The Rail, Engineering, Energy, Renewables, Power Blog

A report published by European Commission has revealed that people making middle or long distance trips by rail in the UK are happier with their journey than most of their European neighbours. (more…)

Soaring petrol costs have driven motorists off the roads and onto the trains, according to ATOC, the Association of Train Operating Companies. In the twelve months to March, passenger numbers increased by 6.6%. (more…)

Rail travellers often suffer during bad weather and last December’s cold snap was no exception. A study carried out by the Office of Rail Regulation found that both Network Rail and the train operators performed badly over the period.

The problem was made worse by train companies adopting different approaches to passenger information even though they were using the same lines. Operators also failed to coordinate emergency timetables, adding yet more confusion to passengers.

At stations, passengers faced a confusing array of information, from destination boards to tannoy announcements, which left them with no idea when, or even if, trains were running. The report claimed that wildly inaccurate information was being given in some instances because the latest train timetables were not fed into the information system which stations rely on. (more…)

The rail industry should aim to cut CO₂ emissions in half by 2050, the chief executive of ATOC said at the ‘Sustainable Transport: ‘greening the transport sector’ conference in London last week.

The industry bills itself as the greenest form of public transport but in order to live up to this reputation a series of measures need to be implemented, Mr Roberts said. The railways are currently the largest single user of electricity in the UK taking up about 1% of the total demand. Roberts talked about making the industry more energy efficient and as an example highlighted the need to reduce the amount of electricity lost in transmission. (more…)

The British public have resumed their love affair with rail travel if the latest figures from the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) are to be believed.

Last year, passengers made a total of 1.32 billion journeys, covering around 33.5 billion miles, on the National Rail network. That’s an increase in journeys of 6.9% on the year before and 37% on 2000. (more…)