In the UK, latest figures reveal a 5.9% increase in rail journeys....Mark Carne is to appear before the House of Commons Transport Select Committee to explain, amongst other things, how he sees the challenges for the railway in the future.....
This week has seen the celebration of the International Level Crossings Awareness Day (ILCAD), so it is disappointing to see someone carelessly laying on the track for a prank....
Plaudits, on the other hand , to the soldier who leaped onto the track to rescue a lady who had fallen from the platform.
Two news items relate to movement of goods....by road and /or rail. CER have welcomed the decision by Member States to vote down the European Commission’s proposal to explicitly authorise cross-border traffic of longer and heavier vehicles. Meanwhile, Colas Rail and TNT have operated a trial freight train from Rugby to London Euston, carrying express parcels and perishable products for distribution in central London. More will undoubtedly follow, given the success of the exercise.........
Click on the links for the full stories....
Headlines
UK
UK Office of Rail Regulation (ORR)
Rail passenger journeys jump by 5.7% in 2013-14
The total number of rail passenger journeys across Britain was 1.59bn in 2013-14 – an increase of 5.7% on the 1.50bn recorded in 2012-13 – reveal new statistics published today by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).
The ‘Rail Usage Statistics’ highlight data such as the number of passenger journeys and distance travelled by passengers on the rail network, providing an indication of the levels of demand for rail travel in Great Britain. The new figures show that between 2012-13 and 2013-14:
- 1.59bn passenger journeys were made in Great Britain on franchised passenger trains – the highest recorded figure since the series began in 2002-03.
- London and South East experienced a 7.3% increase in passenger journeys to 1,107.8m. In 2013-14, London and South East sector accounted for 69.8% of the total franchised passenger journeys.
- Of the 1.59bn passenger journeys made on franchised operators, 56.5% of the journeys were made on ordinary tickets, and the remaining 43.5% attributed to season tickets.
The data also shows that the growth in journeys on regional and long distance sectors has slowed in recent years, while journeys in London and South East sector have increased by 31.5% between 2009-10 and 2013-14.
Passenger journeys by sector
To access the complete data and report visit: http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/
Transport Committee to take evidence from Mark Carne, Chief Executive, Network Rail
Mark Carne, the new Chief Executive of Network Rail, will appear before the Transport Committee on 9 June. The Committee is keen to know what he sees as Network Rail's challenges and how he will address them. He appears at a key time for the organisation, as it joins the public sector and begins implementing its Control Period 5 spending programme.
Soldier: 'I rescued woman from Strood railway tracks'.(BBC News)
Woman lying on Milton Keynes railway track sought by police.(BBC News)
Girl, 14, is hit in Princes Street in Edinburgh's first tram accident.(heraldscotland)
South West 'may lose on transport'. (BBC News)
Retail spend at railway stations soars above high street - new technology reveals footfall by non-rail users.(Network Rail)
Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway plan station in Caernarfon.(BBC News)
A tram-train system is the best way to modernise the Cardiff and Valleys rail network, claims expert.(Wales Online)
Major Peterborough rail flyover plan to put more trains on tracks.(Peterborough Telegraph)
Crossrail starts Docklands tunnel drive.(Global Rail News)
Colas Rail and TNT test express rail logistics - Railway Gazette
Great Western electrification - Improvements - Network Rail
Introduction: Northern Europe – a hotbed for rail development(Euro Railway Review)
CER- The Voice of European Railways
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Today, Member States voted down the European Commission’s proposal to explicitly authorise cross-border traffic of longer and heavier vehicles. The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) welcomes the outcome.
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Today’s decision, as well as the declarations made by several transport ministers during the debate, highlight the necessity to prioritise the development of freight traffic in connection with inter-modal solutions in order to avoid changes to the current modal split that would come at the expense of more sustainable transport modes.
Along with a number of stakeholders in the transport sector and in civil society, CER has consistently underlined the detrimental consequences for rail freight of introducing longer and heavier vehicles. Such a decision could amount to over 35% of rail freight being shifted back to road on specific corridors[1]. Any further liberalisation of cross-border traffic of megatrucks will inevitably lead to a domino effect and, in time, to their general use across Europe, which would also undermine the Commission’s own target with regard to shifting goods from road to rail and inland waterways.
In April 2014, the European Parliament recognised these important concerns raised by several stakeholders and consequently rejected the Commission’s proposal. It called upon the Commission to carry out a proper impact assessment to analyse the consequences of these vehicles on the environment, road safety, infrastructure and rail freight by 2016, and in any case before any further changes to the weights and dimensions of trucks are proposed.
CER Executive Director Libor Lochman said: “The political agreement achieved today is in line with the positive steps the EU has recently taken. Steps such as the adoption of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and the acknowledgment of the importance to invest in rail freight. Opening the door to megatrucks means that more freight would shift away from sustainable transport modes and thus ultimately prevent the EU from reaching its overall transport policy targets: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and decreased dependency on oil. We now call on EU decision-makers to confirm the Parliament and Council positions in the upcoming trilogue meetings”.
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Courtesy: Railways Africa
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WORLD-CLASS GAUTRAIN IMPRESSES
China
China Focus: Xinjiang braces for first high-speed railway.(Xinhua News Agency via GlobalPost)
United States of America
Safety Is Key When Planning for U.S. High-speed Rail Lines.(R & D Magazine)
www.progressiverailroading.com
Other Railway Press
SmartRail World
Industry focus: Designing a better passenger experience.
“The role that design can play is in creating a transformative vision of what future rail experiences could become. Design has to go further than incrementally improving the status quo. Design needs to create the products that we don’t know yet we need but which improve life in surprising and economical ways.”
A positive passenger experience aided by strong industrial design has long been a focus for the aviation industry. Whilst for the rail industry, delivering typically shorter journeys and with less direct competition on routes, design hasn’t always been as big a priority. Yet this is changing as rail competes more directly with other modes of transport, primarily short haul air and car travel. As such the demands from the passenger along with changes in technology and liberalisation of the market have led to greater emphasis on the importance of design. SmartRail World was keen to gain an insight into the latest developments of rail interior design but also a better understanding of the demands within aviation so we spoke to James Park, Founder and Principal, London, and Ben Orson, Managing Director, London, of JPA Design whose international work covers both industries for some insights...
Read More…
Future Rail Magazine
HS2, the UK's proposed high speed rail project, has dominated discussion in the industry for years as well as sparking controversy with the British public. As both support and opposition remain strong, we round up opinions from both ends of the spectrum, including politicians, stakeholders and interest groups.
Also in this issue, we take a look at the new streetcar network under construction in the US capital, and find out which long-term solutions the UK rail operators and government are considering to reduce the impact of severe weather on the network. Moreover we investigate why some US operators remain reluctant to implement positive train control, which will become mandatory in the country by 2015, and explore the most innovative design concepts giving disused rail stations a new purpose.
www.railway-technology.com
DfT and TfL plans to give step-free access to Crossrail stations
The UK Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for London (TfL) have announced plans to make the remaining seven stations step-free on the Crossrail route.
Spain's ADIF validates ERTMS on Albacete-Alicante line
Spanish railway infrastructure manager ADIF has completed validation of the new Alstom Atlas 200 European railways traffic management system (ERTMS) Level 2 signalling system on the Albacete-Alicante new high-speed line.
VR Group begins double-deck passenger cars procurement process
Finland's state-owned railway company VR Group has started the procurement process for acquiring a new generation of double-deck passengers cars, intended to replace those on the existing blue Express.
EIB grants €268m loan for Polish railways upgrade
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to grant a €268m loan in support of modernisation of the existing 58km-long electric railway line (E30) from Katowice to Kraków in Poland.
Think Railways
First Stadler Flirt EMU for Serbian Railways to be delivered at the end of September
Slovenia to invest EUR 330 million in railway infrastructure in 2015
Bochkaryov: Smaller Moscow Belt Railway to carry passengers in 2015
Council reaches political agreement on railway interoperability and safety and the European Railway Agency
Romanian Government approved the Memorandum to improve the efficiency of the railway sector
More HERE
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