World Railway News 13th November 2012

The Railway Chronicle is pleased to bring the latest news from the following trusted sources.....


International Railway Journal


..reports on...

TRENSURB, the metro operator in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, has selected FrotaPoa, a consortium of CAF and Alstom, as its preferred bidder for a contract to supply 15 four-car emus.

EUROPE's economic crisis continues to have a detrimental impact on rail traffic according to figures gathered by the Community of European Railways and Infrastructure Managers (CER), which reveal year-on-year declines in both passenger numbers and freight volumes during the second quarter of 2012.


www.progressiverailroading.com US Railroad News

DART prepares opening of Blue, Orange line extensions
SEPTA unveils plan to reduce energy costs
United Steel Workers members ratify CP contract
Union Pacific to replace track in Portland tunnel
Carloads rose for RailAmerica, fell for Genesee & Wyoming in October
CTA places 5000-series cars into service on Red Line
NIT League honors ATA leader Graves as top logistics executive for 2012
Rail supplier updates from Alstom, Sasser, AllTranstek and HDR (Nov. 13)




www.railway-technology.com Updates..

Russian Railways to invest $2.68bn in new locomotive fleet Russian Railways is planning to invest RUB85bn ($2.68bn) in 2013 to upgrade its ageing fleet with the purchase of 770 long and short-haul locomotives. 
      
Thales wins Manaus Monorail signalling contract in Brazil
Thales has secured a communications-based train control (CBTC) signalling contract for the Manaus Monorail project in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. 
      
Expanded Amtrak and NJ Transit services start between New York and New Jersey
Increased services between New York City and New Jersey have started following large-scale clean-up and repair operations on the East River and Hudson River tunnel system in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. 
      
Hyundai gets Brazil's go-ahead for high-speed rail project bid
Hyundai has received approval from the Brazilian Government to submit a bid for the proposed BRL33bn ($16.5bn) high-speed railway project that would link Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Campinas.




Shedmaster Railway News
Read about how Czech manufacturer CZ Loko has won a €20m contract to supply Belarus Railways with 20 locomotives for shunting and light main line freight duties.


World Heritage & Railway News
News from www.nymr.co.uk , www.gwsr.com, www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk..

..and www.nrm.org.uk

 

 

 

 

 

Railway Engineering News
From www.railwaygazette.com read about a "flying seagull" transport interchange hub planned for Istanbul....

Decrease in rail freight across Europe, and decline of rail passenger traffic especially in CEEC
Data collected by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) on the performance of the rail passenger and freight sectors in 2Q2012 shows a decrease of rail freight and rail passenger in all regions across Europe compared to 2Q2011.
Decrease for rail freight operators in Europe in 2012 Rail freight traffic in Europe has been recovering steadily since the economic crisis of 2008. However, as the economy started contracting again at the beginning of 2012, so has the rail freight sector. The performance of the European rail freight market decreased by 6.1% in 1Q2011 and 7.8% in 2Q2012 compared to the same period in the previous year. During this period, the rail freight sector shrank by more than industrial production, which decreased by 1.3% and 1.8%[1] respectively. For the first six months of 2012, rail freight traffic in Europe decreased by 6.9% in Europe. Compared to the same period in the previous year, tonne-kilometres in EU15 (+CH) decreased by 6.1% in 1Q2012 and 7.8% in 2Q2012. Similarly, tonne-kilometres in Central and Eastern Europe countries (CEEC) decreased by 6.2% in 1Q2012 and 7.6% in 2Q2012 compared to the same period in the previous year.
Graph 1: Quarterly Rail Freight Development (million tonne-kilometres)			Graph 2: Rail freight -comparison of 2Q2012 level to pre-crisis level(million tonne-kilometres)
Decrease of passenger traffic in CEEC The performance of the rail passenger sector in Europe experienced a decrease of 0.9% in thefirst six months of 2012. In EU15 (+CH) passenger-kilometres remained unchanged in 1Q2012 (+0.04%) and decreased by 1.1% in 2Q2012 compared to the same period in the previous year. At the same time, the unemployment rate in EU15 grew by 8.7% in 1Q2011 (from 9.4% in 1Q2011 to 10.3% in 1Q2012), and by 10.4% in 2Q2012 (from 9.5% in 2Q2011 to 10.4% in 2Q2012)[2]. Overall, rail passenger-kilometres in EU15 declined by 0.5% in the first six months of 2012. The performance of the rail passenger sector in CEEC saw an even greater decline in the first half of 2012. Compared to the same period in the previous year, passenger-kilometres decreased by 4.1% in 1Q2012 and 4.8% in 2Q2012. At the same time, the unemployment rate in EU12 decreased by 9.2% in 1Q2012 (from 9.9% in 1Q2011 to 10.9% in 1Q2012) and by 12.4% in 2Q2012 (from 9.9% in 2Q2011 to 11.3% in 2Q2012). For the first six months in 2012, rail passenger transport in CEEC declined by almost 4.5%. CER Executive Director Libor Lochmancommented: “The decline of the rail freight sector across Europe shows the difficult economic conditions in which rail freight companies must operate today. Likewise, the decline of the rail passenger sector in CEEC shows that rail passenger operators must be compensated adequately for public service obligations in order to be able to operate effectively during these economically difficult times.”
Graph 3: Quarterly Rail Passenger Development (million passenger-kilometres)		Graph 4:2Q2012 Rail Passenger Development(million passenger-kilometres)
Table 1: Trend of the European Rail Freight Sector (million -tonne-kilometres)		Table 2: Trend of the European Rail Passenger Sector (million passenger-kilometres)
Glossary: Tonne-kilometre (t-km):represents the transport of one tonne of goods by road or rail over a distance of one kilometre Passenger-kilometre (p-km):represents the transport of one passenger by a defined mode of transport (road, rail, air, sea, inland waterways etc.) over one kilometre EU15 (+CH) refers to the EU15 countries as well as Switzerland. The CER sample covers 94% of total EU15 (+CH) tonne-kilometres and 99% of total EU15(+CH) passenger-kilometres. CEEC stands for Central and Eastern European Countries and includes the new EU12 member states as well as Bosnia Herzegovina. The CER sample covers 77% of total CEEC tonne-kilometres and 89% of total CEEC passenger-kilometres.