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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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Network safety – caring for the future

14 February 2006 | By Hans Vogt, Head of Safety and Susanne Stierli, Project Manager of Safety, SBB

Network safety is an issue for both railway undertakings and infrastructure managers, not only with regard to ensuring railway safety but also with regard to establishing a manage-ment system that will guarantee safety remains affordable.

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Innovative trainsets for cross-border traffic

14 February 2006 | By Dr. Dietrich G. Möller, Head of Trains Division, Siemens Transportation Systems

The German railway industry has long been considered a world leader with its innovative products. This also underscores the economic success in a generally difficult market. During the first half of 2005, the German rolling stock industry delivered more than half of its vehicles to foreign customers.

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Geogrids under dynamic loading

14 February 2006 | By Helmut Zanzinger, SKZ-TeConA GmbH, Würzburg, Germany

The bearing performance of railway embankments on soft ground can be improved by high strength geosynthetic reinforcement products. Under operating conditions, the reinforcement is submitted to static and dynamic forces. The geosynthetic reinforcement products are made out of polymer materials, which show visco-elastic behaviour. Their long term deformation and strength…

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Some developments on the UK Network

3 November 2005 | By Andrew McNaughton, Chief Engineer, Network Rail & Member of Global Railway Review Editorial Board

These are exciting times for the UK rail network and for its infrastructure manager, Network Rail and the next five years will lay the foundation for the next 50.

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Delivering track renewals

3 November 2005 | By Paul Wiseman, Head of Investment Efficiency, Network Rail

Network Rail faces a challenging set of targets in delivering its £2 billion per annum investment programme. These challenges are particularly daunting in respect of its track renewals programme, where it needs to drive 30% efficiency out of its cost base by the end of the current Regulatory control period…

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The railway of the third millennium

3 November 2005 | By Mauro Moretti, Managing Director, RFI (Rete Ferroviaria Italiana)

The Euro is not sufficient to unite Europe: an international railways system is needed to sweep away the borders between the different States by overcoming technological barriers and to compete with air, inland-water and road transport.

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Innovative solutions to old problems

3 November 2005 | By Willem van Ginkel, Track Expert, ProRail

Railways are of great social importance. In The Netherlands, a million passengers take the train each day and an increasing amount of freight traffic also goes by rail. Without a safe and reliable network with sufficient capacity, everything would grind to a halt. It is one of the tasks of…

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Development of railway security policies

3 November 2005 | By Jacques Colliard, Senior Security Advisor, UIC

After having long assumed responsibility for technical aspects linked to traffic safety and installations, railway undertakings have progressively been taking over management of the day-to-day security problems of persons and trains.

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An overall view of maintenance

23 August 2005 | By Vivianne Karlsson, Senior Advisor Maintenance & Strategic Planning, Banverket

The task of Banverket, the Swedish National Rail Administration, to safeguard the state-owned railway infrastructure is performed with the aid of significant maintenance so as to ensure its operations achieve the transport policy goals set out by Sweden’s Government. Maintenance is a link in securing a transport system for the…

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The start of a new century for Norwegian railways

23 August 2005 | By Steinar Killi, Director General, Norwegian National Rail Administration (Jernbaneverket)

Norwegian railway history is both long and eventful, as was evident in 2004 when we celebrated its 150th anniversary. Besides offering a chance for a nostalgic look back, the anniversary year also provided an excellent opportunity for looking forward. In actual fact, the year 2004 provided many causes for celebration.

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Machine pool

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…

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The journey of ballastless track

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…

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The ÖBB life cycle cost

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.

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A vital instrument in asset management

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…

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JIT: delivery is key

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…