Railway policy news – Page 22
-
NewsPassenger groups raise concerns about EU passenger rights recast
EUROPE: Following three years of negotiations the European Parliament and EU Council reached a provisional agreement on October 1 for changes to EU rail passenger rights legislation. However, customer groups immediately raised concerns about limitations in the scope of the recast. Announcing the agreement, European Commissioner for ...
-
NewsThree-way co-operation agreement to promote European interoperability
EUROPE: A three-way agreement for administrative co-operation to promote technical interoperability, in particular for the transport of dangerous goods, has been signed by the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility & Transport and the EU Agency for Railways. The agreement ...
-
NewsBrazilian passenger rail revival agreement
BRAZIL: An agreement intended to pave the way for the eventual introduction of more passenger services on the national rail network has been signed by the ANPTrilhos association of passenger operators and the Ministry of Infrastructure. The technical co-operation agreement was signed on September 14 by ANPTrilhos ...
-
Rail Business UKDfT clarifies ERMA end dates as next steps negotiated
UK: The Department for Transport has confirmed the timescales for the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements which were signed with franchised train operating companies earlier this month. Industry insiders note that the staggered end dates reflect a sensible approach to the situation, and create a ‘manageable pipeline’ for ...
-
NewsRail Broadcast Week reaches a global audience
INTERNATIONAL: Around 1 700 registered viewers across the globe participated in Railway Gazette Group’s inaugural Rail Broadcast Week from September 21 to 25 2020. Supported by headline sponsor Siemens Mobility, Rail Broadcast Week brought together a wide mix of industry leaders, decision-makers and academics from around the ...
-
NewsBerlin protest train calls for fair play for independent operators
GERMANY: The Netzwerk Europäischer Eisenbahnen association of more than 25 independent freight operators arranged a special train through Berlin on September 28 to draw attention to the federal government’s failure to provide financial support for its member companies while offering compensation to state-owned Deutsche Bahn to deal ...
-
NewsSNCF sets green targets to cut TER emissions
FRANCE: National operator SNCF has launched an ambitious programme designed to reduce the environmental impact of its TER regional services as a contribution towards combatting climate change. The PlaneTER programme is also intended to help win passengers back to rail and attract customers from new markets after ...
-
NewsLegal dispute over aborted NRZ investment plan
ZIMBABWE: National Railways of Zimbabwe’s decision to terminate a US$400m recapitalisation agreement is being challenged in court by the Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group, which is seeking damages worth US$236m. In mid-September, DIDG instructed its lawyers to sue NRZ and Transport Minister Joel Biggie Matiza following the termination ...
-
NewsEU ministers commit to foster freight corridors
EUROPE: EU transport ministers endorsed a formal declaration in Berlin on September 21 committing them to ‘support international rail freight and further strengthen the Rail Freight Corridors’. Acknowledging that the Rail Freight Corridors had ‘proven to be very effective in developing common measures facilitating the enhancement of ...
-
NewsTrans-Europ-Express renaissance proposed
EUROPE: A network of international long-distance high speed passenger services spanning much of western Europe could be launched by 2025 if proposals announced by Germany’s Federal Minister for Transport Andreas Scheuer at a virtual conference of Europe’s transport ministers on September 21 are taken forward. The proposals ...
-
NewsMazzola to succeed Lochman at CER
EUROPE: Alberto Mazzola was elected as the next Executive Director of the Community of European Railway & Infrastructure Companies at the CER General Assembly on September 21.
-
Rail Business UKUK government announces the end of rail franchising
UK:·The government has announced the end of rail franchising, with Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps saying ‘the model of privatisation adopted 25 years ago has seen significant rises in passenger numbers, but this pandemic has proven that it is no longer working’.
-
NewsKeolis Downer to run Adelaide suburban network
AUSTRALIA: Keolis Downer has been awarded an A$2·1bn contract to operate the 122 km Adelaide Metro suburban rail network for eight years from the end of January 2021, with an optional four-year extension.
-
In depthNGOs propose five policies for climate-friendly European rail renaissance
A group of European climate NGOs has proposed five policies to encourage modal shift to rail in support of EU greenhouse gas reduction targets. Lena Donat, Policy Advisor Low-Carbon Mobility at development and environment organisation Germanwatch, explains what is needed
-
NewsBLS CEO steps down after Federal Audit Office finds flaws in accounting processes
SWITZERLAND: The country’s second largest railway has an overly complex accounting process which needs improvement, according to an investigation of flawed reporting for public funding by BLS which was published by the Federal Audit Office on September 3. Following the publication of the report, BLS announced that ...
-
NewsRail receives €4·7bn in French recovery spending package
Photo: Christophe Masse FRANCE: The government announced on September 3 its intention to provide a financial support package for the rail sector worth €4·7bn as part of a post-pandemic recovery plan. Transport Secretary Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said that the funding package, which forms part of a wider national ...
-
NewsFreight RAILCAR bill aims to support US wagon industry
USA: The Railway Supply Institute which represents more than 200 companies has welcomed the bipartisan introduction to the House of Representatives of the Freight Rail Assistance & Investment to Launch Coronavirus-era Activity & Recovery Act, which would offer a time-limited 50% tax credit for purchasing new wagons ...
-
NewsCovid-19 aid package unfair, say independent operators
GERMANY: Financial aid earmarked for national operator Deutsche Bahn in the form of a €5bn equity increase as compensation for the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic constitutes unfair state aid under European Union law, according to Netzwerk Europäischer Eisenbahnen, an association of around 60 independent rail freight ...
-
NewsVoters reject Liechtenstein S-Bahn proposal
LIECHTENSTEIN: Plans for a cross-border S-Bahn service linking Austria and Switzerland through the principality were rejected by 62·3% of voters in a referendum held on August 30. A letter of intent to go ahead with the long-planned project had been signed by Liechtenstein’s Deputy Prime Minister and ...
-
NewsEuropean Rail Partnership to succeed Shift2Rail
EUROPE: The European Commission has invited expressions of interest in becoming founding members of a new European Partnership on Rail Research & Innovation, which is being put forward as a successor to the current Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking.