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JUNE 2021 ISSUE 273 £7.95
THE BUSINESS RESOURCE FOR RAIL
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Work from anywhere Carriages that can be adjusted from ‘commuter mode’ to ‘leisure mode’ are being considered as the industry prepares for a return of passengers to the network
editor’s note Electrification Decarbonising transport through rail electrification
High-Speed Rail The Green case for HS2
Track and Trackside
W
How new battery equipment is better for rail and the environment
Rail Professional
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hat a fascinating time to cover the railways in this country. The much-awaited Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail was released the week we prepared for print with the expected ‘guiding mind’ coming in the form of a new public body, Great British Railways, will own the infrastructure, receive the fare revenue, run and plan the network and set most fares and timetables. Network Rail, the current infrastructure owner, will be absorbed into this new organisation, as will many functions from the Rail Delivery Group and Department for Transport. Great British Railways will be accountable to Ministers in a similar way that TfL is to the Mayor of London. Transport Focus’ remit in rail will be reformed to make it the passenger champion and the role of ORR will significantly change to help improve accountability, transparency and efficiency across the network. Legislation will revise its role to focus on monitoring, reporting and improvement across the sector, making it a core part of the system that will hold Great British Railways to account. I will leave it to our regular columnists Chris Cheek and Lucy Prior to offer separate analysis of this bold new future for the country’s railways. The cover image for this issue shows one of several concepts being considered by The Go-Ahead Group for a new fleet of trains. Under the design concepts, sliding armrests allow seats to be switched from airline-style individual seats to communal benches for family groups. Carriages that can be adjusted from ‘commuter mode’ to ‘leisure mode’ could be a holdover from the slow dying idea that ‘we will all work from home now’ – I personally don’t believe in the work-from-home revolution but I do believe in the idea of working remotely. So, whilst I doubt living rooms and kitchens across the country will have to have a permanent workstation installed, I do think employers will become much more comfortable with employees ‘clocking in’ virtually at different locations – one of which could be the train. Some of these carriages have perch seats and benches which could offer extra space for passengers to plug in and work on electronic devices. Coming to this issue, we are focussing on electrification, high-speed rail and track and trackside. Our high-speed rail article comes courtesy of Greens4HS2, which explains their support for HS2 based on the project’s role in a low-CO2 sustainable transport network. Sagnik Murthy of UK Power Networks Services explains how we can decarbonise transport through rail electrification and in our track and trackside piece, Jenny Wilbourn, Senior GIS Consultant at Atkins explores how interactive data mapping was used to track vegetation along the rail network and reduce Network Rail’s on-foot inspections by 80 per cent. Summer is here folks, enjoy it!
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