List view / Grid view
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.
2 March 2005 | By Carlo Pellegrini, Executive Vice President Engineering and Fabrizio Barbieri, V250 Project-Engineering Manager, AnsaldoBreda SpA
The EMU V250 train is designed for the high speed line (HSL) being constructed which connects Belgium to Holland. This is the first train fully compliant with the TSI interoperability standard as well as with applicable European EN and UIC standards. This train is also the first substantial accomplishment of…
2 March 2005 | By Michaël Steenbergen, Researcher Railway Engineering and Coenraad Esveld, Professor of Railway Engineering, TU Delft and Rolf Dollevoet, ProRail
Delft University of Technology has developed new technical regulation standards for the geometrical deviations of metallurgic rail welds in The Netherlands, in cooperation with the Dutch rail infrastructure manager ProRail.
2 March 2005 | By Ken Cordner, Editorial Contributor
Network Rail’s first new high output ballast cleaning system from Plasser & Theurer, delivered to time and budget last summer, has begun work on the Great Western main line which links London to Bristol and South Wales. It is the first of a series of new high output track renewal…
