EDITOR’S NOTE

The last we spoke I greeted the end of the year with a sigh of exhaustion at all the upheaval we had faced in the preceding few months. Now, as we start off 2023, it all feels very calm and the steady drive towards modernising our railways continues. Last Summer The Department for Transport announced that the budget for the Transpennine Route Upgrade had more than tripled from £2.9 billion in 2018 to a potential £9 billion to £11.5 billion. At the start of the year Neil Holm was announced as Managing Director for the Transpennine Route Upgrade ahead of what will be a pivotal year for the programme. My interviewee this month remarked on this saying that: ‘Programmes like HS2 and East West Rail show that it's not just about fixing the old Victorian railway it is also about contributing to these modern initiatives to build new railways.’

I spoke to Kelvin Davies, Head of Innovation at GCRE on secondment from InnovateUK and Klara Ludinova, Innovation Lead – Rail at InnovateUK about the First of a Kind (FOAK) competition and the innovation climate in the UK.

We have a piece on innovation from Monica Wick, CEO and founder at RedCabin who shares the results of a survey on that subject. We also hear from Jeremy Revell and Richard Wheldon (Frazer-Nash Consultancy), and Luke Allen (eviFile) on their digital solution to disruption.

Our features this month are Tram and Light Rail and Depots, with stories from Pre Metro Operations Ltd and Transport for the West Midlands as well as Greater Anglia and Spencer Group. Alongside that we have opinion pieces from Darren Fodey and Paul Thwaite of law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP, Natalie Maye of Shoosmiths, Ruth Duston of London Heritage Quarter and a whole host of others as well as our regular columnists.

Finally, our Supply Chain Directory for 2023 is available now – you can order a copy here: https://www.railpro.co.uk/product/9th-edition This edition documents the railways in their current state, with all the various train operating companies, holding companies and regulatory bodies alongside articles covering every element of the railways as well as comprehensive listings of all the companies involved in the industry.

SAM SHERWOOD-HALE EDITOR