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August 21, 2014

International & UK Railway News Thursday 21st August 2014

..Total Railway News

PhotoPhotoPhoto


Crossrail progress, crime rates rising....strikes on the London Underground central line, and in Ireland too...


Click on the links...





Headlines
UK
Borders to Edinburgh railway: Opening date set.(BBC news)
Trains will start to run on the Borders to Edinburgh railway from 6 September 2015,First Minister Alex Salmond has announced..



What the distance from the station does to the price of your house.(The Guardian)




Longleat Adventure Park train crash leaves six hurt.(BBC News)



Railways sex offences rise by 21%.(BBC News)
Related articles...
Big rise in sex crimes reported on Britain's railways as 'Yewtree arrests encourage victims to come forward'(TheMirror)
Huge rise in sex offences on trains, official figures show(The Telegraph)
Rise in sex attacks on railways reported to police (heraldscotland)
Rise in sexual offences reported on Britain's rail network, figures show(The Guardian)




WW1 experts 'shed new light' on Isle of Man internment.(BBC News)
" there were 23 compounds divided between four camps and it had its own railway line .."




PhotoPhotoPhoto


Central Line Tube strike: Union backs walkout on Friday in dispute over working conditions.(London Evening Standard)


Video shows mother pulling child to safety after buggy rolls onto train track in Surrey.(London Evening Standard)


Crossrail


21 August 2014


PRESS RELEASE


Paddington station excavation reaches Crossrail train tunnels


 Crossrail Paddington contractors Costain Skanska Joint Venture has excavated down to the new Crossrail tunnels, breaking into the top of the tunnels 16 metres below ground level, as part of construction of the new station.

Paddington Station team breakthrough into Western tunnels_151893
Paddington Station team breakthrough into Western tunnels.(Crossrail Photo)



Costain Skanska will excavate the earth between the two tunnels creating a large open station platform level. Once excavation is completed, they will start building the station platforms and laying the track bed.


Costain Skanska JV Construction Manager Andy Mooney said: “Reaching the tunnels marks an important phase in the construction of Paddington station. The excavation down 16 metres underneath Eastbourne Terrace will allow us, once we have removed all of the 2,640 individual tunnel segments, to start the construction of the platforms and track bed.”


Tunnelling machines Phyllis and Ada built the new train tunnels through Paddington at the beginning of 2013 ahead of completing their 6.8km journeys to Farringdon in autumn 2013.


Costain Skanska’s workforce of 400 subsequently excavated more than XX tonnes of earth, enough to fill 44 Olympic-sized swimming pools to reach the western running tunnels.


Following the completion of the platform and track bed construction, system-wide contractor ATC (Altsom, TSO & Costain) will commence fit-out of the new tunnels with track and other rail infrastructure.


The new Crossrail station is being constructed adjacent to the existing Paddington National Rail station under Eastbourne Terrace. The 250 metre long and 30 metre wide spacious station will include a 120 metre long glass canopy. A Cloud Index artwork by world renowned artists Spence Finch will be embedded into the canopy.


Paddington is one of 10 new stations along the Crossrail route. When Crossrail opens in 2018, passengers will be able to travel from Paddington to Liverpool Street in 9 minutes, Canary Wharf in 16 minutes and Abbey Wood in 27 minutes.


Added material:


  • Video explaining works available here
  • Photos of the breakthrough available here


Media contacts:  James York, Costain Skanska JV Community Relations Manager, 077173 44484, James.York@Costain-Skanska-jv.co.uk



Regulator publishes new data on government financial support to rail industry

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has today published new statistics highlighting year-on-year levels of government financial support to the rail industry (1985-86 to 2013-14).
Latest data for 2013-14 shows:

  • The rail industry received £5.3bn of government support, this is £227 million greater than the previous year. This increase includes spending on major projects such as Crossrail.
  • A fourth successive year that the government, in total, received more money back from train operating companies as part of their franchise agreements than it paid in subsidies. In 2013-14, the government received £40m.
  • Average change in rail fares between January 2013 and January 2014 was 2.7%. This represented a decrease in real terms of 0.1% as over the same time period the Retail Prices Index increased by 2.8%.
To view these statistics, visit ORR's National Rail Trends (NRT) Portal at: http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk
Read the full Rail finance 2013-14 annual statistical release









Fatal accident at Barratt’s Lane No.2 footpath crossing, Attenborough, Nottingham
Report name:
140821_R182014_Barratts_Lane
Incident date:
26 October 2013
Category:
Heavy Rail
Summary: Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has released its report into a fatal accident at Barratt’s Lane No.2 footpath crossing, Attenborough, Nottingham, 26 October 2013. RAIB has identified one learning point related to the design of gates at crossings of this type. It has made no recommendations.
Download report:
PDF icon
140821_R182014_Barratts_Lane.pdf (4,608.06 kb)


How to apply for a Service delay refund (TfL on YouTube)




This video explains the online process when applying for a service delay refund.

If your journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more on Tube or DLR services or 30 minutes or more on London Overground, we’ll refund you the single fare for that journey. Refunds are available if the reason for the delay to your journey was within our control. You’ll need to apply within 14 days of your delayed journey.

Refunds are available for all ticket types except free travel concessions and most refunds will now be processed within a week.

India




Ireland


Russia









The Russian Railways on YouTube.
Russian railways in Russia’s everyday life and development
Russian railways plays a huge role in life of every Russian and the country in large. It covers about 87.5% of freight traffic and 25,7% of passenger one.

USA





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CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED RAIL - VISIONARY MEGA PROJECT  
California's $68 billion, statewide high speed rail system is just the beginning of America's $600 billion national high speed network. California's new transportation construction boom is well underway! 

Building the future today!
The $4.5 Billion mega project - Transbay Transit Center, known as the "Grand Central Station of the West" is currently under construction in the heart of downtown San Francisco. This has sparked a huge construction boom in the entire neighborhood surrounding the station, including the highest price ever paid for a small piece of property next to the new station.

21st century transportation for America!
The first billion dollar construction contract to build the first leg of the new high speed rail line has recently been signed. Construction is underway on the main trunk line between San Francisco and Los Angeles. A second multi-billion dollar contract is out to bid now for additional construction segments. Many more contracts are currently in the works to continue building the statewide rail system segment-by-segment.  

The state of California recently passed into law a major cap-and-trade program that sets up the first permanent funding source for the state's new high speed rail project. This pioneering legislation starts a new trend in reliable, consistent funding for visionary transportation projects, and will unlock billions of dollars in funding to move the new rail project along at a faster pace, with several hundred miles of HSR track and infrastructure under construction in the next few years.   

Come to Los Angeles!
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Other Railway Press Releases


PKP Cargo to announce PLN 200 million tender for the purchase of 10 multi-system locomotives

PKP Cargo is expected to announce in the following weeks a PLN 200 million (approximately EUR 48 million) tender for the purchase of 10 multi-system locomotives. The new rolling stock will deployed for cross-border transport in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands. More




New Alstom-TMH tramway comes into commercial operation in Moscow

The new low-floor tramway developed on the basis of the Citadis platform by TramRus, Alstom and Transmashholding (TMH) joint venture, was released for the tram service 17, connecting Medvedkovo with VDNKh. This is how the tramway entered the trial commercial operation with passengers on the Moscow tram network. Recently, this new joint product of Alstom and TMH has received a certificate of conformity under the Road Certification Scheme. During the tests organized from December 2013 to June 2014 the tram ran more than 2,000 km. The machine is well proven in the harsh winter conditions, and in conditions of summer heat. More

Rail Freight

Ukrainian Railways to purchase general purpose freight wagons

Ukrzaliznytsia (“UZ”) has applied for financing to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and intends using the proceeds for a project to acquire general purpose freight wagons. The proposed project, which has a total estimated cost of 125,000,000 US$ equivalent, will require the procurement of general purpose freight wagons. More


World Bank loan supports the licensing of private sector freight operators to operate on Turkish State Railways infrastructure

The World Bank has approved a Sustaining Shared Growth Development Policy Loan (SSG-DPL) loan in the amount of Euro 367.40 million for Turkey to support reforms in the areas of enhancing competitiveness and improving transparency, sustaining job creation and boosting female employment, increasing financial inclusion and creating a regulatory framework to attract long-term, quality investment in the country’s infrastructure. More


Infrastructure

Feasibility study on Kosice – Vienna broad gauge railway to be drafted by Bernard-Valbek-Obermayer consortium

The feasibility study on extension of Košice-Vienna broad gauge line will be drafted by the Bernard-Valbek-Obermayer consortium, without the participation of any Slovak firm. The consortium won the tender due to best price, which represented one of three evaluated criteria. Bernard-Valbek-Obermayer will draft the study for approximately EUR 6 million, with the runner-up – consortium of ILF-Werner Consult-Reming Consult – submitting a bid of approximately EUR 11 million. More



US DoT offers $1.28bn fund for Phase II Metrorail Silver Line extension
The US Department of Transportation (DoT) has provided a $1.28bn loan to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) for Phase II of the Metrorail Silver Line extension. 
       
Canada's TSB records rise in rail accidents involving dangerous goods during 2013
Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) recorded 1,067 rail accidents in 2013, marking a 4% increase from 1,027 incidents in 2012. 
       
MHI receives São Paulo Metro Line 6 turnkey contract
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has received the São Paulo Metro Line 6 turnkey contract from the Concessionária Move São Paulo in Brazil, which is in charge of the construction and operation of the project. 
       
SNCF employs StreetMapper for improved track safety
French railway company SNCF has used FIT ESIC's rail-mounted StreetMapper to improve safety and inform track upgrade works.
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Total Rail
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Download the E-Book now to explore the initiatives of Hitachi Rail Europe, Siemens, Thales and many more.







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