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Issue 4 2006, Past issues / 28 July 2006 /
Consultancy practices have an important role in providing technical expertise for railway projects around the globe.
Historically, Europe’s big state railways were self-sufficient. All the engineering skills were on hand in-house: when a new project was sanctioned by the government, the state railway would generally be able to design and execute the project itself. The experience and expertise gained in such work would enable the state railway to sell consultancy services to developing countries embarking on new railways and railway improvement projects.
This pattern still holds true to some extent, with DE-Consult, the consultancy arm of Deutsche Bahn (German Rail), and Systra, which is jointly held by SNCF (French Railways) and RATP (Paris Transport), major forces in railway projects around the globe. But the deregulation and privatisation of the rail systems in some European countries has prompted a new requirement for consultancy services. In a fragmented network, such as that of the UK, many of the companies have either taken a decision to focus on their key tasks, or are too small to have expertise in-house, or both, and thus have a need to buy in expertise from outside consultancies. (more…)
Issue 3 2006, Past issues / 31 May 2006 /
The UK’s first high speed railway,The Channel Tunnel Rail Link, is entering the final phase of construction. Dave Pointon, Managing Director of Union Railways, reviews progress and looks ahead to finishing the job in 2007.
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Issue 3 2005, Past issues / 23 August 2005 /
The precedent Spanish government started an ambitious plan for the construction of new high speed lines and the upgrade of some existing ones. Now, the new government (which came into power midway through 2004), has decided to continue the project, albeit with some changes.
The frame for all actuation is called PEIT (Plan Español de Infraestructuras de Transporte) and was presented last December to local authorities and media as a draft in order to be discussed and agreed. At the end of discussions – and once all have agreed on possible modifications – this draft will become the definitive plan and will include real timing.
The purpose of the PEIT is to obtain a total network of 10,000km of lines at ‘height performances’, modifying today’s radial structure and placing 90 per cent of the Spanish population (excluding Balear and Canary Islands) at less than 50km of this network. The Plan not only involves railways, but also roads and motorways, airports, ports and some cases of mass transit and intermodality.
One of the aspects of the PEIT having special political and strategic importance is the many links with Portugal, now under discussion with the government of that country.
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Issue 1 2005, Past issues / 2 March 2005 /
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 AG took this work on.
A financing agreement for the Nürnberg-Ingolstadt-München project was signed between the Federal Transport and Finance Ministries and DB AG on 19th December 1996. Funding for the concurrently built stretch of urban rapid transit line from Dachau to Obermenzing, between Ingolstadt and München, was agreed between the Federal Land of Bavaria and DB AG on 28th December 1998. (more…)
Issue 1 2005, Past issues / 2 March 2005 /
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 the future European high speed train (HTE).
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