Railway policy news – Page 4
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NewsRestructuring of Bulgarian rail freight operator planned
BULGARIA: Plans for a major restructuring of the national railway’s freight business BDZ Tovarnni Prevosi has been announced by Minister of Transport & Communications Grozdan Karadjov.
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NewsRail investment and reform must be a government priority, says Australasian Railway Association
AUSTRALIA: A stable pipeline of rail infrastructure projects is critical to Australia’s future economic growth and supporting growing cities and regions, Australasian Railway Association CEO Caroline Wilkie said after the incumbent Labor party led by Anthony Albanese won the May 3 election.
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NewsUK to Switzerland high speed train working group to be established
EUROPE: A joint working group is to bring together the British and Swiss governments and rail industry experts to examine how to overcome the commercial and technical barriers to launching a direct high speed train service between the countries.
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NewsUN rail freight convention awaits fifth signatory
INTERNATIONAL: China, Germany, The Netherlands and Togo have now signed the United Nations Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Rail, which aims to eliminate rail’s competitive disadvantage for the transport of freight between Europe and Asia. The Convention was adopted by ...
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Rail Business UKGovernment dampens rail investment hopes as suppliers turn to exports
UK: The Department for Transport has told the Transport Select Committee that service optimisation will be prioritised over infrastructure investment, but equivocation over future projects is already pushing rail suppliers to embrace export opportunities instead.
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NewsSchnieder named next German transport minister
GERMANY: Parliamentary transport committee member Patrick Schnieder has been named as the next federal Minister for Digital & Transport.
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NewsAmtrak takes helm of New York Penn rebuild
USA: The Trump administration has stripped New York MTA of its role in redeveloping New York Penn Station, leaving the federal government in charge through the Department of Transportation and Amtrak. MTA manages two commuter rail operators with an interest in operations at Penn, as well as the Subway lines.
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NewsUNIFE calls for research funding to ’keep the European rail supply industry number one’
EUROPE: Supply industry association UNIFE has called for the EU budget to include a dedicated €3bn rail research programme as the successor to the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking, saying this would help to ’keep the European rail supply industry number one in the world, amid the ...
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NewsGerman coalition agreement includes rail reform and electrification
GERMANY: The incoming coalition government plans to reform state-owned Deutsche Bahn, accelerate electrification schemes and continue to offer the national local transport pass.
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NewsSlovaks welcome government backing for rail, but funding shortfall remains
SLOVAKIA: International co-operation and more funding for infrastructure were key themes emerging from the 19th FKD railway conference held in Bratislava on March 18-19. Toma Bačić reports.
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NewsMinister orders urgent measures to enhance railway safety
BULGARIA: Minister of Transport & Communications Grozdan Karadzhov has ordered urgent action to enhance railway safety within six months, following the receipt of a report commissioned from an industry working group.
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Rail Business UKPrivate train operators’ advocacy body Rail Partners closes
UK: The Rail Partners association of train operators’ parent companies closed on March 21.
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NewsAmtrak CEO Gardner leaves as operator pushes back against Musk’s privatisation drive
USA: Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner announced on March 19 that he was stepping down from the national passenger operator with immediate effect.
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NewsInternal candidate chosen to head EU Agency for Railways
EUROPE: Oana Gherghinescu has been appointed as the next Executive Director at the EU Agency for Railways.
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NewsRail freight coalition calls for EU action
UK: Five CEOs of members of the RailFreightForward coalition of rail freight operators recently met EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas to discuss challenges including a lack of high-quality cross-border infrastructure capacity, an uneven economic level playing field and investments in digital technology. RailFreightForward asked the Commissioner ...
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In depthComment: Rail needs to find Another Way
Amid geopolitical turbulence, governments in Europe and beyond will need to ramp up their defence spending urgently, potentially squeezing the funding avilable for rail and wider civilian infrastructure. However, a push for more efficiency offers opportunities too, believes our Executive Editor Nick Kingsley.
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NewsTempi accident report exposes Greek railway safety failures
GREECE: Rail and air accident investigation body EODASAAM exposes serious systemic failures in the Greek railway sector and makes 17 recommendations for improvement in its report into the head-on collision between passenger and freight trains near Tempi which killed 57 people on February 28 2023. The ...
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News‘Every dollar is accounted for’, says California High Speed Rail Authority as Trump administration announces review
USA: ‘With multiple independent federal and state audits completed, every dollar is accounted for, and we stand by the progress and impact of this project’, California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri said after recently appointed US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a review of federal ...
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NewsFreight operators say ERTMS risks losing its purpose
EUROPE: A new approach to the roll-out of ERTMS is urgently needed, according to the European Rail Freight Association. ERFA has warned that specification changes, national divergences and the absence of a business case for train operators mean that ERTMS risks losing its original purpose of ...
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Rail Business UKGovernment sets out its plan for how Great British Railways will work
Rail Business UK looks at the details of the government’s rail reform plans, which would restructure the industry and establish Great British Railways as a new body bringing together infrastructure and operations in the biggest shake-up of the sector since privatisation.