World Railway News 23rd October 2012

International Railway Journal

INDIAN Railways (IR) has set the budget for infrastructure development for 2013-18 at Rs 4.56 trillion ($US 86.3bn).

TRANSNET signed a Rand 2.6bn ($US 298m) contract with CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive, China, on October 22 for 95 dual-voltage electric locomotives, which are being ordered as part of a massive investment in railfreight capacity...

BRITAIN's Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and the Rail Research UK Association (RRUKA) have approved proposals from four British universities for studies into reducing the whole-life cost of rolling stock.

A CEREMONY was held in Basle on October 22 to mark the opening of the city's second railway bridge across the river Rhine. Construction began in November 2009 on the twin-track, 240m-long concrete bridge ..


www.progressiverailroading.com US Railroad News


CN posts solid 3Q financial results, appoints Drysdale as investor relations VP

Iowa Pacific Holdings acquires Cape Rail

Phoenix's Valley Metro seeks public input on proposed fare changes

CSXT's coal pier resumes operation in Baltimore

Indiana Rail Road starts work on new locomotive shop, acquires land for transload facility

WMATA completes Dupont Circle escalator project

Metrolink 'wraps' another car to boost weekend ridership

Rail supplier updates from Wabtec, GE, Bombardier, Alstom, Miner and Hatch Mott MacDonald (Oct. 23)


www.railway-technology.com Updates...


DOTC awards MRT Line 3 contract to PH Trams-CB&T JV The Philippine Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has awarded an interim maintenance contract for Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 in Manila to a joint venture between PH Trams and CB&T. 
      
Four companies bid for Philippine LRT-1 extension project
Four companies have submitted bids for the construction of the proposed PHP60bn ($1.3bn) light rail transit (LRT) Line 1 Cavite extension project in Manila, the Philippines.

Network Rail to begin Tarka Line renovation in UK
Network Rail in the UK will start renovation work in two weeks on the Tarka Line, which connects Barnstaple and Exeter in Devon. 
      
Alstom delivers first Citadis tram to Lyon in France
Alstom has delivered the first of 12 high-capacity Citadis tramways to Sytral, the transport authority of Lyon, France.

See also...      

Shedmaster Railway News
51 articles, including Eurostar reveals details of new e320 trains


Railway Engineering News
..including.. In   CHINA, CNR unveiled its first 100% low-floor tram in Changchun on October 19.


World Heritage & Railway News
 nrm.org.uk see some of our collection brought to life with amazing colour and lighting in the Great Hall. .....

Implementation of the Regulation on Rail Passengers’ Rights (EC) No 1371/2007: the Rail Sector’s Report
Tuesday, 09 October 2012

 

The European regulation on the rights and obligations of rail passengers (Regulation (EU) No 1371/2007) came into force on 3 December 2009. Three years later, as railways review the progress made in implementing the regulation, they note that although a lot has been achieved, there is still work for them to improve services to passengers even further. CER is pleased to report quite respectable punctuality; passenger operators record levels above 95% on average. More precisely, 98% of all trains arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled time and even with a 10 minute threshold the figure is still 96%. Furthermore, nearly 100% of trains arrive within 60 or 120 minutes of their scheduled time (60 and 120 minutes are the two thresholds set in the regulation for payment of compensation to passengers).


European railways are also investing resources to improve the way passengers’ complaints are handled. Although the number of complaints has increased since the European regulation came into effect (something which shows that passengers are more and more aware of their rights), CER members report that the time needed to send a response to passengers is generally less than the minimum required (one month). In addition, customers can increasingly make use of alternative dispute resolution systems, which are less costly and time consuming for them than taking action in the courts.

Railways have taken initiatives to improve the way passengers are informed about their rights, especially in the event of disruption where they have to handle hundreds, even thousands of stranded passengers. In this way railways are responding to passengers’ evolving needs and expectations.

Cooperation on ticketing has also increased: CER, CIT and their members are working together to develop systems which can apply right across Europe. Investments have also been prioritised to make rail services accessible to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility; railways are developing innovative solutions to assist passengers with special needs. Railways are also working together to share best practice and to develop guidelines to improve their services to passengers with special needs, for instance with the development of a common assistance booking tool. We are pleased to say that the achievements of the past years have been made possible thanks to a close working relationship with passengers’ representatives. CER and CIT initiated this dialogue in 2003 by setting up bi-annual meetings bringing railways and European federations representing passengers (including organisations representing disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility) together. Within individual countries, dialogue between railways and customer federations, including associations of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, is taking place all the time.

Earlier this year, on 10 May, in this spirit of open dialogue and transparency, we held a workshop in Brussels with the national bodies enforcing Regulation (EC) No 1371/2007. This represented the first attempt to discuss issues with enforcement bodies. As a result of this successful first meeting, follow up discussions will take place on a number of key elements in the regulation. The outcome of these discussions will be shared at a second workshop next year. The European Commission has announced its intention to draft guidelines for the implementation of the regulation on rail passengers’ rights. We hope that this report, which summarises the experience of rail passenger operators and the outcome of their discussions with their passengers and national enforcement bodies, will be a useful contribution and a helpful basis for future discussions with all transport stakeholders.

By Kind permission....

In the latest RFG newsletter,

Network Rail to re-use £25m Peugeot car plant at Ryton for its National Delivery Service

Network Rail has announced plans to open a new 300,000sq ft national distribution

centre on the site of the former Peugeot plant at Ryton in the West Midlands. The

£25m logistics centre is set to create around 100 jobs and is set to become a significant

hub for Network Rail.s National Delivery Service (NDS), positioned at a convenient

location for access to major main lines and with direct access to the A45 and

the motorway network. NR said it would also help reduce costs by centralising previously

leased properties in Lichfield, Worcester and Ludgershall and cut road fleet

mileage.

Martin Elwood, director of Network Rail NDS, said: .Network Rail.s first preference is

to transport goods by rail. This is not always the right solution so we have an extensive

road fleet to transport goods and equipment to our work sites and depots. By

bringing the logistics for this together at Ryton we can offer a more effective and

efficient service for Network Rail. This will mean reduced costs and faster turnaround

times when we do work on the railway.. The site is set to open in July 2013.