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Issue 5 2009
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
Arlanda Express, the Swedish high-speed train between Arlanda Airport and Stockholm City, reported its best financial results ever for 2008. The company is now investing in refurbishing its trains to increase capacity for seated passengers by at least 20%.
Arlanda Express plans to invest SEK 100 million in future trains between Arlanda Airport and Stockholm City. The trains will have new, modern interiors and the number of seats will increase by at least 20%. The upgrade is necessary since more people are choosing to travel by train to the airport. During the past year, Arlanda Express set a new passenger record with 3.2 million passengers.
Arlanda Express has seen an increase primarily among private passengers and foreign visitors. Increased environmental awareness is definitely a strong contributing factor and several customer surveys also indicate that passengers are very satisfied with the product.
(more…)
Tagged with: A-Train AB, Airport rail, Arlanda Express, Per Thorstenson, Public Private Partnerships, Sweden
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
Construction of a tunnel through the Hallandsås Ridge in southwest Sweden has given rise to many emotions over the years and the project has suffered several setbacks. Yet because of, or perhaps thanks to, its history, the tunnel is now one of Sweden’s most well-planned construction projects. Today, the project has Swedish and international expertise of world-class, and environmental and safety standards are rigorous. (more…)
Tagged with: Banverket, Per Rydberg, Sweden, Tunnelling
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
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 products and services that satisfy as many travellers as possible. The company has created a flexible pricing model that enhances its profitability, despite a significant reduction in the lowest prices. Unnecessary costs have been eliminated, and the fleet is used more efficiently. SJ has reversed the trend and is now one of Europe’s most profitable rail companies, with all-time high profitability of a 13.9% return on equity achieved in 2008.
(more…)
Tagged with: Claes Broström, Environment, ERTMS, High-speed rail, SJ, Sweden, Swedish Railways
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
Approximately seven years ago, Skånetrafiken began thinking of renewal and completion of its Pågatågen rolling stock. Pågatågen is the name of the regional train service in Skåne – the southernmost county of Sweden. The service is presently performed with 26 X11 EMUs, an ASEA/ABB/ADTranz/Bombardier construction from the 70s, which has a seating capacity of 180 and a top speed of 140km/h. The X11s carry approximately 13.5 million customers annually and the travelling figures have grown rapidly since the turn of the century and it is foreseen to continue to grow, especially when new lines and stations are taken into service.
(more…)
Tagged with: Claes Ulveryd, Rolling stock, Skånetrafiken, Sweden
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
A double track of UIC European gage designed for maximum speeds of 350km/h will soon link the centre of Spain with the Mediterranean Sea and the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The total length of the line is 940km – with a forecasted investment of €12.365 million – and will imply a significant change in the communications map when the Madrid-Cuenca-Valencia/Albacete section comes into operation in 2010. After this section, there will be a link with Alicante in 2012 and soon after another link to Murcia and Castellón.
Since facts and events are measured in time, the distance is more than ever a fight against the clock. Bringing the cities closer together is set in function of the time we spend on a train, thus the high-speed expands the human limits in everyday horizons.
(more…)
Tagged with: ADIF, High-speed rail, Rail infrastructure, Santiago Cobo Diego, Spain
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
The de-grouping from the value chain which underlies the proposed business model for the high-speed network (HSN) project in Portugal led to a single international public tender request in the form of a PPP (public-private partnership), under the name of ‘HSN Signalling and Telecommunication Concession (HSN S&T Concession)’. The aim of this concession is to contract, within a public works concession, the design, installation, maintenance and provision of the S&T systems for the HSN project over a period of 20 years. The model selected is thought to be the most favourable for the development of this project as it allows performance and the guarantee of compliance with deadlines to be combined with reduced risk but with quality of service and competitiveness. (more…)
Tagged with: Fernando Ribeiro Vendas, GSM-R, Public Private Partnerships, RAVE, Signalling
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
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.
Successive UK governments have expressed scepticism about the merits of electrification, and as a result this main line, built by the famous Victorian engineer I. K. Brunel, has remained devoid of wires to this day. Paradoxically, one reason has been that railway managers in the UK have been very good at exploiting diesel technology to the maximum. When British Rail’s 200km/h diesel high-speed trains (HSTs) were introduced on this route in 1976, they were a true world beater – putting the UK at the top of the global speed league, alongside Japan’s bullet trains. (more…)
Tagged with: Environment, James Abbott, United Kingdom
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
Growth of population, urbanisation, trade and economics as well as the environmental and climatic challenges calls for sustainable and efficient transportation solutions. Development of the railway is essential to meet these demands. We have to improve efficiency, quality and maintenance of existing systems as well as invest in new infrastructure, rolling stock and improved services.
The rail freight market in Sweden was opened for competition in 1996. In June 2009, the Swedish parliament approved a government bill proposing that the passenger market should also be opened up for competition. The market opening will be realised through a stepwise process. The first step was implemented in July 2009 when the market for weekend traffic was opened for competition. The second step will be to open up the market for international rail passenger traffic in October 2009. The timing makes it possible, at least in theory, for new operators to enter into competition for the great passenger demand around Christmas and the turn of the year. The third step will occur in October 2010. This is when the main part of the passenger rail market (domestic traffic Monday through to Friday) will be opened up for competition. (more…)
Tagged with: Åsa Torstensson, Rail infrastructure, SJ, Sweden
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
Since March 2008, Tilo Brandis has been President and CEO of RAIL.ONE GmbH. After his studies at various universities in Europe and at Harvard Business School, Brandis began his career at HBS Consulting Partners as a Project Manager and Management Consultant. In 1997, he moved to Siemens AG Transportation Systems. In 2003, he took charge of Siemens AG A&D Assembly Systems, with around 2,300 staff and with sales of approximately €600 million. Until he moved to RAIL.ONE, Brandis directed the acquisition of the US software company UGS for Siemens AG. With more than 800 employees and 18 locations in nine countries, RAIL.ONE is one of the world’s leading providers of railway track systems, with comprehensive consulting and engineering competence for all areas of application. (more…)
Tagged with: Interoperability, RAIL.ONE GmbH, Tilo Brandis, Track systems
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
The Bothnia line consists of 190km of new railway, with 140 bridges and 25km of tunnels. Botniabanan AB has been commissioned by the Swedish government to build the Bothnia Line, a railway running from Nyland, north of Kramfors, via Örnsköldsvik to Umeå. Ground-breaking for the project took place on 14 August 1999 and the railway will become operational in autumn 2010. A big opening is planned to happen on 28 August 2010.
The Bothnia Line will link together a highly productive region, where a series of significant industrial locations are all situated along the Swedish coastline. (more…)
Tagged with: Alf Karlsson, Botniabanan AB, ERTMS, Jan Bergman, Rail infrastructure, Sweden
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
The Association of Swedish Train Operating Companies (ASTOC) acts on behalf of Sweden’s train operators. It seeks to represent the interests of commercial rail traffic in its dealing with the Government and Parliament, authorities, business principals, the media and other bodies. ASTOC also assists in increasing the rail industry’s know-how and competitiveness by providing information, advice and services to members. The CEO, Mr. Peder Wadman, runs the daily operations together with a handful of employees working at the association’s office in central Stockholm, including the regular input of staff resources from several member companies.
The Association can trace its roots all the way back to 1876 and the early days of rail services in Sweden, when privately owned railways had an important role. After nationalisation, the Association was mainly dormant for several decades. However, following the many reforms in the sector since the 1980s, with the vertical separation of track infrastructure from operations and the step-wise market opening process leading to a number of new entrants, the Association was reborn by the end of the 1990s. Today, ASTOC has 23 train operating member companies (see Figure 2), covering both the passenger and freight side of the industry and a wide spectrum of ownership structures: private, public (state or regional authorities), semi-private, and companies of both Swedish and foreign origin. In addition, the vehicle maintenance firm EuroMaint recently became an associated member of ASTOC. (more…)
Tagged with: ASTOC, Gunnar Alexandersson, Sweden
Issue 5 2009 / 26 September 2009 /
On 8 and 9 September 2009, European Railway Review, together with its sister publication Eurotransport, welcomed leading industry personnel to Berlin, Germany, for Public Transport Security 2009 – an important conference to share knowledge and experience of providing safe and secure public transport systems.
The conference, held at the Westin Grand Hotel in Berlin, began with an informative Welcome Address by Hans-Werner Franz, CEO of VBB Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH who were also the hosts of the conference. Mr. Franz explained “it is our job to care about our passengers, and the system we provide must be high-quality, and high quality for me means high punctuality and frequency.” Mr. Franz continued to explain how important it is to increase the level of safety for passengers by implementing CCTV systems and placing more staff on vehicles and at stations. Mr. Franz finished his speech by stating that “passengers are always at the centre of our attention.” The Chairman of the conference, Jacques Colliard, Head of the UIC’s Security Division, commented on Mr. Franz’s speech, saying it was “very interesting and a very important start to the conference.” (more…)
Tagged with: Conferences & events, Craig Waters, Security
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