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Another rollercoaster year

Somehow, we’ve come to the end of another year, and it’s been one crammed full of successes, surprises, and struggles for the industry. Looking at...

HS2: an opportunity lost

Since late September, industry news has been dominated by the fate of HS2. After weeks of speculation, it did not come as a great...

Young Rail Professionals: A packed itinerary

YRP Chair Bonnie Price gives us the latest news and developments, and a reminder of its upcoming events. It has been a busy and lovely...

An industry for everyone

Welcome to another edition of RailStaff, which reaches you with summer in full swing and temperatures on the rise. This month we turn our attention...

Our railways and trams need more focused organisation

Colin Wheeler Political turmoil, the UK economy, and Covid have all affected the way we live and work. Hopefully we are at last moving forward...

Expert Commentary: Nick Millington MBE – Route Director, Wales and Borders Route

Nick Millington, Network Rail’s Wales and Borders Route Director, was awarded an MBE in the 2023 New Years Honours list for services to the...

Moving forward in 2023

Colin Wheeler As we enter 2023, my aspiration for this year is to see an end to industrial disputes and for our railways to move...

If you can’t stand the heat…

Matt Atkins Has anyone else had enough of summer? If you’re not a fan of the heat, it’s certainly been a tough one, with two...

A home for Great British Railways

Colin Wheeler The media frenzy following the resignation of Boris Johnson temporarily overshadowed progress in answering the arguably more important question of where Great British...

Great Musgrave – The inside track

Graeme Bickerdike There are hundreds of old railway bridges much like the one at Great Musgrave in Cumbria’s Eden Valley. The structure emerged from the...

Young Rail Professionals – securing the future of the industry

Guest writer - Fi Westcough The end of June sees my first quarter as chair of the Young Rail Professionals (YRP) come to a close,...

Shadow transport secretary believes government will be “forced to act” before Rail Review reports back

Far from providing stability, shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald says the recently launched Rail Review has caused “paralysis and confusion” across the industry by...

Giving freight a fair shake

Philippa Edmunds, freight on rail manager, Campaign for Better Transport, makes a compelling argument to support a modal shift of freight from road to...

Meeting skills and staffing challenges in the rail industry

Finding the right staff and skills is one of the biggest challenges for the rail industry and for the delivery of infrastructure projects both...

Why leasing back old trains to buy new isn’t such a strange idea

Reports emerged last week that Transport for London (TfL) plans to sell some of its fleet and lease them back to help raise £875...