Russian Railways to take part in reconstruction of Serbian transport infrastructure affected by floods
Experts from RZD International LLC, a subsidiary of Russian Railways which implements infrastructure projects abroad on behalf of the RZD holding company, and the Serbian Project Institute have began surveying the damage to Serbia's transport infrastructure caused during the severe floods recently.
Experts have already identified 700 active landslides, and more than 20 national and hundreds of municipal railway lines have been damaged. At greatest risk are the Belgrade - Bar line (Corridor XI) and Corridor X, where 52 sections of lines, including bridges, have been damaged according to preliminary estimates.
Reconstruction work will begin after a Serbian Railways' commission has approved project solutions. It is planned that 60 Russian and Serbian experts, as well as 50 pieces of equipment, will be involved.
The combined forces of RZD International and the subcontractors to be involved will reconstruct the damaged stretches on International Corridor XI – Belgrade - Bar line.
Its reconstruction was already provided for in a contract signed in December 2013, with work on the stretch previously been scheduled to begin in 2015. Following the floods, however, work will now be brought forward.
The reconstruction work planned by RZD International LLC will provide substantial assistance to the Serbian side to overcome the consequences of the floods.
Russian Railways expands cooperation with Finnish Railways
"Logistics has always been one of the pillars on which the close links between the economies of Finland and Russia have been built for more than half a century. Together with Finnish Railways, Russian Railways is now for the first time beginning to establish joint subsidiaries in the field of container logistics and rolling stock operations. Time has shown that these solutions were correct and experienced demand on the market," said Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways and Co-Chairman of the Russian-Finnish Business Council.
Yakunin was speaking during a business roundtable on developing integrated logistics in order to lift Finnish-Russian economic integration to a new level. The roundtable was held at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum
According to Yakunin, passenger traffic in recent years had grown by up to 30% per annum. A key role in this increase has been played by a new transport product, the Allegro high-speed train operating between St. Petersburg and Helsinki.
In 2014, Russia and Finland started trial runs of transporting freight using paperless electronic invoices. All the technical issues should be resolved by the end of the year, and the service is scheduled to be launched in 2015. These documents are used not only during the actual transportation, but also for decision-making by the customs and border services and other supervisory bodies in the two countries.
It is no exaggeration to say that this move represents a technological revolution in the design of cross-border international traffic and creates new business opportunities.
Vladimir Yakunin said that in the near future, Russian Railways was planning to launch a completely new product jointly with Finnish Railways - piggyback container shipments. Experts on both sides are currently working out issues of pricing, marketing and improving customs procedures in order to create a competitive product.
"All of this is a graphic illustration that logistics is a powerful driver of Russian- Finnish relations. It is important to understand how logistics can be exploited to an even greater extent in order to develop the border regions of both Russia and Finland and which additional synergistic effects can be discovered," said Vladimir Yakunin.
Comprehensive audit of Moscow - Kazan High-Speed Line project presented at SPIEF
The construction project for a high-speed railway line between Moscow – Vladimir – Nizhny Novgorod – Kazan was presented to participants at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on 22 May 2014.
The line is designed for trains travelling at up to 400 kph.
The event was attended by Alexander Misharin, First Vice-President of Russian Railways, Svetlana Orlova, Governor of Vladimir region, Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Valery Shantsev, Governor of Nizhny Novgorod and representatives from international and Russian railways, auditing and construction companies.
During the presentation, the results of the technical audit and price feasibility study for the construction of the first domestic high-speed rail were presented. As Alexander Misharin noted in his address, Russian and international auditors confirmed the stated cost of constructing the Moscow - Kazan line at 1.06 trillion roubles, of which the state will invest about 380 billion roubles.
Oliver Pitz, CEO of DB International GmbH, presented the results of the project's technical audit and confirmed its compliance with international standards. Olga Arkhangelsk, a Partner at EY, spoke about the work done in preparing the project: a comparison of the project with its international counterparts was presented which showed the structure of the construction costs by region.
During the project presentation, regional leaders put forward an initiative to establish an Association of Mayors and Governors of Regions Linked by the Moscow –Kazan – Yekaterinburg High-Speed Line and Moscow – Rostov- on-Don – Adler High-Speed Line.
In addition to mayors and governors of regions in the high-speed rail network, the Association will also include state and federal politicians and public figures, as well as transport industry professionals.
The aim of the Association will be to collaborate on promoting the advancement and implementation of high-speed line projects in the Russian Federation.
During the presentation, it was announced that the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, the head of the Chuvash Republic and the governors of Nizhny Novgorod and Vladimir regions had made a written appeal to President Vladimir Putin asking him to support the project to build a high-speed rail line between Moscow – Kazan.
"Improving transport accessibility will strengthen ties between Russia's largest cities. The construction of this line is supported by more than 80% of the population living in our regions," said the regional leaders in their letter.
Caspian corridor agreement.(railwaygazette)
Railway Gazette reports on the agreement by Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia to complete the 167 km missing section of the planned north–south corridor along
the west of the Caspian Sea.
Other Railway Press
SmartRail World
$1 million a year revenue boost is the target as BART approves platform digital displays for advertising and news.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board has voted to move forward with converting up to 34 existing poster ads located in three downtown San Francisco stations to 17 digital screens that will display a mix of advertising, news, weather and BART messages. The rapid transit system serves the San Francisco Bay Area and has an average of 373,945 weekday passengers, 176,616 Saturday passengers, and 119,247 Sunday passengers making it the fifth-busiest heavy rail rapid transit system in the United States and an appealing platform for advertisers. Many of BART's passengers work in tech industries so this form of advertising links particularly with a tech-savvy crowd.
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www.railway-technology.com
Transport Scotland selects Serco to operate new £800m Sleeper rail franchise
Transport Scotland has selected Serco Group to handle the 15-year rail franchise for the Caledonian Sleeper service.
A consortium led by Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) has submitted its bid for the Phillipine Government's $1.5bn Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT 1) cavite renovation and expansion project in Manila.
French train maker Alstom has showcased the performance of the integrated security manager (ISM) module for its Iconis integrated control centre.
Bombardier Transportation has delivered its TRAXX multi-engine diesel trains to German railway network Südostbayernbahn (SOB).
www.think-railways.com
Headline articles....
EU backing realization of all planned infrastructure projects in Ukraine
Principal tasks of today for the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine are to create conditions for shipment of domestic goods to the European countries, to use in full the transit potential of the country and draw investments into modernization of Ukraine’s infrastructure. The Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine Maxym Burbak stressed on opening on May 27 a plenary session of the International Transport Week in Odessa. “Ukraine has signed already the political section of the Association Agreement with the EU, and we are expecting, based on the statements of the European partners, to sign in the near future FTA as well, not to mention that now frontiers of the EU were opened in one direction for our goods, so we, being transporters, must ensure their transit along Europe. More
Bombardier Delivers TRAXX Diesel Multi-engine Locomotives to Sudostbayernbahn in Germany
Bombardier Transportation has started delivering its innovative BOMBARDIER TRAXXdiesel multi-engine locomotives. One of the first customers, Südostbayernbahn (SOB), presented the locomotive on the SOB premises in Mühldorf, Germany. More
Half of Romania’s rail network might be transformed into bicycle and pedestrian lanes
According to the Memorandum on “Measures to improve the efficiency of the Romanian railway sector necessary to approve the General Transport Master Plan of Romania”, between 25% and 40% of the 20.077 km national railway network of is subject to closure or leasing to a private operator. In the case of closure, the document suggest building bicycles lines or pedestrian areas. More
China to finance electrification of Tehran-Mashhad railway
Iran plans to electrify Tehran-Mashhad railway in joint venture with a Chinese investor. Manager of the Electrification Project of Iran’s Railways Qassem Saketi told FNA that his department is now “obtaining the necessary licenses for implementing the project through 85 percent of foreign finance”. More
WELCOME EVERYONE TO OUR THIRD ISSUE OF ON-TRACK NEWS
Welcome everyone to our third issue of On-Track News. We now have a circulation of over 40,000 readers globally, overwhelmingly surpassing all our expectations with subscription numbers growing by the week. Our YouTube channel and website have also benefitted significantly, attracting a considerable increase in traffic, and, we've just launched our new Facebook page.
We sincerely hope that you will find this issue of On-Track News informative and an enjoyable read. All newsletters are archived on our website. Feel free to download and circulate On-Track News to your contacts.
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| As a global player, we like to keep you up to date with what's happening and where. |
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 | Network Rail
18th and 19th June Long Marston, Warwickshire, UK
Network Rail, in association with The Rail Alliance, The Rail Engineer and Macrail, is proud to present Rail Live 2014: a showcase for railway infrastructure.
2014 will see the whole rail industry continue to embark on one of the longest sustained periods of investment the railway has seen since Victorian times. Network Rail will be continuing its focus on safety and delivering value for money through working more closely with suppliers.
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| Exhibitors: Vortok International
Network Rail
18th and 19th June
Our sister company Vortok offer an incredible range of internationally acclaimed, award winning products. One of these commended products will feature at Rail Live; the Vortok Stressing Rollers (VSRs)
VSRs are the most productive and safest roller system in the world and can reduce possession times significantly. Their radical approach and thinking to the management of rail stressing has resulted in Vortok becoming the undisputed leaders in this field.
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Press Releases
Alstom
Alstom participates in the European PROTECTRAIL security programme and presents the ISM module for its Iconis Plateform.
27/05/2014
Alstom, alongside about thirty other European companies, has been taking part in the PROTECTRAIL1 programme which has just come to an end after four years of product development. The company has successfully demonstrated the performance of the ISM2 module for its Iconis Integrated Control Centre.
The module is fully integrated into the Iconis supervision software, and is specially designed for railway operations, to counter terrorist attacks, vandalism, malicious acts, armed attacks and other day-to-day operational problems. Alstom's Iconis Integrated Control Centre is capable of supervising and monitoring all aspects of an operator’s network.
As part of the PROTECTRAIL programme, the solutions offered by the various parties involved in the transport sector were tested in the presence of a number of European clients (SNCF and RATP from France, PKP from Poland, TCDD from Turkey and ItalCertifer Scpa from Italy for example) to evaluate their precise needs and obtain initial feedback. Alstom was thus able to verify that its ISM module can be incorporated equally well into not only its own existing fleets but also into those of its competitors.
Alstom's solution facilitates better global traffic security management on a day-to-day basis, both out on the track and within stations. "Our solution stands out from the others because it is highly intuitive for operators in the sector," explains Pascal Cléré, Alstom Transport's Senior Vice-President for the Transport Information Solutions division. "The solutions offered so far were created primarily for the aeronautical industry and then used for rail."
European rail operators must deal with abuse on a daily basis, including problems such as vandalism, alarms being triggered unnecessarily etc. A feeling of security is a key factor for the majority of passengers in deciding whether to use the rail network.
