Railway policy news – Page 100
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NewsHigh speed rail in Qatar plan
QATAR: Deutsche Bahn has revealed details of its agreement to assist with the conceptual development of a rail network in the emirate. A memorandum of understanding was signed by DB and state investment company Qatari Diar at the end of August. DB will develop conceptual designs and provide consultancy ...
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NewsCrossrail bill gets Royal Assent
UK: The £16bn Crossrail project to link London's Liverpool Street and Paddington stations via an east-west tunnel (RG 11.07 p679) gained parliamentary approval on July 22. The Crossrail Act grants powers for land acquisition to permit construction of the line, stations and associated maintenance facilities. Enabling works are ...
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NewsRace to the coal
AFRICA: Word reaches us that Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp has reached agreement to sell its stake in Central East African Railway, which operates the 1 067 mm gauge railway linking Malawi with the port of Nacala in northern Mozambique. CEAR took over the Malawi rail network in 1999, but did ...
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NewsJamaica rail revival plan completed
JAMAICA: A report detailing plans for reviving the disused national rail network has been finalised, Transport & Works Minister Michael Henry announced last week. ‘As soon as I have the response of the Ministry of Finance, it will be going to cabinet for them to accept my ...
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NewsGovernment invests in KiwiRail growth
NEW ZEALAND: Improvements to commuter services in Auckland and Wellington and an overhaul of Tranz Scenic services are included in a five-year NZ$80·2m investment package announced by Finance Minister Michael Cullen, who said he will present a paper to the cabinet proposing an expansion of the role of rail 'and ...
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NewsManagement changes in the Rift Valley
EAST AFRICA: Following persistent criticism from the Ugandan and Kenyan governments over the performance of the 2 350 km Kenya - Uganda rail network following the launch of a 25-year operating concession last year, the Rift Valley Railways consortium announced on August 4 that it was changing its senior management. ...
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NewsDon't re-regulate rail freight
REGULATION: Rail has a major role to play in reducing energy use and addressing environmental concerns in North America, but proposals being debated in the US Congress to increase regulation of the sector could halt much-needed investment in additional capacity, argues Ed Hamberger.
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Cross-acceptance
EUROPE: Legislation to require the cross-?acceptance of rail vehicles between EU member states moved forward on July 9, when the European Parliament voted to approve the second reading of amendments to the 2004 Railway Safety Directive. The Parliament endorsed an earlier conciliation discussion with the Council of Ministers which should ...
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NewsSpanish freight to stand alone
SPAIN: Unveiling a package of measures aimed at reviving the national economy, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced on June 23 that RENFE’s freight business would be established as a stand-alone company within three months. Although 100% state-owned to start with, it is expected that the new venture would ...
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NewsEnergy metering is on the way
EUROPE: One compelling message to emerge from IQPC's Greener Rail conference in London on July 17-18 was that on-train metering of electric power use is coming in one form or another. As soaring energy costs reinforce more subtle pressures to cut CO2 emissions, the realisation that what can't be measured ...
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Signalling accord
EUROPE: At a meeting in Roma on July 4, the European Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding with six railway industry associations to co-ordinate and clarify the deployment of ERTMS. It is also intended to speed up ETCS and GSM-R testing and certification, with the aim of establishing a single ...
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NewsSwedish high speed strategy
SWEDEN: Infrastructure manager Banverket has submitted a report to the government recommending the construction of two high speed corridors over the next 20 years, at an estimated cost of SKr100bn to SKr150bn. According to BV Director General Minoo Akhtarzand, the rail network will need 50% more capacity by 2020 ...
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Pacific transfer approved
COLOMBIA: National concession agency INCO has given its approval for the concession to upgrade and operate the 498 km Pacific rail network to be transferred to a new owner, Ferrocarril del Oeste SA. The 30-year concession had originally been awarded in 1998 to Tren de Occidente, but in 2006 INCO ...
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NewsA long haul on the Lunatic Express
KENYA: Barely 18 months after the Rift Valley Railways consortium finally took control of the 900 km Kenya-Uganda railway on November 1 2006, pressure is growing for the 25-year concession to be cancelled. RVR is clearly having a tough time, with the railway linking Mombasa with Nairobi and Kampala having ...
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DB sacked over S-Bahn quality failings
GERMANY: A dispute erupted in the Ruhr area on June 12 when local transport agency Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr announced that it had decided to cancel its S-Bahn operating contract with DB Regio Nordrhein-Westfalen with immediate effect. An extraordinary resolution to do so had been approved during a meeting of VRR's contracting ...
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NewsKiwiRail launch marks end of 'failed' privatisation
NEW ZEALAND: Prime Minister Helen Clark unveiled KiwiRail as the name for the rail and ferry operations which were transferred from Toll New Zealand into government ownership on July 1. Services will initially be unchanged, with KiwiRail controlled by an establishment board chaired by former Prime Minister Jim Bolger; ...
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NewsBulgaria commissions strategic transport study
BULGARIA: The Ministry of Transport has appointed consultancy Faber Maunsell to produce a national multi-modal transport masterplan. Much of Bulgaria's transport infrastructure is in a poor condition as a result of past underinvestment, but accession to the European Union in January 2007 has made significant funds available, with €2bn ...
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Working towards a sustainable future
ENVIRONMENT: Despite growing concerns about climate change and energy efficiency, imbalances in the pricing of different transport modes continue to distort the market across Europe. But CER Chairman Aad Veenman sees signs of progress at last.
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Regional conflict could open up inter-city sector
NETHERLANDS: The European Parliament may have backed away from proposals to liberalise the operation of domestic passenger trains before 2017, as proposed in the Third Railway Package, but private-sector concessionaires may try to force the pace of change, starting with a forthcoming legal challenge in the Netherlands. The country's largest ...
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Railway stabilisation starts
DR CONGO: A programme to 'stabilise' the operations of national railway SNCC is due to start on June 16, when Belgian concessionaire Vecturis begins a two-year contract to manage the business and put in place measures to prevent further 'technical and operational degradation'. The move follows an international tendering competition ...