Railway policy news – Page 66
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NewsRail Week launched to address ‘skills crisis’
UK: As part of efforts to address concerns about recruitment and retention of talent in the rail sector, a pan-industry partnership led by networking organisation Young Rail Professionals has agreed to launch the first ‘Rail Week’ initiative in the UK, running from June 27 to July 3 2016.Loosely modelled on ...
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NewsLuxembourg Protocol will reshape rolling stock funding
INTERNATIONAL: Greater private sector investment in rolling stock is expected following the adoption of a new protocol on the ownership of railway assets, which will come into force after sufficient countries sign up over the coming months. Adopted in February 2007, the Luxembourg Protocol to the 2001 Cape Town ...
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NewsGreece restarts Trainose privatisation
GREECE: The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund privatisation agency has relaunched the planned sale of national train operator Trainose, a process which began in 2013 but was suspended following a change of government last year. Announcing the restart of the process on January 27, HRADF said it planned to ...
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NewsCP Carga privatisation completed
PORTUGAL: Mediterranean Shipping Company SA has announced that its subsidiary MSC Rail completed the acquisition of a 95% stake in CP Carga on January 21, taking control of the freight and logistics business of national operator CP. The remaining 5% of the company is to be offered to employees. ‘We ...
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NewsIran and Italy sign railway MOU
IRAN: Italy’s Minister of Infrastructure & Transport Graziano Delrio and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Akhoundi signed a memorandum of understanding for co-operation in the rail sector when Iran’s President Rouhani visited Italy on January 25. Italian national railway group FS said it had been active in the region since 2001, ...
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NewsDR Congo rail renaissance in 2016
DR CONGO: SNCC Director General Ilunga Ilunkamba looked forward to 2016 as the year that would see the ‘renaissance’ of the state railway, in his message to staff delivered on December 31. Under the Multimodal Transport Project funded by the World Bank, 38 new locomotives were being acquired and track ...
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NewsLondon Suburban Metro and local input to franchising proposed
UK: The Department for Transport and Transport for London released a consultation document on January 21 proposing the creation of a partnership to ‘provide joined-up strategic direction for the specification and management for passenger services across London and the South East’. The aim would be to increase local input ...
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NewsETCS rollout re-evaluated
NETHERLANDS: The national roll-out of the European Rail Traffic Management System is to be delayed pending a re-evaluation of the priorities, State Secretary for Infrastructure & Environment Sharon Dijksma confirmed on January 14. A budget of €2·57bn had been announced in 2014 for a programme running until 2028. This would ...
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NewsArriva and Schenker sell-off decision delayed
GERMANY: Plans announced last July for the possible part-privatisation of Deutsche Bahn subsidiaries DB Arriva and DB Schenker Logistics are in doubt following government indications that it is unhappy with DB’s proposals. DB had hoped to raise up to €4∙5bn from a sale that could be set against its debt ...
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NewsGermany toughens up rail regulation
GERMANY: The draft of a revised railway regulatory law was approved by the federal cabinet on January 13. The changes are intended to strengthen the rules for discrimination-free access to rail infrastructure, so encouraging on-rail competition. Under the proposed changes, the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) would be given a stronger ...
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News€300m loan to finance Italian regional trains
ITALY: A €300m corporate bond subscription agreement which will finance the acquisition of new passenger rolling stock for regional routes was signed by the European Investment Bank and national railway FS on December 23. The bond is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, and according to EIB is ...
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NewsShift2Rail issues first open call for research proposals
EUROPE: The Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking issued its first open call on December 17, inviting proposals for a range of research projects expected to have a total value of €170m. Proposals have been invited for nine packages in three of the five Shift2Rail Innovation Programmes (below). An information day is to ...
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NewsBEG confirms National Express as Nürnberg S-Bahn operator
GERMANY: Bayern railway authority BEG confirmed the National Express Rail GmbH subsidiary of UK-based National Express Group as the winner of the two Nürnberg S-Bahn operating contracts on December 15, after reviewing bids following an appeal by incumbent DB Regio which had blocked the award of the contracts. Subject ...
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NewsTrenitalia among 11 recipients of UK ‘franchising passports’
UK: The Department for Transport announced on December 15 that 11 transport companies had been awarded Pre-Qualification Questionnaire Passports, which have been designed to make it easier and quicker to bid for passenger franchises by removing the need to for potential bidders to complete 'resource-intensive' sections of the pre-qualification questionnaire ...
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NewsNorthern and TransPennine Express franchises awarded
UK: The Department for Transport announced on December 9 that it had selected Arriva Rail North Ltd to operate the next Northern Rail franchise from April 1 2016, and First Trans Pennine Express Ltd to run the TransPennine Express franchise from the same date. Both contracts were to be signed ...
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NewsHS2 to reach Crewe in 2027
UK: Construction of a further section of the planned High Speed 2 route to Manchester is to be brought forward, with the Crewe – Birmingham link now expected to open in 2027, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced on November 30. This is six years ahead of the original ...
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News2·8tr yuan rail spend in Chinese five-year plan
CHINA: Proposals for a total investment of 2·8tr yuan (US$438bn) in new railway construction have been included in the country’s 13th Five Year Plan covering the 2016-20 period, the Economic Information Daily announced on November 27. More than 23 000 km of new line would be constructed, with priority going ...
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NewsSouth Wales Metro consultation to begin
UK: Public consultation on the proposed Cardiff Capital Region Metro programme to develop an integrated network of rail, bus and light rail services is to begin in early 2016, Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones announced on November 30. Metro would involve incremental infrastructure improvements and potentially the development ...
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NewsBoard quits as cabinet approves FS privatisation
ITALY: The entire Administrative Board of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane has resigned, the national railway announced on November 26. A meeting to elect a new board is to be held as soon as possible. The move follows a decision by the Council of Ministers on November 23 to approve initial ...
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NewsHendy revises Network Rail project timescales as costs rise
UK: The cost of Network Rail’s infrastructure enhancement programme for 2014-19 has increased from £12·8bn to £15·3bn, according to a review by new Chairman Sir Peter Hendy which was published on November 25. He insisted that all of the planned works would still be completed, although some schemes will be ...