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Rail Articles

Talent 2: the future of regional train design

29 January 2008 | By Oliver Schmidt, Vice President of Sales North Region, Bombardier Transportation Mainline and Metro Division

In November 2007, at a spectacular ‘virtual launch’ event in Hennigsdorf, Germany, Bombardier presented its new Talent 2 to its customer, DB Regio. Attended by senior representatives from the industry and the region, the event heralded the inaugural call off of 42 Talent 2 regional trains from 321 ordered as…

Working towards the railway of 2030

27 November 2007 | By Professor Andrew McNaughton – FREng, CEng, FICE, FPWI, MIOD, Chief Engineer, Network Rail and Global Railway Review Editorial Board Member

Compare our European railway network today with that of 25 years ago. Safety and punctuality have continued to improve, however, traffic growth has been patchy and costs have risen enormously. Meanwhile there have been revolutionary changes in the communications and transport environment. Mobile phones, internet and e-mail didn’t exist 25…

Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link: from conception to construction

26 November 2007 | By Ron McAulay, Network Rail Director, Scotland

Scotland’s rail network is currently enjoying an unprecedented level of funding for enhancement projects across the country. However, one project in particular has the potential to transform lives throughout the Central Belt. The Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link project, funded by Transport Scotland and delivered by Network Rail, is the most ambitious…

Reducing CO2 emissions through new rail freight choices

26 November 2007 | By Graham Smith, Planning Director, EWS

Lowering CO2 emissions is central to all businesses these days. Within the rail freight industry, every day we are being asked to provide business with a way to reduce emissions generated by their transport choices. With rail freight emitting five times less CO2 per tonne kilometre moved than road haulage,…

Branching out to stay competitive

26 November 2007 | By Tim Shakerley, Engineering Director, Freightliner Group

In 1999, Freightliner Group identified a significant opportunity for the company to enter the bulk freight market, and established Freightliner Heavy Haul Ltd (FHH). In an interview for the Global Railway Review, Tim Shakerley explains how starting from scratch, the company has quickly grown in the bulk rail business, branching…

United Kingdom joins the high-speed club

26 November 2007 | By Dave Pointon, Managing Director, Union Railways (North) Ltd

High Speed 1 (HS1), the UK’s first high speed railway, opened for business on 14 November 2007. Dave Pointon, Managing Director of project client Union Railways, looks back at key aspects of the 14-year planning and construction effort.

High Speed 1: A new benchmark in project management

26 November 2007 | By

Britain is finally getting its first new successful railway line in over a century. Nine years after construction began, High Speed 1 (HS1) is ready to commence commercial services from St Pancras International, the glorious new home of British high-speed rail travel.

Significant developments of GSM-R in France

26 November 2007 | By Rémi Bévot, SNCF Engineering, GSM-R Project Director and Alexandre Saide, SNCF Engineering, GSM-R Project Manager

Many railway operators decided to implement ground-to-train radios on their networks during the fourth quarter of the 20th century, which, for most of them, was to use variants of UIC specific analogue technology. In order to anticipate the upcoming obsolescence of this existing radio and having in mind the objective…

Construction of the new Lower Inn Valley Railway

26 November 2007 | By Johann Herdina, General Manager, Brenner Eisenbahn GmbH

The construction of the new Lower Inn Valley Railway is one of Austria’s largest infrastructure projects. By 2012, the first section of the Northern feeder line to the Brenner base tunnel will be constructed on a length of ca. 40 kilometres.

A joint agreement to improve the French railway network

26 November 2007 | By Jean Prevot, Joint Commitment Programme Manager, RFF

On 25 May 2007, Anne-Marie Idrac, the president of the SNCF Group and Hubert du Mesnil, the President of Réseau Ferré de France, signed a new infrastructure management agreement to cover the financial years from 2007 to 2010 inclusive, for maintenance and upgrading of the French national railway network.

Performance of Poland’s operational programme

26 November 2007 | By Krzysztof Celinski, President of the Management Board, PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A.

This article comprehensively describes a modernisation plan for the Polish rail network to be fulfilled during 2007-2013 and subsequent years. This great investment plan is lead by PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. (PKP Polish Railway Lines Company). The plan is an extensive one and there is still enough time and…

Bedding optimisation in turnouts

26 November 2007 | By Harald Loy, System Engineer, Getzner Werkstoffe GmbH

Geometrical discontinuities along turnouts can lead to strong localised variations of superstructure loads. By using Under Sleeper Pads (USP) with varying stiffness, the bedding conditions can be optimised and as a result the turnout area can be smoothed out. Modern railway tracks need to be able to bear the loads…

Improvement of Alstom’s high-speed bogies

26 November 2007 | By Jean-Daniel Nast, Technical Director of Bogies, Alstom Transport

Alstom’s high-speed bogies are the result of a joint collaboration with SNCF which started some 30 years ago in the frame of the TGV development...

NSB’s success story

26 November 2007 | By Goran Mandic, Chief Engineer ATC/ERTMS and GSM-R, Passenger Traffic, NSB

NSB enters the fourth quarter of 2007 with historical results. The Norwegian media is reporting an approximate revenue increase of 10% for the first half of 2007 and an equivalent increase in passenger traffic. If this trend continues, the total number of passengers for this year is estimated to reach…

ITA COSUF – scope, activities & structure

26 November 2007 | By Dipl.-Ing. Felix Amberg, President of COSUF and Chairman of Amberg Engineering Ltd/Hagerbach Test Gallery Ltd and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alfred Haack, Past-Chairman, STUVA e.V.,

COSUF – the ITA-Committee on Operational Safety of Underground Facilities, was set-up in May 2005 at the ITA World Tunnel Congress in Istanbul, Turkey. This important step followed a joint initiative of eight European research projects which all aimed at improved tunnel safety after the disastrous fire accidents in various…