Thought Leadership

Here we share our news, views and expertise on the rail industry.
Finding the future of rail
The Government’s consultation document A railway fit for Britain’s future, sets out a backbone for what will become the new Railways Bill.
Is Sectorisation the answer?
With The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill presented in Parliament on Thursday 18th July as the first step towards the renationalisation of passenger operations ...
Rolling stock should be central to the emerging open access rail market
Why rolling stock is a key component in building a successful open access operation.
The IPEX Depot capacity modelling tool
Imagine having the capability to fully understand and validate the capacity of a depot before introducing a fleet or making the changes to the timetable. ...
Can we reintroduce quiet and comfortable?
As the railways of Great Britain continue to change to entice passengers back to rail after Covid-19, is it time to consider changing interior layouts ...
Who sits in the middle seat?
The change in working practices, which has brought about the change in travelling habits, of the people of Britain during and following Covid-19, has provided ...
Express parcels – can we remove the blockers?
It was great to see Varamis Rail launch their express parcels service from Birmingham to Scotland in January, after successful trials in late 2022, utilising ...
Yes, no, when, where – the tram-train conundrum
In this three-part series, we discuss some of the key factors that steer decision making for tram-train schemes. Part one considers when to use tram-train ...
Fleet replacement in the Williams-Shapps era
This thought leadership paper sets out IPEX’s ideas for how the creation of Great British Railways could enable a new model for the development of ...