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10 Jun 2016

Longest rail tunnel in the world opens in Switzerland

After nearly 2 decades of construction work, the Gotthard Tunnel, the world’s longest and deepest rail tunnel opened in Switzerland earlier this month.

The tunnel is expected to revolutionise travel between northern and southern Europe by providing a high speed rail link underneath the Swiss Alps, moving freight traffic off the road and onto the rails. It is estimated that more than a million lorry loads of freight will move from road to rail.

Whilst the tunnels have been officially opened scheduled services will not begin until December 2016 when up to 265 freight trains and 65 passenger trains a day are expected to run.

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14 May 2016

Crossrail 2 granted development funding

Hot on the heels of the reported success of the Crossrail project comes the news that Crossrail 2 has been awarded £80m to develop the project. The project has been identified as a priority and has been endorsed by the National Infrastructure Commission.

What is Crossrail 2?

Crossrail 2 is a proposed new railway serving London and the South East. Its proposed route will serve stations throughout the South East linking South West and North East London as well as brining benefit to other towns and cities across the South East. Many places across the region will benefit from faster or more frequent journeys into London on Crossrail 2 trains and also the National Rail Services on mainline stations.

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9 Apr 2016

Crossrail update – Project progressing on time

9 months after the tunnelling was complete we thought we’d take a look at the progress of the Crossrail Project; the new line linking rail services from Reading and Heathrow in the West to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the East.

In case you missed the announcements in February, the line will be named the Elizabeth line when it opens to passengers in 2018. For those of you wondering which new colour will be added to the London rail service map systems, the new line will be purple. HRH Queen Elizabeth visited the Bond Street station in February where she met with workers and was presented with a commemorative purple Elizabeth line roundel.

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7 Dec 2015

Flooding and the rail network

Less than a week after the good news that Carlisle station is to get a £14.7m upgrade the rail network in the north, and particularly Carlisle has suffered at the hands of Storm Desmond. Stations have no power and long stretches of track are under water causing travel chaos.

Whilst Network Rail are promising to get things back up and running as soon as humanly possible, the safety of rail passengers has to be at the forefront of everything being done. So whilst in an ideal world commuters would love to back to normal as soon as possible, there is much more to getting back to normal than just the water receding. Network Rail’s crews of maintenance people (known as the Orange Army) are clearing fallen trees and landslip debris where they can (read more here), but it’s not just what’s fallen onto the tracks that is the issue.

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27 May 2015

Research into rail switches at the IRR

Rail switches or ’points’ are used in the rail industry to guide trains to their correct route. They work by using a tapered set of rails (points) lying between the outer rails that can be moved to direct the train travelling across them.

They make up less than 1% of the entire length of railway routes in the UK, yet they account for 20% of the expenditure on track maintenance. With a working life of approximately 3 years, frequent maintenance and replacement of rail switches is needed to avoid disruptions in services.

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1 May 2015

New Train Carriage Design wins a Share of Funding

Being involved in the rail industry, we at PRV like to keep an eye on the latest developments and innovations coming over the horizon, whether it’s to do with passenger travel, the moving of freight or the development of the trains of the future. So the recent headline about a UK company winning funding to develop a solution for passenger travel and the movement of freight for the future caught our eye.

A St Ives based company has won a share of £2.2m through the Tomorrow’s Train Design Today (TTDT) programme.

Their train carriage design, where passenger carriages can be reconfigured to carry freight or passengers at different times, is one of 3 designs that won a share of the funds to develop the rolling stock of the future.

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3 Apr 2015

Siemens has recently landed a contract

Siemens has recently landed a contract to provide and maintain trains for the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area. The Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX) is being hailed as the project of the century for the region, whose rail connections and public transport systems have been heavily burdened for years.

The region is one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe with a population of approximately 10 million, many of which commute along the Rhine and Ruhr rivers in Germany. It is hoped that the RRX project will steadily ease the conditions for commuters from 2018 when delivery of the new trains begins by eliminating thousands of car trips, shifting traffic from the roads and on to rail.

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19 Mar 2015

Investment announced for UK Rail Industry

This week saw 2 announcements of funding for the UK Rail Industry

First came the announcement by UK Rail Minister Claire Perry of a £6m funded train operator competition aimed at encouraging innovation among operators and improving services for passengers.

Organised by FutureRailway and funded by the Department for Transport, it is hoped the competition will accelerate research, innovation and development in the rail industry. Passenger numbers continue to increase and expectations of service continue to rise so it is hoped that operators and their supply chains will come up with innovative solutions to address the issues and demands of rail users. In addition, any project will also need to address the future challenges of the rail industry, providing long term solutions. Each project will have to deliver innovative services, processes, designs and technology, from concept to working operational prototype and beyond.

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16 Feb 2015

Battery powered trains are back

At a time when development within the rail industry is gathering pace, battery powered trains are poised to make a comeback. Battery powered trains have been used for around 100 years, but expanded use has been held back by battery technologies.

Now, the first passenger train of its kind in over 50 years has recently undergone a five-week trial in a bid to prove the viability of more eco-friendly alternatives to diesel-powered locomotives.

Back in 2013, The Independently Powered Electric Multiple Unit (IPEMU) came into force. It draws power from overhead lines and then lowers its pantograph to allow it to run on its batteries instead, so enabling it to run over non electrified lines. The challenge was in finding an effective energy storage system or battery.

2 years and much development later,  the IPEMU will now run a weekday service between Harwich International and Manningtree stations in Essex.

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26 Jan 2015

UK rail industry gets huge boost

The United Kingdom’s rail industry can afford to smile with the news that the first completed pre-series Class 800 train is on its way.

The train, built by Hitachi in Japan, is the first of a fleet of 122 trains set for the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line, as part of the Department for Transport’s Intercity Express programme.

Even better news for the rail industry in the UK is that the bulk of the fleet will be manufactured in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. The factory is currently under construction and will employ over 700 staff.

Simon Jones, managing director of PRV Engineering www.prv-engineering.co.uk said; “It’s good news all round for the rail industry and manufacturing industry in the UK.”

The current pre-series Class 800 comprises many parts and components, manufactured here in the UK.

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