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Rail Articles

In safe hands

6 February 2007 | By Mal McGreevy, General Manager for Rail Services, NI Railways

Translink is the brand name for the company that provides integrated public transport services in Northern Ireland: NI Railways, Ulsterbus and Metro. As a top brand in Northern Ireland, Translink is implementing a significant programme of change, which will enhance the future development and growth of public transport in the…

Reaching 100 kilometres and beyond

6 February 2007 | By Peter Zbinden, CEO and Ambros Zgraggen, Head of Communications, AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd

The Gotthard Base Tunnel construction work is progressing well. In the last year, almost 18 of the total 153 kilometres of shafts, passages and tunnels were excavated. At the end of 2006, more than 100 kilometres, or approximately two-thirds, of the tunnel system under the Gotthard had already been cut.…

Rail grinding operations in Sweden

6 February 2007 | By 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…

Trends in design and fabrication of rolling stock

6 February 2007 | By Stephan W. Kallee, Sector Manager and John Davenport, Programme Manager, TWI Ltd

Whether rail vehicles are made from steel, stainless steel or aluminium, the search for lower cost, robust designs is never ending. For the case of aluminium, complete trains are being assembled from hollow aluminium extrusions and prefabricated panels. Recent investigations into the crashworthiness of aluminium railcars have clearly demonstrated the…

A new link in the European chain

6 February 2007 | By Marc Svetchine, Regional Project Manager, RFF

In the last quarter of a century, high-speed rail links have revolutionised domestic and international traffic. On 3 July 2006, almost exactly 25 years after the first high-speed train was placed in service between Paris and Lyons, work began on the Eastern branch of the Rhine-Rhone high-speed line between Dijon…

Positive progression for the rolling stock market

29 December 2006 | By Drewin Nieuwenhuis, General Director, UNIFE

2006 has been a positive year for the Rail Industry – both in terms of development perspectives and recent technological achievements. This feeling was largely reflected at the Innotrans trade fair last September where the Industry presented its state-of-the-art technology, particularly in the Rolling Stock area. The seminar organised jointly…

High requirements for safe and reliable track systems

29 December 2006 | By Günther Leykauf, Director, Institute for Road, Railway and Airfield Construction, Munich University of Technology

The wheel/rail system is on the right way to ensure mobility for the future. To compete with road traffic, reliable track systems are necessary which require not only renewal of worn and fatigue stressed track components but also the introduction of optimized and newly developed system innovations as well as…

Essential work to secure a long-term future

29 December 2006 | By Jeremy Candfield, President of the European Federation of Railway Trackwork Contractors

The Federation’s membership consists of national associations or, where they do not exist, national coordinators, representing the majority of specialist trackwork contractors in countries that are members of the European Union (EU) or the European Free Trade Area (EFTA). National federations and coordinators from other countries may be admitted as…

Professional services for 21st century railways

29 December 2006 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor, Global Railway Review

All large corporate organisations, such as railways, have the need for professional services. Lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers – all these and more are likely to be needed at some time or another, especially if large projects are being planned.

Harmonising the future of railway operations

29 December 2006 | By Dr. Peter Winter, Project Director GSM-R/ERTMS, UIC

Signalling, train control and communication installations are all important assets for modern railways and they contribute significantly to performance and quality of passenger and freight train services. Over the last few decades they have been the subject of deep conceptual and technological changes.

Track maintenance and machinery inspection

28 November 2006 | By Andrew McNaughton, Chief Engineer, Network Rail and Global Railway Review Editorial Board Member and Bob Cummings, Head of Track Engineering, Network Rail

The strategy for the maintenance and renewal of track on the Great British network has been transformed over recent years. There is now a well embedded pro-active engineering culture of ‘predict and prevent’, rather than a reactive one of ‘find and fix’.

Success of unavoidable maintenance

28 November 2006 | By Neil Jones, Territory Structures Engineer, Network Rail

A £14 million scheme to replace and refurbish the Leven viaduct in South Cumbria was successfully completed by Network Rail on time and within budget in July 2006. The 16 week project is the largest civil engineering bridge scheme in a five-year programme of work in the London North Western…

Endless growth opportunities for freight

28 November 2006 | By Graham Smith, Planning Director, EWS

Rail freight’s prospects in Britain are very positive. We are already forecasting a growth of 50% by 2014 on top of the 70% growth achieved since the mid 90s but the increasing importance of a sustainable transport system point to even bigger opportunities. The environmental benefits of rail have always…

Committed to delivering a promise

28 November 2006 | By Mark Anderson, Senior Operations Manager of Freightliner Heavy Haul

Having won their inaugural contract hauling Infrastructure trains for Railtrack, Freightliner Heavy Haul have been servicing the UK railway network for over seven years. In an interview for Global Railway Review, Mark Anderson, Senior Operations Manager of Freightliner Heavy Haul, explains the company’s commitment to delivery, their “reliability as standard”…