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Safety & Security

 

Railways face continued growth in passenger ridership numbers and increased demand for rail freight operations. To cope, rail systems must adapt to their changing environment and provide networks that are both safe and secure.

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Measuring and modelling safety risk on GB’s mainline railways

17 September 2010 | By Ben Gilmartin, Senior Safety Risk Analyst, Safety Knowledge and Planning, Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB)

The mainline railway in Great Britain has a responsibility to understand and measure safety risk to be able to manage safety of its operations properly. However, the task of quantifying levels of safety meaningfully can be difficult, especially for those rare accidents with potential for serious consequences. RSSB’s Safety Risk…

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Predicting the future for switches and crossings

17 September 2010 | By Ian Coleman & Andrew Cornish, Network Rail PhD Students (Switches and Crossings) at the Future Railway Research Centre, Imperial College London

Maintaining and renewing the thousands of switches and crossings (or ‘S&C’ and also known as railway points and/or turnouts) across Britain’s rail network is an expensive business, costing hundreds of millions of pounds every year. Gaining a better understanding of the dynamic forces that occur when a train passes over…

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Taking the ‘action not reaction’ future approach

4 August 2010 | By Philippe Gauderon, Head of SBB Infrastructure and Member of the SBB Management Board

Most of the SBB rail network is in good condition. That was the conclusion of an external survey commissioned by SBB and published in February 2010. Future maintenance and renewal of the rail infrastructure will cost significantly more than was previously assumed. SBB Infrastructure has embarked on a comprehensive action…

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More than signals and sleepers

3 August 2010 | By Nelson Ogunshakin, Chief Executive, ACE (Association for Consultancy and Engineering)

Rail transport is essential to the UK’s economy. The Eddington Transport Study of 2006 found a clear link between transport capacity and economic performance, and noted that transport was an enabler of economic growth rather than a creator of growth in itself. Crossrail, for example, is expected to generate around…

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Norway’s tough winter challenge and double-track progress

31 May 2010 | By Elisabeth Enger, Director General, Jernbaneverket

The past winter was unusually tough and challenging for Norwegian railways. Almost three months of continuous cold weather took their toll on ageing and well-worn infrastructure, resulting in record low punctuality and a large number of train cancellations. Never before have we experienced such poor punctuality over such a prolonged…

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Public Private Partnership to be used in a Finnish second track project

31 May 2010 | By Mikko Asikainen, Project Manager, Finnish Transport Agency & Antti Haapalahti, Project Manager, Partner, CC Infra Oy

In a large-scale project of the Finnish Transport Agency, a 76.5km second track will be built between Kokkola and Ylivieska. To fund the project, a Public Private Partnership will be used for the first time in the Finnish railway network. It is also desirable to have foreign competitors for the…

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A dedicated forum for the Scandinavian region

31 May 2010 | By Craig Waters, Editor, Global Railway Review

High-speed railways, major infrastructure projects, development and investment plans and market liberalisation were just some of the important topics highlighted and assessed during Global Railway Review’s recent conference – Scandinavian Rail Development 2010. Held in the stunning city of Stockholm, Sweden, at the Operakällaren, Global Railway Review welcomed over 120…

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Positive ETCS deployment progress for the Spanish network

31 May 2010 | By Juan Hernández, Planning and Functional Coordination Direction, Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias (ADIF)

The aim of this article is to present the current situation of the ETCS deployment on the Spanish network managed by the Spanish Infrastructure Manager (Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias – ADIF). It covers the situation in the newly built High-Speed Network (UIC gauge) and the deployment over the existing conventional…

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ERTMS/ETCS: A new age in Railway Signalling Engineering

31 May 2010 | By David Sanz García Global Product Line Manager ERTMS Invensys Rail Dimetronic

The ERTMS/ETCS system currently being deployed on high-speed lines in Spain is the latest state-of-the-art signalling system, and in consequence the most complex signalling system available on the market. The complexity of the ERTMS system requires a great deal of effort to test and validate all application data, much more…

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The deployment of ETCS: an important test case for Europe

31 May 2010 | By Emmanuel Brutin, Senior Public Affairs Manager, UNIFE

ERTMS, and more specifically its rail component ETCS, is arguably the technology that has caused most controversy and emotional debate amongst the railway community during the past decade. In many ways, this grand project, coordinated by the European Union, is now reaching a new and important phase in its history.…

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Delivering first-class products and services for ERTMS/ETCS development

31 May 2010 | By Patrick Deutsch, Technical Director, ERSA SARL

European Rail Software Applications (ERSA), a member of the DeltaRail Group, has a long and successful background in the field of ERTMS/ETCS development. We encapsulate ERTMS know-how into value-adding software, technology and services to deliver value for our customers. Our innovative, cost-effective solutions answer the challenge of maximising availability, reliability…

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High quality railway infrastructure should lead to increased competition

31 May 2010 | By Jan Komárek, Director General, SŽDC (the Railway Infrastructure Administration)

SŽDC, the Czech Railway Infrastructure Administration, is responsible for the modernisation and development of the railway network in the Czech Republic. We put great effort into enhancing the quality of our railway infrastructure and, together with carriers, we offer reliable services to both passengers and freight transport. In my opinion,…