International & UK Railway News Friday 14th March 2014

HS2 will benefit the city (Sheffield)..and that is in advance of a report due in May that will discuss the viability..or otherwise..of the project.


Tram and light rail systems continue to be developed..Edinburgh, at last, anticipates its new tram system, whilst Wolverhampton will benefit from Centro's £5 million track upgrade.
And not far from there, at the foot of the famous Lickey Incline, Bromsgrove Station replacement work begins.


On the financial front, Eurotunnel at last emerges from two decades of challenging trading with record ridership and profits..but not such good news for UK taxpayers who will foot the bill for the collapsed Tube signalling contract.


And with spring on the way, heritage railways gear up for their new seasons.....


Read on...



Headlines



High-speed rail to take Kochi-Kasaragod route.(The Hindu)


Exclusive look at HS2 vision for city(Sheffield) The Star


Minister visits Metro extension and announces £5 million tram track upgrade for Wolverhampton - Centro website
Bromsgrove £17.4m railway station replacement starts. (BBC News)


Call for 'fairer deal' for Kent commuters.(BBC News)


Bombay Railway. Dreams. (BBC iPlayer)
Documentary following the hopes and ambitions of workers on Bombay's vast railway network, including Mumtaz Kazi, Indian Railway's first fully qualified female train driver.
Available on iPlayer for 3 more days...


MPs demand changes to transport funding to end historic London bias.(The Yorkshire Post)

Eurotunnel profits triple to a record 100m euros.(BBC News)

Testing time for city's new tram system.(heraldscotland)

Trains cancelled after conductors banned from walking to station. (The Telegraph)

Taxpayers WILL foot bill for collapsed £350m signal contract, Tube boss admits.(London Evening Standard)



HS2 viability to be outlined in May report. (Bucks Free Press)

Rotterdam Centraal officially opened.(Global Rail News)

First Great Western may get second direct award.(railnews.co.uk)


FGW at London Paddington.




Campaign calls for railway to reopen.(Derbyshire Times)


Eurotunnel sees light at last after two dark decades.(Irish Times)


www.parliament.uk





Transport Committee - Twelfth Report
Future programme 2014

Here you can browse the report together with the Proceedings of the Committee. The published report was ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 10 March 2014.

Contents Terms of Reference Future programme 2014 Annex: inquiry suggestions Formal Minutes List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament

Siemens

The Hague orders another 20 trams

Berlin, 2014-Mar-13

• Dutch operator HTM exercises option for more Avenio trams
• Order worth around 55 million euros
• Trams to be manufactured at Siemens plant in Vienna

The Dutch transit operator HTM today placed an order with Siemens for another 20 Avenio type trams for The Hague, Netherlands. With this order, which is worth around 55 million euros, HTM is exercising an option of a contract that was signed in autumn 2011. The original order was for a total of 40 Avenio type low-floor trams. The new Avenios will be built at the same Siemens plant in Vienna, Austria, where the first batch is now in production.

Siemens Press Picture                 

"Back in 2011, HTM was the first operator worldwide to order our Avenio, which has meanwhile established itself in the market very well. So this latest order pleases us all the more! The Avenio proves that we are offering an innovative tram that appeals to passengers and operators alike," said Sandra Gott-Karlbauer, head of the global business with urban transport vehicles at Siemens’ Rail Systems Division.
The 40 trams under the main contract will be deployed in The Hague on Lines 9, 11, 15 and 17. In future, the Avenios operating on Line 9 will carry passengers from the city’s main railway station to the seaside resort of Scheveningen. The 20 additional Avenios will, in future, run on Line 1, the oldest route on the capital's network.

CER - The Voice of European Railways

Transport Council lights the way to a breakthrough in European rail research and gives green light for the ERA Regulation

A satisfying compromise was found today by Europe´s Transport Ministers for the legal framework of the Shift²Rail Joint Undertaking, well balancing the needs of railway undertakings and infrastructure managers as well as the European railway manufactures and suppliers. CER also notes a step forward being made with the ERA regulation and encourages all actors keeping a strong European focus in the upcoming trialogue discussions.

The decision taken on Shift²Rail is the next important milestone for a breakthrough approach in the framework of Horizon 2020. The relay is now passed on to the European Commission for drafting the Shift²Rail Master Plan. With the legal framework being shaped, the railway sector now calls all European institutions and other entities involved to define the detailed strategic goals of tomorrow’s European railway sector including the standardisation of spare parts. Shift²Rail shall help to realise real interoperability of a safe European railway system.   The Council further agreed on a general approach regarding a proposal intended to define new tasks to be carried out by the European Railway Agency. The draft regulation is part of the Fourth Railway Package and will turn the Agency from a purely regulatory institution into the European railway authority responsible for vehicle authorisation and safety certification. CER supports the principle of trust and confidence between the ERA and the national safety authorities but underlines the need for clear decision-making processes with the Agency as final decision-making body. In addition, CER would like to see the spare parts coordination to be re-added to the Agency’s mandate and that the Board of Appeal’s decisions are fully binding. The European Aviation Safety Agency has already implemented this principle and CER recommends following this good example.   CER Executive Director Libor Lochman added: “I appreciate the work of the Greek Presidency and the whole Transport Council as they managed to handle well two dossiers of high importance to the rail sector: Shift²Rail and the revision of the Regulation establishing the European Railway Agency. The Council’s decision shows the right approach for rail research and the opportunity to re-vitalise the European rail system in technical terms. The legal framework for interoperability and safety as well as the ERA regulation still needs to be optimised and finalised in the trialogue discussions.” www.progressiverailroading.com US News BNSF's Ice to North Dakota senators: Ag product shipments will be on time come June U.S. rail traffic was mixed again in year's 10th week MBTA set to kick off late-night weekend service Grade separation opens in California; crossing projects advance in Ohio BART to offer safety app for smartphones OmniTRAX honors five employees' safety efforts Frey joins South Florida RTA's board Rail supplier news from Ansaldo, Siemens, Railserve, Hatch Mott MacDonald, Keolis and RSI/CMA (March 14)

Federal Railroad Administration Releases Results of Metro North Safety Review


WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced its findings and recommendations from an intensive 60-day comprehensive safety assessment of Metro-North Commuter Railroad.  The assessment, known as Operation Deep Dive, found that Metro-North’s management emphasizes on-time performance to the detriment of safe operations and adequate maintenance of its infrastructure, resulting in a deficient safety culture, increased risk and reduced safety on the Metro-North system. The report requires Metro-North to submit plans to FRA within 60-days on how it will improve the effectiveness of its Safety Department and training programs.   


“Safety is our top priority, and this in-depth assessment should serve as a wake-up call to Metro-North as they work to make their operations safer,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.  “Efficiency and on-time performance are important, but they cannot come before the safety of every passenger on board or those communities along the system.”


 The report instructs Metro-North to take the following actions to mitigate risk and to begin a turnaround of the railroad’s safety culture:

• Effective immediately, Metro-North’s senior leadership must put safety front and center, and communicate and implement that priority throughout its organization.  
• Within 60 days, Metro-North shall submit to FRA a plan to improve its Safety Department’s mission and effectiveness, including providing appropriate in-person monitoring of field activities and personnel. 
• Within 60 days, Metro-North shall submit to FRA a plan to improve its employee training, ensuring that it develops and implements an effective training program for all operating departments. 

The assessment directs Metro-North to address twenty-five (25) specific recommendations covering eight (8) safety critical concerns identified by FRA.  These include:

• Track safety standards
• Railroad operating rules
• Certification requirements for locomotive engineers and conductors
• Safety training for roadway workers and employees who maintain rolling stock
• Train control systems
• Operations Control Center
• Fatigue management for maintenance-of-way employees     

“Safety is and must always be a railroad’s number one priority,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C. Szabo. “It is essential that Metro-North ensure a safety culture that clearly prioritizes safety first – the traveling public deserves no less.”


FRA announced Operation Deep Dive on December 16, 2013 following a train crash near Spuyten Duyvil Station that killed four people and injured nearly 70 others.  The tragic accident is one of four notable accidents that occurred on the railroad in 2013.   Review the entire report on Metro-North.  Read our original announcement of Operation Deep Dive. 


FRA is committed to continuous safety improvement through a rigorous regulatory oversight driven by thorough inspections and enforcement actions when necessary. This strategy builds upon FRA’s data-driven approach that is a driving force in achieving historic safety gains across the rail industry over the last decade.  Learn more about the next generation of safety.




www.railway-technology.com Updates....


Škoda Electric to supply equipment for 40 metro trainsets in China
Czech electric motors producer Škoda Electric has signed a CZK1.1bn ($55.9m) contract for the supply of additional drives and motors in China.
        
China's ZTE contracted to modernise Nigerian railway
China-based ZTE Corporation's rail transport service has been awarded a contract to enable the modernisation of the 1,315km-long Nigerian railway.
       
Siemens to supply 20 additional Avenio trams for The Hague
Siemens has received another order worth €55m from Dutch transit operator HTM to deliver 20 additional Avenio type trams for The Hague, Netherlands.
       
FCC consortium wins Doha Metro contract
A consortium led by Spanish infrastructure company FCC has secured a €506m contract from the Qatar Railways Company to build a section of Doha Metro red line.


Heritage News...

The Wensleydale Railway


THE FULL LINE IS REOPENING!!! w/c 14th April 2014 our Full Line will reopen. We hope you are as excited as us. The guys working on site have done an amazing job and have kept to schedule, Thank You Ray, Tim & Colin. Work on site will continue throughout the summer but we can run over site at a reduced speed while the work is being completed. We look forward to seeing you throughout the season

Spring Steam Gala line-up announced. | North Yorkshire Moors Railway :: A steam train adventure through the stunning Yorkshire Moors


Weekend Shed Tours – Sat 15th and Sun 16th March(GCR)


GWR - Gloucestershire's mainline heritage railway - Sunny start to 2014 season!