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Rail Articles

CETEST: Test services for commuter, long distance and high-speed railway vehicles

6 December 2011 | By Igor Alonso-Portillo, Director for Strategy and Business Development, CETEST

CETEST Test and Analysis Centre is an independent accredited laboratory focusing on the testing of railway vehicles. With headquarters in the North of Spain, we are a global company serving a diversity of customers ranging from railway undertakings (operators), system integrators (vehicle manufacturers) to equipment sub suppliers. The tests we…

Sweden’s plans to increase efficiency and reliability of transport systems

22 September 2011 | By Catharina Elmsäter-Svärd, Minister of Infrastructure, Ministry of Enterprise, Energy & Communications, Sweden

Sweden is a vast country. The distance from Ystad in the south to Kiruna in the north is approximately 1,800km, yet Sweden only has 9.3 million inhabitants. The majority of Swedes live in the southern half of the country and the population has, for a long time, become increasingly concentrated…

The ambition to operate 250km/h trains on existing infrastructure

22 September 2011 | By Björn Westerberg, Director of High-Speed Train Project, SJ AB

When the tilting train X2000 was introduced 21 years ago, it dramatically changed the way of travel in Sweden. Travelling by rail took substantial market shares from airlines and road traffic. The key success factors were higher speed (200km/h on existing infrastructure), point-to-point travel, significantly reduced travel time, better comfort…

Growth in member numbers helps strengthen the work of ASTOC

22 September 2011 | By Gunnar Alexandersson, Senior Policy Advisor, The Association of Swedish Train Operating Companies (ASTOC)

The Association of Swedish Train Operating Companies (ASTOC) acts on behalf of Sweden’s train operators. It seeks to represent the interests of commercial rail traffic in its dealing with the Government and Parliament, authorities, business principals, the media and other bodies. ASTOC also assists in increasing the rail industry’s know-how…

How SWERIG is contributing to the development of the Swedish rail industry

22 September 2011 | By Lennart Klerdal, Chairman of the Board, SWERIG (Swedish Rail Industry Group)

Since the introduction of modern railways, the Swedish railway industry has been at the forefront of railway technology. Over the years, the Swedish rail industry has earned a worldwide reputation as a group of innovative and reliable suppliers. Industrial enterprises like ASEA, Ericsson and SKF were early to gain leading…

The TEN-T Executive Agency and the financing of railway projects

22 September 2011 | By Dirk Beckers, Executive Director, Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (TEN-T EA)

The Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (TEN-T EA) is an Executive Agency of the European Union which was created in 2006 by the European Commission to implement the TEN-T programme on its behalf and in particular to monitor the technical and financial implementation of all TEN-T projects. The Agency is…

What does the McNulty Rail Value for Money Study mean for Europe’s railways?

22 September 2011 | By Mary Bonar, Recognised leading rail and project finance lawyer, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and Member of the Independent Transport Commission

The Rail Value for Money Study commissioned in 2010 by Britain’s then Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis, and the Office of Rail Regulation, and continued by the Coalition government, Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, was published in its final form in May 2011. It is to be followed by a government White…

ADIF’s Public Private Collaboration: High-speed lines to Galicia and Alicante

22 September 2011 | By Cristóbal Pérez Monjardín, Director of Financial Planning and Budget, Spanish Railway, Infrastructure Administrator (ADIF)

In 2010, the Infrastructure Extraordinary Plan (Plan Extraordinario de Infraestructuras (PEI)) of the Ministry of Public Works began, with expected tenders in the region of €17,000 million – the equivalent to 1.7% of Spanish GDP – which meant a turning point in the model used up until then in Spain…

Interior of new Class 4000 DMUs contributes to attractive rail service

22 September 2011 | By James Erwin, ‘New Trains Two’ Programme Manager, Translink NI Railways

Rail travel in Northern Ireland is a huge success story. More-and-more people are choosing to take the train following service enhancements in recent years and the introduction of 23 Translink NI Railways Class 3000 trains in 2005. These developments have brought enormous benefits to passengers, greatly improving levels of reliability…

“Having the possibility to create, shape and implement new ideas”

22 September 2011 | By Bart Vantorre, President, Bombardier Transportation, Bogies Business Unit

If you had told me that after graduating as an electromechanical engineer, I would spend most of my career in the railway sector, I would have been surprised but immediately attracted by the prospect. Rolling Stock products are fascinating and quickly evolving products. The rail sector is an industry where…

Capacity is more important than speed

4 August 2011 | By Peter Füglistaler, Director of the Federal Office of Transport, Switzerland

No country has better train and bus services than Switzerland. But recent increases in passenger numbers are stretching the system to its limits, especially at peak travel periods. Switzerland has therefore set clear priorities for future rail expansion: to increase capacity through longer, more frequent trains. Reductions in journey times…

Driving under the Gotthard complete and the Ceneri is on course

4 August 2011 | By Renzo Simoni, CEO, AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd

On 23 March 2011, between Faido and Sedrun in Switzerland, miners excavated the last metres of rock of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Both single-track tubes are therefore now continuously bored over their full length of 57 kilometres. In the Ceneri Base tunnel, the main drives from the Sigirino intermediate heading,…

ETCS for ÖBB: The beginning of a new train control era in Austria

4 August 2011 | By Stefan Rameder, System Integration Officer for the ÖBB ETCS Programme, ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG

After years of preparation and comprehensive calls for tenders from suppliers, Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) has placed all orders for the implementation of the European Train Control System (ETCS). In February 2010 the final purchase order was placed, concerning system integration. During the past two years, a company-wide programme group…

The status of Rail Polska so far…

4 August 2011 | By Janusz Wellman, Vice President of the Board, Rail Polska

Rail Polska was established in November 1999 by Mr. Edward Burkhardt, the founder and the only owner of Rail World Inc., registered in Chicago. Mr. Burkhardt successfully privatised railways in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Estonia. The original aim of the company was to take part…