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Rail Articles

A long-term and clear outlook for the Czech Republic railway network

4 June 2015 | By Dan Tok – Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic

As a result of a key decision adopted in the early-1990s to modernise the Czech railway network, the construction plan of the rail transit corridors will be implemented by 2020. It was determined that four rail transit corridors were to be featured on the railway network, establishing the most important…

Czech Republic: “When it comes to investments, we leave nothing to chance”

4 June 2015 | By Pavel Surý, Director General of the Czech Railway Infrastructure Administration

In the words of Pavel Surý, Director General of the Czech Railway Infrastructure Administration, state organisation (RIA): “nothing is for free”. By that he means that time is running out for drawing down a significant amount of European money from the Operational Programmes on Transport which will, however, result in…

Czech Republic: Open-access, disrupting the rail status quo?

4 June 2015 | By Leoš Novotný, CEO, LEO Express

LEO Express is a Central Europe open-access passenger rail operator that is on mission to make train travel the first choice for passengers, by operating modern electric trains with the latest technology to compete with state railway systems and to set new high quality customer service standards. Since its first…

Developing stronger rail transit from China to Europe and back

4 June 2015 | By Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways

International experts believe successfully exporting goods and services to be essential to the national competitiveness growth in the foreign markets. Today, many nations employing such strategies come as examples of quality growth and economic development. Russia has an immense resource and production potential and is a major participant in the…

Southeast European railways: A puzzle of national companies in need of a regional strategy

4 June 2015 | By Libor Lochman and Matteo Mussini

What options are there for the Southeastern Europe railway industry to up their game? Can concentrating on increasing infrastructure financing, adopting fairly-regulated competition and driving forward a clear transport policy help the situation? Libor Lochman, Executive Director at the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and Matteo Mussini,…

The Rail Delivery Group: Developing strategies and proposing solutions

4 June 2015 | By Matthew Hannaway and Mike Pollard, Network Rail

Network Rail in the UK has been working with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) to tackle the cost of contingency on railway projects. Network Rail’s Matthew Hannaway, Head of Project Risk and Value Management and Mike Pollard, Head of Collaborative Working, explain further...

The Railway Infrastructure Manager’s challenge

4 June 2015 | By James Lewis, Network Rail

As the railway Infrastructure Manager in the UK, Network Rail is entering uncharted territory – new possibilities in traffic management are opening up through the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), and the ability to measure the performance of the infrastructure in ways not previously imagined is becoming increasingly available.…

Smart ticketing on rail

4 June 2015 | By Steve Wakeland, General Manager at ITSO Limited

The future of rail in Britain has been at the centre of much political debate recently, especially during the run-up to the General Election on 7 May 2015. Public or state ownership plus whether High Speed Two is a good investment or a waste of money were two of the…

Supporting competition and an innovative single European railway

4 June 2015 | By Julia Lamb, ERFA Secretary General

ERFA, the European Rail Freight Association, brings together the newcomers on the European rail market. ERFA’s members range from railway undertakings to wagon keepers, freight forwarders, leasing companies and national rail associations, covering the whole value chain of rail transportation across Europe. All members are united in a commitment to…