Railway policy news – Page 74
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NewsVirgin signs West Coast direct award contract
UK: The Department for Transport announced on June 19 that it had agreed terms with Virgin Rail Group for a direct award contract to operate InterCity West Coast services for a further 2 years and 9 months. Virgin is currently running the business under a stopgap agreement signed in December ...
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NewsUK and China sign railway co-operation memorandum of understanding
UK: The UK and Chinese governments signed a bilateral agreement for their rail industries to work together 'to boost economic growth, jobs and skills' during an official visit to Britain by China's Premier Li Keqiang on June 17. The Department for Transport said the agreement would pave the way for ...
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NewsShift2Rail Regulation adopted
EUROPE: Meeting in Luxembourg on June 16, the European Union’s Council of Ministers formally adopted the Regulation establishing the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking to lead rail research and development over the next six years. Currently being co-ordinated by UNIFE on behalf of eight founding members and 130 other organisations across the ...
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NewsCompetition in the Spanish passenger market approved
SPAIN: Development Minister Ana Pastor announced on June 13 that the cabinet had given its approval for bids to be invited to operate commercial long-distance passenger services in competition with state operator RENFE. The winning bidder would be able to operate services for a period of seven years on ...
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NewsILCAD 2014 targets professional drivers
INTERNATIONAL: Railway operators in more than 45 countries across the world are participating in the sixth International Level Crossing Awareness Day on June 3. The campaign is intended to raise public awareness of the safety risks surrounding level crossings, in order to change the behaviour of road users, including vehicle ...
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NewsElia takes charge as FS reports successful year
ITALY: RFI Chief Executive Michele Mario Elia has been nominated as the next Chief Executive of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, in succession to Mauro Moretti who was named head of the Finmeccanica group in April. The appointment was announced at the FS Group annual shareholders meeting in Roma on May ...
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NewsWestbahn quits CER
EUROPE: Austrian open access inter-city operator Westbahn Management GmbH has decided to ‘distance itself’ from the Community of European Railway & Infrastructure Companies, accusing CER of attempting to block liberalisation and market opening in the European rail sector. ‘CER is more and more against the overall vision of the EU ...
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NewsMelbourne Rail Link in A$14·5bn rail funding announcement
AUSTRALIA: 'The largest investment in transport infrastructure in Victoria's history' was announced by the state's coalition government in its 2014-15 budget on May 6. The A$24bn of planned road and rail infrastructure spending includes A$14·5bn for rail, with the biggest rail projects being the Melbourne Rail Link and the Cranbourne ...
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NewsEurotunnel cuts freight charges
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel concessionaire Eurotunnel announced a reduction in track access charges of up to 50% on April 28, saying it hopes this will lead to a doubling of the number of freight trains through the tunnel to 5 000 per year in 2018. The announcement follows the European Commission ...
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NewsCanada announces tank wagon safety changes
CANADA: On April 23 Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt announced the federal government’s response to the initial recommendations arising from Transportation Safety Board of Canada's ongoing investigation into the July 2013 Lac-Mégantic derailment. With immediate effect, Transport Canada will: ban DOT-111 tank cars which do not have continuous bottom ...
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NewsDutch cabinet approves 15-year rail vision
NETHERLANDS: The cabinet has approved a report commissioned by the Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment which sets out a 15-year vision for the rail network. Known as LTSA II, the strategy envisages spending €18bn on maintaining and managing the existing network, and €10bn on new infrastructure. The main ambition is ...
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NewsGulf Co-operation Council states discuss OTIF accession
INTERNATIONAL: The Gulf Co-operation Council and the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail have signed a memorandum of understanding which could lead to the GCC and its six member states Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE acceding to the COTIF convention. The convention provides a legal ...
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NewsRENFE freight privatisation on the way
SPAIN: Development Minister Ana Pastor announced on March 18 that an open competition would be held to select an 'industrial partner' to take a stake in the freight business of national operator RENFE. According to the minister, work to prepare bidding documentation was already underway. Freight is one of the ...
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NewsCairo - Alexandria train supply and maintenance contract planned
EGYPT: Egyptian National Railways is planning to call tenders for a contract to supply and maintain six 10-car locomotive-hauled trainsets for the Cairo - Alexandria route. The aim is to reduce overcrowding and improve service quality, safety and energy efficiency on the 208 km route, which has 32 daily through ...
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NewsFreight spend planned
MEXICO: Speaking at a recent conference in Cancún, federal Under-Secretary of Transport Carlos Almada outlined the 13 railway projects that are being taken forward by the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto, representing total investment of 125bn pesos. As well as the projects for new passenger lines from Mexico City ...
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NewsDepartment for Transport creates Rail Executive
UK: Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced the formation of a Rail Executive within the Department for Transport on February 26. This implements one of the recommendations of an organisational review of DfT's rail functions which was undertaken by Adam Jackson of the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. According to ...
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NewsTogfonden DK investment approved
DENMARK: The list of infrastructure projects to be implemented under the DKr28·5bn Togfonden DK package of investment in the rail network was formally agreed by the government and opposition parties during January. The work is to be funded by taxes on North Sea hydrocarbon extraction. It will see the all ...
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NewsOptimism returns but skills gap a worry, survey finds
INTERNATIONAL: Optimism is returning to the global rail industry following the economic downturn, according to the results of the fifth Way Ahead survey of the transport industry conducted by legal practice Norton Rose Fulbright. The survey, which was launched at an event in London on February 26, received 850 responses ...
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NewsEuropean Parliament waters down unbundling proposals
EUROPE: Debating the six legislative proposals in the Fourth Railway Package during a plenary session in Strasbourg on February 26, the European Parliament voted by a large majority to overturn some of the key proposals on vertical separation, transparency and competitive tendering presented by the European Commission in January 2013. ...
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NewsDB’s London – Frankfurt plan in doubt again
EUROPE: Deutsche Bahn has cast further doubt on the introduction of direct high speed services between Germany and London, citing authorisation delays to its fleet of Class 407 Velaro D high speed trainsets now being delivered by Siemens. At a press launch on February 18 marking the introduction of the ...