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Safety & Security

 

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.

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Corrugation and dip angle measurements performed by Eurailscout

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.

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Beneficial monitoring: not whether, but when?

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.

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Substantial plans to ensure Italy’s development

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…

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ProRail’s management of tracks and turnouts

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…

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Corporate success

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.

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An exciting proposal for London’s regeneration

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…

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Regular grinding is the key to long rail life

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…

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Safely connecting Europe’s railways

30 July 2007 | By Poul Frøsig, UIC Project Manager, ERTMS/ETCS and ERTMS Regional Projects and Craig Waters, Commissioning Editor, Global Railway Review

The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a signalling and control system designed to replace the 14 incompatible safety systems currently used by European Railways, especially on high-speed lines. This year, the UIC is holding its ERTMS World Conference in Berne, Switzerland. Switzerland offers a prime example of how ERTMS…

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Norway’s fastest growing region invests in rail

6 June 2007 | By Jon Frøisland, Executive Director of Infrastructure, Jernbaneverket

Stavanger, on the west coast of Norway, is the country’s oil capital. The city and the surrounding Jæren region have consistently enjoyed the fastest population growth in Norway since the oil boom started in the early 1970s. The Jæren line from Egersund to Stavanger is a continuation of the Sørland…

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Helsinki-Vantaa Airport to receive railway link

6 June 2007 | By Harri Yli-Villamo, Head of Project Planning Unit, RHK

The planning of Finland's first airport line is well under way and construction is scheduled to begin in 2008 on the outskirts of Helsinki. A working group has recommended that the line will be constructed with normal state budget funds. The project is expected to cost approximately €420 million (at…

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Railroad simulation using OpenTrack

6 June 2007 | By Daniel Huerlimann, CEO, OpenTrack Railway Technology Ltd and Andrew Nash, Researcher, ETH IVT

OpenTrack is a user-friendly railroad network simulation program. It is a microscopic model that simulates rail system operations based on user defined train, infrastructure and timetable databases. OpenTrack can be used to evaluate and test infrastructure plans and operating schedules in order to optimise network and timetable design. It can…

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ETCS Level 2: success for the Swiss Federal Railways

6 June 2007 | By Arnold Trümpi, Head of Business Unit ETCS, SBB

Since March 18 2007, the European Train Control System (ETCS) has been in full operation on Switzerland’s backbone of the railway network. The newly built Mattstetten – Rothrist line between Bern and Zurich is the core of the Rail 2000 concept. The new 42km section is used by 242 passenger…

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Consultancies thrive in 21st century railway world

6 June 2007 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor

Consultancy firms are currently working on a diverse range of projects in the railway industry. This November, the final section of High Speed One will open. This is the UK’s first high-speed rail line, formerly known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. With the completion of the route, Eurostar trains…

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More than just a product

6 June 2007 | By Andreas Michnik, Senior Expert, Heitkamp Rail

The fact that the slab track is more than just a product becomes apparent if the subject matter is approached from the perspective of the internationally active track construction company Heitkamp Rail, a subsidiary of the Dutch Heijmans group of companies.

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Successful première of the RPM-RS-900

6 June 2007 | By Dipl.-Ing. Ingo Wiermann, Engineering Director, SPITZKE AG

On 15 April 2007, the RPM-RS-900 from the SPTIZKE Group celebrated its construction première in Germany. For the first time, the machine works to improve the formation, cleaning and recycling of ballast – all in a single machine complex. Renewing the substructure of tracks is now performed by 200 metres…