■ TRU and MML electrification test cases for cost reduction claims
■ TDNS rolling programme on hold
■ ‘Stop moaning’, electrification proponents told
■ Network Rail Board goes full duckweed
Aneologism which caught my eye the other day is ‘vibe-shift’. This refers to a dramatic cultural change that makes current trends feel dated.I found it interesting because it is not limited to cultural change.
For the past couple of years, electrification has been recovering from the embarrassment of the Great Western Electrification Project (GWEP) fiasco and the associated cancellations/truncations of schemes in 2017. The subsequent revival has been driven by hard work from Network Rail and the Railway Industry Association (RIA), not forgetting Malcolm Brown’s Rail Industry Decarbonisation Task Force, which set the ball rolling in 2019.
Network Rail’s Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy (TDNS) highlighted the central role of railway electrification, both in decarbonising the railway and contributing to modal shift from road. It also established the limited potential for alternative traction in cutting the railways’emissions. While beloved of ministers and researchers, batteries and hydrogen are not…
