the short, medium and long term).
• Driver training (highlighting the roles and responsibilities needed to develop and deliver mixed methods training and the development and on-going management of route knowledge) and driving competence.
• Organisational learning (reinforcing the need for interventions to address known complex system risks – SN109 signal had been passed at danger many times before).
Lord Cullen’s public inquiry differed significantly from others of its kind as, while it noted the need for the development and implementation of technology to reduce the recurrence of similar tragic events, it specifically identified the need for human factors considerations to be taken into account in all aspects of infrastructure design and driver training and competence. It also called for them to be embedded within the safety culture of the rail industry.
NEWS IN BRIEF
DB CARGO UK HAS ROYAL WARRANT RENEWED BY KING CHARLES
DB Cargo UK has been awarded a new warrant by His Majesty King Charles III to maintain and operate the Royal Train. The Doncaster-based rail freight operator has now held the royal warrant since rail privatisation, marking more than 30 years’ continuous service to the Royal Household.
How was Ladbroke Grove a catalyst for change?
Ladbroke Grove, along with other high-profile railway accidents in the late 1990s and early 2000s, prompted recommendations that led to significant changes in the management and regulation of safety for Britain's rail network.
In response, Railtrack’s Safety and Standards Directorate worked to establish a human factors capability, which had been absent since the privatisation of British Rail's Derby-based research facility in 1996. This effort led to the formation of the independent Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) in 2003. In parallel, Railtrack – and later Network Rail – invested heavily in ergonomics and human factors, creating standards for integrating human factors into infrastructure projects, conducting research, supporting the development of new technologies and offering human factors expertise to address operational challenges.
• Understanding job demands and human performance variability to deliver enhanced training, competence management processes and candidate selection to increase the capability and capacity of frontline teams – benefits have included better safety-critical decision making, improved SPAD prevention and management, and more effective multidisciplinary teamwork.
• Developing policy, strategy, standards and requirements for safety, risk assessment and human-centred design. Human factors teams have supported the deployment of the Common Safety Method for Risk Assessment (CSM-RA), RSSB’s Taking Safe Decisions framework and the ORR’s risk management maturity model (RM3).
FIRSTGROUP INCLUDED IN S&P SUSTAINABILITY YEARBOOK
FirstGroup, has been ranked in the top 90 per cent of more than 7,600 companies included in this year’s S&P Sustainability Yearbook, appearing in the rankings for the third year running with an overall score of 59 out of 100. FirstGroup was one of only 28 transportation companies who made it into the 2025 Yearbook and is the only UK bus and rail operator to be included.
Further changes to the rail industry’s safety organisations were put in place with the establishment of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) in 2005, followed by the launch of the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in 2006 as the joint safety and economic regulator. Both organisations developed internal human factors capabilities and set expectations for the provision of similar specialist resources in other railway organisations.
This collective effort drove the growth of ergonomics and human factors as a key discipline within the rail industry. Network Rail, for instance, established a dedicated team, while the RSSB, ORR, and RAIB continue to champion the integration of human factors across the whole sector.
• Embedding ergonomics and human factors insight into outputs including ORR’s strategic risk chapters, RSSB’s Rail Health and Safety Strategy, RAIB reports, HS2 standards and contracts and Network Rail’s infrastructure design processes and safety management system.
• Designing safety-critical decision support, control and communication systems and deploying mobile technology to frontline staff across the industry – these humancentred design interventions have enabled people to connect with data (and each other) through the delivery of effective processes and intuitive technology, thereby saving time and improving safety in degraded and emergency situations.
CHELTENHAM WILL SEE ‘MASSIVE’ RAIL BOOM UNDER MIDLANDS
RAIL HUB PLAN
Local MP, Max Wilkinson, met Midlands Connect and rail bosses to hear about the plans for nearly 300 trains a week extra going through Cheltenham due to the £1.75 billion Midlands Rail Hub project. This would deliver around 4 million extra seats each year for passengers on the key railway route between Cheltenham and Birmingham. This would be through an extra four trains on the route each hour, two in each direction. In 2023, the previous Government committed to ‘full’ delivery of the Midlands Rail Hub, and in February last year, an additional £123 million was allocated towards the project, to progress the detailed engineering designs.
How can human factors improve safety?
Safety and performance are emergent properties of the railway system. This means that it’s not possible to make meaningful improvements by ‘fixing’ individual components in isolation – instead, solutions must be developed collaboratively, taking a whole system view to seek connected and integrated ways to improve safety. Human factors plays a key role here, finding opportunities for improvements in the design of socio-technical systems by addressing i) issues at the level of goals and incentives, ii) interactions with technology and processes, and iii) interfaces within working environments and organisations. Ergonomics and human factors specialists draw on decades of fundamental and applied research to guide the use of methods and tools to generate insight, propose design options and evaluate solutions to some of the most challenging problems facing the industry.
In the twenty-five years since Ladbroke Grove, ergonomics and human factors specialists have made extraordinary contributions to the safety, performance and efficiency of the railway system, with examples that include:
• Taking a human-centred design approach to ensure that human factors engineering work is integrated into rail infrastructure projects – the value of these interventions stems from the rightfirst-time deployment of new systems that are explicitly designed to support resilient railway operations and to reduce whole-life costs.
• Facilitating safety leadership capabilities to promote a culture of openness, learning, reporting and continuous improvement. Examples include enhancements to SMIS and the development of the 10 Incident Factors for event learning and bringing evidencebased methods to the study of normal work, incidents and accidents.
Work like this, and the continued application of human factors in rail, has led to significant safety impacts and to the GB rail system being one of the safest in the world.
Why is the human factors discipline needed for tomorrow’s railway?
Whilst there have been invaluable human factors-led advancements in rail safety and performance over the past twenty-five years, there’s still more work to do. Looking to the future, there will be an increasing adoption of in-cab signalling technology, a continued growth of remote asset management
processes, ongoing modernisation of signalling systems, an expansion of electrification, and further deployment of automated decision support tools.
We are also entering a potential perfect storm of significant industry and organisational change, decreased financial investment, ever-growing demands on staff and the network, loss of corporate memory, digitalisation supported by artificial intelligence, and increased development and integration of complex safety systems.
Whilst adopting technology and reducing reliance on individual workers may seem like progress, automating everything isn’t always the best approach. Automation can offer significant benefits, but railways are complex socio-technical systems, involving humans at every stage of the lifecycle. Since it’s impossible to predict every future scenario, human interventions are essential for adapting in real time to manage evolving situations and keep trains running smoothly. A failure to properly integrate human factors will create fragile designs that overburden people (which is exactly what happened at Ladbroke Grove). The rail industry must learn and apply human factors lessons to ensure that technological advancements enhance, rather than undermine, safety and performance.
Key lessons from Ladbroke Grove, and from the ergonomics and human factors work completed in the past quarter of a century, include:
• People will always play a key role in rail safety systems and human factors interventions will be needed to identify and improve the job, workplace and organisational factors that affect performance and build resilience into railway systems.
• Automation doesn’t eliminate humans (it just changes their jobs) and even the best technology improvements can create additional opportunities for error – good design optimises human performance and decision making and, in turn, improves safety and performance.
• When designing, implementing and operating systems it is essential to understand human capability and capacity. Railway performance emerges from the interactions between people, processes and technology so resilient rail systems and services depend on people and their expertise to manage these complex system interfaces.
• Change is hard to manage. Its variability and variety ripples through
organisations – increasing, hiding and surfacing risk whilst it moves at different speeds across the industry. It can degrade safety systems if managed poorly and mechanisms need to be place to understand, identify and prevent quiet drifts towards failure.
• Industry, organisations, teams and individuals need to continually learn. This means learning from what is going (and has gone) well and from what is going (or has gone) wrong. Teams should use ergonomics and human factors methods to understand the (messy) realities of work and to design the support mechanisms required for sustainable, incremental improvements.
What’s next?
It’s important to remember that human factors is a scientific discipline that requires trained human factors professionals to assess, articulate and mitigate human factors risks. It’s also crucial to recognise that rail organisations must properly resource their internal human factors capabilities and that, in order to reduce costs and maximise safety and performance benefits, teams need to start human factors work as early as possible during the initial phases of projects.
Tom is a Senior Programme Director, Programmes and Advisory, at Jacobs, with extensive experience in oil and gas, aviation, transport and infrastructure. Tom currently leads the HS2 Engineering Delivery Partner Joint Venture, providing technical and programme management expertise across HS2. Tom champions the value of transferrable skills across sectors, having started his career at Shell before moving into airports and now rail. He is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and holds a Master’s degree in Executive Management from the University of Manchester Business School.
Inspiration and Innovation
In 1962, American President John F Kennedy said: ‘We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard’. This inspirational statement was the catalyst which started a science and technology revolution, leading to innovations we use today from the smart phone in our pockets to the pans we cook with at home. The Apollo programme was a hugely successful mission which shaped and changed the next 50 years of humanity, so why was it such a success?
At the heart of this major programme was a compelling, emotive narrative and an inspirational goal that a nation could understand and rally behind. There were setbacks, delays, cost overruns and safety incidents, all of which are applicable to infrastructure mega-programme delivery today. So, how can the rail sector harness mission-based thinking to create transformational outcomes?
Major rail investments are primarily large-scale linear infrastructure programmes that need to integrate with much larger, mature and established systems. These mega-programmes span decades, are geographically dispersed, technically complex and interact with cities, agriculture, utilities, communities and industries. Success relies on a sustained and credible license to operate, maintained throughout the programme lifecycle with agility and humility, which experience tells us is hard to achieve without an inspirational mission.
Transforming productivity with an adaptive narrative
The long construction periods for new rail lines create extended disruption for neighbouring communities and stakeholders, leading to resistance, programme delays and, consequently, reduced productivity. Strong leadership, continuous stakeholder engagement, and a compelling vision for the project ‘Why’ are key to managing this. The mission must be inspirational, understandable, relevant and impactful, yet infrastructure mega-project durations are long which means the narrative must adapt to changing social and economic climates. It needs to be multi-generational; today’s child is tomorrow’s passenger.
By ensuring all stakeholders understand and share in the mission, misperceptions and unappreciated benefits can be overturned. Rail is often seen purely as a means of convenient passenger travel, but it also reduces carbon emissions by taking freight off roads, reducing car usage, and using electricity that can have zero carbon emissions or carbon capture at source. Does the wider public see rail as a key element of our net zero mission? Probably not.
Creating and sustaining an adaptive narrative builds the foundations for the inspirational mission, reducing delays and improving productivity in major infrastructure investment. The transportation sector can learn from industries like consumer goods, automotive and digital technology, which continuously reinvent their products to stay ahead of
trends and sustain their missions. For example, Apple relies on early adopters to generate excitement and demand, inspiring other consumers to upgrade or invest in new technology. While rail programmes move more slowly, they must reflect the dynamic world our stakeholders live in.
Transforming social equity through a bold mission
Defining true social equity in a major programme is challenging. While economic value in terms of return on investment is usually well defined, more can be done for social equity, which could be the mission’s rocket fuel. Research published by the Resolution Foundation emphasises the need to connect economic centres to address low regional growth and high income inequality. Investing in transport infrastructure is key to achieving this.
The growing disparity between the South East and the rest of the country impacts younger generations and middle to low-income families the hardest, yet this narrative is absent from our transport mission, where rail should be the primary choice given its net zero carbon credentials.
An essential pairing for major rail programme delivery by Tom Wilne, Senior Programme Director at Jacobs
Ironically, our three big UK programmes –HS2, Transpennine Upgrade (TRU) and East West Rail (EWR) – are all driven by exactly this mission, to unlock sustainable economic growth, connect business clusters, boost productivity and improve quality of life.
For example, the TRU programme will achieve far more than improving railway assets; it will improve connectivity between cities, attract train travellers and help communities prosper by creating local jobs and generating regional wealth. Similarly, HS2 will connect the UK’s two biggest cities, and hopefully more in the future through conventional rail integration and more high speed lines. The construction phase alone currently supports 30,000 jobs, boosting local economies where they live and work. Infrastructure investment stimulates the economy and targets growth in underdeveloped areas by connecting and revitalising our towns and cities.
Inspire and innovate
Major rail programmes must adeptly manage uncertainty and safeguard against ‘unknown unknowns’, the dilemma all megaprogrammes face. An innovation mindset is
crucial, built iteratively through experience, continuous improvement, technology development and effective deployment. It’s less about Eureka moments or bold aspirations, and more about harnessing the Apollo programme’s ethos: incentivising innovation, prioritizing teamwork, and fostering a desire to experiment and learn. Examples from current programmes include:
• Using digital tools to real time monitor, analyse and improve large scale earthworks operations for HS2, driving efficiency, reducing carbon and enhancing safety.
• Deploying novel viaduct construction methodologies across HS2, learning from others, building new capabilities.
• Reducing overhead line electrical clearances on TRU to eliminate over 15 bridge reconstructions developed from an initial Network Rail / Great Western Main Line innovation at Cardiff.
• Using digital technology for EWR which will drive continuous improvements in productivity and performance with endto-end solutions.
‘An innovation mindset is crucial, built iteratively through experience, continuous improvement, technology development and effective deployment’
There are many more incremental breakthroughs across our major rail programmes which in turn are driving transformational outcomes. We need to showcase, celebrate and promote these innovations. We need to excite and inspire all generations. This is our Apollo mission!
Colin Bennie Director at John McAslan + Partners
Sam Sherwood-Hale spoke to Colin Bennie, Director at John McAslan + Partners about how the practice approaches infrastructure and railways with a unique perspective that extends beyond engineering to embrace placemaking and urban renewal.
SSH: Could you give us an overview of your practice and current work?
CB: I've worked with the practice for ten years and have been involved in numerous international rail and infrastructure projects. We're a relatively small practice given the scale of work we do internationally, but I think we approach infrastructure and railways in a unique way. We think outside the context of just first-class engineering objects – it's about placemaking and the opportunities that present themselves.
In a sense, it's revisiting the railway traditions of old, where architectural wonders and urban landmarks were created. We're seeing some of that in recent projects being delivered. I'm here in Sydney partly to celebrate the opening of our work on the City Line, but also as we look forward towards other opportunities that present themselves.
SSH: Could you tell us about your specific work on the Sydney project?
CB: We were part of a competition for Sydney Central. Initially, there was a reference design, but we really challenged some of its assumptions, particularly regarding the existing station fabric. The station itself, Sydney Central, is more than 100 years old now, and bit by bit, it had incremental additions and amendments which had really diluted its clarity. It was a pretty poor customer experience.
One of our key moves was to ask whether we could turn the back of the station into the new front door and unify all the platforms in a way that hadn't happened since the station's original incarnation. When it was first opened, you could access all platforms through a ticket hall into the Grand Concourse, but bit by bit that had been diminished.
We wanted to celebrate the theatre of travel – the hustle and bustle and movement of people – and use that as a way to de-stress the travelling experience. When you're in the space, you get a sense of all the trains coming and moving, but you can see where you want to get to next. There's an abundance of natural daylight, and you can make decisions with confidence because you can see what you need to do, rather than relying on being in a subterranean environment and signage as we had adopted.
SSH: You mentioned creating a significant new roof structure at Sydney Central. Could you elaborate on that?
CB: We made quite a big move to create this really grand space with a 50-metre span vaulted roof. The fabrication process was particularly interesting – it was actually a
one-to-one prototype. We struggled with Sydney Metro to find a suitable site to create the mock-ups, so the proposal evolved into one in which it was actually made as the finished article. This meant the client could examine it and check the quality before it was unbolted, put onto the back of lowloaders, trucked down the Pacific Highway, and bolted into place.
This approach accelerated the construction time and de-risked that element of the project. You've got to remember we were building these together with the contractors during Covid, so to have delivered it ahead of time with that level of quality was significant. The end result is a space flooded with daylight because of that initial design move to declutter and open it up, really celebrating the historic rear facade of the old station.
SSH: At Waterloo Station in Sydney, you worked with indigenous groups. How did that collaboration evolve?
CB: It wasn't about having a designated zone where artwork goes or treating it as an afterthought – it was about engaging early and allowing the story to be teased out through discussions. We couldn't have predicted the discoveries that were found as the site was excavated, but you'll see in the final product that those discoveries became part of the finished building.
The artefacts are literally on display in cabinets, but working with the community and stakeholders, they also became part of the building fabric itself. The acoustic panels tell a story of working the ground, of it being a marketplace in the Banksia scrub. It's a really rich narrative that wouldn't have been as successful if we'd tried to apply it after the fact.
SSH: How does JMP approach the integration of new technology and futureproofing in station designs?
CB: One of the keys to successful signage is that you don't need signage – it should be so clear in your decision-making that signage is there to reinforce rather than guide. In Belfast, for example, we decided to make something sculptural of the main information point – it's almost like a butterfly on a single heroic column, displaying all the information in one place. From there, you make your visual connection to where you need to go next.
We create frameworks into which you can 'plug and play' – you can take something out and put it back in later. If you've integrated the services properly and you've got enough redundancy in cabling, and maybe some radio-inert materials so that you can hide things behind it, then you've got a fighting chance of it being fit for purpose not just for five or ten years, but for 20-30 years. The technology might move on, the screens might change, but the housing's still fit for purpose.
SSH: How do you approach community renewal and urban regeneration around your stations?
CB: Belfast is similar to King's Cross in the sense that it sits on post-industrial land –old railway sidings and legacy infrastructure that needed to be connected into the communities around the edges. In both cases, it was about maximising connections and permeability, ensuring multiple choices in stitching the facility into the city and its local context.
In Belfast's case, we were set a target quantum of development, but ultimately the market will deliver what's appropriate at the time. We worked with the owner-operator to develop a set of guidelines that became
an outline planning application. Through talking and listening to the community, stakeholders, and City Council, we began to define guidelines that will become the area plans of the future. Any future development will have to meet a quality threshold, activate edges, and deliver streetscape and spaces that put people first.
SSH: What's been your experience working with different infrastructure bodies and owner-operators?
CB: It was a really interesting journey with Translink in Belfast because what they were replacing was a very modest bus and rail facility that had reached the end of its life with no room to grow. They had to think
afresh about how they were going to operate something on a scale they'd never operated before. Together, we discussed what that meant and how it could be as efficient as possible for their operational needs.
The pre-application process on Belfast involved extensive engagement. It's not about us imposing a particular idea – I hope you see from our work that there isn't just one style being imposed. That speaks to the fact that it has come out of discussions and collaborations.
SSH: How do you approach public consultation, and what tools do you use to communicate your designs?
CB: In transport projects of this complexity, we generally engage planning consultants, and as architects, we're one of many under a bigger umbrella. But we have a particular part to play because we're creating and imagining the vision.
One thing we still do at John McAslan + Partners is use a lot of physical models alongside VR and other techniques. Physical models still have a hugely important part to play – people can read models very well. They can't read drawings quite as well, necessarily, and even VR can have its own issues with orientation and confusion. A model is an amazing tool. During consultations, you get very searching, engaging questions, but then you'd also get practical queries like ‘Where's the bus stop for my particular service?’ or ‘Will I still be able to use my travel card?’
You have to accept this is part of a much bigger discussion. The point is the amount of engagement that happens – people do care, and reciprocally, so do we.
SSH: How has your experience with physical modelling versus digital tools evolved over your career?
CB: It's still the case that a physical model can be created very quickly in a very simple way to test some big ideas, some big moves. When you're investing time in virtual worlds, you have to put a bit more investment up front. At the back end, physical models usually become timeconsuming because if you're really getting into the detail, you're spending a huge amount of time to deliver that. You get that time back in the virtual world. I think they're complementary – all things at the right time.
SSH: Could you discuss how you approach asset management and maintenance in your designs?
CB: It's about thinking of the full life of the building. For example, considering materials and sustainability – materials that can be reused and recycled. You need to design in ways that allow future access and maintenance. It doesn't matter which contractor is involved; it needs to be put back properly.
The reality of transport is that once facilities are up and open, they're rarely
looked after in the way they need to be. You need to think about how people clean things easily, how they maintain things easily and safely. If you do all that, you've got a good chance that the facility will still be relevant.
SSH: How does the approach to maintenance differ between Belfast and Sydney?
CB: With Belfast specifically, we were working with an operator who didn't have a facility on that sort of scale. So it was back to first principles about how they would want to operate and maintain it in the future. With Sydney, they had already delivered the northwest Metro and had a suite of standards and requirements that needed to be met, along with a shadow operator who was very clear about how they wanted to do things.
But that didn't stop innovation. The key with Sydney Central was to keep discussing how you would manage a day in the life of that station as one operation. Although it's actually multiple operators –Sydney Trains and Sydney Metro – in any situation it has to be operated as one facility.
SSH: What's next for you and the practice?
CB: We're really excited about the opportunities for the next Metro and ongoing public transport renaissance and renewal in Sydney and other states around Australia. We're also working in the US at the moment. We search out projects that are of great interest to us, and it's been a really enriching period.
Looking ahead, public transport is going to be a choice, and that choice has to be won through convenience and quality. Hopefully, architecture has a part to play in that – if it's a more enjoyable journey than getting in your car, then we've succeeded.
SSH: Any final thoughts on the future of public transport design?
CB: I think it's important to emphasise that it is possible to build complex infrastructure in the UK – Belfast is testament to that. It's just the beginning of a much bigger piece, which is really exciting. That's why I'm in the game. As we move forward, it's going to be increasingly about choice, and public transport has to win on convenience and quality. Architecture has a vital role in making that happen.
Why Should We Make Transport Accessible?
David Smith, Sight Loss Council Engagement Manager at Thomas
Pocklington Trust, describes how regional groups of blind and partially sighted people are working with transport operators to ensure inclusivity
Why should we make transport accessible? You would think the answer to this question is obvious, wouldn’t you?
And I guess it is, but let me explain why, just in case you don’t fully understand.
First, let me give you some background. I’m Dave, aged 49, and live in Redhill, Surrey. I work for Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT) as Engagement Manager South East for Sight Loss Councils (SLCs) in the South East of England. SLCs are regional groups led by blind and partially sighted people working with partners to ensure services are accessible and inclusive. Accessible public transport is a key priority for us. I’ll share more about this work later in the article.
Now for a bit more about me. Firstly, I have two sight conditions called Retinitis Pigmentosa and Retinal Telangiectasia. Over the years, these have left me registered blind with light perception only. This means that I don’t see anything other than, if I look at a window or light, it’s brighter than if I look at a wall. I also have loads of flashing and swirling lights and a bright light spot as if someone is shining a torch in my face all the time, day or night, whether my eyes are open or closed. I work alongside blind and partially sighted volunteers – all of whom have sight conditions that may be very different to my own, each with its own set of distinct challenges. We all use our own unique lived experiences of sight loss to help create an equal world for everyone.
Now, let me focus on accessible transport and why this is important. Firstly, blind and partially sighted (BPS) people are unable to drive and, depending on our level of sight, we are unlikely to be able to ride a bike or scooter. This limits our transport options to trains, buses, taxis or getting lifts from family and friends.
Walking is an option for local destinations but sometimes this can be difficult. For example, if people don’t know the way or the route. Some routes are also hazardous due to road crossings and street
clutter (e.g. bins, advertising boards in the middle of pavements, tables and chairs outside cafes, abandoned e-scooters and cycle stands – which can cause trips or falls).
But just like everyone else, it is essential for us to get to work. We also need to visit friends and family, attend appointments, go shopping, socialise and live our lives as we choose. But we’re limited to how we do that. It is therefore important that whatever mode of transport we use is accessible to us.
Importantly, it shouldn’t just be accessible for BPS people though, it should be accessible for everyone, whether they are disabled or not.
BPS told us accessible transport was a key priority
In 2022, TPT and its network of SLCs carried out some research recognising that there were lots of major issues impacting on BPS people’s lives. From this, 65 per cent of
blind and partially sighted respondents to our Listening Month campaign told us that access to public transport was also the key issue that mattered to them the most.
This is backed up by findings in the VI Lives report following a survey conducted by the RNIB and other sector partners including TPT in the same year. Essentially, accessible public transport is a major priority for BPS people.
What are we doing?
In response to these findings, TPT and its network of volunteer led SLCs made accessible public transport a key priority. There are currently over 25 SLCs across the country. Each SLC is made up of small groups of blind and partially sighted members who meet regularly to discuss accessibility issues and plan projects in their regions. Collectively they prioritise issues identified to them by BPS people locally and
Bedfordshire Sight Loss Council volunteers test the new Aira app at Stevenage station.
nationally. We are now all prioritising access to public transport, mainly focused on trains and buses. For example, we launched our free bus driver training materials for trainers and operators last year. These are endorsed by the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) and approved by the Driver Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) for its Certificate of Professional Competence.
I am now going to talk about our work with trains focused on Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) in particular, across the South East, where I work.
#MakeTrainsAccessible
Back in 2022, after a couple of meetings with Carl Martin, Accessibility Lead at GTR, I was invited to join the GTR Access Advisory Panel. Initially this was to give feedback as a blind train user and to support them with ensuring that their services were accessible to BPS people. GTR has now expanded this to enable SLCs to support GTR to engage with the BPS community, secure wider feedback, and work in partnership to co-produce key projects focused on accessible transport.
One of these projects looked at wayfinding solutions to help BPS to navigate stations. To do this, we shared details of a range of solutions such as NaviLens, Good Maps and Way Maps, which are all appbased navigation aids developed specifically for BPS travellers. In addition to supporting GTR with direct testing, I shared feedback from other SLCs that had been testing these solutions in their regions. I also introduced them to the app AIRA Explore, which enables BPS to connect with an advisor via their smartphone.
GTR considered this app and felt that it was worth them running their own trials using AIRA to see if this was something that might work for their BPS passengers.
SLCs get involved in AIRA trials
In June 2023, TPT and SLCs supported a GTR launch of a trial of the AIRA app at four stations: Brighton, East Croydon, Blackfriars and Stevenage. This trial gave users free access to this video interpretation service whilst at these stations. Each train station was geo ringfenced creating a zone (which included the local bus stops and taxi rank) where AIRA usage would be free to the user.
The app enables BPS passengers to place a video call with a trained advisor who looks through the passenger’s smartphone camera to guide them around the station on speakerphone, simplifying the journey. For example, they can use it to locate a member of staff, or find their way to a platform, the ticket office, toilets or café. In addition, the agent can take a photo using the smartphone camera which they can then manipulate to provide more information –such as of the station’s departure board.
Soon after the launch of the trial, the government launched a consultation on closing train station ticket offices. Obviously, this became a huge talking point nationally
and became the focus for everyone until the decision not to close ticket offices was announced. GTR decided to put a freeze on expanding the AIRA trials until after the ticket office consultation. It was important to them that the AIRA trials were purely to explore how they could improve accessibility for BPS passengers and not as a way of reducing staff at the stations.
The work then continued and, in March 2024, GTR were able to extend the trials to eight more stations at: Finsbury Park, Brent Cross West, Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Sutton, Haywards Heath, Eastbourne and Chichester.
TPT and SLCs again worked alongside and supported GTR by promoting the
trials. This included giving radio and TV interviews, and promoting the trials across our various channels for BPS people, and amongst contacts within the sight loss sector. Our SLC members also shared how the AIRA service helped instil confidence in them to allow them to explore and navigate a train station independently, and helped illustrate how it worked.
Paul Goddard, a Sussex SLC volunteer involved in the trial and various media interviews, shared this about the AIRA app: ‘The level of detail is incredible, from telling me whether a door is push or pull, to staying online until the train arrives. It’s like having a friend on your shoulder. It was really, really, good.’
Dave Smith and Transport Minister Simon Lightwood.
Sight Loss Council member Linn Davies uses the Aira app to guide her to a ticket machine at Brighton Station.
In the Autumn of 2024, following positive feedback from passengers who had used the Aira service, GTR decided to roll out the Aira offer to all of their 236 managed train stations, giving all BPS passengers using the GTR network the ability to benefit from this service. We feel this is a huge achievement for this project.
Smartphone-based technology
This project illustrates how smartphonebased technology, and the fast development of AI, offers new opportunities including making independent travel easier for blind and partially sighted people.
However, it is also vital to say that services like AIRA can only ever be part of the solution. They must be provided alongside good passenger assistance services, easily navigable and accessible stations, and appropriately trained station and customer services staff. We also need to
ensure BPS people are made aware of these technologies, and that their lived experience informs their ongoing development and use.
Other work with GTR?
We continue to work really closely with GTR, and look forward to continuing to build our ongoing relationship. Last year, we worked with them to create and test the Class 700 series train guide to increase access.
This guide, available in text and audio, describes the Thameslink class 700 series train. It explains the layout, onboard features, how to operate the alarm and detailed descriptions of the layout of the toilets. We co-produced this to provide BPS passengers with the same information that a sighted person would have when onboard, giving them more confidence and independence when travelling.
We were also awarded a ‘Your Station Your Community’ grant from GTR to further increase the accessibility of stations. This grant enables TPT and its network of SLCs to audio describe six of the GTR stations (Eastbourne and Brighton in the South, London Blackfriars and Sutton in London, and Luton Airport Parkway and Stevenage in Bedfordshire). The grant also enables us to create three further train guides. We also facilitated coffee and chat events to promote this work amongst the BPS community, get feedback and encourage more people to travel by train.
What next?
The future looks positive, but there is still much work to be done. SLCs across the country will continue to maximise the power of lived experience to further increase access to public transport, working locally with the wider BPS community, transport providers and operators alike. TPT will also continue
‘Our goal is to ensure everyone can travel independently and safely, to live the lives they want to live – to travel to work, see family and friends, attend appointments, and avoid the risk of being isolated.’
to lobby government for national policy change on a national level.
Our goal is to ensure everyone can travel independently and safely, to live the lives they want to live – to travel to work, see family and friends, attend appointments, and avoid the risk of being isolated.
We’re keen to work with anyone within the transport sector and support them with making their services accessible to blind and partially sighted people. If, after reading this article, you want to know more about us or contact us, then please visit www. sightlosscouncils.org.uk or email us at info@ sightlosscouncils.org.uk to learn more.
About Sight Loss Councils
Sight Loss Councils (SLCs) are regional groups led by blind and partially sighted people. Together, they work with organisations to ensure what they do is accessible and inclusive.
There are currently around 25 SLCs across the country. Each SLC is made up of blind and partially sighted members who meet monthly to discuss accessibility issues and plan projects in their regions under priority themes. National themes addressed by all SLCs are accessible public transport and street safety so everyone can travel independently and safely, and health and fitness. We also work to increase the accessibility of shopping, museums and galleries, depending on local area needs.
We are funded by national sight loss charity Thomas Pocklington Trust. Over the next year Thomas Pocklington Trust will extend our groups of SLCs further across the country.
To find out more visit: www.sightlosscouncils.org.uk
David Smith is Sight Loss Council Engagement Manager at Thomas Pocklington Trust
Paul Goddard and his guide dog Stevie. Paul is a volunteer with the East Sussex Sight Loss Council
What is your role within Diamond Rail Services?
As newly appointed Managing Director in July 2024 it is my role to set the business strategy and subsequent goals to achieve our vision. I enjoy linking changes in the industry to the Diamond strategy for growth and improvement to ensure we are always offering solutions to our customers challenges. This is filtered through to the teams individual goals to have us all swimming in the same direction. My role is to support the team with internal and external coaching and training and to influence the culture that runs through our business. I am also involved in driving innovation and business growth, exploring new markets, opportunities, and technologies to sustain the company's competitive edge.
every time! We are very proud of the lean and efficient planning for this project which delivers results. This is particularly challenging with the scope including interior paint. We term our planning ‘a dance’ to ensure each part of the scope is planned cleverly to ensure optimum quality.
With regards to unit sign off, the units through 2024, and the start of this year have less than ten snags per 6car train! The units are inspected by all three stakeholders and our Quality levels are sustained. Diamond are very proud of the team on site and the Project Manager for these results.
We have also seen internal successes with a reorganisation of the business and roles. We have had three apprenticeships complete with flying colours and the end of year team meeting was a hive of positivity for the results achieved. The Diamond culture continues to evolve and it is those people who drive the success.
RAIL SERVICES
JENNY DEMPSEY MANAGING DIRECTOR AT DIAMOND
Jenny Dempsey has been working on Business Growth and Continuous Improvement at Diamond Rail Services for four years. Taking the Managing Director helm in July 2024, Jenny inspires a positive culture driven by being helpful and supportive to customers.
DIAMOND RAIL SERVICES
Diamond Rail Services, based in Sheffield, is a specialist provider of interior refurbishment services for the UK rail industry. The company serves train operating companies, owning companies, and OEMs, delivering comprehensive solutions from seat refurbishment to complete interior overhauls.
Want to know more about Diamond Rail Services?
Tel: 0114 2570909
Email: info@diamondrail.co.uk
Visit: www.diamondrail.co.uk
Tell us about your career before you joined Diamond Rail Services?
My career has been heavily customer service focussed completing retail management training at John Lewis when I was 18 and working in retail management before joining the railway. This set me up nicely to start my career in rail as Customer Experience Manager for Northern. This has given me first hand operational experience of the Railway and within my current role I am always mindful of availability challenges and working with operational colleagues to ensure engagement from stakeholders.
I developed into Customer projects at Northern completing my Prince 2 qualification and being mentored by member of the Senior Leadership team. My biggest challenge was starting a role as Fleet Refurbishment Project Manger in 2017. I had not worked in the engineering environment and had a lot to prove.
I learned that the people skills I had from service and retail could aid me in the engineering environment to seek solutions and know the right team and people to complete tasks. Now working in the supply chain, I feel I have a good breadth of experience to offer customers an understanding service. Diamond have been called ‘fixers’ which is our vision achievedto be helpful! I think the learning and experience from all industries and roles is the key to a great service offering.
What success have you experienced in the last twelve months and how do you measure success?
Diamond have been continuing with our flagship project, the Class 395 Refurbishment with Hitachi at Ashford Depot. The project has been a resounding success with all stakeholders. Our performance is measured on programme delivery and quality of work through unit inspections and sign off. The programme is clean with all units complete on time,
How do you make your business a good place to work?
This is all about the people that you work with. We are a small team and everyone has differing strengths and development points. We work to a policy of bring your quirks to work to create an environment of acceptance and safety to be yourself. The team promote a good balance of fun and work. We can spend time catching up on home lives and there is always laughter in internal meetings, however we work to deadlines, complete our processes and work with our QMS system to ensure that the delivery to customers is great.
To aid the wellbeing at work, we promote flexible working with most of our employees opting for a four day working week. We have found that the same number of hours across four days improved productivity and gives people a better work life balance as well as saving money with travelling to work. We are a community that shares our values. Positive, Growth Mindset, Flexible and Committed.
Tell us about Diamond Rail Services.
Diamond is a small business located in Sheffield, serving UK Train Operating companies, Owning companies and OEM’s. Our core offering is interior refurbishment of rolling stock from replacing floorboards to painting ceilings. Our site in Sheffield is the home of the passenger and driver’s seat refurbishment offering. Our growing team has a wealth of experience, not only in engineering, logistics and project management but also customer service and delivery in the railway industry. We also work collaboratively with a range of suppliers and delivery partners as required throughout our project cycles.
With regards to our turnkey project offering we have grown our team and expertise to ensure quality delivery. Our team has seen additions of those who
have a lot of experience in rail and have brought with them lessons learned and process improvements. We have also recruited to our team those who have no experience in the Rail sector. Their new and unscathed view is extremely valuable to our processes and delivery and has helped us continually improve.
As a business we constantly ask for internal and external feedback to learn how we are performing. Holding frequent meetings to maintain our Quality Management System we discuss continuous improvement and change instigations so that our offer continues to meet the needs of our customers.
What is your Unique Selling Point?
I believe our USP is our approach to people. The relationships that we build with customers are based on being helpful, considerate of challenges and flexible in our approach. We pride ourselves on clear communication whether it be project documentation or email chains. Keeping stakeholders informed is a practice the whole team is dedicated to.
Internally with people, we have regularly coaching for both professional and personal purposes which I believe means the team are in the best position to deliver. We also offer coaching and mentorship to contractors that work with us. We have progressed our onsite contracted labour with one to one development and education about Diamonds values. After all they are our ambassadors!
What types of companies do you collaborate on projects with and what are your views on collaborative working?
Collaborative working fosters innovation and creativity by bringing diverse perspective and much more experience together. Collective ideas often lead to solutions that individuals may not have been able to come up with. Collaboration promotes shared ownership and accountability as the member work towards the common goals and values. This enhances productivity but more so creates a working environment that is a supportive one and individuals can feel more valued. This is where collaborations are superior to a customer supplier relationship. Collaboration can also create skill development opportunities as member can learn from one another’s strengths and expertise.
This is great when working in a team. However working in the world of supply chain can be a little different. Collaboration will only work if there is trust, and where suppliers may have had that broken in the past, it can be difficult to take another risk. Diamond’s strategy and my personal take is to work with those who share the same values and way of working. This takes time, however when the relationship establishes, both businesses will thrive.
How do you work with the supply chain within this sector?
Through attendance at events and exhibitions we get to meet a broad range of suppliers. Should a discussion be of an interest then a follow up meeting is arranged to learn further about the service offering of suppliers and how they could support any works. The suppliers that we work with are crucial to our success and so positive working relationships are key. We believe that we will only be as good as our supply chain and so open communication is prevalent in our interactions
We have suppliers that we work with as partners, and this is a relationship that can benefit both of us in the relationship. By working closely with another supplier and where needed having agreements in place, both businesses can expand their service offering and offer the turnkey approach that so many customers request.
With the coming launch of Great British Railways, how do you anticipate your place within the supply chain changing?
The launch of Great British Railways will undoubtedly reshape the supply chain, offering both challenges and opportunities for suppliers of railway interiors. As a supplier, I anticipate a shift towards more centralised and standardised procurement processes under GBR’s oversight. With GBR’s aim to create a more integrated and efficient rail system, we may see a greater emphasis on uniformity in design and product specifications across the network, streamlining the procurement process and reducing fragmentation. This could lead to more consistent demand for interior solutions, allowing us to plan more effectively and develop long-term relationships with operators.
However, with this centralisation, there may also be increased competition, as GBR could open up more opportunities for suppliers to bid for contracts. As a result, we’ll need to stay ahead of industry trends and continuously innovate to maintain a competitive edge. GBR is likely to prioritize eco-friendly materials and digital technologies, pushing suppliers to adopt greener and more advanced solutions.
The creation of GBR may lead to more collaboration between suppliers, operators, and regulators, enabling us to contribute more effectively to the design and planning processes. By fostering greater cooperation and alignment within the supply chain, suppliers like us will be better positioned to meet the evolving demands of the rail industry and help shape the future of railway interiors, or so we hope.
Where do you think the industry will be in the next 10-15 years?
In the next 10-15 years, I think the rail industry will undergo significant
transformation, driven by technological advancements, sustainability goals, and evolving passenger expectations. As a supplier, we will likely see a shift towards fully integrated, smart rail systems, leveraging IoT, AI, and automation to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance the passenger experience. Digital ticketing, real-time tracking, and predictive maintenance will be standard, creating a seamless, more connected travel experience.
Sustainability will remain at the forefront, with rail systems becoming more energy-efficient and eco-friendly. The adoption of hydrogen-powered trains, electrification of more rail lines, and the use of sustainable materials in train and station interiors will significantly reduce the industry’s carbon footprint.
From a design and interiors perspective, we’ll see more emphasis on passenger comfort, accessibility, and flexibility, as rail companies work to cater to an increasingly diverse and environmentally conscious customer base. The concept of ‘mobility as a service’ will also gain traction, integrating rail into broader transportation networks, making travel more seamless across different modes of transport.
What are your hopes for the new regulatory bodies, such as Great British Railways?
As a supplier to the railway interiors sector, my hopes for the new regulatory bodies, such as Great British Railways, centre on fostering a more cohesive and forwardthinking railway network. The creation of GBR provides a unique opportunity to streamline decision-making, ensuring that design and material standards are consistent across the rail system, while also embracing innovation. This will allow suppliers like us to work in closer collaboration with operators, aligning product development with the wider strategic goals of the industry, such as sustainability and passenger experience.
One of the key hopes is that GBR will provide clearer, more unified regulations that ensure a seamless integration of new technologies and materials in railway interiors. As the demand for more environmentally friendly, energy-efficient solutions grows, a regulatory framework that encourages the adoption of sustainable products will be crucial. GBR could help facilitate this by providing guidance and incentives for the implementation of green materials and designs in station and train interiors.
Moreover, a more centralised approach will enable better long-term planning, offering suppliers the visibility needed to invest in innovation and high-quality materials that will stand the test of time. In this environment, we can anticipate more predictable procurement processes and stronger alignment between rail operators and suppliers. Ultimately, I hope GBR will
create a stable and dynamic market where collaboration drives both the passenger experience and the future of railway infrastructure.
How can we make the rail industry a place people want to work in?
Making the rail industry an attractive place to work requires a multi-faceted approach that promotes a positive and innovative work environment. A focus on creating diverse career pathways, allowing employees to grow within the industry is essential. From design and engineering roles to project management and installation, offering clear career progression is key to retaining talent.
The rail sector can benefit from introducing more apprenticeships and vocational training programs, which not only build skills but also help draw young talent to the industry.
Additionally, the industry must embrace modern workplace practices, prioritising employee well-being and work-life balance. Flexible working arrangements, better mental health support, and an emphasis on a safe and inclusive work environment will make the rail sector more appealing to a wider range of people, including those from underrepresented groups.
Another crucial element is fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. As the rail industry evolves with advancements in technology and sustainability, there are ample opportunities for employees to contribute to cutting-edge projects. By involving employees in the development of new, sustainable rail solutions and incorporating their ideas into designs, we can in still a sense of ownership and pride in the work.
What do you expect to be the biggest challenges that come from this transformation of the railway industry?
The transformation currently underway presents both significant opportunities and challenges. One of the biggest hurdles will be navigating the complexities of the shift toward greater sustainability. As the industry focuses on reducing carbon emissions and improving environmental performance, suppliers must adapt to meet new regulations and demands for greener products.
This means sourcing eco-friendly materials, designing energy-efficient interiors, and integrating sustainable technologies all of which require significant investment in research and development and supply chain management. Balancing these
sustainability goals with cost-effectiveness and the high quality rail operators expect will be a key challenge.
Another challenge will be the potential for disruption during the ongoing structural changes in the industry, such as the creation of Great British Railways. With a reorganisation of responsibilities and regulatory frameworks, suppliers may face shifting priorities, new standards, and more complex procurement processes. These changes could lead to temporary instability in the market, making it harder to forecast demand and plan long-term investments.
Additionally, technological innovation is driving improvements in railway systems, it also means that suppliers must keep up with the latest developments, ensuring their products and solutions align with evolving expectations. Incorporating digital solutions, automation, and advanced materials into our offerings will be necessary, but the speed at which these changes are adopted could create logistical and technical challenges for suppliers.
In short, the biggest challenges will likely revolve around sustainability, adapting to regulatory shifts, and keeping pace with technological advancement all while maintaining cost-effective and high-quality solutions for our customers. Wish us luck!
Bristol Temple Quarter's Southern Gateway
In a landmark development for Bristol's transport infrastructure, ambitious plans for a new transport hub at Bristol Temple Meads station have been unveiled by the Bristol Temple Quarter project team
Against the backdrop of the historic Grade I listed station, with its distinctive Victorian Gothic architecture designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, this new gateway promises to revolutionise how people access and experience one of Britain's oldest railway stations.
When asked about how the Southern Gateway project fits into Bristol's broader development and transport strategy, Tony Dyer, Leader of Bristol City Council, responded: ‘It's crucial. Temple Meads is the last major mainline station to be upgraded and refurbished. What these developments allow us to do is relocate some parking, which is part of the Southern Gateway, and that in turn allows us to unlock land that can be used for developments other than parking.
‘It's also part of a wider citywide approach to sustainable transport – we're within close proximity to Temple Meads station, we have the Temple Quarter development coming forward, along with Whitehouse Street, Bedminster Green, and Mead Street areas. We also have the city centre development itself and just yesterday launched the draft masterplan for Western Harbour at the western end of our harbour. Temple Quarter is effectively doing something similar, but on a much larger scale at the eastern end of the harbour.’
Scale and scope of the development
The Bristol Temple Quarter (BTQ) programme represents one of the most significant urban regeneration projects in the UK, encompassing 135 hectares of central Bristol. The emerging plans for the area reveal an ambitious vision that extends far beyond simple infrastructure improvements. Around the Bristol Temple Meads station, proposals include three new or improved station entrances, supported by a £95 million grant awarded by government in 2022, which will dramatically improve visitors’ welcome to the city.
The Southern Gateway transport hub is one of the key first developments to come forward, supported by this funding. Designed by AHR Architects Ltd, in the proposals include a striking multi-storey car park facility featuring innovative vertical gardens and a distinctive façade treatment that references Bristol's heritage. By relocating station parking, land elsewhere around the station can be revitalised with new development.
The plans for the Southern Gateway, viewable in detailed elevation drawings, show how the development will carefully integrate with the existing Victorian architecture while introducing contemporary elements. Golden vertical fins and extensive planting create a visual rhythm along the building's exterior, as shown in the architectural visualisations.
Dyer elaborated on the city's unique geographical challenges: ‘Bristol does have a river running through the middle of it, and often that can be a block on connectivity from the south of the city to the north of the city. What we're hoping Temple Quarter can do, by focusing on a much better offering from Temple Meads station itself, is help to connect the city together as well as connecting the city to the wider region and nationally.’
Partnership and governance
The delivery of such an ambitious project requires unprecedented cooperation between multiple stakeholders. The newly formed Bristol Temple Quarter Limited Liability Partnership (BTQLLP), incorporated in March 2024, brings together key public sector partners in a pioneering governance structure made up of Homes England, West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and Bristol City Council, all of whom work closely with Network Rail. When questioned about the coordination between these various bodies, Dyer provided insight into the collaborative approach: ‘When you're working with quite
diverse organizations, one of the key things is to make sure we all share the same vision. From Bristol City Council's point of view, we've been aware for quite a long time about the need to bring investment into this part of the city. From the West of England Combined Authority's perspective, Bristol is at the heart of the Combined Authority region, so it makes absolute sense for them to be focusing on this. Network Rail had an ambition to refurbish and expand Temple Meads station itself because at the moment, it won't be able to cope with increased passenger numbers without major refurbishment work. For Homes England, this ties in with Bristol's housing crisis, which reflects the national housing crisis.’
The role of the university
The involvement of the University of Bristol adds another dimension to the project's potential impact. The architectural plans show how the new Eastern Entrance, also funded by the 2022 government grant and set to open in Autumn 2026, will create a direct connection to the University's new £500 million Enterprise Campus. This integration is reflected in Dyer's comments: ‘The University of Bristol is also a crucial fifth partner.
‘They've recognized they need to be engaged more fully with the city, so by expanding into one of the most deprived areas of the city from their core base, that represents significant investment. We have a limited liability partnership set up, and from Bristol City Council's point of view, we maintain political oversight on decisionmaking. But a lot of it is having trust that we all agree on what's needed and working together to deliver on that.’
Transforming the Northern Gateway
The site plans reveal how the consolidation of parking at the Southern Gateway will unlock significant development potential around the station. The detailed drawings show the current expanse of surface parking
that will be transformed into vibrant public spaces and new development opportunities. When asked about this transformation, Dyer explained: ‘The land around Temple Meads is currently dominated by car parking, which creates a poor experience for people arriving in the city. By relocating regulated parking into a single location at the Southern Gateway, we can transform the space to the north of the station at the Friary, Station Approach, and in the Grade I listed Midland Shed with new development, public spaces, and travel routes. This will create a world-class welcome to the city-region.’
Sustainable transport integration
The technical specifications for the transport hub are impressive in their scope and ambition. The architectural drawings show a carefully considered multi-modal facility that includes:
• A 350-space multi-storey car park with smart parking technology.
• A dedicated cycle hub accommodating over 750 bicycles.
• Specific provisions for cargo bikes and adapted cycles.
• E-vehicle charging infrastructure with futureproofing for expanded capacity.
• New bus stops with real-time information displays.
• Space reserved for future mass transit integration.
Dyer elaborated on how these elements balance different transport needs: ‘The Southern Gateway is a really good example
of that balance. While we'll include a multistorey car park, alongside it will be a cycle hub providing some 750 secure bicycle places, including facilities for cargo bikes and disabled bikes. There'll also be the opportunity to have an e-power hub there, and a café alongside, which would encourage people who arrive by bike to use the station.
‘Next to the Southern Gateway, we'll be relocating some of the bus stops to facilitate people using public transport to get from the station to and from South Bristol. There's also potential for when we eventually sort out a mass transit scheme, that there'll be a link into that as well. It's about recognizing the different ways that people can connect to the railway – it doesn't have to be just by car. We want to make the station itself more accessible to all forms of transport. By doing that, we can increase patronage of the railway itself, as Bristol provides connections and new stations across the city and into the region nationally as well.’
Community impact and social value
The significance of this project for South Bristol cannot be overstated. The architectural plans show new pedestrian and cycle connections that will dramatically improve access from southern neighbourhoods to the city centre. Public realm improvements, illustrated in the detailed landscaping plans, include highquality paving, extensive planting, and carefully considered lighting to ensure safety and accessibility at all hours.
Dyer, speaking from personal experience, explained the project's importance for South
Bristol: ‘I'm a South Bristol boy born and bred on a council estate on the south of the city, so it's something that's very close to my heart. There has been a tendency in previous decades that, with the motorway being to the north of the city, investment has tended to be drawn away from the south of the city. By investing in what is effectively a new town in the centre of our city, it also allows us to improve those connections to the south of the city.
‘The southern part of the city has some of the most deprived areas in the whole of Bristol, if not in the whole of the country, and the ward that Temple Meads is in is also one of the most deprived areas of the city. So what we're doing is going to be able to invest into deprived areas of the city in Temple Quarter, which will then also unlock investment for deprived areas in the south as well.’
Financial framework and government support
The project's £94.7 million government funding represents a significant vote of confidence in Bristol's development vision. The allocation of this funding has been carefully structured to ensure maximum impact, as Dyer outlined: ‘The £94.7 million was awarded by central Government back in 2022, and the key element was for Temple Quarter Phase 1. It was really about looking at how we can open up access to the station, providing better entrances, and freeing up some of the land around the station for better use. There was also a focus on delivering housing, including affordable
housing, and we've largely satisfied the terms of what our grant was about.’
Construction progress is already visible, as Dyer noted: ‘We've been able to put in a draft masterplan for phase one which is being delivered. If you go down to Temple Meads now, you'll see a lot of cranes around because the work has started in most areas, and we have a clear idea of what we need to achieve to justify having received that amount of funding from the government. The next stage will be looking at how we move on to phase two, which is a bit further down the line.’
Architectural design and station access
The architectural visualisations reveal a striking contemporary design that respects the historic context while boldly expressing Bristol's future aspirations. The plans show extensive use of sustainable materials, green walls, and public art installations that reference the city's cultural heritage.
Dyer explained how the design will transform access to the station: ‘One of the key changes is that for a long time, one of the problems with Temple Meads is it only had one entrance. A key element of what we're doing now is opening up new entrances – we'll have the eastern entrance where we'll have direct access into the University of Bristol campus, which will also be a public entrance. This will open up the campus to members of the public who previously might not have considered going anywhere near university land.
‘The Southern Gateway will provide better access to the south of the city,
and at the same time provide us with the opportunity to consolidate parking into one place, which in turn frees up land from the northern entrance. The station is serving as a focus of connectivity, but also part of the project is improving the connectivity of the city to the station itself. In total, Bristol Temple Meads will benefit from four new or improved entrances as part of the Temple Quarter programme, creating a more accessible and integrated transport hub that better serves all parts of the city.’
The detailed site plans reveal how these multiple entrances will work in harmony with new public spaces, creating a permeable and welcoming environment that transforms the station from a barrier into a bridge between communities. The Southern Gateway's design, with its innovative vertical gardens and sustainable features, will serve as a new landmark for the city while improving the daily experience of thousands of commuters and visitors.
Conclusion
The Southern Gateway project represents more than just an infrastructure development; it embodies Bristol's aspirations for sustainable growth, social equity, and architectural excellence. By consolidating parking and creating new transport interfaces, the development will unlock the potential of Temple Quarter while dramatically improving access to Temple Meads station from the south of the city.
The project demonstrates how thoughtful urban design can address
multiple challenges simultaneously – from transport integration to social inclusion, from environmental sustainability to economic regeneration. The architectural plans reveal a development that will serve as both a functional transport hub and a symbolic gateway, marking Bristol's evolution into a more connected, sustainable city.
As construction progresses and public engagement continues, the Southern Gateway is set to become a catalyst for wider regeneration across Bristol. The development will not only transform the immediate station area but will help rebalance the city's development patterns, creating new opportunities for communities in the south while enhancing Bristol's position as a major regional transport hub.
With its carefully phased delivery programme, extensive public consultation, and ambitious design vision, the Southern Gateway project sets a new standard for infrastructure development that serves both local communities and regional strategic objectives. As the first major development to be delivered by the Bristol Temple Quarter Limited Liability Partnership, it represents a new model of public sector collaboration that could influence similar projects across the UK. When complete in 2028, the Southern Gateway will stand as a testament to Bristol's commitment to inclusive, sustainable urban development, creating a lasting legacy for future generations while meeting the immediate needs of the city's growing population.
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DAVE WATSON MANAGING DIRECTOR AT HAHN PLASTICS
Leading HAHN Plastics UK, Dave Watson works alongside a talented team of 60+ to drive growth and innovation. The team collaborates with stakeholders to optimise operations, ensuring our sustainable products create value for its customers with a clear mission –preserving natural resources by sourcing and producing close to the markets we serve.
BYRON SUMMERS MANAGING DIRECTOR AT THE RAILWAY SHOP
Byron Summers is the Managing Director of The Railway Shop, founded in 2015 in Yorkshire. With extensive on-track engineering and project management experience, he leads the company in supplying over 1,000 railway products globally and is a constant innovative champion for the Rail Industry.
HAHN PLASTICS
HAHN Plastics is a leading manufacturer of recycled plastic products, specialising in transforming post-consumer waste into high-performance materials for infrastructure applications. Operating from their UK base with a team of over 60 professionals, they are at the forefront of sustainable materials innovation, working closely with industries to reduce reliance on traditional materials whilst championing the circular economy.
At Timberless, sustainability means taking real action to protect the environment through innovative recycling, championing a circular economy, and offering eco-friendly products that reduce dependence on finite resources. That’s why our partnership with HAHN Plastics is so important to us.
HAHN Plastics specialises in recycling post-consumer mixed plastics, transforming approximately 90,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually into 65,000 tonnes of their proprietary material, hanit. This process not only diverts significant amounts of plastic from landfill but also reduces the demand for virgin raw materials, helping to conserve natural resources.
Our commitment to sustainability is reflected in our dedication to the circular economy. Together with HAHN, we prioritise the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. By designing durable products that can be fully recycled at the end of their lifecycle, we ensure materials stay in use for as long as possible, minimising waste and environmental impact. HAHN Plastics has even achieved a 120-year design life on certain products made from hanit ULTRA reinforcing the long-term sustainability of recycled materials.
What was the inspiration behind starting Timberless?
Timberless was founded with a deep commitment to innovation and sustainability in the rail industry. Our parent company, The Railway Shop, was created by rail professionals, for rail professionals – an ethos that continues to shape everything we do. Timberless is a natural extension of this mission, ensuring that cutting-edge, environmentally responsible solutions remain at the core of rail infrastructure.
Recognising the urgent need to rethink traditional materials, our Managing Director, Byron Summers, led the way in introducing a UK-sourced, post-consumer recycled plastic product to the rail sector. Partnering with Dave Watson Managing Director of HAHN Plastics, a global leader in transforming consumer waste plastic into high-performance materials, together we are setting new benchmarks for sustainable rail infrastructure.
Historically, sustainability concerns have surrounded recycled plastics and GRP (glassreinforced plastic) – many recycled materials are imported, increasing carbon footprints, while GRP is often single-use, hanit by HAHN Plastics changes the game. Made
from UK post-consumer plastic waste, it provides a genuinely sustainable alternative to timber – without compromising the environment.
At Timberless, in partnership with HAHN Plastics, we are driving this transformation. Our mission is to move the rail industry away from traditional materials and towards innovative, long-lasting solutions. The future of rail is sustainable, and we are committed to making recycled waste the preferred choice over timber.
Together, we are redefining the industry – because recycled plastic isn’t just an option; it’s the future.
When a client comes to you with a particular problem, what’s your process for coming up with a solution, and how closely do you work with clients throughout the projects?
At Timberless, in collaboration with HAHN Plastics, we take a consultative and solutions-driven approach to providing sustainable alternatives for Network Rail clients. With HAHN Plastics as our expert knowledge base in recycled materials, we ensure every project benefits from a wealth of experience in both rail infrastructure and sustainable engineering.
Our process begins with a comprehensive understanding of each project's unique requirements. We work closely with clients to assess specific needs, challenges, and site conditions, ensuring that our solutions are practical, durable, and fully compliant with rail industry standards. Led by Managing Director Byron Summers, our team brings decades of rail industry expertise, allowing us to approach projects from an engineer’s perspective – ensuring not only sustainability but also efficiency and performance.
Combining this engineering expertise with over 30 years of experience in recycled consumer plastic waste, the Timberless and HAHN Plastics partnership is a powerful force for change. Once project requirements are established, we work with HAHN Plastics to develop bespoke solutions using hanit Ultra – our UK-sourced, postconsumer recycled plastic material. Each product undergoes rigorous testing and quality control, guaranteeing long-term performance, safety, and resilience.
Throughout the project lifecycle, we maintain open communication, providing technical support, on-site guidance, and ongoing progress updates. Our commitment doesn’t stop at installation – we continue to offer expertise and assistance to ensure long-term success.
At Timberless, we’re not just replacing timber – we’re revolutionising rail infrastructure by integrating sustainable materials into every aspect of the industry. By working hand-in-hand with Network Rail clients, we are helping to build a greener, more resilient future – one project at a time.
How has the market responded to Timberless' solutions?
The market response to Timberless has been a mix of enthusiasm, caution, and hesitation. While many forward-thinking organisations within the rail industry acknowledge the urgent need for sustainable alternatives to timber, others remain resistant to change.
One of the biggest challenges we’ve encountered is the deeply ingrained mindset of professionals who have relied on traditional materials for decades. For some, timber has always been the default solution, and transitioning to recycled plastic feels like an unnecessary risk, despite hanit’s proven durability, longevity, and environmental benefits.
Similarly, some decision-makers take a conventional ‘inside-the-box’ approach, prioritising familiarity over innovation. Rather than exploring the long-term advantages of hanit, they default to what has historically worked – even when timber’s sustainability challenges and lifecycle costs present clear issues.
Cost is another factor. While the initial price of hanit can be slightly higher than timber, its extended lifespan and minimal maintenance requirements make it the
‘HAHN Plastics has even achieved a 120year design life on certain products made from hanit ULTRA, reinforcing the longterm sustainability of recycled materials’
integrating Timberless into real-world applications, demonstrating its advantages in live rail environments.
We’re also investing time in presentations, site visits, and direct engagement with key decision-makers. From supply chain managers to engineers on the ground, we want to ensure that everyone in rail infrastructure understands where Timberless fits, how it outperforms timber, and what challenges it solves.
Most importantly, collaboration is our priority. Instead of simply promoting Timberless, we’re engaging with rail professionals to listen, learn, and adapt – understanding their challenges and demonstrating how sustainable materials can provide real solutions. Their feedback will shape the future of Timberless, ensuring it evolves to meet the industry’s demands.
In short, 2025 is about action – getting Timberless in front of the right people, proving its worth through trials, and building partnerships that will drive longterm adoption across the UK rail network. The future of rail is sustainable, and Timberless is leading the way.
How will the launch of Great British Railways impact Timberless’ role in the supply chain?
The launch of Great British Railways (GBR) represents a significant shift in the UK rail industry, streamlining procurement and decision-making under a centralised structure. While the full impact on suppliers is still unfolding, we see both opportunities and challenges ahead for Timberless.
more cost-effective solution in the long run. However, some within the industry remain hesitant, preferring to wait for others to take the lead before committing.
That said, we are seeing a shift in momentum. More industry leaders recognise that sustainable materials are the future, and as successful Timberless projects continue to demonstrate their value, broader adoption is inevitable. Change takes time, but we are confident that Timberless will play a key role in shaping a greener, more resilient rail industry.
What’s ahead for Timberless in 2025?
The year ahead is all about exposure, collaboration, and proving the value of Timberless across the UK rail industry. With HAHN Plastics’ support, we’ll be attending Rail Industry Network events in Derby, London, and Harrogate, ensuring Timberless is seen, discussed, and trialled in key rail projects. Education, education, education –that’s our focus.
A major part of our strategy is expanding trial projects, allowing rail professionals to see firsthand how hanit performs as a durable, low-maintenance, and sustainable alternative to traditional materials. By working closely with industry leaders, we’re
One of the most promising aspects of GBR’s formation is its strong commitment to sustainability. With government targets driving the push for greener infrastructure, the industry will prioritise environmentally responsible materials more than ever. Timberless is well-positioned to meet these demands, offering a UK-sourced, postconsumer recycled plastic solution that helps reduce waste, lower carbon emissions, and cut long-term maintenance costs.
However, with a centralised procurement framework, we also expect increased cost scrutiny. While hanit provides significant long-term savings thanks to its durability and low maintenance, many decisionmakers still focus on initial costs. To secure our place within the GBR supply chain, we must continue to demonstrate the wholelife cost benefits of choosing Timberless over traditional materials – showing that investing in sustainable solutions today leads to significant savings tomorrow.
Another key shift will be GBR’s move toward standardising procurement processes. This could accelerate the adoption of approved materials across multiple projects, eliminating the need for repeated individual approvals. If hanit becomes part of GBR’s recognised materials list, it could open doors to large-scale implementation across the UK rail network.
While GBR’s introduction may bring short-term uncertainty, it aligns perfectly with Timberless’ mission. By continuing to champion sustainability, cost efficiency, and long-term performance, we are confident that Timberless will play an increasingly vital role in shaping the future of rail infrastructure under GBR. The rail industry is evolving, and Timberless is ready to lead the way.
If Timberless were in charge of the UK rail industry, where would you target investment and improvements?
If Timberless were at the helm of the UK rail industry, our focus would be on sustainability, infrastructure longevity, and procurement efficiency. The rail network continues to grapple with ageing infrastructure, reliance on unsustainable materials, and fragmented supply chains –all of which demand urgent attention.
We would prioritise recycled and longlasting materials over traditional timber and short-life alternatives. Hanit, our UK-sourced, post-consumer recycled plastic, outperforms timber in durability, maintenance, and sustainability. A nationwide shift towards such materials would reduce waste, lower long-term costs, and support the UK’s Net Zero targets.
The current fragmented procurement system causes inefficiencies and delays in material adoption. We would introduce a streamlined approach, ensuring sustainable, high-performance materials are preapproved for widespread use – eliminating unnecessary re-evaluations and speeding up implementation.
Too often, cost-driven decisions lead to short-term fixes rather than long-term solutions. We would focus on materials with superior lifespan and minimal maintenance requirements, reducing both financial and environmental costs over time.
Investment would be directed towards developing smarter materials and circular economy initiatives, ensuring that waste is repurposed into new infrastructure rather than discarded.
By adopting this approach, the UK rail industry could become a global leader in sustainable transport, setting new benchmarks for environmental responsibility and long-term efficiency.
Where will the rail industry be in the next 10 to 15 years?
If there’s one thing we know about the rail industry, change happens at its own pace –sometimes at high speed, sometimes with the gentle urgency of a delayed Sunday service. But one thing is certain: the next 10 to 15 years will see a shift towards a greener, more efficient, and more forwardthinking railway.
Sustainability will no longer be a buzzword but an expectation. The industry will have no choice but to embrace recycled,
low-carbon materials like hanit, moving away from outdated practices that rely on timber and other short-lived solutions. Wasteful, single-use materials will become a thing of the past, with circular economy principles ensuring that what we build today can be repurposed for tomorrow.
Procurement will (hopefully) evolve into a smoother, more streamlined process, where cost is assessed over the long term rather than just upfront. The days of choosing cheap materials that require endless maintenance may finally be behind us, replaced by smarter investment in durable, low-maintenance solutions.
And then there’s technology. With AI-driven maintenance and smart infrastructure on the rise, the rail industry might just become as efficient as it’s always aspired to be. No more surprises, fewer delays, and maybe – just maybe – a train seat for everyone (we can dream).
In short, change is coming – perhaps not at record-breaking speed, but with enough momentum to make a real difference. And Timberless will be here, ensuring sustainability remains at the heart of it all.
What are some lessons you’ve learned from recent high-profile rail projects and how does that impact on future developments?
If recent high-profile rail projects have taught the industry anything, it’s that planning, budgeting, and sustainability need to be taken far more seriously. From HS2’s spiralling costs to Crossrail’s delays, the rail sector has seen firsthand the consequences of underestimating complexity, overpromising timelines, and failing to integrate sustainable solutions from the outset.
One of the biggest lessons learned is the need for practical and achievable project planning. Over-ambitious deadlines and under-budgeted plans have led to delays and cost overruns, frustrating both stakeholders and the public. Future projects are now shifting towards a phased, incremental approach, allowing lessons from one stage to be applied to the next rather than committing to rigid timelines that quickly become unachievable.
Sustainability is no longer an afterthought – it’s a fundamental requirement. The industry is moving away from traditional materials like timber, concrete, and imported plastics, recognising their high maintenance costs and environmental impact. Instead, there is a growing push towards UK-sourced, recycled alternatives like hanit, which offer longerlasting, low-maintenance solutions that align with Net Zero targets.
Procurement processes are evolving. Instead of choosing materials based on the lowest upfront cost, there’s a growing emphasis on whole-life cost assessments. This approach ensures that infrastructure is built to last, reducing ongoing maintenance and replacement costs while improving longterm efficiency.
‘We're not just replacing timber –we're revolutionising rail infrastructure by integrating sustainable materials into every aspect of the industry’
How do you see Timberless and HAHN Plastics shaping the future of rail infrastructure?
The challenges of recent rail projects have provided valuable insights, and the industry is now taking steps toward a more sustainable, cost-effective, and efficient future. Timberless, in collaboration with The Railway Shop and HAHN Plastics, is at the forefront of this transformation.
By integrating hanit ULTRA – HAHN Plastics’ UK-manufactured, post-consumer recycled plastic material – into rail infrastructure, Timberless is delivering durable, low-maintenance, and sustainable alternatives to traditional materials. As the industry moves towards realistic planning, sustainable sourcing, and smarter procurement, Timberless and hanit are perfectly positioned to help drive this change – ensuring the rail network is built for long-term resilience.
While there’s still progress to be made, one thing is clear: the future of UK rail will be shaped by smarter materials, sustainable solutions, and a commitment to long-term performance – and HAHN Plastics and Timberless by the Railway Shop will be leading the way.
The Bicentenary Building Boom
As Britain's railways celebrate their bicentenary year, an unprecedented wave of station improvements and developments is transforming the network
From major infrastructure projects to community-led initiatives, 2025 is witnessing significant investment in making stations more accessible, sustainable, and responsive to modern passenger needs.
At the forefront of major infrastructure developments, HS2's ambitious station projects are taking shape across the country. In Birmingham, preparations for increased construction activity at Curzon Street Station are underway, with local firm MPB Structures securing the contract for the station's substructure foundations. The scale of the work is impressive – the team will remove 65,000m³ of earth and utilise 17,000 cubic metres of concrete to install
417 pile caps, alongside over 4,700 tonnes of reinforcing steel for the station's ground beams. This phase will employ around 140 people from January 2025, demonstrating HS2's commitment to local employment.
Meanwhile, in London, Old Oak Common station has reached a significant milestone with the completion of its foundations. The 850-metre-long underground station box required an extraordinary engineering effort, involving 76,000 cubic metres of concrete and 17,000 tonnes of reinforced steel. The base slab, covering an area equivalent to six football pitches, required 91 separate concrete pours to complete. Notably, the project has prioritised environmental considerations, using low
carbon ECOPact concrete and manufacturing over 90 per cent of the concrete on site, significantly reducing lorry movements and CO2 emissions.
This commitment to sustainability has earned Old Oak Common recognition as BREEAM outstanding, placing it in the top one per cent of environmentally friendly buildings in the UK. When operational, the station will feature six underground platforms for high-speed services and eight surface-level platforms, providing seamless interchange with the Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express.
Accessibility improvements continue to be a major focus across the network. The Department for Transport's 'Access for
Paul McAleer, Paul Kohler MP, Cllr Mike Brunt and Steve Meek cut the ribbon at Motspur Park station.
All' scheme is funding significant upgrades at multiple locations. Barnes station in south west London has completed an £8.3 million programme introducing new lifts and staircases to all platforms. The project goes beyond mere access improvements, incorporating enhanced lighting and CCTV systems to improve passenger safety, particularly during evening hours. The station has also embraced its local heritage through a new community-designed mural celebrating nearby landmarks, including the WWT London Wetland Centre and Olympic Studios, where artists including The Beatles, Queen, and David Bowie once recorded.
Just a few miles away, Motspur Park station has received an £11.4 million investment ahead of its centenary year. The station, which serves as the gateway to Fulham FC's training ground and supports the club's charitable foundation, has been fitted with a new covered footbridge providing step-free access via lifts to all platforms. The project, partly funded by a £690,000 contribution from the London Borough of Merton Council, demonstrates the increasing collaboration between railway operators and local authorities in delivering station improvements.
The Southeastern and Network Rail Alliance has completed a wide-ranging £2.6 million improvement programme across more than 20 stations throughout South-East London, East Sussex and Kent. This comprehensive initiative has balanced historical preservation with modern requirements, particularly evident in the restoration work at Battle and Margate's Victorian-era booking halls. At Eltham,
three platform waiting rooms have been completely enclosed from the elements with glazed panelling and automatic sliding doors, whilst Maze Hill has seen its 1972 ticket office thoroughly refurbished.
Particular attention has been paid to passenger comfort and accessibility, with Orpington receiving a new women's toilet facility on its busy London-bound platform. The programme has also delivered significant accessibility improvements at several stations, including upgraded accessible toilets at Bexley and Herne Bay, and step-free waiting rooms at Petts Wood. The Alliance is already looking ahead, with design work underway for further enhancements at Beckenham Junction, Catford Bridge, New Cross, Canterbury West and Faversham.
TransPennine Express is leading the way in inclusive design with the introduction of stoma-friendly facilities across its network. All of the operator's accessible station toilets, spanning 14 locations from Cleethorpes to Manchester Airport, now feature specially designed shelves, hooks, mirrors, and disposal facilities meeting Colostomy UK requirements. This initiative, benefiting more than 200,000 people in the UK who have a stoma, follows the installation of a new Changing Places facility at Stalybridge station, providing enhanced accessibility for passengers who cannot use standard accessible toilets.
Community engagement is proving crucial to station regeneration, as exemplified by the remarkable transformation of Mytholmroyd Station in Yorkshire. After an 18-year journey
marked by setbacks including floods and the Covid-19 pandemic, volunteers Geoff and Sue Mitchell are preparing to open a new community hub in the station's Grade II listed building. The structure, which dates back to 1874 and originally housed a booking hall, waiting rooms, and the station master's office, had stood empty for 40 years before the renovation began. Now, having secured a 25-year lease and £293,193 from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities' Community Ownership Fund, the building is being transformed into a creative centre with seven artist studios and community space.
The power of community involvement is further demonstrated by the success of three Merseyrail stations at the Cheshire Best Kept Stations Awards. Bebington claimed the title of 'Best station on the Wirral', while Hoylake secured the 'In Bloom Award', and Meols received high commendation in the 'Best staffed station' category. These awards, judged by community organisations including Rotary Clubs and the Women's Institute, reflect the dedication of hundreds of volunteers working alongside railway staff to create welcoming environments for passengers.
Looking to the future, HS2 is advancing plans for its Solihull Interchange Station with a pioneering transport connection system. The project has invited two companies, POMA S.A.S and Doppelmayr Cable Car UK Ltd, to tender for a £269 million contract to supply and operate an Automated People Mover (APM). This elevated transit system, running on a 2.2-kilometre-long viaduct, will provide a
Foundations complete for HS2's Old Oak Common high-speed station.
crucial link between the new station and key regional transport hubs. Crossing the West Coast Main Line, the National Exhibition Centre, Pendigo Lake and M42 Motorway, the system will transport thousands of passengers hourly, creating seamless connections between regional, national and international transport services.
In London, significant progress is being made on the Elephant & Castle Station capacity upgrade, with AECOM appointed as lead designer for the new passenger tunnels. The project, which will see excavation work begin in 2025, involves creating 135 metres of new tunnels to substantially increase the station's capacity. This upgrade is particularly timely, with footfall expected to rise by 25-40 per cent by 2041. Crucially, the development will provide step-free access to the Northern line for the first time, marking another step forward in London's transport accessibility journey.
At London St Pancras International, East Midlands Railway has enhanced the passenger experience with a new Travel Centre and Assistance Lounge. Located alongside Platforms 1-4, this facility serves as a comprehensive one-stop shop for all ticketing and travel enquiries. The improvements, funded through an agreement with High Speed 1, include a comfortable Passenger Assistance Lounge, fully accessible toilet facilities, and baby changing amenities. The station's efficiency has also been improved with the installation of five additional single gates and two wideaisle gates, helping to speed up boarding and exit processes during peak periods.
At London Euston, one of Britain's busiest stations, a digital transformation is revolutionising passenger assistance services. The station, which handles over 23 million passengers annually and records the highest number of Passenger Assistance bookings in the country, has implemented
a new digital system to replace its previous reliance on Excel spreadsheets and phone calls.
The new Passenger Assistance solution, developed by Transreport, allows staff to efficiently manage and track assistance requests through a user-friendly app and web dashboard. The system enables realtime staff allocation, provides audit trails of assistance delivery, and even accommodates spontaneous 'Turn Up and Go' requests.
Steven Crowhurst from Network Rail explains: "Before the introduction of the Passenger Assistance solution, it was difficult to keep track of assistances. Now, we can allocate staff to a passenger for assistance via the App, which then provides an audit trail of who's been tasked with what. This has significantly improved our accountability and enabled us to monitor our progress."
The transformation has led to increased customer satisfaction, more efficient staff working patterns, and improved resource management. A particular innovation is the Resource Management tool, which allows larger stations like Euston to deploy entire teams rather than individual staff members, aligning with the station's operational structure and scheduling systems.
Disability specialist Shani Dhanda describes the system as "revolutionary in the way it has enabled disabled passengers to travel with more confidence, spontaneity and independence. This technology helps the transport sector to provide support tailored to disabled people's individual needs, in a dignified and efficient way."
These developments, taking place as Britain's railways celebrate their 200th anniversary, represent more than just infrastructure improvements. They reflect a broader transformation in how stations are conceived and operated – not merely as transport hubs, but as community spaces that must serve diverse needs while honouring their heritage. From the technical achievements at Old Oak Common to the community-led renaissance at Mytholmroyd, from the accessibility advances at Barnes to the future-focused planning at Solihull, Britain's railway stations are being readied for their next century of service.
The nationwide celebration of Railway 200 provides a fitting backdrop to these developments, connecting the pioneering spirit that launched the world's first modern railway in 1825 with today's innovations. As these projects demonstrate, the railway network continues to evolve, balancing historical preservation with modern requirements for accessibility, sustainability, and community engagement, while maintaining its central role in Britain's transport infrastructure.
In September 2024, WSP completed a major upgrade to Paddington Underground Station's Bakerloo line ticket hall. The project, commissioned by Sellar for Great Western Developments Ltd, delivers improved passenger flow and step-free access while maintaining operational continuity during construction. The new facility integrates with the Paddington Square development, a 440,000 sq. ft. mixed-use complex offering office space and retail amenities. WSP provided multi-disciplinary engineering services alongside project partners Mace and Scott Brownrigg.
Andrew Woodward Project Director at WSP Andrew Postings Director and Head of Rail at Scott Brownrigg
Sam Sherwood-Hale spoke Andrew Woodward of WSP and Andrew Postings of Scott Brownrigg about the intricate process of modernising Paddington Station’s ticket hall while maintaining operations
SSH: How did WSP's pedestrian modelling shape the final ticket hall design, particularly regarding accessibility?
AW: Woodward: I think it is better if we take a step back from the pedestrian modelling. The new station ticket hall layout is largely dictated by a three-dimensional puzzle. There are constraints with the running tunnels, constraints with the levels of Arrivals Road as it drops down to the Network Rail station concourse, and also the landscaping scheme that ties Arrivals Road into the new Paddington Square commercial building. That gives you an upper surface on to which you layer all the constraints underground, and that really meant that some elements could only be put in specific places, like the escape staircase
and the passenger lifts. There was probably only approximately half a metre where we could locate those. We worked backwards to determine the ticket hall layout. Using standard run-off distances defined where the ticket line went, and once we established this, we plugged it into the pedestrian model to make sure we could achieve the level of performance we were looking for.
AP: We used projected passenger numbers from the London Underground (LU) to input into our modelling, because obviously we aren’t building for now, we are building for the future. There was also the necessity to maintain as much of the station in operation for as much time as possible, because minimising disruption to the passenger is always key, and we just were not
able to count on shutting the station for a significant period.
SSH: 26 metres below ground while maintaining operations presented significant challenges. What were the key engineering solutions?
AW: Woodward: The piling for the stairs and lift shaft is as close as we could get to the running tunnels, so we had real-time monitoring of those tunnels while we did the piling work. We needed to slightly reduce the speed of the passenger lifts, as by slowing them down we could reduce the lift overrun, which meant we could fit it underneath the landscaping.
One of the major challenges was that it became apparent the Bakerloo line link
‘We used the old original Victorian construction shaft, a kind of retrofit if you like... actually being able to reuse that shaft was quite fortuitous’
would not be available for us to use during construction because of the delay to the Elizabeth line. This meant we needed to provide a temporary escape stair from the existing ticket hall through to Arrivals Road, while still maintaining sufficient width in case the Network Rail station needed to be evacuated.
The Central Equipment Room was also retained in its current location, but because of the landscaping levels, we had to reduce the height of its roof slab – another challenge whilst keeping it operational. Keeping the escalators operational was also crucial, and after we had positioned the lift and the stairs at platform level, we had to find a route to join the escalators at the bottom onto the platforms. This included skirting around a switch room which is located underneath the main escalator barrel.
Bedi Consulting, who was Erith's specialist tunnelling consultant, did a huge
amount of modelling to reassure the LU’s escalators asset engineer there would not be any issues tunnelling that close to the underside of the escalator barrel. Again, we used real-time monitoring during the works.
AP: Postings: The tunnelling was done with sprayed concrete lining, which gave us the ability to react almost in real time if needed. Another challenging element was creating the connection between the base of the new passenger accessibility lifts down to platform level. Where the passage breaks through into the existing platform tunnels, we needed to install hoardings to protect passengers. That defined the size and shape of the opening to the platforms because with a curved tunnel, the bigger or taller the opening, the less space you have left on the platforms. So, there was a kind of balance between what we would like to have had and what was possible while maintaining the safe operation of the railway.
SSH: The ticket hall has tripled in capacity with 11 new ticket gates and stepfree access. Could you detail how your modelling informed the positioning of these elements?
AW: Woodward: Our design was fixed by geometry and constraints. We used modelling to back-analyse the resulting configuration that was available to us. To determine where the hot spots would be, we used the LU projections to 2040 on top of which we added 30 per cent.
AP: Postings: Some of the constraints included an existing sewer that runs through the station just below the ticket hall floor that needed to be relocated because we were changing the level of the ticket hall. That defined some of the horizontal space proofing that we were able to accommodate. We worked with pedestrian modelling and used London Underground engineering standards and station planning standards to help define run-offs from entrances, gate lines, and stairs. We had very little tolerance to be able to move these things around, but we worked together as a team with London Underground to produce the best solution for a very constrained site.
SSH: How did WSP and Scott Brownrigg come together on this project?
AP: Postings: Initially I did a sketch for this in November 2012. At this time, RMG were proposing a redevelopment scheme and we carried out several feasibility studies to assist that development for London Underground. Then, three years later, Sellar Properties/Great Western Development acquired the site. Because of our working relationship and prior experience, we were reintroduced to the project. In terms of WSP and Scott Brownrigg working together, we participated in the planning stage, so we were working alongside WSP to assist
in enabling the planning application for the different iterations of the Paddington Square development, including the 2015 tower proposal and then the scheme that was eventually built.
AW: Woodward: We had a scheme for the station redesign that was included in the original planning application before the tower had been proposed, let alone the current scheme, so what we have built is considerably different to that. Scott Brownrigg got brought in probably just after the original planning was granted, and that was when we started looking again at the options for the station as it developed.
SSH: Based on this project’s innovations, how do you see transport hub design evolving over the next decade?
AW: Woodward: We are likely to see greater collaboration between private developers and the transport operating companies to fund the necessary infrastructure upgrades. Paddington Square is a good example, but we are seeing it at Elephant & Castle, and even at Brent Cross. I can see that happening even more.
AP: Postings: Third-party developer funded infrastructure improvements are starting to become more significant all across the world. Organisations such as MTR Corporation in Hong Kong have been leading the way for transport operators looking at integrating infrastructure projects, particularly rail, into developments which include retail, F&B, hotels and residential and commercial office space. That nature of development is starting to be more attractive everywhere.
SSH: What elements from this upgrade will influence your approach to future station modernisation projects?
AW: Woodward: From a technical perspective, planning and preparation is the key. On Paddington in particular, the initial surveys were crucial, especially the hand tag and trace work that we needed to do with all the existing services. The results of these surveys really did inform the approach to service diversions, the construction sequence and ultimately the programme. The other crucial element was early engagement and agreement of heads of terms between the operating company and the developer. This was particularly complicated because it was not just LU, but Network Rail as well, so you had two companies that each had an interest in either the space underneath or the space above.
SSH: Could you explain how WSP's geotechnical analysis influenced the final design decisions?
AW: Woodward: The biggest decision we made was when we were trying to work out where all the spaces would go. We needed
‘What we have been particularly successful with at Paddington is how to get the features, facilities, lines of sight and the ability of people to flow through the station within such physical restrictions, which further helped to integrate the station with the retail mall of Paddington Square’
NEWS IN BRIEF
NEW RAIL WATCHDOG
The UK government has announced plans for new railway legislation that will establish Great British Railways (GBR), a unified body to oversee Britain's rail network. The proposal, unveiled on February 18, 2025, includes creating an independent watchdog to represent passenger interests and hold train operators accountable.
The reform aims to address systemic issues in the current rail system by uniting track and train operations under single management. GBR will be tasked with improving service reliability, simplifying the fare structure, and preventing disruptions similar to the 2018 timetabling crisis.
to incorporate a new electrical switch room, initially between the running tunnels. Eventually relocating this off to the east side underneath the new ticket hall gave a significant improvement in the ground movement of the running tunnels, as we took it outside of the zone of influence. We then linked the electrical room back to the trackside using the old original Victorian construction shaft, a kind of retrofit if you like. The opportunities for vertical shafts to link spaces around Paddington station are quite constrained, so actually being able to reuse that shaft was quite fortuitous – it was already there, so we might as well use it.
SSH: What makes this ticket hall 'state-ofthe-art' compared to other recent London Underground upgrades?
AP: Postings: The existing constraints on what we were able to do meant that we have developed a very carefully considered scheme. What we have been particularly successful with at Paddington is how to get the features, facilities, lines of sight and the ability of people to flow through the station within such physical restrictions, which further helped to integrate the station with the retail mall of Paddington Square.
AW: Woodward: The wayfinding from the Network Rail station to the London Underground is much more appealing now. When you consider the old station entrance used to be on an island between two roads, and given the spatial constraints, it is a bit of a marvel that we have managed to get step-free access from ground level to platform.
A key component of the legislation is the new passenger watchdog, which will have powers to set service standards, investigate persistent problems, and refer poor performance to the railway regulator for enforcement. The watchdog will also serve as an arbitrator for unresolved passenger complaints.
The government emphasizes that private sector involvement will continue, with GBR planning to invest heavily in the supply chain and maintain open access services where economically viable. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander frames the reform as part of the government's broader Plan for Change, focusing on economic growth and improved service delivery.
The initiative has gained support from regional leaders, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, who see it as an opportunity to better integrate local transport systems. Laura Shoaf, Chair of Shadow Great British Railways, indicates the reform will prioritize passenger needs while improving value for taxpayers.
The announcement follows the recent Public Ownership Act, which the government projects will save £150 million annually by redirecting funds from private shareholders back into railway infrastructure. An eight-week consultation period on the proposed changes has commenced.
NEWS IN BRIEF
DIGITAL REVOLUTION IN UK RAIL
Digital ticketing has reached unprecedented levels across UK rail networks, with Northern reporting over 70 per cent of journeys now using digital formats. The operator, which runs nearly 2,500 daily services across the North of England, saw digital usage peak at 79.5 per cent in January 2025, marking a significant shift in passenger behaviour.
CONTACTLESS EXPANSION
C2c has implemented pay-as-you-go contactless across its 15 National Rail stations, following months of technical testing as part of a wider Department for Transport initiative. Meanwhile, Greater Anglia is expanding its Paper Roll Ticketing to 194 additional ticket vending machines, with traditional orange magstripe tickets dropping to 34 per cent of sales following successful trials.
FRAUD PREVENTION AND REVENUE
ScotRail estimates £10 million of public money is lost annually to fare evasion, prompting the deployment of an additional 69 ticket examiners. Their Revenue Protection Team currently recovers approximately £2 million per year, demonstrating the financial importance of robust ticket checking systems.
INTEGRATED TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS
Greater Manchester's new system will introduce capped contactless payments, with daily caps at £9.50 for unlimited travel. Eurostar, which carried 19.5 million passengers in 2024, has launched digital solutions for international markets, including a WeChat mini-program for Chinese travellers.
Empowering Ticket Inspectors
Jay Kim, Managing Director, BIXOLON Europe, discusses the role of mobile printing technology in addressing these challenges and empowering ticket inspectors to carry out their duties more safely and effectively
In the UK railway sector, where over 1.61 billion journeys were taken between April 2023 and March 2024, the role of ticket inspectors remains crucial. Despite strides towards e-ticketing and digital solutions, there remains a significant demand for physical tickets and receipts, particularly for VAT receipts, overall convenience, and peace of mind. However, the need to produce physical tickets is set against formidable challenges in the sector, including an imminent staff shortage crisis and the enduring issue of fare evasion in an increasingly congested and pressurised railway network.
These issues are not unique to the UK however, and are also prevalent across Europe. In the Netherlands, for example, rail companies have been forced to cancel services due to lack of staff. And similarly to the UK, there are also workers strikes taking place in Germany and Belgium too, highlighting the scale of the problem.
The state of play
At present, the UK rail sector is grappling with a crippling staff shortage and an impending shortfall of approximately 75,000 personnel by 2030, through retirement or otherwise. This shortage not only strains operational efficiency but also places significant pressure on existing railway staff, including ticket inspectors. Trains are becoming busier due to industrial action and service adjustments, similar to trends across Europe. In Germany, for example, local rail services, including S-Bahn, saw a 14 per cent increase in passenger numbers in the first half of 2023 compared to the previous year.
In both countries, ticket inspectors find themselves wading through crowded carriages, often standing for prolonged periods, all while needing to swiftly validate tickets and issue essential receipts to those that require them.
Furthermore, the prevalence of fare evasion adds complexity to their responsibilities. Inspectors must not only verify the tickets of passengers efficiently but also address instances of fare dodging promptly and effectively. This demands both vigilance and specialised tools to ensure accuracy and speed in their duties. A report by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) estimates that fare dodging costs the UK rail industry £240 million a year – or £457 a minute – highlighting the severity of the problem.
The rise in fare evasion underscores the necessity for inspectors to be equipped to issue new tickets and penalty notices on the spot swiftly and efficiently – what is more, this also serves as a deterrent to further fare dodging and recoups lost revenue.
Mobile printing solutions
To meet these multifaceted challenges, mobile printing technology has emerged as a powerful solution. Equipping ticket inspectors with compact, lightweight mobile printers enables them to significantly enhance their capabilities. These devices are able to seamlessly integrate and connect with existing Point of Sale (POS) systems, facilitating real-time ticket issuance and receipt printing across diverse operational environments, both online and offline. All this is supported by a strong and longlasting battery life across devices.
Mobile printing technology is also important because it allows for greater flexibility and customisation in ticketing. Inspectors can print a variety of ticket types and formats on demand, ensuring that all necessary information is captured and printed accurately. This adaptability not only enhances the efficiency of the ticket issuance process; but also improves the overall passenger experience by reducing wait times and ensuring clear, legible tickets and receipts.
This is necessary during journeys where honest, well-meaning passengers need to be able to pay for tickets quickly in situations where they might need to get off the train and move onto the next part of their journey, or just to depart the train following the attendance of the conductor. This is also particularly important in Europe, where diverse ticketing needs exist across different countries and rail services.
Enhanced mobility and safety
Another one of the key benefits of mobile printing technology is its ability to enhance the mobility and safety of ticket inspectors. These devices are designed to be lightweight and compact, making them easy to carry around on belts or harnesses and operate in crowded train environments. For inspectors
who often stand for long periods, the ergonomic design of lightweight mobile printers helps to reduce the physical strain of the job.
Additionally, the ability to print tickets and receipts on the go fast without having to return to a fixed point of sale allows inspectors to maintain a continuous presence throughout the train, thereby improving passenger interaction and reducing the likelihood of fare evasion. The reason speed of printing is important is because passengers don’t want to wait around if they need a ticket to be printed fast by conductors – in the event that this does happen, it can cause some passengers to behave rudely and inappropriately.
Therefore, fast printing, in some circumstances, can help to reduce the abuse that rail staff sadly experience on a daily basis.
Another important point related to these kinds of printers is that they need to be rugged. Traveling around train stations and between trains sees these tools and pieces of equipment pitted against hard wearing environments, seeing them take on a variety of spills and knocks. Therefore, it’s important that printers and their related equipment can withstand the rail environments that this sort of equipment operate within.
Conclusion
The integration of mobile printing technology represents a significant advancement in enhancing the efficacy and safety of rail ticket inspectors. By addressing the challenges posed by staff shortages, overcrowded trains, and fare evasion through innovative solutions, the use of mobile printing devices empowers inspectors to perform their duties with greater ease and confidence.
As the UK and other European countries navigate the ongoing challenges in public transportation, it is crucial to continue investing in technologies that optimise operational processes while prioritising the well-being of frontline staff. By embracing mobile printing technology, rail companies and ticket inspectors are able to bridge the gap between traditional ticketing methods and modern efficiency standards, while at the same time improving safety and reducing illegal fare dodging. Armed with the right tools and technology, we can ensure that railways remain resilient and responsive to passenger needs.
JAY KIM is Managing Director at BIXOLON Europe
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Listening to Learn from Concerns
The transport sector’s confidential safety hotline, CIRAS can help you listen in new ways and hear unheard voices
When you listen carefully and impartially, you can hear a lot more than the words spoken. What’s being left unsaid? What has happened before that’s led to this situation? Why has no one mentioned anything before it got to this point?
When you’re listening for the gaps, or the safety silence, you see a bigger picture. Perhaps it shows a team so focused on delivery that no one has wanted to raise safety concerns in case they lead to delays
– until now, when the issue is more serious. Or you realise that within an outwardly high-performing, happy team, people don’t feel psychologically safe enough to challenge a manager or tell someone else.
Listener’s wellbeing
How do you feel when someone comes to you with a concern? Curious? Thankful? Defensive? Upset? Relieved? Or something else? Do you visibly react?
In her webinar about listening for safety and wellbeing, for Rail Wellbeing Live,
director of CIRAS Catherine Baker explained the surprising role of threat response in listening. ‘You could argue that in that moment, having to listen is a challenge for your own wellbeing. We don’t like to be told we’ve made a mistake, a poor decision, or overlooked something important,’ she said. ‘It threatens our authority, our expertise. But how we handle it can make a huge difference to our own wellbeing and that of the person raising feedback. As well as determining whether that feedback will ever be used.
‘In a psychologically safe environment, not only does everyone need to feel safe to speak up, but you need to feel safe enough to listen, to hear what is being said, without feeling threatened. The wider work context matters here.’
There is an even wider context too, ranging from how the economy is affecting business, to difficult personal situations that the person speaking up, or you as the listener, may be going through. This can affect our readiness to listen at that moment, how we approach someone with a concern, and how listening to concerns that could sound like criticism may affect us emotionally. It pays to be mindful of how receptive you are to listening at that time.
The person raising a concern may feel that they are sharing valuable information to help the organisation improve – using the promotive voice. But if their concern is seen by the organisation or listener as bringing a failure or mistake to light, even inadvertently, it can mean it is perceived negatively – as the prohibitive voice. Both voices raise a challenge to the organisation as it is.
When a listener is aware of their emotional response, it can help them to separate this more clearly from the speaker’s intention and listen more effectively.
Raising safety concerns
Research indicates you will hear from your employees less than usual when there is psychological uncertainty. Whether someone chooses to speak up is also often linked to their perception of job security and job autonomy – being more likely where someone’s job autonomy and security are higher. The uncertainty of any change can make people less likely to speak out or challenge.
How someone raises a concern matters less than their decision to do so. It can be a brave choice. Many others may have walked past or ignored an issue before that person chose to do something, instead of nothing. Some reporting channels are more suitable when there is an imminent risk of harm. CIRAS confidential safety hotline shouldn’t be used in this instance, for example, as the response wouldn’t be fast enough.
Confidential reporting does give you the opportunity to listen to more voices than you might hear otherwise. CIRAS shares safety concerns confidentially with the relevant company, without revealing who the reporter is. The right people then take action to address the concerns, and the reporter’s identity stays protected. CIRAS shares the company response with the reporter too, so they know what has happened. This feedback loop is an important part of listening.
The feedback loop
Body language and vocal cues are part of conversation, showing the listener is paying attention, but listening doesn’t only happen in person. You might listen through a close call, a company reporting form, or a CIRAS report. Your employees look out for actions or updates in response to their concerns, to judge if they are really being heard, and whether the work culture welcomes their concerns.
After investigating a concern, the response might be to resolve the issue as soon as possible, monitor the situation, brief or communicate to staff, plan longer-term actions, or clarify existing processes and procedures.
Sometimes, a company investigates a concern from a CIRAS report and learns that
the reason for a delay in resolution is limited communication between teams, or lack of clear ownership. The extra listening CIRAS provides can give members a different perspective on concerns. Its reports often help companies choose to further update staff on how repairs or upgrades are progressing, for reassurance. The result is a culture of listening and learning, where staff feel it’s worth raising concerns and know they will hear back.
DR. NADINE ARTELT CEO OF SAARSTAHL RAIL
Dr. Nadine Artelt studied materials science at Saarland University and EEIGM Nancy, graduating with a German-French double degree. After completing a PhD at Saarland University, she began her career at Stahl-Holding-Saar. Following various positions within the group, she moved to Saarstahl Rail in 2022 and currently serves as Managing Director of both Saarstahl Rail and Saarstahl Ascoval. As CEO of Saarstahl Rail, she is committed to driving the company's growth and innovation in rail infrastructure. With a strong background in the steel industry, her focus is on sustainability, delivering high-quality rail solutions, and expanding the company's presence in key markets.
SAARSTAHL RAIL
Saarstahl Rail, a European leader in low CO2 emission rail production, specialises in sustainable steel solutions for railway infrastructure. Operating from facilities in France and Germany, the company has pioneered a circular economy approach to rail production, collecting and remelting worn rails to create new, first-quality steel products.
Want to know more about Saarstahl Rail?
Tel: +33 3 82 57 45 00
Email: contact@saarstahl-rail.fr
Visit: www.saarstahl-rail.fr
What success have you experienced in the last twelve months and how do you measure success?
SAARSTAHL Rail is now recognised for being the European leader in low CO2 emission Rail production. For the past few years, we have extended our market share in Low CO2 Rail supply across Europe. We are currently providing rails to major railways in Europe such as Infrabel (Belgium), SBB (Switzerland), OBB (Austria) and SNCF (France).
Our success is also based on a circular economy process that we have implemented over the past years. This process allows us to collect worn out rails from the networks and remelt those items into new first quality steel. This steel is later converted into new rails in our rolling mill located in the eastern part of France.
This process has allowed us to save more than 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The Berlin Institute Supply Chain Management presented Saarstahl Rail with its prestigious Sustainability Championship Award last year. This shows that our products are the building block for an environmentally friendly mobility transition in the international rail sector
How passionate is Saarstahl Rail about sustainability in the rail sector, and how do you go about sourcing the materials for your products?
From the acquisition of SAARSTAHL ASCOVAL (Steel mill in North of France) and SAARSTAHL RAIL (Rail rolling mill), SAARSTAHL Group has been the first steel company in Europe to understand the importance of sustainability and reduction of CO2 emission among all steel producers in Europe.
What are some major projects related to sustainability you’re currently working on?
We have a clear strategy for constant industrial investments in our facilities in view of further reducing our CO2 impact in our French facilities. Our Group has also confirmed a major investment in Germany. With the transformation project Power4Steel, our German colleagues in Saarland are entering a new era of steel production: in future, they will produce steel by using a direct reduction plant at the Dillingen site and two electric arc furnaces at the Dillingen and Völklingen sites. With this new plant technology, the European Union's Fit for 55 targets will be already achieved by 2030. And that makes us pioneers – not just in Germany, but throughout all of Europe.
The details – using the new technology, the German companies Saarstahl and Dillinger will produce 3.5 million tonnes of steel from 2028 on, saving 4.9 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030. The aim of the Dillinger and Saarstahl transformation project is to produce low-CO2 steel by 2045 only. The group is investing 4.6 billion in this ambitious transformation project.
What do you think is the biggest challenge currently facing the rail industry?
Our activity is mainly based on governments’ capacities to invest in the railway network and to maintain these networks at the highest level of safety.
The risk of budget limitations remains the major cause of stress in our industry where long terms investments require a long term vision.
The financial efforts that our companies need to engage are directly linked to national strategies for developing a sustainable and environment friendly model of mobility.
Having a vision of changing people’s mobility organisation is clearly a scope for our governments. In our role of responsible environment focused company, we must be ready to follow and sometimes anticipate those governments strategies.
Do you think the rail industry could be greener, and what is your organisation’s green strategy?
We believe there are always possibilities to go ‘greener’. In our organisation, we have implemented research and evaluations for the past five years to determine ways to improve our impact on environment. Reducing truck usage, improving energy
efficiency, and recycling are methods that Saarstahl has implemented to continuously reduce its CO₂ emissions.
With the coming launch of Great British Railways, how do you anticipate your place within the supply chain changing?
We understand that the UK is about to go through a major change where sustainability and ecofriendly supply will play a major role.
The products manufactured at SAARSTAHL RAIL rolling mill in Hayange have been used by Network Rail for many years and we are currently fully Product Approved to continue supplying rails to support the UK's rail renewal and maintenance needs.
Network Rail already employs a rigorous approach to their procurement procedures,
and we expect this to be carried forward into Great British Railways' supply chain partnerships.
SAARSTAHL RAIL Low CO2 rails produced using Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) technology are just one example of where our technical expertise matches with GBR's stated long-term strategy to 'support environmental sustainability by delivering rail net-zero for both traction and infrastructure' and we hope to develop our relationship further in future.
If you were in charge of the UK rail industry, where would you target investment and/or look for improvement?
Any industrial company needs to search for improvement of its processes and services.
Moreover, at SAARSTAHL, we are constantly searching for new products, new applications or new steel grade that will help our customers to reduce their maintenance costs, to improve their track safety, to optimise the rail usage. Such improvements are already implemented and are giving full satisfaction, such as in the Channel Tunnel.
Saarstahl Rail recently signed a €1 billion contract with SNCF. How does this success reflect your position in the European rail market, and what opportunities do you see in the UK?
This contract award has been closely linked to the capacity of SAARSTAHL to propose a low CO2 steel and rail supply. This is a major step forward in the railway industry in Europe. Thanks to the partnership between SNCF and SAARSTAHL, a €1 billion (£830 million) contract came to life. We do see that several European railway networks are following the trend initiated by our partnership with SNCF. This is clearly a positive sign not only for all industrial companies investing in sustainability, but also for the impact on environment of this industry.
The rail industry is moving towards a more sustainable model. How is Saarstahl Rail contributing to decarbonisation, and what innovations are you bringing to address environmental challenges?
Our first model was to collect scrap steel in the market and convert that steel into
first quality steel. Our rails, produced from scrap rails, are used every day on high speed networks running at more than 300 kph. We are now further developing this concept by offering this circular economy to any steel products related to Railway and mobility applications.
With the modernisation of the UK Rail, how does Saarstahl Rail position itself in this transformation, and how do you plan to strengthen your presence in the UK?
We understand that the UK will go through a deep modernisation of its railway network and SAARSTAHL is clearly ready to play an important role in this matter. Proposing a low CO2 rail, circular economy process, performing supply chain solution, and innovative technical options are already the base of SAARSTAHL’s strategy in the country.
The rail sector is undergoing major transformations with the adoption of new technologies. What are the most promising innovations Saarstahl Rail is currently working on?
As mentioned earlier, our first focus is the reduction of our impact on the environment. From our Group level to our steel and rail divisions in France, we are constantly searching for improvement in this field and the €4.6 billion (£3.8 billion) investment is a clear demonstration of our strategy. Of course, we are also developing solutions for reducing rail maintenance
costs and increasing rail lifetime through innovations in steel chemistries and steel grades.
What are your plans to ensure Saarstahl Rail’s long-term success in an increasingly competitive market?
SAARSTAHL is now the European leader in low emission CO2 rail production and in circular economy related to railway applications. Our goal is to maintain and increase our advanced position compared to our major European competitors.
The major rail supply contracts our company has signed recently are clear demonstrations that European railway networks are supporting SAARSTAHL strategy and future position as a leader of rail production
The rail industry is increasingly adopting eco-friendly materials. How does Saarstahl Rail integrate eco-design, and what initiatives have you implemented to reduce your production’s carbon footprint?
For the past few years, our strategy has been built around the concept of reducing our CO2 footprint through major alliances with rail end users such as SNCF, but also with the suppliers of steel production equipment which allows us now to be leading the low CO2 rail market in Europe. We understand our competitors are following our footpath but we are still evaluating more options to further reduce our low CO2 emissions.
The journey to climate targets begins on green rails
Saarstahl Rail is actively working toward a sustainable future through the production of low-carbon rails. This is possible thanks to the sister company Saarstahl Ascoval, which produces steel with an electric furnace.
The manufacturing process for the rails cuts CO2 emissions by 70% compared to conventional methods.
Saarstahl Rail employs a circular economy concept that calls for reusing recycled rails and thereby also limits its ecological impact.
BASTIAN THIEL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
MANAGER AT TECHNOTRANS
SE
Bastian Thiel started working at technotrans in 2014. With a background in industrial engineering and postgraduate studies in sales management he works since 2017 in the sales department. Since 2020 he is responsible for the sales area ‘mobility’ at technotrans and mainly focuses on the railway sector as a business development manager.
Tell us about technotrans.
technotrans is a specialist in fluid technology with its core competence in temperature management (cooling and heating). With a turnover of more than 260 million EUR in 2023 and more than 1,500 employees working worldwide in 17 locations, technotrans has a significant global presence. The company operates five production and twelve sales and service locations, ensuring it is always as close as possible to its customers.
One of the focus markets at technotrans is ‘energy management’ which is the fastest-growing sector and includes the railway business. With its core competence in thermal management, technotrans is the leading provider for Battery Thermal Management Systems (BTMS) within the railway sector.
What is your role within technotrans?
As a business development manager, I have two primary functions within the technotrans organisation. First, I support our current customers in day-to-day business by discussing new and ongoing projects from both technical and commercial perspectives to evaluate and implement the best concepts for their needs.
Second, I develop and implement strategies for technotrans to be successful within this market in the future. This involves analysing current customer needs, potential future developments, and general market trends to identify new business opportunities and potential customers that technotrans can support with its solutions.
What are some of the biggest challenges this sector currently faces?
One of the biggest challenges the railway sector currently faces is decarbonisation. Public transport has a crucial role to play in averting future crises caused by global warming. A study by the C40 cities shows that neglecting the importance of public transport in green transition efforts may result in missing the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. Sustainable mobility is not an option; it is almost inevitable for the future.
Additionally, a higher share of public transport in mobility benefits people's health. There are several trends towards more environmentally friendly railways, such as increased investment in the electrification of rail transport, which will reduce fossil fuel consumption. For example, Transport Scotland has
committed to decarbonising passenger rail transport by 2035.
What are some potential solutions?
To reach the goals of decarbonisation, dieseldriven trains need to be replaced. Several possible solutions exist to replace current diesel trains. One solution is the extension of railway sectors covered by overhead lines, enabling existing electrical trains to cover more routes and tracks. Where coverage by overhead lines is not possible or economical, alternative traction modes like battery- or hydrogen-powered trains are viable options. A mix of propulsion concepts, such as bi- or trimodal trains, is also possible.
What types of products and services do you offer?
Within its Energy Management sector, technotrans offers thermal management solutions for all three decarbonisation concepts in the railway sector. This includes BTMS for battery and hydrogen-powered trains (as hydrogen-powered trains also contain a battery as a buffer), fuel cell cooling systems for hydrogen trains, and combined thermal management systems that integrate battery thermal management
Innovative thermal management for rail vehicles
power to transform
Discover the world of technotrans cooling solutions. Our combination device for cooling batteries and power electronics revolutionizes thermal management in battery-powered rail vehicles. Our systems are equipped with the natural refrigerant R290 (propane), which is not only environmentally friendly but also has a low greenhouse potential.
Experience efficiency and sustainability - be convinced by the advantages of our innovations.
with the thermal management of power electronics and drivetrain components.
Additionally, technotrans is active on the infrastructure side with stationary converter cooling systems for railway converters (SFC cooling systems). Besides products, technotrans also offers services for its products, ensuring trains remain in service by providing maintenance, training, and more.
How have the products and services you offer developed over the years?
When technotrans started its activities within this market, train manufacturers tended to buy complete systems (battery and cooling) from battery manufacturers. This has shifted, and now train manufacturers often source the systems themselves, leading to a higher level of integration of the systems in the overall train concept. Initially, the required cooling capacity for batteries was lower, and the technology was relatively new.
Over time, more trains have been equipped with higher-capacity batteries, leading to increased cooling requirements while systems needed to become smaller and lighter. To save space and weight, cooling for the propulsion system is now often combined with battery cooling. The first of these combined systems was presented at last year's InnoTrans. Another development is the use of natural refrigerants, with R290 (Propane) becoming more common despite safety challenges. technotrans has been using systems with this refrigerant for several years and plans to expand its use.
When a client comes to you with a particular problem, what’s your process for coming up with a solution, and how closely do you work with clients throughout the projects?
We work very closely with our customers, understanding them as partners. Beginning a new project can take several years until execution, but we are involved from the very beginning. We need to understand the problem and the specific implications of each project, as no project is the same. We work closely with our customers through many steps of iteration, including regular alignment meetings, and take a collaborative decision-making approach to ensure the solution aligns with the client's expectations and needs. This results in our products being mostly customer- or project-specific.
What is your Unique Selling Point?
Our unique selling point is our close communication and exchange with our partners and customers. We develop customised systems together with our customers that fit perfectly into their applications in terms of size and weight. We have extensive market knowledge, understand the standards, and have a good
‘To reach the goals of decarbonisation, diesel-driven trains need to be replaced... Where coverage by overhead lines is not possible or economical, alternative traction modes like battery- or hydrogen-powered trains are viable options.’
TECHNOTRANS SE
network and understanding of the needs of both vehicle manufacturers and battery manufacturers. Our long experience with cooling systems, including our knowledge from other markets, allows us to offer creative and flexible solutions for all kinds of customer requirements.
Current regulations, such as the revised F-Gas Regulation effective from March 2024 and the national Chemicals Climate Protection Ordinance to be adjusted in 2025, impose high demands on the use of refrigerants. Our systems are designed to meet these regulations, providing futureproof solutions.
What new developments/strategies are you employing?
We plan to expand the use of our devices with natural refrigerants, particularly R290 (Propane). We have already had very good experiences with R290 in other industries and have extensive expertise in its use. These developments are part of our strategy to offer even more environmentally friendly and efficient solutions.
Additionally, we are extending the scope of combined systems (battery, power electronics, fuel cell, etc.) and the range of services offered alongside our systems (maintenance, etc.). New developments on a component basis, such as our own technotrans pump, which has the same technical characteristics as a canned motor pump but is significantly smaller, lighter, and more cost-effective, are also part of our strategy.
technotrans SE is a global leader in fluid technology solutions, specialising in thermal management systems for critical industrial applications. Founded in Germany and operating across 17 locations worldwide, including a significant presence in the United Kingdom, technotrans combines over three decades of expertise in cooling and heating technologies with innovative approaches to sustainability.
Address: Axis One, Brunell Way Severalls Business Park Essex CO4 9QX United Kingdom
NICK KOIZA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AT SMART COMPONENT TECHNOLOGIES LTD
From an early career, literally in rocket science within mission control at the European Space Agency, Nick Koiza has +30 years’ experience in executive leadership, managing technical development and commercial performance of advanced technological solutions. Nick heads up SCT, a leader in Industrial IoT devices, sensors and AIdriven cloud applications.
SMART COMPONENT TECHNOLOGIES LTD
Smart Component Technologies (SCT) is a leading provider of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions, specialising in smart monitoring and predictive maintenance for safety-critical infrastructure. Our technology combines advanced sensors, data analytics, and artificial intelligence to help organisations extend asset lifetimes and optimise maintenance operations.
Want to know more about SCT?
Tel: 01223 827160
Email: info@smartcomptech.com
Visit: https://www.smartcomptech.com/
‘The focus has to be on using technology to inform and empower human decisionmaking, rather than replacing it… We don't want or expect AI to enforce decisions…
Instead, it's using data to present what I'd call an 'explainable AI' solution.’
How did you get started in the industry?
My entry into the industry was through my Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) background stretching back several years. I’ve worked with several companies in the end-to-end IoT space. This is where devices with sensors connect with software, data and user interfaces to provide holistic solutions for sectors like transport, security, public safety, energy, and utilities.
I became more closely involved with the rail industry when I joined Smart Component Technologies (SCT) in July 2021. At that time, SCT had developed an advanced product for monitoring the movement of tracks in response to rolling stock, primarily at switches and crossings but also along plain lines. I helped push forward the approval of our SWiX solution from Network Rail, gaining full product acceptance to sell SWiX directly to them.
What challenges have you faced in the industry?
The biggest challenge, I would say is the educational aspect and driving behavioural change – getting people to understand the usefulness of available technologies and adopt new ways of working. A lot of sectors, including the rail industry, involved in things like IIoT and AI/machine learning are at an early stage, which does require people to change their working practices.
SCT is actively helping by introducing automation and using AI/machine learning to identify issues, rather than requiring manual inspections, e.g., on the rail network. The challenge has been getting people who are used to a certain way of working to embrace the new technology, especially AI.
We are clear that we don’t want or expect AI to enforce decisions, it certainly doesn’t take the person out of the decision loop. Instead, it’s using data to present what I’d
call an ‘explainable AI’ solution. It informs the users so that they can decide the best course of action, rather than making the decision for them.
What is your Unique Selling Point?
While SCT has advanced end-to-end IoT solutions, what really differentiates us is our very intensely collaborative approach and customer focus. We enhance our products to specifically meet each customer's needs. Because we are so responsive and build close relationships, we can ensure that any further development and new solutions directly correlate to industry needs – not what we think the industry needs, but what people actively tell us they need.
What’s more, the full end-to-end nature of our solutions, including the AI/machine learning and data analysis capabilities add to our consultative service to make us stand out in the market.
What types of products and services do you offer?
Our products and services are focused on transforming critical infrastructure operations in industries such as rail, mining and energy through smart monitoring and predictive/preventative maintenance solutions.
SWiX is an IIoT solution where the device is predominantly installed at switches, crossings and transition zones on rail lines to remotely monitor track movement and identify any maintenance needs and prevent service-affecting failures occurring.
This remote condition monitoring becomes the eyes of the infrastructure manager. By wirelessly returning data as rolling stock pass the asset, a picture of the asset’s performance is built up. Over time, the volume of data collected and transmitted to the cloud for processing and analysis multiplies and the picture goes from being an outline sketch to a full visualisation of the asset’s behaviour and condition. Within the data is real insight into the condition and performance of the asset and the substructure around it.
We also design, manufacture and market Smart Washer, sensor technology that sits around bolts to gather data and extend the lifetime of critical rail and other industry assets.
The overarching goal of these products is to allow infrastructure owners to spend significantly less on maintenance by identifying issues early and averting problems before they happen. This extends the lifetime of critical infrastructure like switches and crossings without the need for costly replacements.
By reducing the need for manual, onsite inspections, SCT’s solutions improve safety, e.g., by minimising the amount of time maintenance engineers need to be on the tracks. The data and insights provided also allow infrastructure managers to make
more informed, proactive decisions about maintenance and asset management.
What new developments/strategies are you employing?
We are constantly looking to extend the application of sensor solutions that can fulfil different monitoring needs on rail networks. This will ultimately lead to a more comprehensive, end-to-end intelligent infrastructure solution that will have a wider range of uses with a common user interface and architecture to manage the data.
We also have a lot to gain from leveraging AI/machine learning using the data and insight from SWiX devices installed on routes around the UK and in rail networks around the world. Because they have been in situ for a long period of time, we gather large volumes of data. This gives us the potential to build more accurate models and use ‘explainable AI’ to give rail infrastructure owners deeper insights, and also presents a blueprint for further advances.
How can the industry tackle its skills shortage?
SCT’s solutions help the perception of engineering in the rail industry.
‘Remote condition monitoring becomes the eyes of the infrastructure manage’
Traditionally engineers were seen as ‘railway men’ involved in hard physical maintenance work – which can be dangerous on track. SWiX reduces the need for as much manual, on-site inspection and maintenance.
So, we’re helping to shift this perception and open up opportunities for people to focus more on data analysis and technology roles, rather than traditional track work. This will appeal to a younger, more techsavvy workforce. They may still be required to carry out trackside inspections, but these will be less frequent and safer.
Where do you think the industry will be in the next 10-15 years?
I think it’s clear that the rail industry will see significant changes and advances in technology over the next 10-15 years. Technology will inevitably play a greater role, especially as the digital native generation enters the workforce. We routinely see a great deal of enthusiasm among younger engineers about what the data from remote monitoring devices tells them. The volume of data coming in from sensors right across the network means that there is greater potential to build accurate models and use explainable AI solutions to inform decision-making, rather than fully automate it.
The industry will move towards creating an ‘intelligent infrastructure’ to improve understanding of what is happening across the entire rail network. The end result will be more proactive and efficient maintenance.
Ultimately, data, analytics, and smart technologies become more deeply integrated into rail operations. They will transform the way that critical infrastructure is managed and maintained. But the focus has to be on using technology to inform and empower human decision-making, rather than replacing it.
TIM JENKINS NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ASSENTA RAIL
Tim Jenkins is a Senior Executive whose career spans 25 years in the automotive sector and 18 years in rail. His most recent role was as CEO of Gemini Rail Group, before transitioning to provide business advisory support and serving as a Non-Executive Director for several rail SMEs.
ASSENTA RAIL
Assenta Rail, established in 2001, is a specialised rail engineering solutions provider based in the UK. The company's current projects include supporting Belmond's new Britannic Explorer venture and developing electronic maintenance software systems. Their facility can accommodate ten-vehicle sets and currently manages 25 vehicles across three projects, representing a five-fold increase in capacity since establishing their Scottish depot.
I actually came across Assenta Rail while consulting for another business. We were looking for a potential partner on a project, and Assenta stood out. From the very first interaction, I was impressed by the way the team approached challenges – with a combination of professionalism, creativity, and an unwavering commitment to quality. As the project unfolded, I had the chance to work closely with their team and got a firsthand look at their culture within the business. It wasn't just about delivering results; it was about doing so in a way that consistently exceeded expectations.
Over time, I built a strong connection with the company and its people. So when the opportunity to join Assenta Rail arose, it felt like a natural progression – and one I was genuinely excited to take.
As I started working with their team, I was genuinely impressed by their approach to projects and the quality of their work – it was clear they had something special. Over time, I built a strong relationship with the team, and as I got to know more about the company and its culture, the opportunity to join the business came up. It felt like a natural next step, and I was excited to be part of what they were building.
What is your role within Assenta Rail and what do you bring to the business?
As a non-executive director on Assenta Rail's board, my role is to provide strategic oversight and guidance, drawing from over 25 years in the automotive sector and 19 years in rail. I've held senior executive roles across the UK and Europe, which has given me a deep understanding of how businesses operate in dynamic and often challenging environments.
One of the key strengths I bring is the ability to help companies like Assenta Rail adapt to changing market conditions – whether that's through innovation, operational improvements, or strategic pivots. My experience has shown me how to identify opportunities for growth, tackle potential obstacles head-on, and build resilience within organizations.
At Assenta Rail, I'm focused on supporting the team in maintaining the upward trajectory of growth the company has achieved in recent years, ensuring that we not only meet but exceed our ambitions. It's about balancing the long-term vision with the agility needed to thrive in a competitive and evolving rail industry.
Tell us about your career before you joined Assenta Rail.
Before joining Assenta Rail, I had a diverse and rewarding career that spanned both the automotive and rail industries. I started in the automotive sector, working with companies in the supply chain that supported major manufacturers. After
several years, I decided to pivot and move into the rail industry in 2006, attracted by the unique challenges the sector presented.
I joined Bombardier as Operations Director, where I was able to apply the skills I'd developed in automotive to rail. Over time, I took on more responsibility, led the heavy maintenance team and eventually headed up Bombardier's Scandinavian operations out of Stockholm.
This experience provided invaluable insight into the complexities of the rail industry. In 2016, I returned to the UK to become Managing Director of Gemini Rail Group, and I later became CEO in 2019. After leaving Gemini, I transitioned into consulting, where I've been using my industry experience to help businesses in the rail sector thrive and expand.
Tell us about Assenta Rail.
Assenta Rail has been a part of the rail sector since 2001, steadily building our reputation as a reliable provider of engineering solutions. Over the years, we've had the privilege of working on a wide range of projects, from supporting specialist train companies to national operators. We offer comprehensive solutions encompassing maintenance, refurbishment, engineering, and project management.
We also manage engineering changes and take pride in handling complex projects with care and precision. In 2016, we became the first non-operator in the UK to achieve Entity in Charge of Maintenance (ECM) certification, and we've worked hard to maintain that standard ever since. Four years ago, we secured a depot facility in Hamilton, Scotland and have been carrying out all of our heavy maintenance and project work there.
Investment at the depot has been significant with multiple sets of lifting jacks, cranage, shunting engines, spray shop, raising our capacity five-fold from when we first started there. There is now a team of over 30 with decades of experience and largely drawn from within the industry. This means we have the ability to handle most things. We can receive a ten-vehicle set straight of the network into the depot, which provides a lot of flexibility. We currently have 25 vehicles being worked on across three projects.
What drives us is our commitment to our clients. We believe in working closely with them to deliver projects that meet their needs while adhering to the strict standards of the rail industry. Whether it's a small modification or a large, multi-vehicle project, the approach with every task is the same, a dedication and focus on quality.
The team at Assenta Rail see every challenge as an opportunity and you learn from each project. These experiences shape the way we work today. Examples being, investing in the plant required, obtaining BSEN 15085 to meet the welding standards, developing a broad skillset and most
importantly, getting the best people to join the team. You know, Assenta Rail is such a fantastic place to work.
The team works really well together, and there's a real dedication to doing the best possible work. Clients genuinely feel it and enjoy working closely with the team to bring projects to life. I'm really excited to be part of this team. They're focused on doing great work and to contribute to the company's vision for the future.
What kind of challenges did you face in the early days?
In the beginning, we were a small player in a very large industry, so it was easy for us to get overlooked. Our main focus at the time was supporting Belmond with their Royal Scotsman train, particularly in terms of maintenance and engineering. Partnering with such a prestigious client as Belmond with a world-class operation was a significant milestone for us, and it really validated our ability to deliver at a high level.
Over the years though, our capabilities have grown, enabling us to develop our own depot facility in Hamilton and build a dedicated team that handles both heavy and light maintenance on many vehicle types. There were challenges with increasing capacity at the depot and we found that getting the right people to lead is not always easy. Maintaining control is fundamentally key to successfully completing projects. It's very easy to see when it's not there.
We were fortunate to get Andy Brown to join us two years ago as Operations Director. He is in charge at the depot and his experience and input has been invaluable, especially on production. Aurelia Hamilton joined the team last year as QHSE Manager. Her training plans and work to get our apprentices through college have been excellent. She has done a great job in helping prepare the business for what comes next. So, having flown under the radar for many years it's only now has the wider industry recognised our achievements and how we can jointly benefit from collaborative working.
What are some major projects you're currently working on?
Right now, we're working on two major projects, both within areas where we have a lot of expertise. One project is with Belmond, supporting the ongoing development of their Royal Scotsman operation in Scotland. We're a key part of the team helping them with their continued growth.
Additionally, we're working on their upcoming launch of the Britannic Explorer in England, which has required us to carry out major overhauls, engineering changes and modifications to get it ready for operation. We're also working through our ECM arm and consultancy team on an exciting project to develop and implement
an electronic maintenance software system. This bespoke system will digitally record maintenance data, give full access to VMI's, work instructions and recording forms, schedule work and provide custom reports for things like DRACAS.
Another key area of focus is creating bespoke CDL systems for several operators' fleets. We're in the final stages of installing one of these systems for a customer, with testing and commissioning scheduled for 2025. Also in 2025, we'll be completing our design and installation of new CET systems across 55 vehicles.
What do you bring to the Board of Assenta?
Having spent 25 years in the Automotive sector followed by 19 years in Rail, the majority being in Senior executive positions, I am able to bring to the board extensive experience in helping companies like Assenta, change and adapt for the market conditions they find themselves in whilst also helping develop a new route for growth.
Assenta has a long history in delivering high and low complex projects for bespoke Rail upgrades, however in the Hamilton site they are well positioned to take advantage of the changes we are seeing in UK Rail. Being not fearful of change is the first step followed by identifying the key clients, stakeholders that share that common need.
I place the highest importance on building those inter relationships that will in turn benefit all parties. I am confident that we can help sustain and build an efficient and effective rail service in Scotland. It is about being confident to take the right decisions and encourage those co stakeholders to follow the same path.
We should applaud competition and help local and national governments have a fairer choice when looking to deliver our Rail transport system. I believe with my experience and knowledge I can help guide their business forwards onto their next great opportunity.
What are some of the biggest challenges this sector currently faces?
One of the biggest challenges we're facing right now is breaking out of the current sense of stagnation in the sector. Many companies in the supply chain are struggling to see what the future holds and where they fit into the evolving landscape. There's been a lot of talk about GBR (Great British Railways) for some time, but we still don't have a clear direction, which creates a sense of uncertainty.
At Assenta, we're not waiting for things to become clearer. We're focused on pushing our business model forward, regardless of the current uncertainty. Our goal is to create opportunities within the sector by further developing our capabilities and how we deploy our assets. We believe that by doing this, we can help drive change and growth in
‘Many companies in the supply chain are struggling to see what the future holds and where they fit into the evolving landscape. There's been a lot of talk about GBR (Great British Railways) for some time, but we still don't have a clear direction.’
an otherwise challenging environment.
At some point, every company will face the question of how to continue maximising earnings from their current business practice whilst also investing enough in innovation so they can turn a profit in the future.
How can a company achieve the necessary creativity to innovate without compromising their existing business?
This is an important question for Assenta, and one of the reasons we're actively working on evolving our business model and broadening our client base. Given our strong performance and history over the past 20 years, we could easily stay on our current path, continuing to deliver the same results. However, remaining static, especially in today's fast-evolving rail industry, is a risk we're not willing to take.
Our existing clients are a core focus for us and play a crucial role in our business. Meeting their needs and exceeding expectations remains a key strategic priority. We believe in building strong, secure relationships that benefit both parties, and we are fully committed to providing the long-term support they require.
However, the Board has recognized that to stay competitive in the long term, we must balance maintaining the strength of our existing operations while investing in innovation and growth. The market is currently in flux whilst it transitions to GB Rail, cleaner energy and passenger growth. We see this as the perfect time to invest in expanding our facilities, enhancing our capabilities, and seeking new clients.
While this shift is not without its risks, we understand that growth and change always come with a certain level of uncertainty and cost. But we believe it's a risk worth taking, especially when the end goal is positive transformation.
Neuroinclusive Train Design
The rail industry is making strides in embracing neurodiversity, recognising the importance of full inclusivity across the entire passenger journey
From booking systems and station layouts to the design of rolling stock, every touchpoint can benefit from thoughtful, fully inclusive design. While the value of designing for neurodiversity is widely acknowledged – and the business case for inclusive travel is compelling – there remains a lack of clear, practical guidance for implementation. To truly transform rail travel for all, we must empower the design community with actionable insights. This article provides tangible steps for creating neuroinclusive train designs, with lessons that extend beyond rail to the transport and built environment sectors.
Setting the scene
For many, independent travel by car is not an option due to the challenges of obtaining or maintaining a driving licence. As such, modern rail systems play a vital role in enabling independent travel and, in turn, social mobility, underscoring the need for inclusive design.
In the UK and Europe, frameworks such as the Persons with Reduced Mobility Technical Specification for Interoperability (PRM TSI) and the National Technical Specification (NTSN) set out minimum requirements for inclusivity. These regulations are complemented by standards (ISO, EN, and BS), which address passengers' diverse needs. However, while physical and sensory needs are well-defined, the cognitive needs of neurodiverse individuals – an estimated 15–20 per cent of the global population – are often overlooked. The terms associated with this cognitive diversity are numerous and include Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia, among others.
This gap exists partly because understanding of neurodiversity has recently advanced, and regulations take time to adapt. Cognitive diversity, with its inherent variability, also defies easy categorisation, making it harder to develop concrete design criteria. Neuroinclusive
design seeks to bridge this gap, ensuring that rail environments cater to diverse sensory, cognitive, and emotional needs.
Human capabilities that influence our interaction with products and services can be categorised into three core groups: Physical, Sensory, and Cognitive. The existing regulations and standards provide clear and measurable requirements for both physical and sensory capabilities.
For example, clearways must have minimum widths and turning circles to ensure accessibility, and there are specific requirements for tactile buttons and visual contrast to assist individuals with limited vision. However, when it comes to neurological and cognitive diversity, there is significantly less detail available.
Learning from other sectors
Other industries offer valuable examples of how to create neuroinclusive environments. Supermarkets, cinemas and retail outlets have introduced 'quiet times' and sensory spaces to support those who feel overwhelmed by noise, crowds, or visual clutter. Similarly, although inconsistently applied, the concept of quiet carriages on trains has long provided respite for
passengers seeking a low-stimulation environment.
These accommodations highlight the importance of recognising sensory differences. Many neurodiverse individuals experience heightened sensitivity to stimuli (hypersensitivity) or reduced responsiveness (hyposensitivity). For some, noise, lighting, and visual clutter can be overwhelming, while others may actively seek sensory input. Sensitivity varies widely –one person might be hyposensitive to light but hypersensitive to sound, or sensitive to multiple stimuli simultaneously. This variability creates a significant challenge for designers. A solution that reduces overstimulation for one group might inadvertently make the environment uncomfortable for another. The key to addressing this is flexibility – providing spaces with adjustable features and varied options that cater to diverse needs.
Beyond sensory considerations, many neurodiverse passengers face anxiety related to the unpredictability of train travel. Concerns about whether a train will arrive on time, if seating will be available, or even the prospect of sitting next to a stranger can make the journey daunting.
This highlights the importance of clear, consistent communication. By addressing uncertainties through intuitive design and real-time information, rail operators can significantly improve the experience for neurodiverse passengers. Consequently, design considerations for neuro-inclusion can generally be categorised into two main groups:
1. Environment – developing environments that take into account the sensory responses of different individuals.
2. Communication – explicitly considering how the presentation of information (including its absence) impacts various individuals.
These two groups can further be subdivided into specific areas of concern. The list of considerations presented here is not exhaustive but is intended as a starting point to inform the design process.
Factors to consider when creating neuroinclusive environments
Noise
Lighting
Décor and flooring
– Colours material and finishes
• Where possible eliminate or reduce 'artificial' sounds (e.g. whirring fans, rattling, knocking, dripping). This may include various noise types, including unpredictable, repetitive, intermittent or continuous, from loud to very quiet. It is important to note the type of sound is just as important as the dB reading.
• Control for echoes (sound reflections) using soft absorbent materials (e.g. absorbent flooring).
• Include partitions (e.g. doors and draught screens) to contain noise sources in specific zones.
• Where possible create and communicate the location of quiet zones.
• Control the intensity of lighting levels (avoiding both very bright and very dimly lit areas).
• Adopt neutral colours, with lighting temperatures between 2700 K and 3000 K (where possible adjusting the temperature to align with time of day).
• Minimise strobing and flickering of light sources.
• Where possible avoid direct light sources, adopting diffusers or recessed light sources.
• Model lighting across the entire space to eliminate shadows and dark corners.
• Consider lighting transitions between zones (ensuring intensity ratios are less than 3:1).
• Where possible make provision for natural, external lighting (particularly on long corridors).
• Provide mitigations to control external light (e.g. sunlight).
• Minimise the use of vivid colours and focus on colours that are in abundance in nature.
• Ensure a careful and considered use of highly reflective materials (e.g. mirrors). Where possible, adopt lowreflection (matt or low-sheen) surfaces.
• Where possible, minimise visual "noise" which may be caused by light, glare, shadows, colours, patterns, and movement.
• Consider that some people may have strong reactions to some fabric textures (e.g. harsh or rough).
• Where patterns are applied, these should have lower levels of colour contrast. Geometric and repetitive patterns should be avoided.
Layout
Temperature and air quality (including odour)
• Where possible, provide familiarity & consistency (e.g. location of features and facilities) within, and between, trains.
• Careful consideration of Proxemics should be made – this may include measures to define personal space when seated (e.g. armrests, seat dividers and headrest 'wings').
• Consider mitigation to allowing passing without physical contact (e.g. passing places).
• Create luggage provision that is visible to minimise anxiety.
• Where possible, create visual balance (through symmetry and spacing).
• Manage temperature and humidity (excess heat and humidity can exacerbate proxemics).
• Control airflow around known odour sources (e.g. toilets and catering facilities).
• Considered use of air fresheners (strong fragrances and chemicals to mask smells can compound the issue).
• Wherever possible, filter air being circulated (e.g. pollen filters).
• Control for the use of materials and finishes (including carpets) containing toxins or emitting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs).
• Ensure sufficient cleaning cycles to control odours.
Factors to consider in neuroinclusive communications
Printed signage
• Wherever possible, and appropriate, use icons.
• Adopt appropriate typefaces (considering typefaces that have been developed with dyslexia in mind).
• Provide a clear structure and hierarchy to information.
• Adopt clear and simple sentences.
• Ensure good levels of visual contrast in text and signage
Digital signage
Colour coding of features
Tactile information
Auditory information
• Adopt the above guidance for printed signage.
• Ensure appropriate screen refresh rates and viewing angles.
• Time screen transitions based on screen content.
• Consistent use of colour for touch points (e.g. all handholds and handrails the same colour).
• Where appropriate adopt colour coding of throughways.
• Use of colour for zoning (notably vestibules).
• Provide clear features that can be used in verbal instructions.
• Where possible, provide tactile information on signage.
• Avoid the use of excessive tactile information to reduce the likelihood of overload.
• Ensure that auditory information is at a controlled level above background noise (providing dynamic adjustment where possible).
• Carefully time announcements based on the time required to action (e.g. plan the time to announce an upcoming station).
• Minimise non-critical information (e.g. advertising and promotions).
• Announcements should be short, consistent, and clear.
Balancing sensory preferences
Designing trains for neuro-inclusion requires addressing both environmental and communication factors. By balancing sensory preferences and reducing uncertainty, the rail industry can create spaces that work for a wider range of passengers.
Toward neuroinclusive train design
Truly inclusive design is a collective effort involving regulators, TOCs, designers, engineers, suppliers and testers. Each contributes to shaping the final product, but success lies in stepping back to consider the whole multisensory experience.
Neuroinclusive spaces require a clear, unified design vision established early and refined through collaboration with neurodiverse passengers. Engaging people with lived experience ensures that designs are both practical and empowering.
A practical framework for inclusion
To embed neuro-inclusion effectively into train design, the following three-step process can serve as a practical guide:
• Recognise – understand the diverse needs of passengers and staff, including their physical, sensory, and cognitive requirements.
• Consider – evaluate how the train design impacts on these needs and make the necessary adjustments to improve inclusivity. Take time to reflect on potential trade-offs. What are the potential impacts of design decisions (both positive and negative) on other physical, cognitive, or sensory needs?
• Evaluate – test and validate the design with representative passengers and staff, ensuring that the final product reflects their experiences.
‘Truly inclusive design is a collective effort involving regulators, TOCs, designers, engineers, suppliers and testers.’
‘Neuroinclusive design is essential to building a rail network that reflects the diversity of its users’
By adopting this approach, the rail industry can deliver train designs that reach beyond compliance, creating spaces that truly empower and welcome everyone. Neuroinclusive design is essential to building a rail network that reflects the diversity of its users – allowing a wider range of people to enjoy independent travel and the social mobility opportunities that train travel offers.
Email: transport@dca-design.com
Meeting the Needs of Today’s Rail Passenger
As traditional commuting patterns evolve and passenger needs diversify, rail operators face new challenges in understanding and serving their customers. How can the industry adapt to meet these shifting demands?
How would you define your typical rail passenger? It’s a tough question. So much has changed in the way we work, shop and socialise over the past decade, it’s hardly surprising that the way we travel has changed too. It’s no longer possible to put passengers in neat boxes and label them – the regular commuter, the midmorning shopper or the weekend sightseer.
Around 40 per cent of workers now have the option to work from home, according to The Urban Transport Group’s 2024 state of transport survey. While retail footfall is still 14.9 per cent down on pre-pandemic levels. This makes it harder to predict who will be travelling, and when.
There are other choices opening up for the passenger too, thanks to the proliferation of car sharing communities, ride hailing apps and urban micromobility schemes.
With such a shift in the traditional patterns of business and leisure travel, it can be challenging for rail operators to identify exactly who their customers are, and what they need. However, there are still some key aspects that all rail passengers want from their train service.
A safe and reliable railway
Whatever the reason for their journey, passengers want to know their service will get them to their destination safely and on time.
To meet the needs of existing and new passengers, rail companies need a clear view of their operations so they can plan the service, manage what’s happening on the network and monitor their performance. In the changing world of passenger travel, rail operators are constantly having to balance capacity with demand. Technology helps the process by pulling together data on rolling stock, staff rostering and driver fatigue and risk levels, so an operator can deliver the best possible service according to the resources available.
Rail companies are increasingly using digital technology to communicate targeted information across their networks to support staff in their roles, and ensure the safe running of a service. This might include updates on safety critical information, temporary speed restrictions, and short notice alerts including weather warnings for the week ahead.
When rail operators have good visibility of their operational data, they can plan and deliver a service that people will want to use.
Clear and accessible passenger information
Nobody wants to hear that their train is late because there are leaves on the line, or their bus has been rerouted due to emergency road closures. But if passengers understand that decisions about a service have been made to keep them safe, they are much more likely to understand and accept those decisions.
Passengers will be even happier if they have the information to help them re-plan their journey.
Many train operators have started offering passengers digital information such as accessible timetables, dynamic route maps and alternative transport options. Some operators provide data on how busy a service is likely to be, so passengers can choose to take a quieter train at a different time.
All this information puts the passenger in control of their travel decisions.
Train companies are also listening to passengers and adapting their approaches. When passenger groups expressed concern about how last minute train announcements were causing a stampede to the platforms in the so-called Euston Rush, Network Rail allowed passengers to board 20 minutes before departure.
By creating a dialogue with passengers, rail operators will understand more about what the modern passenger wants, and how to meet their information needs.
Sustainable travel options
Sustainability is becoming a more important consideration in the decisions we make. The PWC 2024 Voice of the Consumer Survey, finds that consumers are increasingly prioritising sustainability in their consumption practices, as almost nine-inten (85 per cent) say they are experiencing the disruptive impacts of climate change in their lives.
The modern rail passenger is increasingly likely to have sustainability in mind when choosing to travel by train, and the rail sector should seize the opportunity to communicate its green credentials.
Rail is already a low carbon form of transport, and electrification is set to boost the decarbonisation agenda even further. Rail operators are well placed to encourage passengers to avoid the traffic jams and take the train.
Businesses looking for more sustainable travel options will be encouraged by figures from the Rail Delivery Group’s Green Travel Pledge which suggest that taking the train on the top 100 business routes in Britain is almost nine times greener than using a petrol or diesel car.
Whatever the reason for their journey, and their frequency of travel, all passengers are looking for a safe and reliable experience, with the information they need to make informed decisions about the train service they are using.
To find out more about how Velociti Solutions is helping the rail sector meet the needs of today’s passengers, get in touch via the contact information below.
Tel: 03330 431101
Email: enquiries@velociti-solutions.com
Visit: https://www.velociti-solutions.com/rail
Revolutionising Erosion Control Design Software
EcoMac Design is an advanced suite of specialised tools created to empower engineers and professionals in developing state-of-the-art erosion control solutions
Whether you are managing slopes, channel banks, or other critical areas prone to soil erosion, EcoMac provides the tools needed to design effective, sustainable, and environmentally compliant systems.
Precision and efficiency in erosion control
Selecting an appropriate and efficient erosion control solution that prevents soil loss from slopes, has long been a challenge for engineers and stakeholders given the complexity of input parameters and design methods. The EcoMac design suite dramatically simplifies this process.
The three powerful tools of the EcoMac Suite
EcoMac is comprised of three core tools, each tailored to tackle specific erosion control challenges:
• EcoMac R – utilising the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (R.U.S.L.E), this tool accurately estimates soil loss and evaluates erosion risks on unprotected slopes. It offers recommendations for optimal solutions, including the use of reinforced geomats.
EcoMac R enables you to assess risks and design solutions that mitigate soil erosion effectively.
• EcoMac S – focussed on stabilising soils on slopes, this tool calculates the required tensile strength of geomats and determines appropriate anchorage spacing. By simplifying complex
calculations, EcoMac S ensures your designs optimise stability and reliability.
• EcoMac B – specially developed for channel bank protection, this tool provides customised anchorage solutions to prevent soil erosion along waterways. EcoMac B enhances the durability and longevity of your designs in dynamic hydraulic environments.
• Seamless integration with Maccaferri’s eDesign platform
EcoMac is part of eDesign; Maccaferri’s online project design platform. This integration delivers a streamlined and efficient user experience, enabling professionals to:
• Conduct detailed analyses of erosion risks and structural requirements.
• Select the most suitable products and materials for their project.
• Optimise designs for cost-efficiency and sustainability.
The eDesign platform includes a suite of free, cloud based, user-friendly design tools for professionals in civil, geotechnical, and hydraulic engineering. With EcoMac embedded in eDesign, users benefit from an all-in-one solution that simplifies project planning and execution.
Why choose EcoMac?
EcoMac is an indispensable resource for engineers and professionals seeking innovative erosion control solutions. Key advantages include:
• Enhanced accuracy – advanced algorithms ensure precise calculations for soil loss, tensile strength, and anchorage requirements.
• Time Efficiency – by automating complex computations, EcoMac significantly reduces design and analysis time.
• Environmental compliance –EcoMac helps designers comply with environmental regulations and sustainability objectives.
• Tailored solutions – each tool in the suite addresses specific challenges of soil loss from slopes to channel banks.
• User-friendly interface – with an intuitive design and integration with eDesign, EcoMac simplifies the design process for both seasoned engineers and newcomers.
Explore Maccaferri’s comprehensive portfolio
Maccaferri’s commitment to innovation extends far beyond EcoMac. Visit the website to explore a wide range of erosion control solutions. From cutting-edge design software to high-quality materials, Maccaferri provides everything you need to ensure the success of your projects. Ready to elevate your next project with cutting-edge technology and expertise?
Access the eDesign platform today to unlock the full potential of EcoMac. Discover how Maccaferri’s advanced tools can streamline your workflow and deliver outstanding results in erosion control design.
Tel: 01865 770 555
Email: info.uk@maccaferri.com
Visit: https://www.maccaferri.com/uk/
Unipart strengthens Executive Leadership Team
Unipart has announced role changes in its Executive Leadership Team. Jim Hartshorne has been appointed to the newly created role of Managing Director, Commercial. Carol Rose-Burke has been appointed Managing Director, Manufacturing. Dr David McGorman has been appointed Managing Director, Technology. Richard Gifford has been appointed to the Executive Leadership Team.
New members appointed to Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee
Local Transport Minister Simon Lightwood has announced the appointment of 13 new members to the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC). The new members of DPTAC are:
• Damian Joseph Bridgeman – Prominent leader in public policy, disability advocacy, and corporate governance.
• Mark Cutter – Chair of Northern’s Accessibility User Group (NAUG) and the Rail Accessibility and Inclusion Forum for the North (RAIFN).
• Carly Danesh Jones – Autism advocate who has previously held advisory roles with Heathrow Airport and East Midlands Rail.
• Mary Doyle – Coach who advises multinational companies on inclusivity and accessibility policy.
• Paul Finnegan – Chief Executive of suicide prevention charity Lighthouse.
• Dr Miro Griffiths – Disability scholar at the University of Leeds.
• Prof Mari Martiskainen – Professor of Energy and Society at Science Policy Research Unit within the University of Sussex.
• Rachael Mole – Consultant and advisor within accessibility and people management.
• Ruth Murran – English and drama teacher with life-long experience of global travel.
• Maral Nozratzadeh – Postgraduate researcher at the University of Leeds School of Law.
• David Sindall – Previously Head of Disability and Inclusion for the Association of Train Operating Companies for twelve years.
• Zamila Skingsley– Former Cabinet Office Director.
• Edward Trewhella – Chief Executive at Driving Mobility.
RSSB appoints new Sustainability Director
The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) has appointed Rachael Everard as its new Director of Sustainable Development.
Plowman Craven appoints Commercial Director
Plowman Craven, a leading international surveying company, has established an inspection division as part of its strategic growth objectives, appointing James Arnott as Commercial Director to lead the new business.
Opportunity in Blackpool for future light rail leader
Blackpool Transport is looking to further strengthen its leadership team as the tram operator embarks on a bold programme of service and safety enhancements. It’s now looking to recruit a new Tramway Operations and Safety Manager to help drive improvements across the elevenmile tramway that carries around five million customers a year.
Delivering a bright energy future for the railways
The UK’s rail industry is rapidly evolving as new technologies become available, putting pressure on the associated energy infrastructure.
On every scheme, we take the time to understand your strategic energy requirements, ensuring that we always deliver the best outcomes possible.
