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Issue 6 2010

 

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Bringing the benefits of rail to the wider economy

10 December 2010 | By Edward Welsh, Director of Corporate Affairs, Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC)

Passenger rail in Britain has boomed since privatisation as train companies have worked with the rest of the industry to improve services for passengers and attract ever greater numbers of people to the network. People have returned to the railways in numbers not seen since the Second World War, with…

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Senior Industry Personnel: Thomas Bodenburg

10 December 2010 | By Thomas Bodenburg, Key Account Manager, Voith Turbo Scharfenberg GmbH & Co. KG

After having finished my secondary school certificate in 1991, my father asked me one evening if I would like to focus on a mechanical or an electrical apprenticeship. Because I had always preferred to have a hammer and a screwdriver in the hand than wire and pliers, I made my…

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Innovation is important for Network Rail

10 December 2010 | By Steve Yianni, Director of Engineering, Network Rail and Global Railway Review Editorial Board Member

Over the last decade, the UK’s railways have been transformed. When we took over from Railtrack in 2002, we took over a railway that had lost the confidence of the nation. Ten years ago punctuality was running at 79% while the number of broken rails approached 1,000. Today, nearly 94%…

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The management process for EMC at Network Rail

10 December 2010 | By Maya Petkova, Principal EMC Engineer, Network Rail

The railway is a highly complex system relying on a vast number of electrical and mechanical components working properly together to keep the 24,000 trains that operate in Great Britain running safely, reliably and efficiently. Every minute, thousands of electrical components are called upon to carry out critical functions to…

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The value of rail freight

10 December 2010 | By Paul Plummer, Planning and Development Director, Network Rail

An effective way of transporting goods across the country is by rail freight, and this is vital to Britain’s economy. Not only does it provide a faster, greener, safer and more efficient way of transporting heavy loads than roads, it is responsible for moving over 100 million tonnes of goods…

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Shipshape and Bristol fashion

10 December 2010 | By Dave Curtis, General Manager, Freightliner Maintenance Ltd

Freightliner Maintenance Ltd (FML) faced significant challenges to turn an abandoned freight terminal into a fully-functioning railport for a customer running liquid products. In an interview for Global Railway Review, Dave Curtis, General Manager of FML, explains the work involved with this important project and also the success so far…

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East Coast introduces CCTV to its train fleet

10 December 2010 | By Ian Duncan, Engineering Director, East Coast

‘Watching out for you’ – that’s East Coast’s message to customers as we roll out new CCTV cameras across our fleet. The installation of the cameras, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2010, will see a total of 1,621 CCTV cameras fitted across East Coast’s 43…

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The SEA LGV concession between Tours and Bordeaux: can others follow suit?

10 December 2010 | By Pierre-Denis Coux, Director, South Europe Atlantic LGV Project, Ŕeseau Ferré de France (RFF)

The South Europe Atlantic high-speed line project (SEA LGV) is being built as the first railroad concession model in France. Under this model, industrial and financial partners will be responsible for building and operating the 300km-long high-speed line between Tours and Bordeaux. The contracts covering the financing of the project…

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2010: an important year for the evolving role of the FIF

10 December 2010 | By Jean-Pierre Audoux, Director General,French Railway Industry Association (FIF)

2010 has been one step in the evolution of the French Railway Industry Association’s (FIF) missions and roles. In fact, throughout 2010, the FIF has been involved in guiding a number of major founding issues for the rail sector.

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Development of ERTMS in Europe and the Rest of the World

10 December 2010 | By Patrick Clipperton, Chairman of the UNIFE ERTMS Marketing Group

The first thoughts for the implementation of a unified train control system to facilitate the plan of freight and passenger trains in Europe working in an interoperable and cross border manner arose in the early 1990s as the map for a unified European transport system emerged from the initial stages…

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The role of the European Railway Agency for ERTMS – answering the challenge

10 December 2010 | By Pio Guido, Head of the ERTMS Unit, European Railway Agency (ERA)

Railways epitomise the triumph of engineering. From the early exploits of technological progress in the Victorian age, to the most recent speed records, from the age of steam power to the age of power semiconductors, engineering prowess has always been closely associated with the railway world. Engineers have been successful…

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Innovation and experience

10 December 2010 | By AF Group

The ÅF Group is a leader in technical consulting, with expertise founded on more than a century of experience. The ÅF Group offers highly qualified services and solutions for industrial processes, infrastructure projects and the development of products and IT systems. Today, the ÅF Group has approximately 4,000 employees. The…

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Three new connections in the Portuguese network

10 December 2010 | By Romeu Costa Reis, Member of the Board, REFER EPE

In 2010, REFER EPE – the Portuguese rail infrastructure manager – opens three new connections of great importance for the rail network in Portugal. Three investments in the Main Network, considered as priorities in the Strategic Guidelines for the Railway Sector established by the Portuguese Government in 2006, include the…

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Deploying Neopul’s know-how in Dublin

10 December 2010 | By Paulo Jorge Ribeiro Corte Real de Oliveira, Project Manager, Neopul

This report describes Neopul’s work on the Luas b1-400 extension of the Green Line from the Sandyford depot to Cherrywood industrial estate, which was opened to the public on 16 October 2010. The green line was the existing connection from Dublin city centre (St. Stephen’s Green Station) and the recent…

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Adapting rail infrastructure to climate change: cooperation pays off

10 December 2010 | By Hendrik Abma, Executive Director, EIM (European Rail Infrastructure Managers)

The unexpected heavy snow falls and low temperatures of the last winter have shown how vulnerable transport infrastructure is to extreme or unusual weather conditions. More severe winters are just one of the consequences of climate change that affect Europe and its transport system. Heat waves, megafires and floods appear…