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Rail Articles

New trains for old? Rolling stock maintenance and replacement in the UK

6 April 2011 | By Jeremy Candfield, Director General, Railway Industry Association (RIA)

Governments, passengers and freight customers have rising expectations and aspirations for the rail system. There is a constant pressure to drive up availability and reliability, and to drive down costs, while assuring and improving safety. At the same time, users want improved service levels, with increasing demands for better information…

Luxembourg’s strong position…

15 February 2011 | By Claude Wiseler, Minister for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure, Luxembourg

Transportation by rail plays a critical role in the economic and social development and is instrumental in sustainable development policy making. It is also a key factor in environmental preservation and in the improvement of the quality of life of citizens. The governmental programme of 2009 foresees concrete measures in…

Infrabel’s client oriented strategy in a liberalised railway market

15 February 2011 | By Luc Vansteenkiste, Director General Rail Access, Infrabel

Infrabel, manager of the Belgian railway infrastructure, has developed a variety of products and services for railway operators and its industrial clients. This initiative fits into the strategy of a client-oriented account management that caters to all individual needs. In an interview with Global Railway Review, Luc Vansteenkiste, Director General…

14 trains per hour on a 2-track rail section? The Dutch prove that it ISpossible!

15 February 2011 | By Erik Sigger, NS and Peter van Waveren, ProRail

Imagine: six intercity trains, six regional trains and two freight trains per hour in the morning and evening peak hours. In September 2010, the Dutch rail industry carried out a unique test named ‘Each ten minutes a train (ETMET)’ on a mainly two-track route. In a special interview for Global…

CFL: the railway network in the centre of Europe

15 February 2011 | By Alex Kremer, CEO, CFL

Strategically placed in the centre of Europe, Luxembourg’s railway network attracts, through the combined efforts of CFL and its freight subsidiaries CFL cargo and CFL Multimodal, important quantities of both passenger and freight traffic. Concerning freight transport, Luxembourg was no stranger to the effects the financial crisis had on the…

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transport sector: A perspective from UNIFE

15 February 2011 | By Judit Sándor, Sustainability and Environment Manager, UNIFE and Max Obenaus, Head of Communications, UNIFE

The European transport sector is facing a serious challenge. While other European industry sectors have managed to reduce emissions in recent years – those of the transport sector are still growing. Today, transport accounts for almost a fifth of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (see Figure 1 opposite). It is…

CleanER-D puts diesel propulsion on the right track

15 February 2011 | By Enno Wiebe, Manager Research Programmes and Projects, UIC, and Judit Sándor, Sustainability and Environment Manager, UNIFE

The European railway network is the densest in the world and features the highest percentage of electrification – nearly 50%. Approximately 80% of total transport volume is hauled on the electrified part of the network. Nevertheless, diesel traction plays an important role in providing rail services and serves as the…

SBB’s commitment to ecological sustainability

15 February 2011 | By Birgit Elsener, Project Manager, SBB Rail Environmental Centre

SBB adopted a comprehensive sustainability strategy in 2010. Nine Group targets drawn from SBB’s corporate strategy in 2009 represent the economic, social and ecological aspects of sustainability. SBB’s aim is to create sustainable added value for its customers, the company, the environment and society. SBB has agreed clear objectives for…

Electrification to prompt surge in demand for cables

15 February 2011 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor

Cables have applications all across the railway industry. Increasing interest in electrification implies extra demand for cables. Electrified railways are the way forward for the future, as they are cleaner and cheaper to operate than diesel. Another key point is that they are able to draw their power from any…

Explaining the GSM-R project in Greece

15 February 2011 | By Costas D. Melissinos, Manager of Railway Telecom & IT Systems Operations & Maintenance, ERGOSE

The preparation, tendering and implementation phases of the GSM-R project in Greece are presented in a descriptive, but mainly explanatory type methodology. The objective was to introduce a new digital telecommunication network to replace the analog system along the main railway axis and provide the necessary interoperability for future roaming…

Polish State Railways: Achieving a successful first GSM-R link

15 February 2011 | By Kris Przelaskowski, Retired Senior Signalling Engineer

In the past, Poland (with its 23,000km railway network) badly needed a good operational radio communication system. The first simple analogue system started in 1972 connecting the harbours of Gdynia and Gdansk with Silesia. The radio-telephone network has provided good communication between dispatchers and running trains along the whole route…

Protecting our title as main passenger transport operator in Croatia

15 February 2011 | By Marijan Klarić, President of the Management Board, HŽ Putnički prijevoz d.o.o.

HŽ Putnički prijevoz d.o.o. is one of four associated companies in HŽ Holding and its main activity is passenger transport. The mission of HŽ Putnički prijevoz d.o.o. is providing high-quality, reliable, and economically and environmentally acceptable passenger transport services in urban-suburban, local-regional, international and domestic long-distance transport with modern rolling…

Bringing the benefits of rail to the wider economy

10 December 2010 | By Edward Welsh, Director of Corporate Affairs, Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC)

Passenger rail in Britain has boomed since privatisation as train companies have worked with the rest of the industry to improve services for passengers and attract ever greater numbers of people to the network. People have returned to the railways in numbers not seen since the Second World War, with…

Senior Industry Personnel: Thomas Bodenburg

10 December 2010 | By Thomas Bodenburg, Key Account Manager, Voith Turbo Scharfenberg GmbH & Co. KG

After having finished my secondary school certificate in 1991, my father asked me one evening if I would like to focus on a mechanical or an electrical apprenticeship. Because I had always preferred to have a hammer and a screwdriver in the hand than wire and pliers, I made my…

Innovation is important for Network Rail

10 December 2010 | By Steve Yianni, Director of Engineering, Network Rail and Global Railway Review Editorial Board Member

Over the last decade, the UK’s railways have been transformed. When we took over from Railtrack in 2002, we took over a railway that had lost the confidence of the nation. Ten years ago punctuality was running at 79% while the number of broken rails approached 1,000. Today, nearly 94%…