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Railways face continued growth in passenger ridership numbers and increased demand for rail freight operations. To cope, rail systems must adapt to their changing environment and provide networks that are both safe and secure.
29 January 2008 | By Christian Aubry, Project Manager, Freight Wagon Engineering, SBB Cargo AG
The possibility of catastrophe always has to be borne in mind in the case of a train carrying hazardous cargo. The risk can be substantially reduced with the use of derailment detectors, which are designed to immediately apply the brakes if a fault is detected.
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…
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.
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…
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…
26 November 2007 | By Dr. Konstantin von Diest, Head of Development, Stahlberg Roensch
A railway track represents a large investment that is not only meant to enable safe, fast and comfortable passenger and freight traffic, but is also expected to be permanently available. The track should allow decades of intense utilisation with no major interruptions. Track possessions for maintenance work or premature failure…
26 November 2007 | By Jens Kleeberg, General Manager for Track Design, RAIL.ONE International GmbH
The international increase in transportation volume throughout the world over recent years has led to a revival in railway traffic. This has in turn resulted in an appreciable number of technical innovations and an enhancement in railway technology in the areas of rolling stock, train control and track engineering.
26 September 2007 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor, Global Railway Review
Completion of the first high-speed line in Spain 15 years ago gave Renfe a new confidence and investment in the network is continuing at a sustained pace. Spain has one of the fastest–growing railway networks in Europe. Renfe (Spanish National Railways) gained a new confidence with the opening of the…
26 September 2007 | By Steffen Knape, Director, Eurailscout
Corrugation on rails causes severe damage to the railway infrastructure. Corrugation causes noise, additional stress in the rails and high frequency vibration which damages the subsoil; squats can also occur if rail head corrugation is not controlled.
26 September 2007 | By Ton Bontekoe, Product Manager – Gotcha, Lloyds Register Rail
Achieving high levels of rail system reliability in all the phases of the life cycle at an optimal cost requires sound information, robust risk based analysis, proper implementation of asset management activities and on-going critical review.
30 July 2007 | By Federico Fabretti, Director of Media Relations, Ferrovie dello Stato S.p.A
Ferrovie dello Stato’s business plan for 2007-2011 was approved by the Government on 4 May 2007. It is a development plan, a turning point and a real revolution from a quality point of view, with the aim of re-launching the Group on the domestic and European market and turning it…
30 July 2007 | By Arjen Zoeteman, Team Leader of Asset Maintenance Policies, ProRail
ProRail manages an installed base which has an estimated replacement value of more than €30 billion. Tracks and turnouts are a significant part of the pie, amounting to more than €8 billion. Moreover, they consume more than 50% of total maintenance costs and 75% of renewal costs due to their…
30 July 2007 | By Markus J. Kuhn, Head of Marketing & Communications, DB Training
Initial and advanced training, together with lifelong learning, are steadily growing as being the most important attribute in today’s society. Employees’ social or management skills are, alongside their vocational qualifications, more crucial than ever to a company’s success or failure.
30 July 2007 | By Douglas Oakervee, Executive Chairman of Cross London Rail Links Limited
Cross London Rail Links’ proposals for a major new railway for London and the south of the UK, with benefits for the whole of the country, continue to move steadily through the parliamentary process towards construction. Proposed in 1999 as part of a central London rail study (following a prior…
30 July 2007 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor
Recent research has underlined the importance of maintaining rails with regular grinding. The behaviour of the railhead under load used to be an imperfectly understood subject. Research work has broadened the rail industry’s knowledge; now, the question of how rail deteriorates over time and the way in which grinding can…
