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Rolling stock sale complete
23 May 2011 | By METRO
Metro has welcomed the successful sale of rolling stock to the rail leasing company Porterbrook, which will release funding for local transport development schemes...
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Sustainability
When it comes to environmentally-friendly travel, rail wins by far. Trains contribute to far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than other forms of transportation. But the rail industry is still under pressure to reduce its carbon footprint further to meet governmental mobility climate change targets.
How are rail organisations working to be more sustainable and what projects and developments are in the spotlight helping the industry meet targets?
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Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transport sector: A perspective from UNIFE
15 February 2011 | By Judit Sándor, Sustainability and Environment Manager, UNIFE and Max Obenaus, Head of Communications, UNIFE
The European transport sector is facing a serious challenge. While other European industry sectors have managed to reduce emissions in recent years – those of the transport sector are still growing. Today, transport accounts for almost a fifth of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (see Figure 1 opposite). It is…
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CleanER-D puts diesel propulsion on the right track
15 February 2011 | By Enno Wiebe, Manager Research Programmes and Projects, UIC, and Judit Sándor, Sustainability and Environment Manager, UNIFE
The European railway network is the densest in the world and features the highest percentage of electrification – nearly 50%. Approximately 80% of total transport volume is hauled on the electrified part of the network. Nevertheless, diesel traction plays an important role in providing rail services and serves as the…
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SBB’s commitment to ecological sustainability
15 February 2011 | By Birgit Elsener, Project Manager, SBB Rail Environmental Centre
SBB adopted a comprehensive sustainability strategy in 2010. Nine Group targets drawn from SBB’s corporate strategy in 2009 represent the economic, social and ecological aspects of sustainability. SBB’s aim is to create sustainable added value for its customers, the company, the environment and society. SBB has agreed clear objectives for…
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Innovation is important for Network Rail
10 December 2010 | By Steve Yianni, Director of Engineering, Network Rail and Global Railway Review Editorial Board Member
Over the last decade, the UK’s railways have been transformed. When we took over from Railtrack in 2002, we took over a railway that had lost the confidence of the nation. Ten years ago punctuality was running at 79% while the number of broken rails approached 1,000. Today, nearly 94%…
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Innovation and experience
10 December 2010 | By AF Group
The ÅF Group is a leader in technical consulting, with expertise founded on more than a century of experience. The ÅF Group offers highly qualified services and solutions for industrial processes, infrastructure projects and the development of products and IT systems. Today, the ÅF Group has approximately 4,000 employees. The…
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Winter delays and disruption – combating the cold
20 September 2010 | By Gunnar Malm, Director General, Trafikverket – the Swedish Transport Administration
The hard winter of 2009/2010 led to major disruptions to train services in Sweden. In April 2010, the Swedish Transport Administration initiated an inquiry intended to show how great the delays were that affected passenger and goods services, how great a cost to society they entailed, what caused the delays,…
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More than signals and sleepers
3 August 2010 | By Nelson Ogunshakin, Chief Executive, ACE (Association for Consultancy and Engineering)
Rail transport is essential to the UK’s economy. The Eddington Transport Study of 2006 found a clear link between transport capacity and economic performance, and noted that transport was an enabler of economic growth rather than a creator of growth in itself. Crossrail, for example, is expected to generate around…
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Norway’s tough winter challenge and double-track progress
31 May 2010 | By Elisabeth Enger, Director General, Jernbaneverket
The past winter was unusually tough and challenging for Norwegian railways. Almost three months of continuous cold weather took their toll on ageing and well-worn infrastructure, resulting in record low punctuality and a large number of train cancellations. Never before have we experienced such poor punctuality over such a prolonged…
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Development progress and a cautiously optimistic outlook
31 May 2010 | By Uģis Magonis, Chairman of the Board, Latvian Railways (LDz – Latvijas dzelzceļš)
It might be a daring statement in the light of current events, but the last two years have been a great success for Latvian Railways (LDz) – in 2008 it transported a record amount of cargo and in 2009 was spared a significant reduction of volumes and continued with extensive…
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European Parliament says rail has a key role in tackling climate change
17 March 2010 | By The Association of European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM)
The European Parliament’s Environment Committee has emphasised the importance of more environmentally‐friendly transport.
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UNIFE and UIC publish first TecRec
12 March 2010 | By UNIFE
UIC and UNIFE publish the first Technical Recommendation (TecRec) on the measurement and calculation of energy consumption in railway vehicles.
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RFF – a strategic vision to battle global warming
12 December 2009 | By Sebastien Gourgouillat, Head of Sustainability and Performance, Réseau Ferré de France (RFF)
Enhancing and developing the national rail network to promote rail transport in line with the principles of sustainable development, is the objective set out in the opening lines of the Act establishing Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) in 1997.
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SJ meets competition and scores high with improved efficiency and new trains
26 September 2009 | By Claes Broström, Vice President of Fleet Management, Swedish Railways, SJ AB
SJ has been on quite a journey following its conversion to a limited-liability company. In 2002, SJ was an inefficient company on the verge of bankruptcy. Since then, the company has undergone tremendous change and is now market-focused. SJ has identified various customer groups and their needs and then developed…
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In praise of electrification
26 September 2009 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor
In July the British government announced a major programme of railway electrification, taking in the Great Western main line from London to Bristol and Swansea. To many Continental European readers, it must seem astonishing that such an important artery on the British rail network is still diesel worked.
