Network Rail - Articles and news items

Rochdale to get £300,000 makeover

Rail industry news / 3 March 2010 /

Passengers are set to benefit from improvements at Rochdale station thanks to a joint investment of £300,000 from Network Rail, train operator Northern Rail and Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA). (more…)

Great Western passengers set to benefit from railway transformation

Rail industry news / 1 March 2010 /

Millions of rail passengers are set to benefit from a major transformation on the railway in Great Western, according to a high-level strategy launched today by the rail industry. (more…)

Network Rail unveils strategy for East Midlands

Rail industry news / 26 February 2010 /

A plan to unlock capacity and reduce journey times on the main line from London to Sheffield was unveiled today as Network Rail published the East Midlands Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS). (more…)

£530m rail investment proposed for north England cities

Rail industry news / 17 February 2010 /

A £530m investment package to transform rail travel in the north of England through better stations and quicker, more frequent services was unveiled by Network Rail today. (more…)

ERTMS gets tested in Wales

Rail industry news / 15 February 2010 /

A major Network Rail scheme to improve the Cambrian line with one of the world’s most advanced signalling technologies moves a step closer to completion today. (more…)

Network Rail renew platforms at Earlestown station

Rail industry news / 12 February 2010 /

Work is progressing well on a project valued at over £2m to rebuild platforms four and five at Earlestown station. These are the electrified platforms that provide a link with the west coast main line and are also used by Arriva Trains Wales services between Manchester and Chester/North Wales. (more…)

23 miles of track to be replaced ‘overnight’

Rail industry news / 10 February 2010 /

Network Rail is to replace 23 miles of track this year on the famous Settle – Carlisle line with virtually no disruption to passenger train services. Starting in April and expected to be completed in September, the work will be carried out overnight on weekdays, demonstrating the railway owner’s commitment to providing a seven day railway. It also means no complete line closures for weeks at a time, as there have been in previous years. (more…)

Network Rail awards key contract to Jacobs Engineering

Rail industry news / 5 February 2010 /

Plans for a £53m investment in the rail infrastructure in Anglia – which will ultimately help take around 750,000 lorry journeys off the road every year – have moved a step closer as Network Rail announces its design partner for the works, Jacobs Engineering. (more…)

Crossrail starts preparatory works at Royal Oak tunnel site

Rail industry news / 5 February 2010 /

With the start of a new year, Europe’s largest infrastructure project, Crossrail, is moving ahead with preparatory work now underway for the railway’s future tunnel entrance at Royal Oak in west London. (more…)

Invensys Rail wins major signalling contracts

Rail industry news / 28 January 2010 /

Network Rail has awarded Invensys Rail two major signalling contracts; the first for the resignalling of the Water Orton area in the West Midlands under the companies’ Type A framework agreement and the second, the Moorthorpe interlocking renewal scheme, a multi-disciplinary Type B project. (more…)

Major network investments will help reduce UK passenger disruption

Issue 6 2009, Past issues / 12 December 2009 /

If a railway network is in need of track renewal, it is vitally important that the procedures are carried out to the best possible standards. Network downtime needs to be kept to an absolute minimum and it is therefore essential for infrastructure owners to invest heavily in high-tech track renewal technology and machinery.

Network Rail, the owner and operator of Britain’s railway infrastructure, performs work to tracks, signals, tunnels, viaducts, level crossings and stations. Network Rail aims to provide a safe, reliable and efficient network for freight and passenger trains, fit for the 21st century. It is with this in mind that they have recently announced a major commitment to achieve their own goals.

Network Rail passengers are set to reap the benefits as the infrastructure owner continues its investment in high-tech track renewals technology. This investment will ensure that disruption to the network is significantly reduced as the high-output technology will be capable of carrying out track renewal tasks much quicker than conventional methods. (more…)

A new process for the aluminothermic weld repair of discrete rail surface defects

Issue 6 2008, Past issues / 3 December 2008 /

Isolated rail head defects formed under traffic, detected either by visual inspection or ultrasonic flaw testing, can significantly reduce the service life of rails if not managed correctly.

Surface initiated defects account for approximately 50% of all defects removed from Network Rail (NR) Infrastructure. These are predominately made up of squats from rolling contact fatigue and wheelburns caused by the heat introduced to the rail surface by friction between the rail and wheels during acceleration transforming the surface due to localised overheating leading to surface spalling and cracking.

Currently, these defects are removed by re-railing or when repaired, are done so by manual metal arc (MMA) welding. Both methods are time consuming with re-railing usually requiring the stress free temperature to be restored and MMA repair prone to introducing further defects such as slag inclusions and stop/start porosity.

In response to the demands for improved track availability with reducing track access opportunities and a need to introduce maintenance cost reductions innovative solutions were sought to enable defects to be removed in a more efficient manner.

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