Transport Minister Norman Baker gave a video address to the Transport Scotland High Speed Rail Summit, hosted by the Scottish Government. He spoke about how the Department for Transport's plans for a High Speed network will benefit the whole country, acting as the backbone of a new transport system for the 21st century to underpin business competitiveness and economic growth throughout the UK.
IN a landmark ruling, the European Court of Justice has decreed that Austrian infrastructure manager ÖBB Infrastructure acted unlawfully in preventing open-access operator Westbahn from accessing real-time data on the train movements of other operators.
GERMAN infrastructure manager DB Networks will launch a compensation scheme on December 9 for railfreight operators forced to divert their services due to engineering work.
WARSAW Tramways announced on November 22 that Pesa Bydgoszcz has submitted the best offer for a contract to supply a fleet of 45 bidirectional low-floor LRVs with a five-year warranty.
Tomorrow, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) will hold another in his series of hearings on Amtrak's operations.
The hearing will focus on Amtrak's structural reorganization plan, which was launched to improve the railroad's performance and accountability, according to a press release issued yesterday by Mica's office.
The hearing will focus on Amtrak's structural reorganization plan, which was launched to improve the railroad's performance and accountability, according to a press release issued yesterday by Mica's office.
Victoria orders 40 more V/Line train carriages from Bombardier Bombardier has signed a A$207m ($216.4m) contract with the Australian state of Victoria to deliver 40 new V/Line carriages for the Regional Rail Link, which is scheduled to open in 2016.
The Chinese city of Hangzhou has started commercial operations on 48km Metro Line 1, the first metro line in the city.
China to start services on north-eastern high-speed line in December
China will start services on the country's first high-speed rail line through its high-latitude, freezing north-eastern provinces from 1 December 2012.
BMT completes CBM study for VIA Rail Canada
International engineering consultancy BMT Group has completed a condition-based maintenance (CBM) study for VIA Rail Canada to suggest ways of improving performance and availability while cutting costs
Ne w s R e l e a s e
ERRAC, under new Chairmanship, hands over ‘RailRoute 2050’ vision document to the European Commission.
Brussels 27 November 2012
– ERRAC, the European Rail Research Advisory Council, held its plenary meeting in Brussels on Friday 23 November. Under the new Chairmanship of Josef Doppelbauer (Chief Technical Officer, Bombardier) as Chairman together with Andy Doherty and Manuel Pereira as Vice-Chairmen, many important issues currently high on the EU agenda were discussed. The plenary meeting was also the occasion for ERRAC to officially handover the 'RailRoute 2050' Railway Research and Innovation vision document to the European Commission.
András Siegler, Director of the Transport Directorate at the European Commission’s Directorate General Research and Innovation, outlined his views on the future of rail research, especially in the context of the preparation for Horizon 2020. He also thanked ERRAC for the work and the support and expertise provided for FP7 to the European Commission.
Chairman Josef Doppelbauer officially handed over ‘RailRoute 2050’ – a vision to step up rail research, development and innovation – to the European Commission. ‘RailRoute 2050’ offers a range of research opportunities for a competitive, resource-efficient, and intelligent rail transport system that meets the future demands of European citizens, stipulates economic growth, creates European jobs, and strengthens the position of the European rail sector in global competition. 'RailRoute 2050' will serve as a basis for the future work to be done by the platform.
Chairman Doppelbauer also presented a first proposal for new ERRAC Terms of Reference which will establish a new working structure for ERRAC and its members. The Terms of Reference are expected to be officially approved during the next ERRAC Plenary, in the Spring 2013.
The Plenary also discussed the progress on the rail JTI initiative known as SHIFT²RAIL and the ERRAC ROADMAPS results. Presentations on the outcome of the TRA2012 conference and exhibition, the reFINE project, EU-Russia cooperation, as well as possible collaborative actions with ECTP - The European Construction Technology Platform were also made during the meeting.
Concluding the meeting, Chairman Josef Doppelbauer thanked the Vice Chairs and the Secretariat for their help and support, highlighted the good work done by the platform over the past years and encouraged the members and partners to continue in this direction in 2013.
For more information about ‘RailRoute 2050’ and to receive a copy of the document, please contact the ERRAC Secretariat or go to www.errac.org (available for download).
Widespread support for greater rail devolution(gov.uk)
LEO Express fixed-income bonds issued by 7.5% a year
LEO Express, a private rail carrier, issued on 12. December 2012 bonds in volume of up to 550 million dollars. "We want the people can participate in our success and business perspective," says Jaroslav Novotný, founder and CEO of the company.
Bonds with denominations of jednokorunovým, will be due in five years and bear a fixed interest of 7.5 percent per annum
LEO Express in November started a pilot operation with four flights daily on the route between Prague and Ostrava. From 9. December then on the same route starting full operation with 16 flights a day, which will be five brand new combinations, the Swiss manufacturer Stadler.
"The resources obtained from the emission of bonds is planned to be used for the purchase of LEO Express additional trainsets. Indeed, we want to expand and extend the concept of modern and reliable travel to other routes in the Czech Republic and in Central Europe, "explains Peter Köhler, Chief Financial Officer LEO Express. Draws attention to the considerable market potential, because the Czechs, or. The Slovaks or Poles so far, travel by train, on average, less than half of the Austrians or Germans.
"As in the past in telecommunications or air transport, the railway is also now with its gradual liberalisation in Europe, opening up great opportunities for private carriers. You can work more efficiently and provide better service to passengers than the monopoly State-owned firms. For example, private air carriers could after liberalization during the past twenty years gradually gain from zero total 40 percent market share, "adds Jaroslav Novotný. Modern efficient trainsets, and therefore significantly lower operating costs in addition to give LEO Express a big competitive advantage.
ATOC
National Rail travel bulletin - 26 November
26/11/2012The vast majority of trains are running as normal today despite the severe weather affecting some parts of the country.
Across the country as of 14.00 today, around 80 % of trains arrived on time as train companies and Network Rail continue to work hard to ensure that people get safely to where they want to go.
A spokesperson for the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) said: “Although most passengers travelling by train today have experienced no problems whatsoever, we apologise to anyone whose journey did not go according to plan.
“Passenger safety is the industry's top priority and train companies and Network Rail will continue to work closely to ensure as many trains can run as safely as possible.”
A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “Teams of engineers have been working around-the-clock for several days in some places to alleviate the effects of flooding, repairing tracks and strengthening embankments so services can resume safely. While most people’s journeys should remain unaffected, we recommend checking with train operators or National Rail Enquiries for the latest information before travelling.”
To get the latest real-time rail travel information, passengers should use the National Rail Enquiries (NRE) service, paid for and run by train companies, which they can access on the move. Passengers can:
• Download the free NRE apps for iPhone and Android smartphones, giving instant access to real time running information, journey planning and information on any disruption.
• Visit the nationalrail.co.uk website to access live train departures boards and journey planners and to search for local operators’ trains.
• Follow NRE on Twitter or their train company here.
• ‘Like’ NRE’s dedicated Facebook page.
• Call NRE’s automated TrainTracker service on 0871 200 49 50.
Plus more news at:
Shedmaster Railway News
Featuring... internationalrail.com - For most of its history, the Trans-Siberian journey has been an experience of almost continuous movement, seven days or more of unabated train travel through the vast expanse of Russia.
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Shared by Bluebell Railway
railwaygazette.com shared this news from raib.gov.uk - The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has released its report into a fatal accident at James Street station, Liverpool, on 22 October 2011. The RAIB has made three recommendations.
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