Winter Operations supplement

• Winter preparations for the Swedish railways
  Trafikverket – the Swedish Transport Administration – is prioritising winter maintenance so that rail transport runs punctually, even during harsh conditions. For Global Railway Review, Trafikverket’s Spokesman for Railway Winter Services, Stefan Jonsson, explains there needs to be a high level of preparedness and knowledge to be able to handle the effects of the weather on the railways throughout the country.
• Hope for the best but plan for the worst
  London Overground Rail Operations Limited (LOROL) operates the Overground service in London on behalf of Transport for London (TfL), running five different fleet types. As LOROL’s Fleet Engineering and Asset Manager Martin Beable explains, winter preparation is vital, especially for an operator with a diverse portfolio of rolling stock, and that learning from lessons of previous winters have established core principles that LOROL follows.
• Helping to improve GB rail winter operations
  The members of the UK’s RSSB (the Rail Safety and Standards Board) include infrastructure companies, train and freight operators, rolling stock owners and suppliers to the industry. Head of the Delivery, Research and Standards Department at the RSSB Jane Dobson tells Global Railway Review what the organisation are doing to help this industry tackle winter challenges.
• Zaugg snow blower for the Swedish iron ore railway
  Approximately 27 million tonnes of iron ore are transported annually on the iron ore railway between Luleå (Sweden) and Narvik (Norway) – part of which runs north of the Arctic Circle. Rail operations must also be guaranteed in the winter months in order to transport these quantities. The existing snow blowers have grown old and must be replaced. Therefore, the Swedish infrastructure operator, Trafikverket, ordered a snow blower from ZAUGG AG EGGIWIL / Switzerland. The vehicle costing 9.5 million Swiss Francs is to be used above all on the section between Kiruna and the Norwegian border.