List view / Grid view
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…
31 May 2005 | By Jürgen Siegmann, Head of Track and Railway Operations, University of Berlin
Since 1997, the Department of Track and Railway Operations of the Technical University of Berlin has been led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Jürgen Siegmann, a distinguished expert in the field of railway operations who is frequently asked for his expertise by the industry. His department currently employs 13 assistants who…
31 May 2005 | By Sascha Lay, Material Technologist, Pfleiderer track systems
This article will cover the effects of lateral separation cracks in the concrete track slab on the durability of the RHEDA 2000® ballastless track system. The RHEDA 2000® ballastless track system consists of a jointless concrete track slab with bi-block lattice-truss concrete sleepers, on a hydraulically bonded layer (HBL), as shown in…
31 May 2005 | By Jesper Rasmussen, Chief Executive Officer, Rail Net Denmark (Banedanmark)
The challenges are plain for Danish rail infrastructure manager, Rail Net Denmark. A somewhat outdated rail and signal infrastructure are ripe for thorough renewals. The task is put in the hands of an organisation in the process of change, moving from being household of the state to a more independent…
2 March 2005 | By Jürgen Dornbach, Chairman of the Board of Management, DB RegioNetz Verkehrs- und Infrastruktur GmbH
It is barely 10 years since local passenger transport in Germany was frequently likened to an ‘ugly duckling’, not only by the general public, but also by the company itself. The image of local passenger services was summed up with attributes such as ‘too expensive, too inflexible, not particularly comfortable…
2 March 2005 | By Eckart Fricke, Director Production II, Railion Deutschland AG and Wolfgang Feldwisch, Head of Large-Scale Projects, DB Netz AG
The Nürnberg-München line via Ingolstadt was entered in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan in 1985. The regional planning procedure got underway in July 1989 and in May 1992 the statutory public enquiry for the new-build project was initiated by what was then still Deutsche Bundesbahn. As from 1994, DB Netz…
2 March 2005 | By Dirk Schulmeyer, Station Manager, DB Station & Service AG
High standards are demanded of a railway station as every journey by train starts and ends here. Stations not only link railway lines with each other, but also link railway lines with other transport modes such as bus, tram, car, bicycle and aeroplane. Travellers and visitors to larger stations in…
2 March 2005 | By Klaus Kremper, CEO, Railion Deutschland AG and Member of the Executive Board, Stinnes AG
Observers in the logistics business, as well as in the media, have broadly interpreted the recent Railion strategy as an example of single-dimension expansion motivation. Such critics, however, have failed to perceive that the primary intention of Railion in this context is to develop international rail cargo transport throughout the…
2 March 2005 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor
As the flotation of DB is debated, spending has been cut back at Germany’s state rail operator. Germany, the biggest market for rolling stock manufacturers in Europe, is drawing a breath. After massive investment in the past 15 years in the high speed network and big spending on the train…
2 March 2005 | By Patrick Buck, Director of Realisation, Project Organisation Betuweroute
In part 1 of his article on the Betuweroute project, Patrick Buck looks at the background and characteristics of the route.
2 March 2005 | By Alex Kremer, Director General, CFL
In every recent statistic about wealth and world markets, Luxembourg can be found in the top slot of GDP per capita listings, making Luxembourgers, at least in theory, somewhat wealthy people. As can be expected from this statistic, individual transportation is at an all-time high. This, in combination with Luxembourg’s…
2 March 2005 | By Nicola Shaw, Managing Director, Operations, Strategic Rail Authority (SRA)
The UK has a mature rail franchising market and one which is currently attracting substantial interest from international operators. Why is this? The franchising process is well structured, clear and transparent; demand for rail services is increasing; the European market is beginning to open up and the UK provides a…
2 March 2005 | By Janis Vitins, Director Marketing and Product Planning Electric Locomotives, Bombardier Transportation
In December 2004, SBB Cargo received the first of 18 TRAXX multi-system locomotives Re 484 (Figure 1). This marks a new era for the TRAXX locomotive platform, extending its range into Italy.
2 March 2005 | By Helen Stelfox, Technical and Safety Training Manager, Great North Eastern Railway (GNER)
A RADICAL overhaul of driver training – that was East Coast intercity rail operator GNER’s response to industry-wide concerns raised by the Cullen inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove rail accident, plus the company’s ongoing challenge to attract new train drivers to join the business.
2 March 2005 | By Jan Fahlén, Director and Tommy Jonsson, Operational Manager, Banverket Traffic
There have been numerous projects over the years that have aimed at improving the punctuality of trains. Different levels of ambition have met with varying degrees of success. It can be concluded that the various campaigns and projects have frequently had a directly positive effect on punctuality.
