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Rail Articles

High requirements for safe and reliable track systems

29 December 2006 | By Günther Leykauf, Director, Institute for Road, Railway and Airfield Construction, Munich University of Technology

The wheel/rail system is on the right way to ensure mobility for the future. To compete with road traffic, reliable track systems are necessary which require not only renewal of worn and fatigue stressed track components but also the introduction of optimized and newly developed system innovations as well as…

Essential work to secure a long-term future

29 December 2006 | By Jeremy Candfield, President of the European Federation of Railway Trackwork Contractors

The Federation’s membership consists of national associations or, where they do not exist, national coordinators, representing the majority of specialist trackwork contractors in countries that are members of the European Union (EU) or the European Free Trade Area (EFTA). National federations and coordinators from other countries may be admitted as…

Professional services for 21st century railways

29 December 2006 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor, Global Railway Review

All large corporate organisations, such as railways, have the need for professional services. Lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers – all these and more are likely to be needed at some time or another, especially if large projects are being planned.

Harmonising the future of railway operations

29 December 2006 | By Dr. Peter Winter, Project Director GSM-R/ERTMS, UIC

Signalling, train control and communication installations are all important assets for modern railways and they contribute significantly to performance and quality of passenger and freight train services. Over the last few decades they have been the subject of deep conceptual and technological changes.

Track maintenance and machinery inspection

28 November 2006 | By Andrew McNaughton, Chief Engineer, Network Rail and Global Railway Review Editorial Board Member and Bob Cummings, Head of Track Engineering, Network Rail

The strategy for the maintenance and renewal of track on the Great British network has been transformed over recent years. There is now a well embedded pro-active engineering culture of ‘predict and prevent’, rather than a reactive one of ‘find and fix’.

Success of unavoidable maintenance

28 November 2006 | By Neil Jones, Territory Structures Engineer, Network Rail

A £14 million scheme to replace and refurbish the Leven viaduct in South Cumbria was successfully completed by Network Rail on time and within budget in July 2006. The 16 week project is the largest civil engineering bridge scheme in a five-year programme of work in the London North Western…

Endless growth opportunities for freight

28 November 2006 | By Graham Smith, Planning Director, EWS

Rail freight’s prospects in Britain are very positive. We are already forecasting a growth of 50% by 2014 on top of the 70% growth achieved since the mid 90s but the increasing importance of a sustainable transport system point to even bigger opportunities. The environmental benefits of rail have always…

Committed to delivering a promise

28 November 2006 | By Mark Anderson, Senior Operations Manager of Freightliner Heavy Haul

Having won their inaugural contract hauling Infrastructure trains for Railtrack, Freightliner Heavy Haul have been servicing the UK railway network for over seven years. In an interview for Global Railway Review, Mark Anderson, Senior Operations Manager of Freightliner Heavy Haul, explains the company’s commitment to delivery, their “reliability as standard”…

The national rail network regeneration plan

28 November 2006 | By Hervé de Tréglodé, Assistant Director General, French Rail Infrastructure System (RFF)

During a visit on 22 May 2006 to the largest RFF track regeneration project near Orleans, Dominique Perben, Minister of Transport, Public Works, Tourism and Maritime Affairs unveiled the French rail network regeneration plan for the 2007-2010 period.

Innovations in turnout technology

28 November 2006 | By Philippe Mugg, Technical Director, Vossloh Cogifer SA / Vossloh Switch Systems

At InnoTrans 2006 in Berlin, Vossloh Cogifer SA, a subsidiary of the Vossloh Group, pre-sented not one, but two innovations in turnout technology primarily for high-speed turnouts. These are, on the one hand, a totally new turnout system for slab tracks, and, on the other, a turnout drive system with…

The need for speed

28 November 2006 | By Giovanni Costa, Responsible for the High-Speed/High-Capacity Net Project of the Financial Division of RFI

The Italian transport system is strongly unbalanced in favour of the road and motorway network. Giovanni Costa, Responsible for the High-Speed/High-Capacity Net Project of the Financial Division of RFI, explained to the Global Railway Review that the constant growing demand for the movement of persons and freight is fulfilled increasingly…

ERTMS implementation in Greece

28 November 2006 | By Ioannis G. Protopapas, Head of Railway Systems Department, ERGOSE S.A.

Though the Greek Railway Network is located far off Central Europe, ERGOSE S.A.1 is speeding up the efforts to comply with the interoperability requirements set by the European Community to facilitate unhindered, at least by technical barriers, cross-border operations at a European level and to introduce the technological evolutions of…

Assessment of high-speed slab track design

28 November 2006 | By Coenraad Esveld, Professor of Railway Engineering and Global Railway Review Editorial Board Member and Valéri Markine, Assistant Professor, Delft University of Technology

Currently, all over the world, non-ballasted track concepts are being applied, although still at a moderate volume. If the low maintenance characteristics of slab track on open line are to be retained, great care must be taken to ensure that the subgrade layers are homogenous and capable of bearing the…

A breath of fresh air

28 November 2006 | By Klaus Lettow, Project Manager, DB Fahrzeuginstandhaltung GmbH

A basic and indispensable pre-requisite for a well-functioning integrated rail system with over 37,000 trains a day running to tight schedules is having a high-tech, innovative rolling stock maintenance system. Thus a position of real importance falls to DB Fahrzeuginstandhaltung GmbH, which is assigned to the services division of Deutsche…

Botniabanan – a Swedish pioneer project

15 September 2006 | By Lennart Westberg, CEO and Project Manager, Botniabanan AB

The goal of the Bothnia line in northern Sweden is to create a railway of national importance and which will be an integrated part of the European railway network. After seven years of construction, the project has reached the halfway point and could one day form the first phase of…