Railway policy news – Page 87
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NewsMcNulty Rail Value for Money Study final report published
UK: Closer alignment of the objectives and incentives for train operators and infrastructure manager Network Rail is essential if the costs of running the British rail network are to be reduced, according to Sir Roy McNulty. Launching the final version of his Rail Value for Money Study in London on ...
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NewsEBRD backs KTZ energy efficiency programme
KAZAKHSTAN: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development and KTZ agreed to develop an investment programme to reduce the state railway's energy consumption and CO2 emissions at a meeting on May 17. EBRD will provide assistance for projects including an automated fuel control system, and will consider providing US$100 to ...
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NewsGlobaltrans plans private locomotives
RUSSIA: Private freight operator Globaltrans is poised to take advantage of a partial liberalisation of the traction market which the government is expected to announce later this year, CEO Sergey Maltsev said on April 4. Globaltrans is one of a number of independent freight operators in Russia, and it has ...
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NewsFirstGroup declines Greater Western franchise extension
UK: The Greater Western franchise to operate inter-city passenger trains between London, Bristol, South Wales and the West of England, plus suburban and regional services, is likely to be put out to tender next year, following confirmation that incumbent operator FirstGroup has decided not to take up its option for ...
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NewsLaHood confirms recipients for Florida’s rejected high speed grants
USA: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced further high-speed rail grants totalling US$2bn on May 9, reallocating the funding previously allocated for the Orlando – Tampa project in Florida which was rejected by the state’s governor. According to DoT, 24 states, the District of Columbia and Amtrak submitted nearly 100 applications ...
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NewsEuropean Commission adopts TAP TSI timetable and fare standards
EUROPE: On May 5 the European Commission formally adopted the Telematics Applications for Passenger Services Technical Specifications for Interoperability, designed to ensure key timetable and ticketing information can be exchanged between EU rail companies and ticket vendors (RG 1.11 p61). TAP TSI requires the provision of computerised fare and timetable ...
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NewsCommission sets driver licensing deadline
EUROPE: Eight EU member states face a deadline of May 14 to transpose fully the directive on driver certification into national law. The eight states that have either failed to implement or have only partially implemented Directive 2007/59 are Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and ...
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NewsBusiness leaders push for faster liberalisation
FRANCE: Business leaders in Nord-Pas de Calais have expressed frustration at the slow rate of progress in expanding the European high speed rail network. Speaking to Railway Gazette International on May 3, Thierry Mabille de Poncheville, Managing Director of the Lille business promotion agency APIM, said that he was ‘very ...
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NewsLombardia regional operator Trenord launched with €250m train tender
ITALY: The Trenitalia-LeNord joint venture created to run regional passenger services in Lombardia was officially branded as Trenord on April 29, marking the end of the 'experimental' phase which has seen the Lombardia division of national passenger operator Trenitalia merged with the LeNord services of long-established regional operator FNM. The ...
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NewsFirstGroup to pull out of troubled DSBFirst joint venture
DENMARK: FirstGroup has confirmed that it is to sell its 30% stake in the DSBFirst joint venture which has contracts to operate passenger trains in Denmark and southern Sweden. State-owned passenger operator DSB announced the resignation of the FirstGroup members on the boards of DSBFirst Danmark A/S and DSBFirst Aps ...
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NewsConnecting China and Europe
CENTRAL ASIA: The Economic Co-operation Organisation is keen to develop east-west links with central Asia, Director of Transport & Communications Dr Esamil Tekyehsadat has told Railway Gazette International, with a particular focus on providing a standard gauge route from China to the Gulf ports and to Turkey, and thus Europe. ...
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NewsNational plan to put cities 90 min apart
SOUTH KOREA: The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs has published plans for national network of high speed and upgraded lines which would put the most of the major cities within 90 min travel time of each other by 2020. The second national railway plan published on April 3 ...
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NewsTrain fares cut to save energy
SPAIN: Under a national energy-saving plan approved by the cabinet last month, fares on RENFE suburban and medium-distance services are to be cut by 5% to encourage greater use of public transport. The Ministry of Development expects this to result in 22 million fewer car journeys into major ...
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NewsRail attracts Marco Polo funding
EUROPE: Rail accounts for 19 of the 32 projects awarded funding under the latest round of the EU's Marco Polo programme, which aims to support the transfer of freight from road to more sustainable modes. The rail schemes allocated funding by the European Commission on April 5 include the transport ...
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NewsNext step in Czech reform programme
CZECH REPUBLIC: All remaining infrastructure activities are to be transferred from national train operator CD to infrastructure manager SZDC on July 1, following government approval of the Ministry of Transport’s proposals on February 9. This is the final step in the separation of infrastructure from operations under a restructuring ...
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NewsPRASA to order 6 000 vehicles under fleet renewal plan
SOUTH AFRICA: Details of a R97bn large-scale rolling stock renewal plan were set out when Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa held an industry day on April 5 to gauge interest from potential suppliers and financiers. There is an 'urgent' need for new trains to replace life-expired vehicles based on ...
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NewsNortheast Corridor tops bidding for US high speed funding
USA: There has been overwhelming demand for a share of the $2·4bn of federal high speed rail funding rejected by the Governor of Florida, according to US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. He said on April 6 that 90 applications totalling more than $10bn had been received from 24 states, ...
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NewsDSB CEO dismissed over accounting irregularities
DENMARK: National passenger operator DSB has confirmed the dismissal of its Chief Executive Søren Eriksen following an extraordinary board meeting on March 29. Eriksen had been fired by the board and Transport Minister Hans Christian Schmidts on March 17, ahead of the publication of DSB’s annual results the following day. ...
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NewsEuropean Commission outlines 2050 transport vision
EUROPE: ‘Curbing mobility is not an option’. That is the one of the central tenets of the European Commission’s latest transport White Paper published on March 28. Building on the previous document issued in 2001, the Commission has entitled its White Paper a ‘Road Map to a Single European Transport ...
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NewsSetting up a Saudi railway regulator
SAUDI ARABIA: Arcadis is currently supporting the Saudi government's Railways Commission as it moves from the set-up phase to full operation. According to Arcadis Safety & Risk Director Stef Scannali, the process involves an extensive transfer of skills and knowledge, which draws on Arcadis staff's global experience of safety-critical industries, ...