Rail Professional 

About: Rail Professional is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Track (rail transport) & Train. It has an ISSN identifier of 1476-2196. Over the lifetime, 37 publications have been published receiving 85 citations.

Jumping the Queue

Abstract: Online ticket sales and pre-paid ticket collection were causing significant backups at ticket machines at Southern railroad stations. This article discusses the new technology that has been introduced to reduce this congestion. After identifying purchasing trends and trends in passenger behavior, Southern and its ticket vendor machine (TVM) provider designed a unique ticket machine that is reducing transaction times, increasing ticket-on-departure (TOD) collections and enhancing the passenger experience. In the last year, more than 2 million tickets were purchased through Southern’s website, and 85.4% of these were picked up by customers using the TOD system at Southern stations. TVMs are expensive multifunction machines that take up a large amount of space. Since many of the queues come from people simply wishing to collect, not purchase tickets, what was needed were machines that met the increased demand for ticket collection. A new, smaller low-cost ticket machine was designed that specifically facilitated the collection of pre-paid tickets. Southern’s advanced new machines have dramatically reduced the length of time it takes to complete a transaction. The new pre-pay ticket machine design has a ticket escrow device that holds the tickets and delivers them to the customer all at the same time. This eliminates the common problem of a customer leaving before all of their tickets have been printed. The machine also holds more ticket stock, so that it can operate longer without human intervention. The first two TOD-only machines were installed in October 2010 and are already handling 80% of the total TOD transactions made at the station.

The Future of Freight

Abstract: This article discusses some of the factors that are limiting rail as a means of freight transportation. The current model in which freight rail operators are interested only in moving large volumes of bulk commodities over long distances is limiting rail's ability to penetrate growing markets and will constrain rail's competitive ability. There is a need for a massive change in terms of train technology, asset management and the integration of the train planning process. Smaller, faster and more flexible train formations offer significant potential advantages over big heavy trains. It is suggested that a different approach to the management of infrastructure could better accommodate very short term traffic. To meet the demands of a changing market, the rail sector must step outside its long time span position of product development and service life of its mobile assets.

Connecting with Customers

Abstract: This article provides a brief overview of the current state of the UK freight rail industry and discusses how freight operators can capture a large share of the market by changing their business model. The authors argues that rail freight operators should move away from thinking of themselves as a purely operational companies but, instead, consider themselves as customer-centric entities. Rather than focusing primarily on how to move goods once they arrive, railroads should plan for what goods they wish to move. In the European Union’s deregulation proposals in the late 1990s, rail operators were given fair, equal and non-discriminatory access across all EU railways. To truly enable this concept, rail operators must invest in EU-wide sales and marketing with integrated systems that provide pan-EU quotes, pricing, invoicing and tracking capabilities. To move to a commercial focus, rail freight operators should be monitoring demand, anticipating requirements of their key customers and feeding that information into all their planning activities.

Erring on the Side of Caution

Abstract: This article provides a brief overview of how past railroad accidents have brought about a culture that ensures failed equipment will not compromise safety. This concept is known as fail safe. New equipment and new methods bring about new risks, requiring that steps be taken to ensure they incorporate fail-safe systems.

A Return to the Bad Old Days

Abstract: Friction is growing between private sector train operators and rail unions in the United Kingdom This article describes some recent labor disputes and strikes in the country and the reasons behind this unrest Some analysts believe that the transfer of powers from the Strategic Rail Authority to the Department for Transport has encouraged a surge in union militancy Union members may also now be operating in an environment that is more likely to approve strike action than in the past