Review 2008: Top 10 transport stories
From the disastrous opening of Terminal Five to the debate around smartcards for ticketing, we look back at the top stories from a sector that is increasingly reliant on IT
The opening of Heathrow's Terminal Five was under the spotlight due to IT problems
The transport sector is being rapidly changed by technology, from the tickets we buy to the services we use. We look back at the 10 biggest IT stories from the transport industry in 2008.
The Concessionary Bus Travel Act came into force on 1 April, giving senior and disabled citizens free off-peak travel by bus anywhere in England building on current free passes available for local services. But the majority of passengers outside London will not be able to use the advanced functions.
Staff at T5 equipped to use new IT system
In setting up the most technologically advanced airport terminal in the world, the main objective of British Airways (BA) and operator BAA was to ensure that staff were ready to use the IT innovations. But...
Terminal Five plagued by technical problems
The opening of Heathrow’s Terminal Five was plagued by a faulty infrastructure which caused major problems in various areas including baggage distribution and staff work allocation.
Air traffic gets out of control
The implementation of IT infrastructure underpinning the European Commission’s Single European Sky scheme could be hampered because of system integration issues.
Network Rail’s IT department is facing growing pressure to keep down costs as The Office of Rail Regulation confirmed that the company will be given an overall budget of £28.5bn in 2009, £2.6bn less than it asked for - we talked to Network Rail's IT chief about the challanges.
The rollout of Virgin Trains’ onboard Wi-Fi internet access suffered operational issues and the service was still undergoing trials a year after it was due to go live.
The budget airline is carrying out an IT-driven strategic shift in its aircraft management, back-office and customer-facing operations to cut fuel costs and grow revenue.
The transport sector is facing a bill of more than £1bn to set up systems supporting industry-standard smartcards mandated by the Department for Transport .
IT overhaul is just the ticket for TheTrainline
Online ticket provider TheTrainline is implementing service-oriented architecture and virtualisation as part of an overhaul of its core IT system designed to provide extra customer-facing functionality and improve corporate services.
Mixed reaction to decision by TfL to end Oyster contract
Transport for London ended its contract with the TranSys consortium – which comprises EDS, Cubic, Fujitsu and WS Atkins – to generate cost savings, which allegedly will be channelled into improvement work on London’s transport network.
Eurostar pins hopes on IT revamp
Eurostar’s big challenge is to use technology to maintain market leadership as EU regulations will allow any train operator to use the tracks on which Eurostar runs the first high-speed service connecting the UK and mainland Europe.