Top 10 Horizon articles of 2024

Covering rail’s trending topics, here are our must-read articles from the past year.

Our must-read articles of the year

As 2024 comes to a close, we’re thrilled to present 10 of our must-read Horizon articles of the year, listed below in reverse order. If you enjoy these gems, we strongly encourage you to check out this year’s editions and sign up to receive Horizon straight to your inbox.

10. What systems thinking really means
Graham Mollison, Head of Sustainability at Southeastern, is a self-proclaimed ‘big fan’ of systems thinking. In this interview, he explains why this approach to problem solving is important for sustainability in rail.

9. Human factors: shaping the railway around our people
RSSB provides expertise to rail companies at home and overseas. While geographies and practices differ, they all have something in common: they’ve a keen interest in our human factors work. It was only right, then, that we get our Head of Human Factors to pen this piece.

8. Learning from the nuclear industry
Industries learn a lot from rail, and there’s much we learn from others. The nuclear industry is a case in point. John Clarke joined RSSB’s Board earlier this year. With 35 years’ experience in the nuclear industry, he’s got a wealth of knowledge to share with rail. This article is just a start.

4. Two game-changing standards updates that will save industry almost £4m
June’s update to the Standards Catalogue published changes from six projects. Two of those are expected to save industry almost £4m. The first, which revises the standard for driving cabs, will benefit industry by roughly £800k. The second, which looks at permissible track forces and derailment risk, is expected to save £3m.

5. Revenue protection: GTR’s crackdown on fare evasion
Govia Thameslink Railway’s Head of On Board and Rail Enforcement, Andy Leister, opens up about the strategies the operator is using to protect revenue, emphasising the positive impact on passenger experience and profitability. He leaves no stone unturned.

6. Future-proofing freight
Earlier this year, Andrea Rossi, CEO of DB Cargo UK, was brimming with optimism for freight growth, digital transformation, and the intersection between them. He said: ‘Technology plays a fundamental role in making our industry fit for the future… Digitalising processes will also be crucial in supporting the growth of our industry, as we’ll get enhanced transparency and more visibility of our business data.’

7. RWA: streamlined support, holistic approach
The cross-industry risk groups that report to the Rail Wellbeing Alliance (RWA) were restructured this year—a move that saw seven groups consolidated into three. RSSB, RWA, and group chairs felt time, effort, and resource could be managed more effectively this way, says our Principal Health and Wellbeing Specialist.

2. Tackling the train overspeeding challenge
Train overspeeding is a critical safety concern that can have severe consequences. Mark Phillips, RSSB’s Chief Executive, chats with two colleagues to understand the causes and risks and explore the proactive steps industry can take to prevent accidents and protect lives.

1. Implementation matters: helping you benefit from our valuable research
In 2023/24 alone, the RSSB research team delivered 15 significant research outputs. About half of these are already in use by industry. This article highlights some recent success stories, including a toolkit that helps operators improve their contingency arrangements for disruption. It was tested and improved by three operators before being taken on by Network Rail’s 21^st Century Operations team, who rolled it out across all operators.

3. Promising stats in this year’s AHSR
In many areas, the statistics in the 2023/24 Annual Health and Safety Report look good. There were no passenger or workforce fatalities in train accidents, and there were no workforce fatalities elsewhere on the network. But every fatality is a tragedy, and there were 14 accidental fatalities last year.