Network Rail updates on benefits of the "Northern Hub", a new report from PTEG (The Voice of Urban Transport) reveals how biased cost allocation system penalises local rail services in the regions ,and untimely deaths on the line near Lincoln.
In the US, enthusiasm grows for high speed rail; in India, fall out from the Rail Budget continues.,and Russia introduces what has become known as the "Bat Tram"..
Read more by clicking on the links....
Headlines
UK
Eurostar and Eurotunnel back to normal.(YourCanterbury).
DfT says transport a big winner of the multi-billion Local Growth Fund deals.(TransportXtra).
Stagecoach chief warns Labour rail reform would deter bids.(FT.com).
West Coast rail line misery.(heraldscotland).
Two people killed by freight train near Lincoln.(The Independent).
Elderly couple die after 'deliberately' stepping in front of freight train.(The Telegraph).
Network Rail.
Work to repair and resurface Bolton’s Trinity Street bridge to start this month
Motorists and residents are being advised that Trinity Street bridge in Bolton will be repaired and resurfaced later this month.
Network Rail will be carrying out the work which will require phased lane closures on the road. During this time the current pick up and drop off point outside the railway station on Trinity Street will be suspended.
Work will include waterproofing the structure to stop water seeping through it onto the station below, resurfacing the road and carrying out concrete repairs. It is being carried out as part of Network Rail’s commitment to provide a safe and reliable railway.
The work will take place between Sunday 20 July and Sunday 31 August. Pedestrian access over the bridge will be maintained throughout.
Ian Joslin, area director for Network Rail, said: “Trinity Street bridge was built more than 50 years ago and carries thousands of vehicles over Bolton station everyday. This work is essential to maintain the bridge for future use and carrying out all the work at once will reduce the amount of overall disruption.
“The work has been carefully planned to safely take place in the shortest amount of time and we have worked closely with the local authority to plan it. We apologise for any inconvenience it may cause.”
The majority of the work will take place between 0730 and 1800 but some of the improvements, which have to be carried out when trains are not running, will take place overnight.
For information about the work, contact Network Rail’s national helpline on 08457 114 141 .
Network Rail
What's happening in the North?
It will add over £4.2billion of wider economic benefits to the North of England, including the costs of the new services. This reflects a return of over four pounds for every pound invested.
Businesses on both sides of the Pennines will be able to recruit from a wider pool of talent while employees will be able to get to work quickly and easily.
Business will also enjoy access to bigger markets while face-to-face meetings with clients, business partners and consultants - crucial to the running of a profitable and dynamic business - will become easier.
The journey time reductions will allow rail to compete with road to provide quicker and more efficient journeys between city centres.
Manufacturing trading links with other parts of the UK and mainland Europe will also improve as freight trains deliver goods to markets efficiently, enhancing the economic competitiveness of the Northern Hub area.
The infrastructure will be in place to enable all the services to operate by 2018.
TfL spent £1,000 on posters put up in tribute to Bob Crow.(London Evening Standard)
HS2 salaries 'obscene' says MEP.(Express & Star)
New railway link plan starts to pick up speed.(Plymouth Herald)
PTEG - The Voice of Urban Transport
Work will include waterproofing the structure to stop water seeping through it onto the station below, resurfacing the road and carrying out concrete repairs. It is being carried out as part of Network Rail’s commitment to provide a safe and reliable railway.
The work will take place between Sunday 20 July and Sunday 31 August. Pedestrian access over the bridge will be maintained throughout.
Ian Joslin, area director for Network Rail, said: “Trinity Street bridge was built more than 50 years ago and carries thousands of vehicles over Bolton station everyday. This work is essential to maintain the bridge for future use and carrying out all the work at once will reduce the amount of overall disruption.
“The work has been carefully planned to safely take place in the shortest amount of time and we have worked closely with the local authority to plan it. We apologise for any inconvenience it may cause.”
The majority of the work will take place between 0730 and 1800 but some of the improvements, which have to be carried out when trains are not running, will take place overnight.
For information about the work, contact Network Rail’s national helpline on 08457 114 141 .
Network Rail
What's happening in the North?
The Northern Hub will transform rail travel across the North of England by allowing faster, more frequent trains to connect key towns and cities.
Our plans
- Two new platforms at Manchester Piccadilly to allow more trains to run through rather than terminate in Manchester, providing more direct train services across the North
- The Ordsall Chord to provide a link between Manchester Victoria and Manchester Piccadilly for better connections to key towns and cities and new direct services through Manchester city centre to Manchester Airport.
- New tracks on the line between Leeds and Liverpool and between Sheffield and Manchester to allow fast trains between the major towns and cities to overtake slower trains
- In advance of this work, Manchester Victoria will be transformed into a fitting gateway to the city
Supporting the economy
Northern Hub will stimulate economic growth by allowing the cities of the North to work much better together. These benefits will be felt across the North, not only where the improvements are made.It will add over £4.2billion of wider economic benefits to the North of England, including the costs of the new services. This reflects a return of over four pounds for every pound invested.
Jobs, prosperity, growth
An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 private sector jobs could be created across the North of England as a result of Northern Hub.Businesses on both sides of the Pennines will be able to recruit from a wider pool of talent while employees will be able to get to work quickly and easily.
Business will also enjoy access to bigger markets while face-to-face meetings with clients, business partners and consultants - crucial to the running of a profitable and dynamic business - will become easier.
The journey time reductions will allow rail to compete with road to provide quicker and more efficient journeys between city centres.
Manufacturing trading links with other parts of the UK and mainland Europe will also improve as freight trains deliver goods to markets efficiently, enhancing the economic competitiveness of the Northern Hub area.
Next steps
Now that the Northern Hub has been fully funded, the next stage is for us to move forward into the detailed design phase and start work on the schemes as quickly as possible.The infrastructure will be in place to enable all the services to operate by 2018.
TfL spent £1,000 on posters put up in tribute to Bob Crow.(London Evening Standard)
HS2 salaries 'obscene' says MEP.(Express & Star)
New railway link plan starts to pick up speed.(Plymouth Herald)
PTEG - The Voice of Urban Transport
News release (10/7/14)
New report reveals how biased cost allocation system penalises local rail services in the regions
- Lightweight regional trains allocated same share of maintenance costs as much heavier Intercity trains -
- A fairer system of cost allocation would reduce regional rail’s share of government support by around 50% –
A new report from pteg takes the lid off the complex way in which the costs of running the national rail network to show how time and again the rules are biased against regional rail, loading on costs in a way that feeds false perceptions about the value for money of local rail services in England outside the South East.
The report finds that:
· the allocation of maintenance and renewal costs largely treats every passenger train in the same way even though Inter-city trains are estimated to produce twenty times the amount of track damage as the most basic regional train (a Pacer) · in order to make rail freight competitive, and to keep freight off the roads, the substantial damage that freight trains cause to rail infrastructure are largely ignored. However, the knock on effect is that many of these costs are then picked up by regional rail even though freight trains cause up to sixty times the track damage of a Pacer train
· Although regional rail received only 20% of new investment by Network Rail in 2012/13, regional rail contributed 30% of fixed track access charges and was allocated 32% of Network Rail’s overall financing costs
· A system that allocates costs more fairly would result in regional rail going from taking an estimated 58% share of total government support for the railways to 28%
The report finds that: ‘…it is clear that the current method for allocating costs is heavily skewed against regional railways. Our alternative approach would create a more level playing field for regional rail and ensure that the national debate and key decisions are informed by robust evidence.’
The report comes at a time when the Government is consulting on the future of the Northern Rail franchise in a way that highlights the ‘high costs’ of the franchise to justify low aspirations for investment in the network and to raise the prospect of fares increases and service reductions.
Lead spokesperson for pteg on rail issues, Geoff Inskip, said:
‘It’s the common currency of the rail debate that regional rail networks require high subsidies. A quick look at the ORR’s analysis couldn’t be clearer in its inference. Running regional railways is expensive for the taxpayer and Inter city is not. Indeed Inter-city can make money for the taxpayer. Case closed.’
‘However, these figures do not reflect the realities on the ground. The railway as a whole costs over £15 billion a year and requires considerable government support (some £6.3 billion a year in direct grants and supported borrowing). Decisions on how the overall cost of running the railway is allocated to particular users of the railway are decisions that could be taken in different ways and there are strong arguments for doing so.’
‘This paper shows how the current allocation of costs unfairly apportions a disproportionate share of the railways’ overall costs on regional rail. Which in turn makes regional rail services look expensive to the taxpayer in a way that distorts the debate about their wider economic, social and environmental benefits. It also shows that what appears to be objective and neutral figures about subsidy levels are in fact a construct based on a series of challengeable assumptions, often overlaid by political decisions. For example rail freight, rightly, does not pay anywhere near its full infrastructure costs because Government has recognised the importance of getting lorries off the road. By way of contrast regional rail pays more than its fair share even though there are clear environmental, social and economic arguments for switching traffic from road to rail in our busy cities, national parks and historic towns.’
ENDS
Metros: Tyne & Wear , Midland, Manchester, Nottingham.
Images courtesy PTEG
UK Heritage
Day Out With Thomas™ | The East Lancashire Railway.
Day Out With Thomas™ « West Somerset Railway.
Ribble Steam Railway preparing for Friendly Engines event.
The Tin Shed Rises Again | The UK's Only Main Line Heritage Railway.
Great Railway Treasure Hunt | North Yorkshire Moors Railway :: A steam train adventure through the stunning Yorkshire Moors
Australia
Cranbourne-Pakenham Rail Corridor Project concept designs (DTPLI)
Premier Denis Napthine and Minister for Public Transport and Roads Terry Mulder announce the beginning of consultation for the Cranbourne Pakenham Rail Corridor Project. The consultation provides local residents with the opportunity to have a say on the concept drawings for the level crossing removals and new stations.
Bangladesh
Dhaka-Chittagong rail links snap again.(bdnews24)
India
Congress continues protest on second day post the rail budget announcement.(aninews).
High speed rail coaches to be rolled out in Sept end.(Business Standard).
High-speed trains are budget highlight.(Hindustan Times)
India to invest €12.3m in high-speed rail in 2015.(Global Rail News)
Russia
The remarkable 'BatTram' leads a Russian Revolution in tram design
(SmartRail World)
Turkey
Turkey: delayed high-speed railway line to open July 25.(ansamed).
USA
The California High-Speed Rail Debate—Kicking Things Off(The Atlantic).
Amtrak issues RFP for Acela fleet replacement .(IRJ)
US HSR
Young people want high speed rail...
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Already the World's Largest, Soon to Double
China has so many new high speed rail lines already opened and under construction that its hard to keep track of them all. In a few short years, China has built more state-of-the-art high speed rail than the rest of the world put together! They already have 6,800 miles of new rail lines operating, and almost that much more under construction all over the country, which is nearly identical in land area as the United States. (See map comparison below).
"What this represents is a massive efficiency system for China, making all their people and companies far more efficient and competitive than before they had high speed rail, and far more competitive than American companies and people," said Andy Kunz, USHSR President. "Everyone in business knows time is money, and if you spend hours every day stuck in traffic and/or airports, you are wasting money and precious time. When all of America is in this situation as we are now, the entire country quickly becomes inefficient, and no longer competitive with countries who have built high speed rail networks."
High speed rail has proven itself highly successful all over the world providing fast, reliable transportation - saving people time and money by being able to move around quickly and easily from city to city. "Its time for Congress to understand the huge value to our entire economy that a national high speed rail system will bring," said Joseph Shelhorse, USHSR Vice President. "We are really missing the boat (or train) by not being ahead of the curve in transportation. China is eating our lunch and dinner and leaving us in the dust. We need to catch up quickly to keep America strong!"
Its time to invest in America, and build the 21st century transportation system we need to sail smoothly into the future like China is setting itself up for. Transportation is the lifeblood of an economy. If the transportation system is failing, the entire economy struggles and fails.
USHSR is calling on Congress to show real leadership and put serious funding into America's high speed rail network. China is spending an estimated $500 billion building the world's greatest high speed rail network. There's no reason America shouldn't be doing the same thing. More on China HSR
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www.progressiverailroading.com
BTS Releases May 2014 Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI)
The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry rose 0.6 percent in May from April, rising for the fourth consecutive month, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS) Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) released today. The May 2014 index level (120.0) was 26.9 percent above the April 2009 low during the most recent recession.
The level of freight shipments in May measured by the Freight TSI (120.0) reached a new all-time high level of 120.0, exceeding the previous high of 119.4 in November 2013. BTS’ TSI records begin in 2000.
The April index was revised to 119.3 from 117.6 in last month’s release. Previous monthly numbers were also revised higher.
The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments by mode of transportation in tons and ton-miles, which are combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.
Analysis: The May increase in the freight index was led by trucking, which grew rapidly for the fourth month in a row, as well as by increases in pipeline and waterborne. Growth in trucking occurred across different segments of the trucking sector, including dry van trucks as well as flatbed and tank trucks. Rail intermodal declined after three months of increases. The freight index has now risen for four consecutive months following a bottom in January that was largely weather-related and affected the entire economy, as measured by the GDP decline in the January-to-March period.
Trend: With four consecutive monthly increases, the index rose 3.4 percent following the weather-related low in January. In May, the index reached an all-time level (120.0), exceeding the previous all-time high (119.4) set in November before the winter decline. After dipping to 94.6 in April 2009, the index rose by 26.9 percent in the succeeding 61 months.
See Freight TSI Press Release for summary tables and additional data. See Transportation Services Index for historical data and methodology. Other Railway Press
www.think-railways.com
Shift2Rail public-private partnership launch of activities and first calls
Seven public-private partnerships, established under the EU’s new research funding programme Horizon 2020, were launched yesterday. Shift2Rail, Innovative Medicines Initiative 2, Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2, Clean Sky 2, Bio-based Industries, Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) 2020 and Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership (ECSEL) represent a total investment of €19.5 billion into research and innovation over the next seven years, where the EU contribution of €7.3 billion will unlock a €12.2 billion investment from the private sector and the Member States. More
Cost of high speed rail in China one third lower than in other countries
By the end of 2013, China had built a high speed rail network of over 10,000 route-km, far exceeding that in any other country and larger than the network in the entire European Union. It has been accomplished at a cost which is at most two-thirds of that in other countries. A new World Bank paper takes a look at this expansion, its construction unit costs and some of its key cost components. More
Rolling stock
UVZ presented R1 (Russia One) tramway prototype
Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) corporation unveiled R1 (Russia One) tramway prototype produced by Uraltransmash factory. UVZ via Uraltransmash factory has merged its production forces with the creative approach in order to develop a R1 tram prototype, which combines the up-to-date achievements of the Russian transport industry with the hype-generating visual solutions. R1 tram is bidirectional (i.e. driver cabs at both ends). The tram is 24 meters in length and 2.5 meters in width. It is mounted on two wheeled trolleys. On each side, there are four sliding plug doors with a complex geometry and kinematics. More
Krakow Transport Authority orders 36 low-floor tramways from Pesa Bydgoszcz
Krakow Transport Authority (MPK) signed a PLN 291.2 m (EUR 70.2 m) contract with Pesa Bydgoszcz for the purchase of 36 low-floor tramways. Especially designed for Krakow, the Krakowiak tramway is 43.83 m long, being the longest in Poland. More
CAF metro trains enter service in Bucharest
The first two six-car CAF metro trains entered passenger service on Bucharest Metro Line 2 today. In 2011, Metrorex has awarded CAF a EUR 97 million contract to supply 16 metro units with the option of a further 8 trains. More
Sinara Group presents its product portfolio at Innoprom
Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev visited Sinara Group and TMK joint exhibition stand at “Innoprom 2014?, international industrial trade fair. Accompanied by Dmitry Pumpyansky, board chairman of TMK and Sinara Group, Siegfried Russwurm, Prof. Dr. Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and Juan Garcia, Regional Director of CAF, the prime minister was presented with the metro car prototype for the Moscow Metro, developed by Urban Transport Solutions (UTS), a joint venture company of Sinara Transport Machines and CAF. More
Tver Carriage Works delivered 24 passenger coaches to Kazakhstan Railways
Tver Carriage Works, part of Transmashholding, delivered to Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) a first batch of 24 passenger coaches, including 6 compartment (61-4440 ), 3 staff (61-4445) and 15 economy (61-4447 ) classes. According to the procurement agreement with KTZ, the company will deliver this year 52 passenger coaches. More
Infrastructure
Bombardier grows its rail control expertise in the CIS and region
Bombardier Transportation is growing its presence as the leading rail control solution supplier for the so-called 1520 market, the second most widely used railway gauge worldwide. With 18 years of experience in delivering technology for this sector, Bombardier’s solutions are in operation or delivery across the CIS, Baltic States and Mongolia. More
Slovak-Polish consortium wins EUR 33.2 million tender for Kosice tramway line reconstruction works
The municipality of Kosice has awarded a EUR 33.2 million contract for tram line reconstruction works, to a consortium formed of local construction company DUHA and Polish group ZUE SA. More
Russian Railways launched the modernization of the Baikal-Amur Mainline
Russian Railways (RZD) celebrated on Tuesday the 40th anniversary of the start of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) construction and announced starting works on BAM-2. More
Albanian Railways priority projects
The Albanian Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has established four railway projects to receive investment of EUR 400 million. The Albanian Railway network has 441 km (kilometers) of single track and was built between 1946 and 1986, to serve the Albanian industry. The most important passenger connection is Durres-Tirana line. More
PKP PLK receives EU funding to replace 700 turnouts
PKP PLK SA and the Centre for EU Transport Projects (CEUTP) signed an agreement for financing the project “Enhancement of safety by installing new railway turnouts”. The project investment value is over PLN 640.8 million, of which an amount of 442.5 million PLN is funded by the Cohesion Fund under Action 7.1 Railway Transport Development, Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment. More
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