David Clarke

Railway technical, strategy and innovation Consultant. Former Technical Director of the Railway Industry Association. Views are my own.

[RIA @railindustry]

Today the MMLe team are celebrating successfully electrifying the #MidlandMainLine to Wigston - on time and under budget. We were pleased to be invited to join the celebration and we call on the government to maintain the momentum and continue with the next phase.

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

@LNER kudos to the guard on 17:00 from Kings Cross who is handing out drinks in the absence of the catering crew who were on a delayed service

[RIA @railindustry]

Next year we are celebrating 150 years of championing the UK rail supply industry. Find more about our history and how we are marking the occasion in the article below ⬇️

[RIA @railindustry]

🔍The fourth instalment of our series of 'deep dives' into RIA's manifesto looks into supporting a sustainable rail supply chain, by reducing uncertainty and providing a clear pipeline of future investments.

Read more here: https://t.co/kAAxHaziqz

#RIAManifesto24 #SupplyChain

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

We learned about the use of detailed survey and FE analysis to support Continued Service Operation of fleets including MTR Hong Kong from Stephen Pell of @atkinsrealis. RIA’s own @izdoesrail gave a briefing on the new procurement act. An excellent meeting thanks to great speakers

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

David Horton of GWR described the journey which has led to the Class 230 battery train being on trial on the Greenford Branch of GWR supported by their innovative fast charging system.

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

David’s presentation was strong confirmation of RIA’s recent report which highlights the opportunity to decarbonise a third of the network with battery trains. https://t.co/BtQ7pl1cMd

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

James Brown of @BelvoirRail described the achievements of their Northern Trains refurbished and the ‘Innovation Train’ which has multiple sensors to monitor the train and infrastructure.

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

Thoroughly enjoyed the @railindustry rolling stock group yesterday. Robin Hay curated a fascinating line up of speakers on the theme of rolling stock refurbishment and life extension

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

The impressive team effort behind the Pendolino Fleet Refurbishment resulting in a train ‘better than new’ was shared by Matthew Labuda of @AngelTrains Nigel Sanderson and John Clark of @AlstomUK and Bob Powell of @AvantiWestCoast
Listen to Matthew

[RIA @railindustry]

📣RIA Manifesto 2024: A fresh start for UK rail.

Today RIA has published its five main asks of Government, in a manifesto for the next Parliament which seeks a fresh start for UK rail. Read more here: https://t.co/G99AxZbHvD

#RailReform #Manifesto

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

Thank you to all the MSPs, guests and RIA Members who attended. Lots of good conversations to follow up. Also really good to have lots of younger members join us.

[RIA Scotland @railindustrySCO]

Always a pleasure to host a good cross section of MSPs and @railindustry members at @ScotParl

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

We expect (and our members confirm) that BEMU whole life costs will be lower than DMU. There is a ‘TOTEX’ analysis in the report to support this

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

We agree that cascade is key. The strategy identifies the routes that can be decarbonised today by deploying a BEMU. That is not always the same as the places 15x operate. We also show that any BEMU you buy will still have work in 2050 but probably not in the same place.

[Roger Ford @Captain_Deltic]

@philatrail I don't think anyone has thought how you replace 15x diesels. My view is you have to cascade down.
Replacing a Class 150 with a battery multiple unit costing around £3 million a vehicle doesn't represent financial or environmental value for money.

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

@Captain_Deltic @NoelDolphin @railindustry Agree Roger, lower cost and higher performing are the traditional reasons for electrification - decarbonisation comes for ‘free’.

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

@NoelDolphin @25kV @ciltuk @SimonJWSkinner Good analysis Noel - thanks

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

@AlexHynes @transportgovuk @ScotRail @NetworkRailSCOT Congratulations on your new role and best wishes for your new challenge. @railindustrySCO appreciates your contribution to Scotland’s Railway and your willingness to engage with the supply chain to improve our collective offer.

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

⁦@MetroMayorSteve⁩ opening the 2024 ⁦@Transport4North⁩ conference highlights how public transport investment drives the economy and productivity. Couldn’t agree more! Pleased to represent ⁦@railindustryNTH⁩ and ⁦@railindustry⁩ today #TransformTheNorth

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

This was a really positive discussion about the contribution @ScotRail @NetworkRailSCOT and @railindustrySCO and @railindustry members can make to the economy of North East Scotland.

[RIA Scotland @railindustrySCO]

Great evening in Aberdeen with @railindustry Scotland members discussing key issues for the busy rail supply chain with @LiamKerrMSP and @dlumsden MSP

[David Clarke @DCFutureRail]

Enjoying my journey to Aberdeen. Lovely day, great views and my first trip on a @ScotRail 7 cities HST. What a great example of rolling stock refurbishment. The round table should be good too.

[RIA Scotland @railindustrySCO]

@railindustry (RIA) hosts its first Scottish round table dinner for members in Aberdeen tonight - thanks to @LiamKerrMSP for inspiring and helping organise and colleague @dlumsden for his support 👍