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Latest issue
Latest issue / 23 May 2013 / Henrik Dam Kristensen, Minister for Transport, Denmark
It is the Danish Government’s ambition that most of future traffic growth should take place in public transport.
This will help to reduce congestion and to ensure environmentally sustainable transport. However, in order to
turn this ambition into reality, railway services must be able to attract new customers and to handle increasing
volumes of traffic. Therefore, Denmark needs a railway which is significantly better prepared to meet future
demands than the current one.
While other European countries have signifi – cantly expanded their railway during the last decades with an increase of capacity and speed, development of and investments in railway infrastructure have not been high on the agenda in Denmark. The establishment of the Great Belt Bridge link (Storebælt) between Zeeland and Funen is, however, an important exception to that general rule. (more…)
Tagged with: Denmark, Environment, Henrik Dam Kristensen, High Speed
Latest issue / 23 May 2013 / Peter Hausken, IT Department for Planning and Operations Manager, NSB Passenger Trains
With most trains expected to be equipped with wireless internet over the next few years, as passengers demand
increasing levels of service, what are the implications and benefits to rail operators of implementing the
technology? In an interview for European Railway Review, Peter Hausken, IT Manager at the Traffic Department for NSB, shares his views five years after embarking on one of the first Wi-Fi projects in Europe.
“It’s not just about raising passenger satis – faction,” says Peter. “It’s also about how the rail network can improve operations through enhanced connectivity and real-time monitor – ing of the fleet.”
Why the need?
Norges Statsbaner (NSB) is owned by the Government of Norway and serves over 52 million passengers a year, offering local, intercity and long-distance services. In order to serve its passengers better, NSB required a broadband train connectivity solution for multiple purposes including passenger internet and operational applications. NSB now offers wireless internet on over 150 trains across Norway, in a country where numerous tunnels, mountains and limited mobile phone reception makes broadband connectivity a challenge. (more…)
Tagged with: Internet, Norway, NSB Passenger Trains, Peter Hausken, WiFi
Latest issue / 23 May 2013 / Jens Ole Kaslund, Ringsted–Fehmarn Project Director, Banedanmark
The upgrading of the Ringsted–Fehmarn Line is one of Banedanmark’s largest ever projects. Together with the
fixed link across the Fehmarn Belt and other major Danish infrastructure projects such as the Copenhagen–
Ringsted Line, this is a massive scheme for both rail freight and passenger traffic.
The Ringsted–Fehmarn Line begins in Ringsted in the middle of Zealand, just over half an hour from Copenhagen. From here, it extends southwards through the pleasant Zealand landscape and the towns of Næstved and Vordingborg, and crosses the bridges over Masnedsund and Storstrømmen as far as the island of Falster. It then runs to Nykøbing Falster and via Frederik IX’s Bridge to the flat landscape of the island of Lolland. It currently ends in Rødby Havn, from where the ferries have, for years, taken people and goods to Puttgarden.
The decision to establish a fixed link across the Fehmarn Belt has, however, also prompted a need to upgrade Ringsted–Fehmarn so that trains in the future can accelerate to 200km/h. A few kilometres from the current Rødby Havn, the line will be linked to the rail facility that forms the northernmost part of the fixed link. (more…)
Tagged with: Banedanmark, Bridges, Denmark, Environment, Freight, Jens Ole Kaslund
Latest issue / 23 May 2013 / Johnny Restrup-Sørensen, Contract Director – Railway, Femern A/S
The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel will connect Denmark and Germany with a two-track railway and a four-lane
motorway underneath the Fehmarnbelt. With a total length of approximately 18km, it will be the world’s
longest immersed tunnel for combined rail and road traffic and will help bring people, businesses and culture in
the Fehmarnbelt Region and Europe closer together.
Based on the 2008 state treaty between Denmark and Germany, the tunnel will run between the Danish island of Lolland and the German island of Fehmarn. Femern A/S, the Danish state-owned planning company of the project, is currently finalising the plan approval documents in order to begin both the Danish and German project approval processes in 2013. In addition, Femern A/S is evaluating applications of 24 different construction companies – having formed nine consortia – for prequalification. The prequalified consortia will be invited to submit bids for the four main civil engineering contracts of the project with construction scheduled to start as early as mid- 2015 and the opening of the tunnel expected to take place at the end of 2021. (more…)
Tagged with: Denmark, Fehmarnbelt Tunnel, Femern A/S, Johnny Restrup-Sorensen, Tunnelling
Latest issue / 23 May 2013 / Ahti Asmann, Chairman of the Management Board – General Director, AS Eesti Raudtee
The railway in Estonia has been expected to keep up with many requirements over its 142-year history, during
which time there have been many key events and rapid developments – through wars, shifts of governments
and regimes, development of technology, privatisation and re-nationalisation – the railway has worked at its
own pace. Estonian rail infrastructure now runs to neighbouring countries and the noisy steam locomotives
have been replaced by quiet fast trains; but the railway has not lost its essence. AS Eesti Raudtee – Estonian
Railways – has now reached a new milestone. The sums invested in the railway have never been so large, and
the railway infrastructure has never been in such good condition as it is today.
Infrastructure
AS Eesti Raudtee is Estonia’s major railway enter prise, maintaining and developing railway infrastructure that covers 1,128km of track (132km of which is electrified), 62 stations and three block posts. (more…)
Tagged with: Ahti Asmann, AS Eesti Raudtee, Estonia, Freight, Infrastructure
Latest issue / 23 May 2013 / Vladimir Yakunin, President, Russian Railways
Today, passengers expect speed, comfort, and safety. Russian Railways intends to exceed all of these expectations and we believe it is impossible to achieve these goals without investing in modern rolling stock.
In 2010, long-distance passenger transport was made the responsibility of the Federal Passenger Company (FPC) – a subsidiary of Russian Railways which was formed into a separate company under the railway reform. FPC now operates more than 23,500 coaches and is constantly increasing the number of its rolling stock by placing orders with Russian and leading foreign manufacturers.
FPC plans to invest a total of 105.7 billion rubles by 2015 and 668.8 billion rubles between 2016 and 2030. Included within the company’s investment programme is a plan to purchase approximately 16,500 vehicles, including 50 double-deck coaches, 200 RIC-approved coaches (Regolamento Internazionale delle Carrozze) and seven Talgo trains. (more…)
Tagged with: Rolling stock, Russia, Russian Railways, Talgo, Vladimir Yakunin
Latest issue / 23 May 2013 / Alexey Krivoruchko, Chief Executive Officer, Aeroexpress
Aeroexpress is a dynamic Russian company providing intermodal and local rail transport services between the
capital and all of the major Moscow airports (Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo), as well as the town of
Lobnya. New intermodal transportation services were launched between the central rail terminal of Sochi and
Adler Airport on 15 February 2012 – locations which are going to be particularly popular during the 2014 Winter
Olympic Games. On 20 July 2012, a regular intermodal link commenced services in Vladivostok, where
Aeroexpress trains now connect with the newly-built Knevichi Airport and the city’s central rail terminal.
More than 17.4 million passengers travelled on Aeroexpress trains in 2012, which includes the Moscow, Sochi, and Vladivostok routes, as well as the commuter route to the town of Lobnya. A total of 14.9 million passengers were transported to Moscow airports during 2012, representing an increase of just over 20% from the previous year. Aeroexpress’ share on the intermodal passenger market of the Moscow Air Cluster grew by 1.34% in 2012, totalling 23.37%. (more…)
Tagged with: Aeroexpress, Alexey Krivoruchko, Contactless Payment, e-ticketing, Russia, Ticketing
Latest issue / 23 May 2013 / Jiří Kolář, Director General, Czech Railway Infrastructure Administration (SŽDC)
Due to its geographical location, the Czech Republic is well positioned to offer transport in all directions of
importance. For future success, the Czech railway network must be made available on all important European
routes. Such an objective cannot be achieved without modern, reliable and interoperable lines of excellent quality.
Corridors
Modernisation of backbone Transit Railway Corridors (TRCs) in the Czech Republic began during the early-90s in accordance with the decision of the Czech Government. Four main rail corridor routes were defined in total: (more…)
Tagged with: Czech Railway Infrastructure Administration, Czech Republic, Infrastructure, Jiří Kolář
Latest issue / 23 May 2013 / Clive Roberts, Director for Railway Research, Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education and Professor of Railway Systems at the University of Birmingham & Lei Chen, Research Fellow, Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education,
University of Birmingham
Throughout Europe, many of the existing mainline railways are heavily congested, resulting in services being very susceptible to minor delays and disturbances. There is therefore a need to find new methods to make better use of the existing capability of the system through improved management of train delays and other incidents, which will also have the benefit of increased customer satisfaction and the potential to reduce energy utilisation.
It is possible to increase capacity and reduce energy utilisation on existing mainline railway systems through further development of traffic management systems. In order to realise such benefits, it is necessary to systematically inte – grate a number of railway disciplines into railway traffic management systems, e.g. time – tabling, operational management, advanced driver advisory and data management. (more…)
Tagged with: Clive Roberts, Lei Chen, Railway traffic management, University of Birmingham
Latest issue / 23 May 2013 / Joachim Kroll, Secretary General, RailNetEurope and Bettina Wunsch-Semmler, Member of the Managing Board in charge of Communications, RailNetEurope
Revitalising the railways of Europe has been on the agenda of both the railway industry and the European
institutions for a number of years. Since 1991, the European Commission has issued a number of directives and
regulations as part of the four ‘railway packages’ and the TEN-T initiative (Trans-European Transport Networks),all of which aim, directly or indirectly, to integrate the European railway area into a competitive single market. Since 2004, RailNetEurope, an industry initiative, has acted as the gateway to European rail infrastructure.
Speaking with one voice In 2004, 24 rail Infrastructure Managers and Allocation Bodies (IMs/ABs) – both from Euro – pean Member States and non-EU countries such as Norway and Switzerland – got together to establish a common, Europe-wide, non-profit making association: RailNetEurope (RNE). (more…)
Tagged with: Bettina Wunsch-Semmler, Joachim Kroll, Network Operations, Turkish rail network
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