National Railway Museum opens new season of temporary exhibition Innovation Platform

The National Railway Museum has launched the latest and final installation of its temporary exhibition programme Innovation Platform which showcases technology and innovation on the railways. The third season of the exhibition is called ‘Communities’ and will run from March...

RDG moves to industry-first cloud-based system to improve the smart ticketing infrastructure

Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has completed its back office migration to the Unicard HOPS (Host or Operator Processing System) solution that will support smart ticketing for all train operators in Britain. RDG back-office delivers smartcard services for the wider rail...

University of Birmingham on track with Japan rail partnership

Railways experts at the University of Birmingham are joining forces with East Japan Railway Company (Japan Railway East) to create innovative rail technology and new ways of staffing Japan’s railways. University of Birmingham Provost Professor Stephen Jarvis and Japan Railway...

New era of rail travel to begin as West Midlands Railway unveils electric train fleet

A new era is set to begin for rail passengers in the West Midlands after West Midlands Railway unveiled its brand new fleet of electric trains. The Class 730 fleet will enter service in the region for the first time...

Great Western Railway’s innovative FastCharge battery train trial could transform UK’s railway

Innovation led by Great Western Railway could transform the UK’s railway as it powers forward with a FastCharge battery trial designed to help future decarbonisation of branch line services. The FastCharge technology, which has been rigorously developed by specialist engineers...

Tap-in, tap-out travel is on track for the West Midlands and Greater Manchester

Thousands more passengers will benefit from simpler, more flexible travel from next year, under new pilot schemes confirmed by the Rail Minister today (1 February). Stations across the West Midlands and selected routes in Greater Manchester are set to be...

EMR joins forces with tech firm on groundbreaking safety project

EMR collaborates with tech firm to trial groundbreaking monitoring software  Project funded by Department for Transport (DfT) and Innovate UK's First of Kind scheme New approach allows more efficient and safer working at depots  East Midlands Railway (EMR) has teamed up with...

LNER works with young entrepreneurs to gain insights into the future of rail

LNER has been working with budding young entrepreneurs on a project which has the potential to shape the future of rail travel. The LNER Digital team spearheaded an innovation challenge with social enterprise Startup Sherpas, an organisation which provides real-life...

Novel railway point switching technology, inspired by aircraft control systems

Researchers from the University of Birmingham, are working on Repoint, a new cutting-edge railway switch (points) technology to improve upon the traditional design, which has been in use for over 200 years. While conventional railway switches guide trains from one...

Innovative Siemens Mobility mobile rail charging facility to be demonstrated at Long Marston

New technology developed by Siemens Mobility that makes battery charging and 25kV power supply possible in areas of the UK railway where overhead line equipment is not currently available is to be installed at Porterbrook’s Long Marston Rail Innovation...

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ORR review leads to 50% reduction in maximum fees for ticket refunds

New rules will mean that from 2 April the maximum fee that train operators and ticket retailers can charge...