List view / Grid view
Welcome to the Spring/Summer issue of 2025! As always, thank you to the expert voices across the rail industry who continue to contribute their insights and vision to Global Railway Review. Your work drives the conversations and innovations that are shaping the future of rail.
23 August 2005 | By Ueli Thalmann, Chief Designer, Swiss Federal Railways
The demands placed in Sweden on our vehicles of long-distance travel differ considerably from those in other countries. For instance, in our small yet densely populated country, dedicated high speed lines, with trains running at 300km/h or more, do not make sense.
23 August 2005 | By Max Binder, Project Manager, Sersa Group
For a company to survive in the hard-fought international railway technology market it must have access to modern, high-performance, reliable and economical machinery. However, high-performance machines are both very complex and expensive to purchase. The technical complexity determines the qualification and training needs of the operating and maintenance staff. The…
23 August 2005 | By Kjell Ekberg, Project Manager SIR-project and Tord Nilsson, Manager Telecommunications, Banverket
Despite difficulties and eight years after its start, Banverket is about to finalise the Swedish GSM-R project SIR. Problems solved have included appeals against building permits for radio sites, interaction problems between phones and the Swedish GSM-R network and difficulties achieving full system functionality according to the EIRENE specifications.
23 August 2005 | By Günther Leykauf, Professor and Director, Institute for Construction of Roads, Permanent Way and Airfields, Munich University of Technology
When the new high speed line Nüremberg-Ingolstadt is opened for service in 2006, more than 800km of ballastless track will be in operation in Germany. The different systems have undergone extensive laboratory and field tests before implementation on grade, bridges and in tunnels. Available measurement results indicate the expected favourable…
23 August 2005 | By Dr. Peter Veit, Professor, Institute for Railway Engineering and Transport Economy, University of Technology, Graz and Gregor Girsch, Technical Customer Services, Technology, voestalpine Schienen GmbH
In a joint project, Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), the Institute for Railway Engineering and Transport Economy of the University of Technology, Graz and voestalpine Schienen GmbH have developed a (LCC) life cycle cost-based evaluation model for track components – rail profiles and steel grades.
23 August 2005 | By Ignacio Barrón de Angoiti, Charge de Mission Grande Vitesse, UIC
The precedent Spanish government started an ambitious plan for the construction of new high speed lines and the upgrade of some existing ones. Now, the new government (which came into power midway through 2004), has decided to continue the project, albeit with some changes.
23 August 2005 | By Gerlof den Buurman, Advisor Management, ProRail Inframanagement, and Arjen Zoeteman, Researcher, ProRail Inframanagement and Delft University of Technology
In the last two years the roll-out of the innovative weigh-in-motion (WIM) system Quo Vadis has taken place on the Dutch rail network. This system, developed by ProRail, Baas R&D and NedTrain Consulting, has been installed in 38 locations, allowing the measurement of 80% of traffic movements and 96% of…
23 August 2005 | By Johannes Hirtenlechner, Project Engineer Bogies, Andreas Kienberger, Bogie Engineer and Johann Kothgasser, Bogie Engineer, Siemens Transportation Systems
Siemens Transportation Systems (STS), formerly Simmering Graz Pauker (SGP), has almost 150 years experience in the railway business. The product range covered the development and manufacture of locomotives, freight and passenger cars – mainly for the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). In the 1990’s SGP started the development of a high…
23 August 2005 | By Corus
The eyes of the railway world are on France as it builds the latest addition to its successful high speed network – the TGV Est line that will link Paris with eastern France and beyond. The €3 billion first phase of the programme, which commenced in spring 2002, is placing…
31 May 2005 | By Hansjörg Hess, Head of Infrastructure and Member of Management Board, SBB
SBB Infrastructure has started an extensive programme to improve the availability and reliability of its network in order to guarantee the service level after the substantial expansion of the train schedule.
31 May 2005 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor
Switzerland and Austria are investing heavily in new locomotives for trans-Alpine freight work, along with regional trains for local passenger networks.
31 May 2005 | By Martin Huber, Chief Executive Officer, Austrian Railways-Holding AG
Austrian Federal Railways (Österreichische Bundesbahnen – ÖBB) has embarked to gradually complete Austria’s rail infrastructure, based on the requirements specified for the 2020 target network to enable it to cope with current and future transport demand. Capacity, cost efficiency and maximum customer benefit are the main drivers of all initiatives…
31 May 2005 | By Hans Paukert, Charge de Mission, UIC (International Union of Railways)
During their historical development, the railways in Europe have adopted their own technical standards and operating rules according to national requirements. As a result, the European railways use different train control systems (INDUSI, KVB, LZB, TVM, ATB etc.) and have different warning distances (400m to 6,000m). This situation constitutes a…
31 May 2005 | By Ernst Schraud, Head of International Transportation and Railway Services Department, DE-Consult GmbH
The DE-Consult (Deutsche Eisenbahn-Consulting GmbH) a subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railways) with its vast worldwide experience, has for more than one and a half decades supported the development of railway sectors in Middle and Eastern European countries.
31 May 2005 | By Evert Andersson, Professor and Per-Anders Jönsson, Researcher, KTH Railway Technology
European freight wagon designers have for a long time been guided by the principle that wagons must be capable of being used on all standard-gauge railway networks in Europe. For more than 50 years the International Union of Railways (UIC) has standardised many freight wagon components – in particular their…
