Banverket - Articles and news items
Issue 5 2009, Past issues / 26 September 2009 / Per Rydberg, Project Manager for the Hallandsås Ridge tunnel, Banverket
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…)
Issue 5 2008, Past issues / 27 September 2008 / James Abbott, Technical Editor
With traffic increasing steadily, Banverket is seeking more money to finance new lines, adding extra capacity and improving maintenance in the Swedish rail system.
Over the past decade, rail traffic growth in Sweden has been impressive. Passenger loadings are up by almost three quarters, while freight traffic has grown by more than a quarter.
Banverket, the state-owned company responsible for the infrastructure of the rail system, argues that these rates of growth mean that there is a need for more money to be invested in the network to boost capacity. Both investments and maintenance needs to be increased to meet the needs.
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Issue 5 2008, Past issues / 27 September 2008 / Sven-Hakan Nilsson, ERTMS Programme Manager, Banverket
The new European signalling system, ERTMS, will have a big impact on how the driver operates the train. ERTMS is in fact a signalling system that gives possibilities to support the driver in planning and driving of the train. This is a big difference for a lot of countries where the ATP-system of today is ‘punishing’ the driver.
In ATP-systems without driver support, the system acts as a ‘watch-guard’, meaning that as long as the driver keeps below a speed making it possible to stop in due time before a dangerous point, then the driver will be in control of braking the train and the signalling system will remain inactive. However, if the driver does not brake the train in the correct manner, some of the systems will alarm the driver that it is time to start braking the train. All systems do not alarm the driver though but rely on the driver knowing when to brake based on line side optical signal aspects or boards. For instance, if the driver is making a mistake and not braking the train sufficiently, the signalling system will intervene and the emergency brake will be activated to brake the train.
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Issue 5 2008, Past issues / 27 September 2008 / Olle Mornell, Project Manager of Safety, Operational Department, Swedish Rail Administration (Banverket) and Helena Höök, Quality Controller & Strategist of Traffic Safety, Department of Operational Management, Swedish Road Administration (Vägverket)
Two severe accidents in 2004 and 2005 brought focus on the dangers of level crossings. According to ‘Vision Zero’, fatalities and severe injuries are not acceptable in the transport system. Since level crossings concern many key players, Banverket took the first steps to cooperation and Vägverket provided the OLA working approach.
‘Vision Zero’ was passed in the Swedish Parliament in 1997 and was the start of an entirely new way of thinking regarding traffic safety. The system designer was given the primary responsibility for safety of the transport system. The long-term goal is that no-one will be killed or seriously injured. ‘Vision Zero’ accepts that preventing all accidents is unrealistic. The long-term objective is to achieve a transport system which allows human error but without it leading to serious injury.
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Issue 5 2008, Past issues / 27 September 2008 / Helen Hellströmer, Chief Communications Officer Banverket Produktion, Ann Linblad, Journalist/Editor, Banverket Produktion and Henrik Engberg, Communications Consultant, Engberg Information AB
During the Easter period of 2008, Banverket Produktion carried out the biggest ever signal replacement in Sweden and one that could possibly be considered the biggest in the whole of Europe.
For the normal train or commuter passenger, the extraordinarily comprehensive work that has been carried out is not visible, but it is noticeable by the fact that rail traffic can run at much closer intervals and is less sensitive to disturbances than previously. In addition, the new signal boxes are a precondition to be able to build the new City Track.
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Issue 5 2007, Past issues / 27 September 2007 / Kjell-Åke Averstad, Project Manager, Banverket
For more than 20 years, there has been a political discussion about more rail lines running through Stockholm. For the same length of time, hundreds of thousands of travellers have endured heavy trafficked rolling stock. At both mornings and evenings, the long-distance, high-speed, commuter and even freight trains have waited in queues at entrances. In an interview for the European Railway Review, Mr. Kjell-Åke Averstad, Project Manager at Banverket, discusses the issues about the improvement of rail traffic in Stockholm and his impressions of the most valuable rail line being built in Sweden – the City Line.
500 trains per day must pass through the 2-track entrances and exits at Stockholm Central Station, known as the ‘Wasp’s Waist’. This is a fitting description of what the passage looks like. But all this will be over in a couple of years as the commuter train will be set free. The new Swedish government gave its approval last winter and by 2017, the commuter train will have its own train tunnel running under the Swedish capital – the City Line. (more…)
Issue 5 2007, Past issues / 26 September 2007 / Per-Olof Granbom, Director General, Banverket
Since last February, Banverket has taken on a new identity. The organisation is now totally focused on the customer: providing a higher level of reliability and punctuality and stopping the increasing costs for major investment projects.
“If rail transport is to have a future, we must ensure the quality of today’s traffic. We must deliver the product expected by passengers and freight transporting operators. In addition, we must invest and develop the railway to respond to the demands of the future”, says Director General, Per-Olof Granbom.
Since the founding of Banverket in 1988, it has been organised in five regions, all with independent planning, investments and activities. Now the organisation is divided into two divisions: Operations and Investment.
The Operations Division includes traffic management, maintenance, and customer contacts and is in charge of the everyday traffic and improving it. The Investment Division is a supervisory organisation for the major investment projects. (more…)
Issue 5 2007, Past issues / 26 September 2007 / Katarina Norén, Director of Strategy and Marketing, Banverket
Railway infrastructure investments in Sweden are presently substantially higher compared with preceding planning periods. Reversing climate change while maintaining continued economic growth are political priorities and an expanded railway system can help fulfil both these objectives.
New investment for the period 2004–2015 amounts to SEK 108 billion (approximately €1.15 billion). Towards 2015, the new commuter railway tunnel under central Stockholm, the City Line, will be nearly completed. After decades of deliberation, the capital city will finally boast more than the two southbound tracks originally built in 1872. Concurrently, new tracks are planned for the commuter line northwest of Stockholm, enabling greater capacity and shorter journeys. Sweden’s second largest city, Göteborg, will benefit from an upgraded railway yard adjacent to the central station and the 80km double track between Göteborg and Trollhättan, northeast of the city. These investments will result in expanded commuter capacity and fewer traffic disturbances in the existing system. Upon completion of the tunnel through Hallandsås, passengers will enjoy shorter journey times between Göteborg and Malmö. Moreover, in Malmö, the country’s third largest metropolitan area, the new City Tunnel will be open to traffic as well as the new yards at the central station. Both the provincial commuter lines and the Öresund Line over to Copenhagen and beyond will benefit from greater capacity. (more…)
Issue 5 2007, Past issues / 26 September 2007 / Ton Bontekoe, Product Manager – Gotcha, Lloyds Register Rail
Achieving high levels of rail system reliability in all the phases of the life cycle at an optimal cost requires sound information, robust risk based analysis, proper implementation of asset management activities and on-going critical review.
Major rail organisations are actively interested in moving towards an ‘intelligent railway’ – monitored more effectively, at increased frequency and with the resulting information providing key input to the improved management of the railway assets. Monitoring can lead to large cost savings and increased operational reliability of both trains and track. Monitoring for maintenance purposes has been standard practice in aviation since the 1970s, but is still less common in many parts of Europe’s rail network. While some systems have had remote monitoring to some degree (e.g. telecommunications systems), other railway assets have been less well served.
In the drive for the intelligent railway, the Gotcha system is making a major contribution. (more…)
Issue 1 2007, Past issues / 6 February 2007 / Anders Frick, Track Engineer and Per-Olof Larsson-Kråik, Research and Development Coordinator, Banverket
Over the last few years, rail grinding operations at Banverket in Sweden has become a natural and important part of the total maintenance track work. The number of track metres that were ground during 2006 was almost 1 million (exactly 997272 track metres) and almost 400 switches. The way of (more…)
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