International & UK Railway News Thursday 27th February 2014

 Total Railway News

 

 


The railways and safety cannot be separated. You cannot have one without the other..
A woman in Holland nearly found out to her cost that level crossings, with a train racing through,  are not the kind of place to take silly risks . 

And risks are what the USDOT would like carriers of oil to especially mitigate against.


Railways under water (in Somerset), and railways seriously damaged by water (sea water in Dawlish's case) exercise the engineering minds of UK's Network Rail.


We read of the increasing numbers using Britain's railways (see ORR report on 10 busiest stations), GNER's application to run services on the ECML, and share with Russian Railways a video celebrating a successful Winter Olympics.


Read On........



Headlines..

27/02/14 – New GNER proposed services between West Yorkshire, Cleethorpes and London King’s Cross

NEW DIRECT GNER RAIL SERVICES PROPOSED BETWEEN LONDON KING’S CROSS AND WEST YORKSHIRE AND LONDON KING’S CROSS AND CLEETHORPES 
Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) has today announced its application to introduce a new direct express train service on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) between London King’s Cross, and stations in West Yorkshire and Lincolnshire to commence in December 2017.

The key features of this GNER proposal are:

• a two-hourly service to Leeds calling at a new East Leeds Parkway station
• six trains a day continuing to Bradford and one to Ilkley, all calling at Kirkstall Forge, an important new commercial and residential development
• up to four trains a day to Cleethorpes via Doncaster, Scunthorpe and Grimsby, restoring direct links between Humberside towns and London
• investment in a fleet of new Hitachi Super Express Trains capable of running at 140mph
• a total investment of at least £130 million
• more than 160 new jobs created for this operation, plus significant wider economic benefits across the towns and cities served.

Ian Yeowart, managing director of Alliance Rail, GNER’s parent company, said: “This proposal is an important opportunity to further strengthen and grow the UK’s rail network. It will bring significant private investment to the industry; improve transport for passengers by delivering direct inter-city rail services to many new areas, and support government aims to generate wider economic benefits and future opportunities in the North of England.”




Watch terrifying moment woman is almost hit by high speed train after she ducks under level crossing.(Mirror)

 

Top lessons learned from Ottawa’s Transit system project.(totalrail)

 

European Parliament adopts equivocal first reading position on fourth railway package.(Think Railways)

Fire Protection of Rolling Stock 2014,Berlin. 19-20 March 2014. (Arena International)

South West MPs in HS2 support threat.(BBC News)

Rail bosses mull five options on wrecked Dawlish line.(BBC News)

 

Dawlish railway: Close-up look at rail line repairs.(BBC News)



Hastings to Tonbridge: Call for rail survey after landslips.(BBC News)

 

Submerged Somerset railway line to remain closed for 'many weeks' (BBC News)

 

Training for trains: Railway towns bid for HS2 college.(BBC News)

Borders Railway: Council retains Carlisle rail goal.(BBC News)

 

Raids in Kent to crackdown on rail passenger thieves(BBC News)

 

Keep working at oil safety, rail chief says.(FT.com)

 

Space-age design as Birmingham HS2 station revealed.(Express & Star)

Syria: National Railways Expansion.(MENA Rail News)

Virgin Trains achieves environmental management certification. (edie Energy)



Birmingham unveils ambitious HS2 masterplan.(insider media)


$19 billion in dedicated funding for rail as President Obama lays out vision for 21st century transportation infrastructure.(SmartRail World)



UK Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) 

Waterloo remains Britain’s most heavily used station

27 February 2014

London Waterloo remains the most heavily used station in Britain clocking nearly 96 million passenger entries and exits last year – an increase of 1.8m (or 1.9%) compared to 2011-12, reveals latest data published today by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).

The report for station usage across Britain for the period April 2012 - March 2013 also shows that:

• The number of people using stations across Britain in 2012-13 increased by over 82m – a 3.3% rise compared to the year before.
• The list of top 10 stations has remained unchanged since 2011-12 with eight of the 10 stations located in London.
• All the top 10 stations reported a rise in usage with the largest increase at London Euston, which saw an increase of 1.8m entries and exits – due to the increasing demand for London Overground services.
• Of the top 20 most used stations in Great Britain, the largest growth was seen at Stratford, aided by the London Olympics.

Table: Top 10 most used stations in England, Scotland and Wales based on estimated entries and exits for 2012/13:

Station	2012-13 entries & exits	2011-12 entries & exits	% change	GB rank 2012-13	GB rank 2011-12
Waterloo	95,936,542	94,127,282	1.9	1	1
Victoria	77,346,676	76,163,428	1.6	2	2
Liverpool Street	58,448,814	57,105,400	2.4	3	3
London Bridge	53,351,116	52,603,158	1.4	4	4
Charing Cross	38,607,238	38,113,546	1.3	5	5
Euston	38,299,206	36,520,544	4.9	6	6
Paddington	34,143,220	33,709,272	1.3	7	7
Birmingham New Street	32,090,346	31,235,638	2.7	8	8
King's Cross	28,454,460	27,840,484	2.2	9	9
Glasgow Central	27,185,020	26,610,016	2.2	10	10

 

Russian Railways

Travelling through Russia: beautiful views and stunning scenery. Want to see Russia? Check out our video!

 

 

BTS Releases December North American Freight Numbers:

Three of Five Modes Carried More U.S.-NAFTA Trade in December 2013 than in December 2012 

Three of the five transportation modes – truck, vessel and pipeline – carried more U.S.-NAFTA trade in December 2013 than in December 2012, according to the December TransBorder Freight Data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).  

BTS reported that pipelines showed the most year-to-year growth at 21.7 percent as the value of overall U.S. trade with its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico rose 6.4 percent from year to year.  

Trade by Mode

Truck, which carries nearly three-fifths of U.S.-NAFTA trade and is the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both U.S.-NAFTA partners, rose 7.2 percent year-to-year while rail declined 2.3 percent. Vessel rose 10.7 percent and air declined 3.2 percent.

Trucks carried 57.2 percent of the $90.1 billion of U.S.-NAFTA trade in December 2013 accounting for $26.3 billion of exports and $25.2 billion of imports. While the value of freight carried by rail decreased from year-to-year, rail was still the second largest mode, at 14.9 percent, followed by vessels at 11.2 percent, pipeline at 7.7 percent and air at 4.0 percent. The surface transportation modes of truck, rail and pipeline carried 79.7 percent of the total NAFTA freight flows. 

Trade with Canada

U.S.-Canada trade by pipeline, of which 89.2 percent was imported, increased the most of any mode from December 2012 to December 2013, growing 21.9 percent. U.S.-Canada pipeline trade comprised 95.2 percent of total U.S.-NAFTA pipeline trade in December. Vessel freight exports to Canada increased by 64.8 percent from December 2012 due to an increase in exports of mineral fuels. 

Trade with Mexico

The value of U.S.-Mexico trade by pipeline had the largest percentage increase of any mode from December 2012 to December 2013, growing 17.5 percent. Freight moved by vessel and air between the U.S. and Mexico increased by 14.8 percent and decreased by 0.2 percent respectively.

See BTS Transborder Data Release for summary tables and additional data. See North American Transborder Freight Data  on the BTS website for additional data for surface modes since 1995 and all modes since 2004.           

 

 

www.progressiverailroading.com US News

 

Obama proposes $302 billion plan for transportation infrastructure 
 
PTC, crude by rail were hot rail safety topics at House subcommittee hearing
 
 
WMATA officials hail funding from Maryland, Virginia and D.C.
 
 
CN counts on community outreach to help bolster safety
 
 
FTA OKs CATS' project development phase for streetcar expansion; CATS employee wins APTA contest
 
 
Container volumes tumbled at Tacoma port, rose at Virginia port in January
 
 
Colorado DOT finds high-speed transit proposals possible, but expensive
 
Florida port purchases two new switchers
 

 

www.railway-technology.com Updates..

European Parliament MEPs back fourth railway package amendments

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have voted in favour of the amendments to the fourth railway package, aimed to improve the quality of passenger rail services, as well as reducing fragmentation of the internal market.

 

MTR receives first train for South Island Line (East) railway in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's metro operator MTR has received the first of the ten three-car trains fleet for the 7km-long medium capacity South Island Line (East) (SIL(E)) railway at the company's Siu Ho Wan Depot.

UK HS2 chooses Imprima to deliver payment portal and database

The UK Department for Transport's High-Speed Rail (HS2) project has selected virtual data room and financial documents provider Imprima to deliver an online payment portal and USB-archived database.

UK rail passengers dissatisfied with high airport express prices

British rail passengers are dissatisfied with the high prices of airport express trains, according to a UK airport train services survey conducted by consumer research firm 'Which?'.

International Railway Journal

THE first services have operated over the $A 291m ($US 260m) Seaford extension in South Australia, coinciding with the introduction of the first electric suburban services on the Adelaide Metro network.

SAMSUNG C&T Engineering and Construction Mongolia has awarded Vossloh Fastening Systems a contract to supply its MNG 30 fastening system for a new heavy-haul line in Mongolia.

SEOUL Metropolitan Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (SMRT) has issued an invitation to tender for a contract to carry out detailed design for the 7.7km eastern extension of metro Line 5 from Sangildong to Hanam.

SPANISH rolling stock manufacturer CAF announced annual pre-tax profits of €114m in its 2013 financial results released on February 26, which was short of the €127.8m profit posted in 2012.

Other News....

Curzon Street Station to be transformed in massive HS2 regeneration project - Birmingham Post

Optimism returns but skills gap a worry, survey finds - Railway Gazette

Welcome to the north's forgotten railway station | UK news

New Zealand trains sold to Tanzania and Zimbabwe - Railway Gazette

Weekly newsletter 26/02/14 | The UK's Only Main Line Heritage Railway(GCR)

GOV.UK

Organisation review of rail: final report

Recommendations for government rail functions including structures, governance, pay and rewards following an organisational review.

Organisational review of Department for Transport rail functions: final report

PDF, 388KB, 37 pages

This report details the recommendations following an organisational review of rail in terms of the best future location and structure of government rail functions. It focuses on areas including:

• structures
• governance
• pay and reward