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Rail Articles

Driving infrastructure value through collaboration

29 November 2012 | By Jeremy Candfield, Director General, Railway Industry Association (RIA); Steve Featherstone, Track Programme Director, Network Rail and David McLoughlin, Finance and Commercial Director, Infrastructure Projects, Network Rail

The railway industry in Britain continues to be characterised by substantial growth in ridership and in major investment programmes. Infrastructure investment in the mainline railway is undertaken predominantly by two main parties working together: the infrastructure manager, Network Rail, as clients, and its extensive supply chain. More than 170 supply…

The Grand Central experience – an operational and safety management perspective

29 November 2012 | By David Neil, Grand Central

Grand Central is an open-access passenger train operator, carrying passengers from London Kings Cross to York and the North East and to Doncaster and West Yorkshire. For Global Railway Review, David Neil, Head of Operations and Safety at Grand Central, explains how the open-access operator fits into the UK train…

New trains, new routes and new services – Eurostar’s vision for the future

27 November 2012 | By Nicolas Petrovic, Chief Executive Officer, Eurostar

Since Eurostar’s maiden voyage in 1994, we have carried over 130 million passengers across the Channel. Today, eight out of 10 passengers travelling between London and Paris and Brussels choose to do so by high-speed rail on a Eurostar service, with almost 10 million people travelling with us last year…

RFF: First lessons learned from its four PPPs

27 November 2012 | By Alain Quinet, Chief Operating Officer, Réseau Ferré de France (RFF)

Railway investment requires long-term funding. Sometimes the State will choose to take direct ownership or may even prefer to transfer all or part of the responsibility and risk to the private sector. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) can offer a highly flexible way of combining public and private funding. These highly flexible…

The FIF in the new French railway environment

27 November 2012 | By Jean-Pierre Audoux, Director General, the French Railway Industry Association (FIF)

My article in Global Railway Review Issue 6 2011 outlined the prospect of a French railway system reform. This subject is still at the forefront of discussions within the industry and so constitutes the main topic of this article. This agenda must be viewed against the backdrop of a very…

An interview with Jiří Kolář

27 November 2012 | By Craig Waters, Editor, Global Railway Review

Speaking exclusively with Global Railway Review, Jiří Kolář, Director General of the Czech Railway Infrastructure Administration (SŽDC) discusses the operational mission of the organisation, the importance of high-speed lines in the Czech Republic, competition with road transport, and what the future holds. Could you summarise the past and SŽDC’s mission?…

Rail wins gold

26 September 2012 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor, Global Railway Review

The railway industry comes in for more than its fair share of criticism. Complaints about punctuality, ticket prices and passenger service are common. Some of it is deserved, but a lot of it is not. Often, it seems our industry is judged by different criteria from others. For example, why…

Upgrading our current system is the fastest way to improve capacity

20 September 2012 | By Gunnar Malm, Director-General, Trafikverket

According to Trafikverket – the Swedish Transport Administration, one must not overestimate the possibilities of improving the Swedish transport system through expansion. Expansions alone will not solve the capacity deficiencies that were identified in a recent study. The greatest and fastest improvements can be found in our existing system, which…

‘Swedish National Team of Rail Competence’

20 September 2012 | By Lennart Klerdal, Chairman of the Board, SWERIG (the Swedish Rail Industry Group)

SWERIG, the Swedish Rail Industry Group, is often referred to as the ‘Swedish National Team of Rail Competence’. Acting on a fairly limited home market which is extremely open to competition, the Swedish rail industry has, over the years, searched for new business opportunities on the international rail market. For…

Injecting infrastructure investment

20 September 2012 | By Jan Olson, CEO, SJ AB

In the 1980s, air travel captured the market share from rail travel. This is no longer the case as since the 1990s, rail travel has gradually taken back the market share. Between 2000 and 2010, passenger kilometres in Sweden grew by more than 50%, with a particularly robust increase after…

Arlanda Express has the most satisfied customers in the Swedish travel sector

20 September 2012 | By Per Thorstenson, CEO, Arlanda Express

Arlanda Express noted major successes during 2011: trains upgraded with prizewinning interior décor, a robust financial result and a record number of passengers. The journey now continues with a stronger focus on service and passenger care, with all personnel undergoing training in the practical philosophy of hostmanship – the art…