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Research and Reports

A database of documents and reports released by industry bodies. You can download the document by clicking on its title, and can filter reports by author or subject. If you have a report you would like to submit to the Rail Hub, please email [email protected].

 

  • Train Punctuality: the passenger perspective

    05/11/2015
    Transport Focus SearchResearchItems

    Transport Focus argues that a punctual railway should be a key focus for Control Period 6, which starts in 2019. That is a core conclusion from a report that demonstrates a big gap between what the industry considers ‘on time’ and passengers’ perceptions - and that satisfaction with the service depends partly on that. Transport Focus and the Office of Rail and Road found that for every minute a train arrives after its scheduled time, overall passenger satisfaction drops by 1.5%. That is despite the fact that a train is not officially ‘late’ until the delay reaches five minutes, or ten minutes for long-distance services. It means that for a train that arrives 4min 59sec after it is scheduled to - and is therefore officially ‘on time’ - satisfaction will have fallen by more than 6%. For commuters, the drop is double, at 3% per minute. The report says that 82% of passengers are satisfied with punctuality if a train arrives early or within 59 seconds of its booked time. The ORR already uses right time punctuality data, which was introduced as a performance indicator in April 2014.

  • Working Together: Rail Delivery Group annual report 2015

    03/11/2015
    Rail Delivery Group SearchResearchItems

    The Rail Delivery Group’s vision “is to make Europe’s best railway even better”. The 2015 report summarises activities during what, writes chairman Martin Griffiths, was the RDG’s “first complete year as a fully resourced strategic body”. The organisation, whose members include Network Rail and passenger and freight train operating groups, says its aims include “running more, better, faster and greener rail services, at the highest levels of safety” as well as “offering a personalised travelling experience”, improving cost efficiency, and “accelerating the use of digital technology throughout the industry”.

  • Turning Momentum into Delivery: CBI/AECOM Infrastructure Survey 2015

    29/10/2015
    CBI/AECOM SearchResearchItems

    Inter-city rail is crucial or important to 81% of firms and 90% of firms see increasing capacity as a priority, according to the results of this this survey. Some 55% support creation of High Speed 2 to help capacity - and 92% say “their support would be boosted by clearer sight of how the project sits within a longer-term plan for UK rail”. Commuter rail is seen as crucial or important to 71%. The survey highlights that 95% of firms say they want to see - as a minimum - delivery of the upgrades promised during the last parliament, while 45% want capital spending to be increased; in Wales, that figure rose to 55%. As a comparison, 89% of respondents said motorways are crucial or beneficial to them and 96% of firms reported that they were concerned or very concerned about road congestion.

  • Delivering the Goods: Consultation towards Scotland’s Rail Freight Strategy

    22/10/2015
    Transport Scotland SearchResearchItems

    “Without coordinated intervention the rail freight industry in Scotland is likely to severely decline.” Transport Scotland’s assessment of the future of rail freight with the closure of Longannet and fall in coal traffic is the background to this paper released as part of consultation on Scottish rail freight, which runs until January 22 2016. Mineral traffic has fallen from around 80% of the market in 2002-2006 to only around half now. TS says this “amplifies the need for other existing markets to grow and new markets to emerge.” Rail freight is seen as important not only in its own right, but also given the Scottish Government’s stated aim to “reindustrialise” the economy. Against a background of figures (2013) that show the rest of the UK accounting for 63% (£46.2bn) of Scottish exports, the consultation document reports that “movements within Scotland cannot be considered in isolation and current connections with the rest of the UK, the port network and Europe are crucial both now and to achieve growth potential.” The top overseas destination for Scottish exports was the USA (£3.9bn). Challenges listed include a lack of direct freight services between Scotland and the Channel Tunnel, with stakeholders saying this is “due to insufficient volumes and a number of technical constraints”.

  • Reviving Britain’s Railways

    11/10/2015
    The Bow Group SearchResearchItems

    Conservative think-tank the Bow Group says the UK should partially redirect transport infrastructure funding towards railway re-opening. Questioning the relative value of large projects such as High Speed 2, the Bow Group’s report suggests an “alternative proposition”. It argues in favour of a competitive bidding process for re-openings and says potential private funding should be explored as a way to help it happen. Also, a Department for Transport minister should be made specifically responsible for re-opening. The Bow Group report also favours creating more capacity by upgrading routes rather than building new lines.

  • The West Midlands aviation opportunity

    09/10/2015
    York Aviation SearchResearchItems

    High Speed 2 could add around 950 jobs and £34m a year in Gross Value Added at 2015 prices to the West Midlands economy by making Birmingham Airport more accessible. So argues this report, which looks at opportunities for the airport’s growth. With a station planned for the airport itself, the paper says HS2 will “bring substantial numbers of new passengers within faster reach”. Those people will come from London, but also the North West and Yorkshire once Phase Two of HS2 is built. Taken together, that demand could translate into 750,000 passengers - or around 8% of current throughput.

  • Social Innovation in Transport and Mobility

    07/10/2015
    Hitachi/Frost & Sullivan SearchResearchItems

    Hitachi is predicting continued global growth in rail and urban transit - with factors such as on-going urbanisation, congestion in other modes and the need to lower carbon footprints all contributing to demand. It says the “rail sector is expected to witness tremendous innovation, resulting in new applications, business models, and opportunities.” Hitachi is working to the forecast that the amount of high-speed track will grow from 50,000km (around 31,000 miles) to more than 90,000km (around 56,000 miles) by 2020 - with much of that expansion coming from China. In the same period, it expects the number of wi-fi equipped trains in Europe to increase from just over 8% to nearly 18%.

  • Passenger Rail Usage 2015-16 Q1 Statistical Release

    01/10/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Passenger journeys continued to increase in the first quarter of 2015/16, rising to 412.5m - a rise of 4.7% on the previous year. Passenger revenue climbed 6.6% to £2.3bn, while timetabled train kilometres rose 0.5% to 133 million. The figures are contained in the latest figures from the Office of Rail and Road. Season ticket journeys showed the highest growth at 5.7% and at 169.9m accounted for 41.2% of franchised passenger journeys. Some 70% of all journeys were made in London and the South East. Journeys on franchised services accounted for 99.9% of the total.

  • Destination Growth: the case for Britain’s regional railways

    24/09/2015
    Passenger Transport Executive Group SearchResearchItems

    Major investment in regional railways is needed if they are to meet their potential, argues this report commissioned by pteg. Demand on regional railways rose 66% between 2002/3 and 2014/5 and the services carry over three times more passengers than long distance trains. However, the average age of rolling stock on regional railways has risen 30%, while much of the network still has Victorian and/or rationalised infrastructure. “This lack of investment is already beginning to limit growth,” argues the report, “and this will only get worse in the future.” If a ‘business as usual’ approach is taken, pteg suggests that by 2045 the regional fleet may have grown 40% - but this will have failed to keep up with demand growth of 76%. Instead, the report argues there is a case for new diesel fleets split into regional express, urban commuter and rural trains - or even regional electrification. This would mean electrifying a further 8,000 route-km. Benefits would include increased connectivity and capacity (and growth in demand), and the report suggests cost/benefit ratios of 4.36 for electrification and 3.89 for a diesel-based upgrade.

  • What to do about the railways?

    22/09/2015
    Dieter Helm SearchResearchItems

    What does society want from the railways, which is the right structure, and what is the appropriate subsidy? These big questions are asked in a paper that argues the structure chosen at privatisation “was the wrong answer to what turned out to be the wrong question”. It suggests three possible options: making railways less reliant on subsidies (a la the view of the 1980s and 1990s); going for expansion largely within the current structures; or undertaking restructuring in an evolutionary manner. Recommendations include government deciding strategically what railways are ‘for’, setting up a ‘national transport balance sheet’, and creating a system operator from Network Rail, which would mean the other bits could be broken up.

  • Draft plans to improve air quality in the UK: tackling nitrogen dioxide in our towns and cities

    17/09/2015
    Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs SearchResearchItems

    The UK still exceeds agreed NO2 limits in various areas of the country - and this DEFRA report says that while “emissions from the rail sector are relatively low, the UK is committed to reducing them even further.” This is to be achieved through electrification, bi-mode Intercity Express Programme trains, and the Future Rail scheme’s support of “innovation projects to reduce rail’s carbon footprint that will also provide benefits for air quality.” Among these are the battery powered train tested earlier in 2015 with the technology holding “the prospect of extending the range of electric trains so that they can run on non-electrified lines and potentially replace conventional diesel trains.” While some 80% of NOx emissions in areas where the UK is exceeding agreed NO2 limits come from transport, most of it is from diesel cars and vans.

  • London TravelWatch Annual Review 2015

    06/08/2015
    London TravelWatch SearchResearchItems

    London Travelwatch has continued its push for compensation to be paid to passengers after delays of 15 minutes rather than the current 30 minutes - and for compensation schemes to be widened from the capital’s season ticket holders to those who use an Oyster card. The official “voice of London’s travelling public” argues that even 20 minutes of delay can cause severe disruption when a journey time is only 15-30 minutes. In their foreword to the Annual Review 2015, Chairman Stephen Locke and Chief Executive Janet Cooke say “the present 30-minute threshold for Delay Repay is inadequate for most commuters where persistent delays of 15-30 minutes can be seriously disruptive.” Billions of journeys are made in the UK capital each year - more than 2bn of them on either London Underground or national rail services, with even more (2.4bn) on buses. In the 2014/15 year, London Travelwatch dealt with approaching 6,000 written or telephone complaints. Activities over the year included responding to Parliament’s transport select committee, and consulting over London Underground’s plan to close ticket offices. London Travelwatch has also warned of a difficult time for the city’s commuters, as population growth is matched to upgrades to infrastructure - such as the major rebuild of London Bridge.

  • ORR Health and Safety Annual Report for 2014-15

    21/07/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    The Office of Rail and Road is looking for “some meaningful improvements in occupational health and safety management”. That is one of the key areas the latest ORR health and safety report names, as it seeks to keep pushing safety as railway use continues to climb. Also on the safety watchdog’s radar is pushing Network Rail to catch up on infrastructure renewal. Of particular risk areas, the ORR once again names familiar subjects such as signals passed at danger or level crossings, but also others such as drainage and electrical safety. This year also marks a particular milestone for Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate, which is now part of ORR: the first Chief Inspecting Officer was appointed 175 years ago in 1840. “The importance of why we were created still remains central to our current role - to ensure Britain’s railways protect the health and safety of its passengers, workforce and the public,” says HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser. - TS

  • RSSB Annual Safety Performance Report

    21/07/2015
    Rail Safety Standards Board SearchResearchItems

    2014/15 saw no passenger or workforce deaths in train accidents for the eighth successive year. However, there were fatalities: three passengers died in stations, the same number of workers died (two in road accidents, the other being electrocuted) - and there were 326 public fatalities. Of those, ten happened at level crossings, 22 were trespassers - and 293 were suicides or suspected suicides. The other one is recorded as assault. That was against a backdrop of 1.66bn passenger journeys - 4% up on 2013/14. It means that using the train is roughly 20 times safer than using the car - and the UK’s railway also fares well internationally. “The most recent comparison available from the European Rail Agency puts GB rail as the top of the ranking for passenger and workforce fatality rates, and our level crossing performance is the best in Europe,” says the report. “But good performance is not a signal for complacency.” With the passenger fatalities in 2014/15 all having taken place at stations, there is now an industry focus on the ‘platform-train interface’ (PTI). A PTI strategy was launched in January, and there is now dedicated implementation group, chaired by Network Rail.

  • On the Move: exploring attitudes to road and rail travel in Britain

    16/07/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Travel will increase, but there’s already a shift from the car that is likely to be long lasting. Those are some of the conclusions in this report from the Office of Rail and road and the Independent Transport Commission. The latest On the Move follows an initial report in 2012 - the idea is to help the Department for Transport forecast better, and also to aid policy makers. The report finds that various things - including being able to use new technology on public transport - are driving the changes, but younger men are particularly likely to shift from the car, and business travellers are making the biggest shift of all. Other factors affecting patterns of travel include the move to commuting over longer distances in order to combat high housing costs, changes in patterns of working, and a desire to travel more. Also considered were the factors of an ageing population, and of net inward migration. Although different sectors of society display different attitudes and habits on transport, the report argues that across “almost all groups the research indicates that journeys are increasingly being split across different modes, and this suggests that the need for a fully integrated transport system is stronger than ever.” That, plus catering for increasing demand, are likely to be the main challenges.

  • Passenger’s Guide to Franchising

    07/07/2015
    Campaign for Better Transport SearchResearchItems

    Think passengers don’t understand rail franchising? They may have a better idea if they read the Passenger’s Guide to Franchising from the Campaign for Better Transport and the Department of Transport. “Many passengers might not be aware that they can have their say and engage with rail franchising and we hope that this guide will empower passengers to share their thoughts and ideas with both the Department for Transport and the train operators themselves,” says CBT Chief Executive Stephen Joseph in his introduction. The 35-page document covers everything from how to respond to a consultation to ‘How do I reopen a rail line or station?’ - and may lead to better-informed, more active passengers.

  • Rolling Stock Perspective: moving ahead

    07/07/2015
    Department for Transport SearchResearchItems

    Nearly 4,000 additional vehicles are needed on the UK railway in the next nine years according to this latest report. It takes a wide look at the industry's needs, and has been compiled with input from rolling stock leasing companies, train manufacturers and National Rail Enquiries. Claire Perry writes in her foreword that the DfT welcomes innovation to deliver greater capacity through interoperability - for example, the use of longer or double-decker trains that don't need complicated infrastructure.

  • Tomorrow's Railway and Climate Change Adaptation: Work Package 1

    01/07/2015
    Rail Safety Standards Board SearchResearchItems

    Hotter, drier summers, milder, wetter winters, more frequent and intense extreme weather events and higher sea levels will affect the resilience of the whole railway system. Phase 1 of the project surveyed the possible effects of changing weather patterns on Britain’s railway as part of an industry-wide attempt to assess and mitigate risk by anticipating future challenges. By looking at the potential problems now, industry is planning ahead to consider future changes to its approach to railway design and operations. This first phase has identified over 120 recommendations relating to increasing the resilience of the railway and its various sub-systems in the short, medium and long term; with 10 key recommendations highlighted as priorities following consultation with GB rail experts.

  • Network Rail Monitor Quarters 3-4 of Year 1 of CP5 12 October 2014 to 31 March 2015

    12/06/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Network Rail has missed targets in the first year of CP5. Overhead line renewals are 77% behind schedule, signalling renewals are 63% behind, and track renewal is 7% behind. Operating, maintenance and renewals (OMR) has reduced by 2.2%, and NR is forecasting a cumulative efficiency gain of around 16% by the end of CP5 (March 2019), rather than the forecast 22%. ORR has launched an investigation into the performance, and into whether NR has the right measures in place to plan and deliver committed projects.

  • Network Rail Monitor Scotland Quarters 3-4 of Year 1 of CP5 12 October 2014 to 31 March 2015

    12/06/2015
    Office of Rail and Road (ORR) SearchResearchItems

    Train performance in Scotland in 2014-2015 was below the regulatory target. The ORR said this was partly due to the Commonwealth Games, but that it will investigate further. NR has generally delivered less than the planned level of work, and missed some regulatory milestones. NR’s financial performance in Scotland is around £2 million better than was budgeted, mostly because of lower Schedule 4 (planned disruption) costs.

  • High Speed Two: A guide to tunnelling costs

    12/06/2015
    HS2 Ltd SearchResearchItems

    Potential costs for the tunnels required for HS2. Provides an interesting study of the different elements that need to be taken into account in the construction of new tunnels and explains that exact costs are not possible to calculate without decisions being made about the exact type of tunnel boring machine to be used and surveys of the material to be excavated.

  • Major challenges facing rail operators, maintainers and owners and the role of ICT

    10/06/2015
    Nomad Digital SearchResearchItems

    Nomad's first ICT industry white paper compiling the challenges and ambitions for multiple ICT and operational onboard applications. It illustrates how onboard passenger service and operational solution investments can be returned through passenger benefits, tangible revenues and operational cost savings, presenting a sustainable business model built from industry feedback. Results show that operational and maintenance costs, and providing high quality service and information to passengers are the biggest concerns for rail operators.

  • Policy futures for urban transport

    10/06/2015
    Passenger Transport Executive Group SearchResearchItems

    Maps out the policies needed to build on recent progress on devolution to the city regions on transport, in order to achieve a wider vision of smart and integrated transport networks that deliver growth. The report finds that there is a strong consensus that Britain's city regions are key to rebalancing the economy. It says that with the right national policy lead we can make further progress to deliver modern, efficient and fully integrated urban transport networks accessible via smart and simple ticketing systems. We can also drive forward the transformation of strategic links between the cities around common priorities.

  • Planning and Timing of Engineering Works on the GB rail network

    10/06/2015
    Rail Delivery Group SearchResearchItems

    Report of the review, led by Anton Valk, that was commissioned following significant disruption to services into and out of London on December 27 and 28 2014, prompted primarily by overrunning works. The review concludes that the scope for carrying out major improvement works in and around London other than at Christmas and Easter, is extremely limited; but that the industry could reduce the risk of overruns at these times by moving work which does not need major closures of the network to other points in the year and improve the efficiency of its planning and operational processes.

  • Driver Shortage Crisis 2015 report

    09/06/2015
    The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport SearchResearchItems

    Over 100 participating logistics companies took part in a survey to answer questions about driver shortages in the industry. The report highlights the concern across the industry with a staggering 74% of members surveyed stating that their organisation is experiencing a driver shortage. What's interesting is that the problems experienced with road logistics are in line with those in rail - an ageing workforce, lack of trainees being recruited, and difficulty finding skilled workers. The key point of similarity is that 60 members who took part in the survey claimed that industry image and perception is a significant factor in the driver shortage.