Issue 4 2005

Some developments on the UK Network

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

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.

After nearly five years of hard work, train performance has been re-established at levels good enough to see real growth in patronage once again. Major projects, such as the rebuilding and upgrading of the West Coast Main Line and the construction of the high speed line from London to Eurotunnel, are nearing completion. Other major projects now underway, such as the building of a complete new telecoms network, are creating the backbone of tomorrow’s railway. At the same time, Network Rail has organised itself and is now transforming its processes. Being one of the first of the new European infrastructure managers, and in a complex political climate too, has made for a difficult and testing time since 1994, as has been extensively reported on elsewhere. Network Rail has approached its task of rebuilding Britain’s railways with commitment and tenacity coupled with forging open honest relationships with its stakeholders and customers. Some aspects of Network Rail’s activities are outlined here for the information of those networks now embarking on vertical separation. (more…)

Tagged with: ETCS, GSM-R, Network Rail, Prof. Andrew McNaughton, Rail infrastructure, United Kingdom

Britain’s new look rolling stock

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

During the last few years, Britain’s railways have seen a massive investment in new rolling stock to replace around 40% of the national fleet.

This is in complete contrast to the last years of the nationalised railway, especially in the lead up to privatisation when government policy allowed no new rolling stock to be ordered for more than three years. Since 1996, train operating companies (TOCs) have, together with the rolling stock leasing companies (ROSCO), been at the vanguard of a £4.5 billion investment which has seen the introduction of more than 4,700 new train carriages, transforming the travel experience for passengers on many routes up and down the country. Of course, introducing complete new fleets across the network is challenging and not problem free.

New trains have also been a contributory factor in Britain now having the fastest growing railway in Europe. Their introduction has allowed operators to revolutionise services by introducing more innovative and reliable services.

(more…)

Tagged with: Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), George Muir, Rolling stock, United Kingdom

The Irish rail network transformation

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

Fast, frequent Intercity services operated by modern rolling stock. A commuter network which maximises capacity and plays the fullest role possible in meeting the transport needs of the Greater Dublin area. Enhanced local services. These are the three strands of development in what is the most exciting era for Ireland’s railways in generations.

The development is all the more significant as it follows what had been a sustained period of underinvestment in Iarnród Éireann and its forerunner operators of Ireland’s rail network. For decades, the railways were starved of investment, as the road network took the lion’s share of funding. With the economic boom in Ireland in the late 1990s leading to the road system being unable to cope, funding returned, at record levels. (more…)

Tagged with: Dick Fearn, IE, Ireland, Rail infrastructure

Delivering track renewals

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

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 in 2008/9, whilst at the same time reducing train delays by 30%.

Head of Major Projects and Investment, Simon Kirby, is adamant: “We have to reach our efficiency savings target. Progress so far has been good and for the end of financial year one, we have reached an efficiency cost saving of 8%.”

All this needs to be achieved at a time when volumes of work are steadily increasing with a 40% increase planned in plain line volumes by 2006/7 and a 50% increase in switch and crossing units compared with recent years. (more…)

Tagged with: Network Rail, Paul Wiseman, Rail infrastructure, Track systems, United Kingdom

British rolling stock market enters a lull

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

The post-privatisation train building gold rush in the UK is over. Rolling stock manufacturers face a lean time over the next few years.

Privatisation of the British railway industry has not eased the boom-and-bust nature of the rolling stock supply sector. If anything, it has made it worse. A boom in building over the past decade, as the private sector train operators renewed their train fleets, is now being followed by a lull in orders.

Governmental action has not helped in smoothing out the peaked nature of the orders in recent years. Commuting flows into London are heavy from the south side of the British capital, and the large fleet of trains deployed to handle this traffic comprised Mk 1 standard stock from the 1960s, with slam doors. The crashworthiness of this stock was lower than that of modern stock and the slam doors posed a potential safety hazard at stations. For these reasons the Government required the industry to introduce an accelerated programme of Mk 1 withdrawal, with all the old trains to be gone by the end of November 2005.

(more…)

Tagged with: James Abbott, Rolling stock, United Kingdom

RFF project progress

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

Réseau Ferré de France (RFF), the owner and manager of the railway infrastructure in France, is a publicly-owned entity, responsible for the management and development of the rail network and prime contractor for new lines, especially new high-speed rail links.

The major rail projects promoted by RFF meet the need to achieve sustainable development while re-establishing a balance between the various means of transport. They are long-term projects, requiring some considerable time between the initial studies and completion of the construction work. The design, study and pre-project stage lasts for four to seven years and a project then takes between two and six years to complete. In addition to the studies specific to each stage, these major projects include periods of public debate and discussion. There are also administrative procedures to be completed before the Government can take the necessary decisions. (more…)

Tagged with: France, Jean-Marie Larose, Rail infrastructure, Réseau Ferré de France (RFF)

The railway of the third millennium

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

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. (more…)

Tagged with: ERTMS, ETCS, GSM-R, Interoperability, Italy, Mauro Moretti, Rail infrastructure, RFI

GSM-R: where are we today?

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

My last report in European Railway Review was in Issue 2 2004, when my focus was on the progress of the development and the implementation of GSM-R in Europe. At that stage, GSM-R implementation had started or was ongoing in several countries. In some of the early implementing railways, GSM-R was replacing the existing analogue radio system. Several railways had started the tendering process or even first implementations on selected lines. (more…)

Tagged with: ERTMS, GSM-R, Klaus Konrad, UIC

GSM-R for railways in Europe

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

The new technology for railway radio transmission is GSM-R. Deutsche Bahn AG is taking the initiative, and other railway companies are also currently planning and building their systems.

FW Fernmeldewerk München-Aubing GmbH (FW) is a full life-cycle service provider for many analog and digital railway cab radios and other radio frequency equipment. FW is starting with engineering and prototyping, and will create and manufacture special equipment for railways. FW was a part of Deutsche Bahn AG and since 2001 it has been an independent company.

FW is working with GSM-R at first. For example, FW carried out all the engineering for S-Bahn Hamburg and has created some special mechanical and electrical parts for all ICE 3 trains in Germany and is installing them in all trains. In addition, FW will work in the whole of Germany and conduct the first measurements and start the cab radios.

(more…)

Tagged with: FW Fernmeldewerk München-Aubing GmbH, GSM-R, Ronald Kossatz

Where is Europe’s end?

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

More than one year has already passed since the European Union was enlarged by the ten new Member States. In Poland, appraisals of economic and social effects of this historical event are, by and large, positive. A lot of expectations have been satisfied, while most of the misgivings expressed before 1st May of 2004 on both sides – in the ‘older’ EU15 and new accession countries – have proved greatly exaggerated.

The date given above is a only a ceremonial landmark. The process of integration for the EU10 with the rest of the Union started much earlier, is ongoing, and a large amount of water will flow in the Vistula or Elbe before it is accomplished. Incontestably, the Accession Treaty was a good turning point for all areas of European co-operation but it concerned one instant and the history never stops, even for a while. This is no different to the European railway system. The provisions of the Treaty on railway transport have resulted primarily from the experiences of the preceding co-operation among the railway administrations.

(more…)

Tagged with: Interoperability, PKP, Poland, Tadeusz Augustowski

The mechatronic bogie – a novel design

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

Conventional bogie designs suffer from a fundamental conflict of contradicting requirements: Either they are running stable at high speed, but are by no means track friendly when negotiating curves due to their stiff wheel set guidance, or they are able to smoothly follow curved tracks through radial orientation of the wheel sets, but due to the soft wheel set guidance their running stability is limited to fairly low speed.

Beyond that, stability is influenced by the wheel and rail profiles, the inclination with which the rails are mounted, and the actual gauge, resulting in the so-called ‘equivalent conicity’. Since these parameters differ, for example, between the railway networks of France and Germany, high-speed trains running at full speed on their ‘own’ national network have to observe speed restrictions after crossing the border. (more…)

Tagged with: Bogies, Bombardier Transportation, Günther Himmelstein

Innovative solutions to old problems

Issue 4 2005 / 3 November 2005 /

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 ProRail, which manages the Dutch network, to ensure that the rail infrastructure is adequate, reliable and safe.

Safeguarding the performance and quality of that infrastructure is a continuous process. The Dutch Government requires regular inspections of track and points to check that lines are safe and to make sure that environmental influences are not compromising the system. ProRail also makes time to inspect other components, such as overhead power lines and signals. Whether new or long-standing, the entire infrastructure will need maintenance or replacement eventually. (more…)

Tagged with: ProRail, The Netherlands, Track maintenance & engineering, Willem van Ginkel