International & UK Railway News Friday 7th February 2014

 Total Railway News

 

 


The weather is not going to go away in a hurry, neither will the issues surrounding the devastating damage to the Dawlish sea wall. Repairs will cost millions. (a drop in the ocean compared with money spent on Crossrail, and the proposed amount to be spent on HS2) Already there is talk of a effectively reinstating a route avoiding Dawlish. We shall await developments....


In China the railways brace themselves for the expected high volumes of traffic at the end of the New Year holiday... and an Indian media outlet contains an article describing the growing Chinese high speed network as having "immense strategic military value"....


Read on........

Headlines


First Great Western Train Makes Way Along Track Surrounded By Floodwater . (BBC News)


Railway Lines Shut 50 Years Ago Could Be Reopened...? (Daily Mail)


Historic Storm Damaged Line Threatened With Closure. (FT)


Thousands Of FGW Passengers Pay DOUBLE Because of Storm Damage. (Daily Mail)


Dawlish Train Battered By Waves. (BBC News)


Dawlish Storm Damage To Cost Millions (BBC News)


Dawlish Rail Line..Before, During and After Storm. (BBC News)


China Braces For Travel Peak On Final Day Of New Year Holiday. ((WantChinaTimes)

Thai-China high-speed rail project thwarted by rice deal probe (WantChinaTimes)


Victoria, Australia. Regional Rail Link Video


Highspeed rail has 'immense strategic military value' (Press Trust of India)


Bullet train could be privately built by 2020 (Calgary Herald)


Environment Agency's Lord Smith To Visit Flood Area. (BBC News)


Northern Hub £600 Million Rail Work Starts At Manchester Airport. (BBC News)


Swindon to Kemble Railway Line Redoubling Delayed. (BBC News)


Erlebnis Modellbahn Dresden (YouTube)

In 2010 Amtrak ordered 70 electric locomotives for its Northeast Corridor. Now regular operations of the first electric locomotives are starting. The Boston-Washington connection ranks as one of the busiest rail-traffic links in the US. With the new locomotives, thanks to faster sequences, Amtrak can transport more passengers along the same route. The first Siemens locomotives for the US market are being built at the Rail Systems factory in Sacramento. Is this America's Rail Renaissance? Learn more: http://w3.usa.siemens.com/mobility/us...

Siemens    

Press Releases.

All Aboard! U.S. Vice President Biden welcomes first Siemens-built Amtrak locomotive entering passenger service

Berlin, 2014-Feb-07

• First of 70 Amtrak locomotives manufactured at Siemens plant in Sacramento begins passenger service today
• In remarks made yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx emphasized the importance of this next-generation rail transportation for the country's infrastructure

In a commemorative ceremony held at Philadelphia's 30th Street rail station, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx joined Siemens and Amtrak executives to debut the first Siemens-built electric locomotive for Amtrak, the nation's intercity passenger rail service and high-speed rail operator. The advanced technology locomotive enters passenger service today.

Amtrak awarded Siemens a $466 million (€338 million) contract in October, 2010, to deliver 70 electric locomotives. For Siemens, this order marked the company's entry into the American locomotive market. The locomotives, known as the Amtrak Cities Sprinter, are being assembled at Siemens' solar-powered rail manufacturing plant in Sacramento (California). The equipment includes parts built from Siemens plants in Norwood (Ohio), Alpharetta (Georgia) and Richland (Mississippi) and nearly 70 other suppliers, representing more than 60 cities and 23 states.

Capable of pulling 18 train cars at a maximum speed of 125 mph (200 km/h) these new Amtrak locomotives will safely and efficiently power commuters along the heavily traveled Northeast corridor between Washington, New York and Boston.  Amtrak operates more than 300 intercity trains daily on a railroad network of almost 21,300 miles that serves 500 cities in North America. Its ridership continues to grow, with the company transporting 31.6 million passengers in 2013, an all-time annual record, and the 10th such record in 11 years.

The Amtrak Cities Sprinters are based on Siemens' Eurosprinter and Vectron locomotives and are designed for improved reliability and easier maintenance, leading to faster turn-around times and increased availability for service. The 70 new locomotives are equipped with regenerative braking that allows energy to be fed into the power system for use by other trains. When fully deployed and operated as designed, the regenerative braking feature may result in the generation of 3 billion kilowatt hours of energy. At an estimated 10 cents per kilowatt hour, the energy generated equals $300 million in electricity being returned to the power system for use by other trains.

A state-of-the-art microprocessor system performs self-diagnosis of technical issues, takes self-corrective action and notifies the locomotive engineer. In addition, there are redundant systems to ensure power is maintained to the passenger cars to keep heating and cooling systems working, the lights on and the doors operational.  The locomotives meet the latest federal rail safety regulations, including crash energy management components.

The locomotives are equipped to operate with the three contact line voltages of 25 kV, 12.5 kV and 12 kV in use in North America and offer a power output of up to 6.4 MW, which far exceeds the performance of older locomotive generations. Thanks to its simple and easily accessible component structure, the locomotive's technical design also enables quick and cost-efficient maintenance, potentially saving Amtrak several hundred million dollars in operating costs over the fleet's entire life cycle.

Raaberbahn plans to order five regional trains from Siemens

Berlin, 2014-Jan-31

The Austrian operative part of the privately owned railway Raab-Oedenburg-Ebenfurter Eisenbahn AG (German name: Raaberbahn AG; Hungarian name: GYSEV Zrt.) is placing an order with Siemens – subject to a successful bidding procedure for financing – for five Desiro ML regional multiple unit trains. The Raaberbahn is the only cross-border private railway in Austria and operates mainly in western Hungary and eastern Austria, Burgenland province and metropolitan Vienna. These regional three-car electric multiple units are to be built with two-system capability (15 kV AC / 25 kV AC) and delivered from mid-2016 onwards. The trains will be built at the Siemens plant in Krefeld, Germany, while the bogies will be supplied from the Siemens works in Graz, Austria.

The new trains represent a milestone for future rail traffic between Deutschkreuz and Vienna, and between Pamhagen and Vienna in cooperation with Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB)", said Dr. Csaba Székely, Managing Board Director Raaberbahn, at the signing ceremony. The Desiro ML trains will be delivered as three-car basic units, each with four doors on each side of entry and 259 comfortable seats. They will benefit from a particularly high level of equipment and excellent passenger comfort and achieve a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour. Convenient low-floor entrances guarantee barrier-free access without ramps, even for wheelchair users and families with strollers or baby carriages. The floor height is 600 mm.


The Desiro ML is a flexible and reliable vehicle which, thanks to its conception as permanently coupled trains, can be individually adapted to passenger volumes. With their improved drive systems, allowing further reductions in energy consumption compared with predecessor models, they are especially kind to the environment. The design of the trains too makes use of ecologically sound materials, for example in the paint finish and internal fittings.


The new Desiro ML underway. (Siemens Press Picture)

Technical data

Siemens and Russian Machines establish joint venture

Moscow, 2014-Jan-31

• Partners intend to take part in the invitation to tender for Moscow's metro
• New company will be headquartered in Moscow region

Siemens and the Russian industrial company Russian Machines Corporation, which is headquartered in Moscow, today agreed to establish a joint venture. The new company, in which both partners will invest a total of 160 million Euro, is to be based in the region of Moscow and will employ up to 800 people. Siemens and Russian Machines aim to participate as joint partners in the invitation to tender for Moscow's metro. The Russian capital wants to modernize its metro fleet and is planning to purchase more than 2,000 cars.

"Siemens is the most successful foreign provider of rail technology in the Russian market. We want to further reinforce this role in the country. With Russian Machines, we have won one of the most renowned industrial companies in Russia as a partner," said Jochen Eickholt, CEO of the Rail Systems Division at Siemens. "In cooperation with Siemens AG we plan to provide the city of Moscow with one of the most advanced rolling stock in the world. Moreover, we intend to localize the production of new generation rail cars and thus create new jobs in the Moscow region", said Siegfried Wolf, chairman of Russian Machines.

The contract is likely to be awarded to a bidder that can prove that value added is generated locally. To this end, Siemens and Russian Machines intend to establish local production operations in the greater Moscow region; these could cater for up to 80 percent of localization as of 2017 supported by the Siemens metro car plant in Vienna, Austria. In September 2013, Siemens and Russian Machines presented their first design study for the trains at the 4th International Rail Salon of Engineering and Technologies "EXPO 1520" in Moscow. The new generation of trains has been specially developed for Moscow's metro and offers a combination of great comfort, higher capacity and maximum safety for passengers. In addition, the new models reduce power consumption and maintenance costs compared with the trains currently in use in Moscow.


The joint venture is to make a major contribution to modernizing Russia's infrastructure and increasing industrial value added – two issues that Joe Kaeser, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens AG, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin discussed intensively at a meeting in October 2013.


www.railway-technology.com Updates..


Network Rail signs over £600m contract with five suppliers
Network Rail's National Delivery Service (NDS) has signed a five-year contract worth over £600m with DB Schenker, Freightliner Heavy Haul, GBRf, Direct Rail Services and Colas Rail to provide haulage in different proportions for its fleet of engineering trains.
Faiveley Transport to upgrade door system of Swedish SJ 2000 train
Swedish State Railways (SJ) has awarded a contract to Faiveley Transport to modernise the door system of the 36 SJ 2000 high-speed trains fleet.
Greenbrier to design new tank car for hazardous freight service
Transportation equipment supplier Greenbrier will design a new generation tank car for the transport of flammable crude oil and ethanol.
AXION secures second purchase order for Ecotrax rail ties
Recycled plastic technologies provider AXION International Holdings has secured a second purchase order from an international freight line for its Ecotrax 100% recycled plastic rail ties.


International Railway Journal


AMTRAK staged a ceremony at Philadelphia's 30th Street station on February 6 in the presence of US vice-president Mr Joe Biden and US transportation secretary Mr Anthony Foxx to mark the entry into service of the first of 70 locomotives being supplied by Siemens.


OMAN's minister of transport and communications, Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Futaisi, this week confirmed that a tender for prequalification of contractors for design and build, and systems packages for Oman's national railway project will be issued this month.


SPANISH infrastructure manager Adif has awarded a consortium of Alstom and Isolux Corsán a €28m contract to design, construct and maintain a traction substation and catenary system for the 44.3km link under-construction between La Robla in León and Pola de Tena, Asturias, which will eventually form part of the León to Gijon high-speed line.




www.progressiverailroading.com US News  New




UP boosts 2014 capex, installs Fritz as president and COO

 Strong 4Q capped off 'banner year' for intermodal volume, IANA says

Amtrak's first new electric locomotive ready for service

AAR: U.S. railroads registered good traffic-building month to start 2014

MTA completes repairs at six NYCT stations

CSX to construct inspection yard in Kentucky

Valley Metro to note milestone in Central Mesa light-rail extension

Washington state DOT seeks operator for soon-to-reopen Royal Slope line

Rail supplier news from Whitmore, Alstom, Bombardier, Urban Engineers, Amsted Rail, Sam Schwartz and Nisus (Feb. 7)
 






US HSR                  New

U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY ANTHONY FOXX TO HEADLINE USHSR HIGH SPEED RAIL SUMMIT  

Summit to be held in Washington, DC, February 25-27 

     

Washington, DC - The US High Speed Rail Association (USHSR) is pleased to announce U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will headline the upcoming High Speed Rail Summit in Washington, DC, February 25-27. This three-day rail conference brings together the nation's top government officials and many of the world's leading experts to discuss the roll out of high speed rail across America.

 

Anthony Foxx became the 17th United States Secretary of Transportation on July 2, 2013. In nominating him, President Obama said, "I know Anthony's experience will make him an outstanding Transportation Secretary. He's got the respect of his peers, mayors, and governors all across the country. And as a consequence, I think that he's going to be extraordinarily effective."

 

"We are very proud to have Secretary Foxx headline our conference," said Andy Kunz, USHSR President & CEO. "Secretary Foxx's experience at the local level as mayor of Charlotte is extremely valuable for shaping national transportation policy. We look forward to working with the Secretary to advance high speed rail in America across party lines," added Kunz.
Rod Diridon, Chairman of the USHSR Advisory Board stated "Transportation Secretary Foxx is a seasoned, no-nonsense leader who's record of support for sustainable transportation, including high speed rail, has been well earned by his policies as the Mayor of Charlotte and his staunch support for the President. He also has the confidence of the US Conference of Mayors, a powerful, bi-partisan element of our national advocacy community supporting infrastructure investments."

As U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Foxx leads an agency with more than 55,000 employees and a $70 billion budget that oversees air, maritime, and surface transportation. His primary goal is to ensure that America maintains the safest, most efficient transportation system in the world.
Joining Secretary Foxx at the High Speed Rail Summit are members of Congress, Federal Railroad Administration officials, international high speed rail experts, private rail operators, financial and investment professionals, engineers, construction leaders, real estate development professionals and national transportation advisors.

 For more information on the association and the conference, visit ushsr.com

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