Editor's Intro Archives - The Railway Magazine

There must be a much better way to procure and commission rolling stock…

6th February 2019 Sam Hewitt Editor's Intro

A QUESTION I find myself asking rather too often is: ‘Would the rolling stock crisis that is badly affecting the industry have occurred on BR’s watch?’ In excess of 22 Class 345 Crossrail EMUs –

Genuine rail freight terminal or warehouses with seldom-used sidings?

2nd January 2019 Sam Hewitt Editor's Intro

HAS anyone else noticed the large number of rail freight terminals in the Midlands which are under construction or in planning stages? At junction 15 on the M1, developers are aiming to construct five million

Waterloo incident is a wake-up call

5th December 2018 Sam Hewitt Editor's Intro

THIRTY years ago, on December 12, 1988, a busy commuter train ran into the back of another packed train, which had stopped at a red signal outside Clapham Junction. Moments later a third train hit

Heaping more misery on fed-up passengers…

7th November 2018 Sam Hewitt Editor's Intro

HAVING prompted readers to make comments, and just three weeks after the public consultation period ended, the Department for Transport has pulled the plug on one of the most crucial franchise renewals – CrossCountry. But

MESSAGE TO MR GRAYLING: Passengers need improvement now – not in two years’ time

4th October 2018 Sam Hewitt Editor's Intro

THE announcement that Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has ordered a Rail Review comes as no surprise. It’s been very much overdue, given the increasing list of problems affecting passengers. The Transport Select Committee (TSC) announced

Radical reform for operators and passengers cannot come soon enough

5th September 2018 Sam Hewitt Editor's Intro

IT’S been another summer of discontent for rail passengers. Strikes because of industrial disputes over driver-only operation are still affecting four train operators. Timetables remain in a mess on several routes, with passengers having to

The annual invasion of Buddleja Davidii

2nd August 2018 Sam Hewitt Editor's Intro

TRAVELLING into Birmingham New Street last month, I was shocked at the abundance of vegetation alongside the track around Grand Junction. Particularly prevalent was buddleia (Buddleja Davidii), an invasive plant which spreads easily if left

Another nice mess you’ve gotten into

4th July 2018 Sam Hewitt Editor's Intro

IN the past six weeks we’ve seen a shambolic start to the new summer timetable with thousands of passengers unable to travel because of a lack of trained drivers, overcrowded services, while others were written

Not the best month for railways

12th June 2018 Sam Hewitt Editor's Intro

IT’S BEEN a bad month for our railways. In fact a very bad month, with so much adverse publicity stemming from a variety of problems – some of them self-inflicted. The big news was the

Surplus trains could form a niche fleet

3rd May 2018 Sam Hewitt Editor's Intro

IN THE August 2016 issue of The RM we reported around 35 miles of siding space was needed to store the carriages being made redundant by new trains. Further new train orders, coupled with the