BRITISH transport minister Baroness Kramer announced on November 28 that the Department for Transport has allocated £16m to fund the electrification of the 16km Oxenholme – Windermere line in northwest England.

BRITAIN's infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) has issued the Wessex Route Plan, a blueprint for the future of passenger and freight services from London Waterloo to the south and the west of England over the next 30 years.

THE general assembly of the European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM) has elected Mr Paul Plummer, group strategy director of Britain's infrastructure manager Network Rail, as president to succeed Mr Gunnar Malm, director general of Trafikverket, Sweden.

BRITISH open-access railfreight operator Colas Rail has agreed a contract with HaCon, Germany, to deploy its train planning system, TPS Operator, which is intended to integrate with infrastructure manager Network Rail's (NR) own TPS Enterprise solution.

While high-speed lines have been built primarily to serve the inter-city market, regional travellers are also benefiting from the investment in new rail infrastructure. IRJ editors look at the development of regional high-speed in three European countries and consider the prospects for growth.

WORK on a building which will house a new railway operating centre (ROC) for signalling and train control systems on Britain's east coast network from London Kings' Cross to the Scottish borders was completed in York on September 12.

BRITISH infrastructure manager Network Rail (NR) has awarded nine suppliers a total of 20 five-year framework enhancement and renewal contracts worth a combined £1.6bn for its London North Western and East Midlands routes.

STAGECOACH has announced an order worth £210m with Siemens and train leasor Angel Trains for a fleet of 30 five-car Desiro City EMUs for its South West Trains suburban commuter services to and from London Waterloo.

With ERTMS set to be rolled out on some of Britain's busiest main lines over the next five years, testing and validation is now well underway in preparation for large-scale deployment. Keith Barrow visits Network Rail's ETCS National Integration Facility to see how the infrastructure manager is preparing for the transition.

SCOTLAND's Borders Railway project has celebrated a milestone with the laying of the first sections of track on the 48km line from Newcraighall, south of Edinburgh, to Tweedbank.