Features & Analysis – Page 43
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NewsWest Coast upgrade enters the final stage
Launched in 1998, the upgrading of Britain's busiest inter-city and freight route from London to Glasgow has proved a challenging task that Network Rail now expects to complete by 2009
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News'The nightmare scenario'
Thalys International's Chief Executive Jean-Michel Dancoisne explains how capacity constraints and cross-border regulatory inconsistency risk making his job anything but a dream.
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On the path to competition
FRANCE: Open access freight services are now operating in every region of the French rail network, according to RFF President Hubert du Mesnil. He told the sixth national train paths conference on February 6 that private companies are now running an average of 80 trains a day, and a quarter ...
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NewsAn idea on the move
The Golden State's proposed 1 100 km high speed rail network would be the most expensive and ambitious public works project in California's history. If voters endorse the project in November, the initial phase could open in 2019.
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News'A change of mindset'
California has embarked on an ambitious drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, through better planning of transport investment and economic development. Chris Jackson reports from Sacramento.
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UIC Highspeed 2008 looks to the future
Under the patronage of European Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot and the Mayor of Amsterdam Job Cohen, and with the support of the United Nations, UIC is organising the sixth world congress on high speed rail. UIC Highspeed 2008 is being jointly hosted by the main players in the Netherlands rail ...
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Fast track to sustainable mobility
High Speed Rail is firmly established as an attractive and environmentally-friendly transport mode. The UIC Highspeed 2008 conference in Amsterdam on March 17-19 will debate the technical, political, commercial and environmental issues that will shape the evolution of high speed rail travel over the next few years
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NewsCapacity challenge triggers £10bn investment surge
As Network Rail's 10-year West Coast Route Modernisation nears completion, Richard Hope explains why the UK government is signing up to a big increase in infrastructure projects targeted at accommodating unprecedented growth in passenger traffic alongside an expanding role for freight in cutting CO2 emissions
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Crashworthiness standards may block locomotive approvals
Europe is due to adopt the EN 15227 crashworthiness standard this year, but studies suggest that without an exemption clause this could effectively prohibit the use of short centre-cab freight locomotives. Christoph Müller investigates
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Flying the flag in a global market
Lobbying on behalf of its members, the Railway Industry Association has an important role to play in both the domestic and international arenas
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NewsScotland: ‘We are more hands-on’
Devolution of power from the UK to the Scottish Government has enabled Scotland to formulate its own transport strategy. Andrew Grantham asked Chief Executive of Transport Scotland Malcolm Reed about the future direction of Scotland’s railways
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Cajon Pass: From double to triple-track
A massive capacity expansion project on BNSF’s busy Cajon Pass line is due to be completed by the end of this year. David Lustig reports from California
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'Mixed train' approach can lift wagonload profitability
As Europe's traditional trainload traffic becomes less profitable, railways are keen to exploit ways of making wagonload operations more efficient. Combining wagonload and trainload traffic in 'mixed trains' can be an attractive option, as Sweden's Green Cargo has found
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NewsWraps come off the AGV
Built by Alstom on a speculative basis, the seven-car AGV demonstrator was unveiled to French President Nicolas Sarkozy on February 5. Murray Hughes reports from La Rochelle
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Helping business-led railways to share best practice
If there is one thing that we have learned during the past 20-year maelstrom of railway reform, restructuring, liberalisation, concessioning and privatisation, it is that today's railway managers need to keep a firm focus on the commercial aspects of their business. For operators such as the Class I railroads of ...
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RFI installs low-cost ATP
This year should see the completion of a three-year programme to fit automatic train protection on around 5 700 km of regional routes in Italy
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NewsOperating rules pose a major challenge to ETCS implementation
Although common technical and functional specifications for the European Train Control System are laid down in the Technical Specifications for Interoperability, the lack of common operating rules could hinder the development of international corridors, suggests Chris Jackson
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Australia looks to Europe for train control technology
RailCorp is considering ETCS Level 1 to improve safety and create additional capacity on the increasingly-congested network around Sydney. A trial to evaluate how ETCS can best be adapted for the Australian environment is now underway in the Blue Mountains
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European Rail Agency 'driven by the imperative of competitiveness'
Established to advise the European Commission and co-ordinate technical specifications for interoperability and safety, the European Railway Agency has increasingly become a hub for communication within the railway industry. Chris Jackson talks to Executive Director Marcel Verslype
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Best practice in safety
ERA's first biennial report on railway safety is due to be published in the spring of 2008, and will - for the first time - bring together safety data from Europe's railways on a comparable basis. 'Everyone said "railways are safe", but no-one could prove it', comments the Head ...