Technology

Transport for London (TfL), the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) and Cubic Transportation Systems have picked up top honours at the 2012 International Transport Forum for their joint work on introducing Oyster onto the National Rail network in...

Rail projects seem to have a habit of changing over time. A seemingly simple project can alter almost beyond recognition before it is completed, often adding both time and cost in the process. This is often caused by the problem of dealing with aging Victorian infrastructure which yields unpleasant secrets as work progresses. However, at [...]

To ‘provide safe travelling experience for passengers and proper dissemination of train movement related information’, Indian Railways has installed a satellite based rail mapping system on 36 important trains. Railway Board Chairman, Vinay Mittal said: “Indian Railways has successfully launched SIMRAN (Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation) as a pilot project for 18 pairs of important [...]

Carrying a data card while travelling will soon be a thing of the past, as Indian Railways is working to provide Internet services on all long distance trains. Railways have recently received the go ahead from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for using the satellite for the purpose. A senior Railway Ministry official said the [...]

Fuel use is ever topical. Fuel economy is perhaps less so. Our Leaders’ advice, in the face of the hint of industrial action by tanker drivers, was to exhort us to top up our tanks – in effect to use even more. Nobody suggested that doing fewer miles might help or that the more efficient [...]

The ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) concept has been around since 1989, some 23 years ago. The idea conceived a pan-European network where trains and infrastructure would be to a common standard and rail traffic could cross borders seamlessly. So the word interoperability was invented. By now, its use should have been commonplace on [...]

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and Masabi US Ltd, the transit mobile ticketing pioneer, have announced that they will be bringing mobile ticketing to MBTA commuter rail riders this fall. With applications for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry, customers will be able to ‘seamlessly purchase commuter rail tickets and passes’. Once tickets are purchased, customers [...]

On Wednesday 2 May at 11:10, Matthew Lock, Rail Consultant at Korec will be presenting ‘Optimising the Rail Lifecycle – How positioning solutions can help’ at Infrarail. Over the years, technology has become more user-friendly, flexible and productive. There have been tremendous advances in mobile communications, data capture and computing. In the world of surveying [...]

The National Railway Company of Belgium has awarded Hoeft & Wessel a contract to supply stationary ticket vending machines. The ticketing systems specialist will deliver TVMs of its almex.station series to Belgian Railways (SNCB – Société Nationale des Chemins de...

Sheffield-based rail maintenance equipment specialist, Mechan, has installed the largest single system of lifting jacks in the UK at the Alstom Transport Traincare Centre in Longsight near Manchester. The 44-jack system, which is the biggest ever produced by Mechan, will...