From: Railway Gazette International.... 20th July 2012

Railway Gazette International

Three More Extensions to Japan's High Speed Rail Network Authorized.

JAPAN: Three more extensions to the country's expanding high speed rail network have been authorised for construction by the government, under a programme which includes the first commercial application of gauge-changing trainsets which have been under development for the past decade. The biggest of the three schemes announced by Transport Minister Yuichiro Hata on June 29 is the long-planned Hokkaido Shinkansen between Shin-Hakkodate and Sapporo. High speed trains are expected to reach the northern island in 2015, with completion of the link between the Tohoku Shinkansen at Shin-Aomori and Hakodate via mixed-gauge track in the Seikan Tunnel. The 211 km Hokkaido Shinkansen to Sapporo, serving intermediate stations at Shin-Yakumo, Oshamanbe, Kucchian, and Shin-Otaru, is expected to be completed by 2035, offering a journey time of around 5 h. The 125·2 km extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen along the coast of Honshu from Kanazwa to Tsuruga is to be completed by 2024, serving five stations at Komatsu, Kaga-Onsen, Awara-Onsen, Fukui and Nanetsu. The first section as far as Nagano opened in 1997, and the 228 km linking Nagano, Toyama, Isurugi and Kanazawa is scheduled to open by 2014. In the longer term, the Hokuriku Shinkansen is expected to be extended west from Tsuruga to connect with the Tokaido Shinkansen at Maibara or Kyoto, but a preferred route has not yet been announced. The third project to be authorised is a further section of the Kyushu Shinkansen's western branch to Nagasaki, of which an isolated 45·7 km section between Takeo Onsen and Isahaya is already under construction. The government has now given the go-ahead for the 21 km western section between Isahaya and Nagasaki, which is to be completed by 2022. However, as the line will remain isolated from the rest of the network, through services between Hakata and Nagasaki are to be operated by gauge-changing trainsets using the existing line between Takeo-Onsen and a junction with the Kyushu Shinkansen at Shin-Tosu. Estimated to cost ¥3 040bn, the three extensions are to be built by Japan Railway Construction, Transport & Technology Agency using public-sector funding from both national and regional governments. On completion, they will be leased to the JR Group companies to operate, attracting fees of around ¥1bn a year. Following the completion of the Shinkansen routes, the existing 1 067 mm gauge main lines are expected to be downgraded to local routes and transferred to third-sector operators supported by the regional governments.


Logistics Joint Venture for Freight between China and Europe

INTERNATIONAL: Transport Holding of Chongqing, China Railway Company for International Multimodal Transport, RZD Logistics, Schenker China and Kaztransservice have established the YuXinOu (Chongqing) Logistics joint venture to manage rail freight services between China and Europe. Operations will begin with container traffic between Chongqing and Duisburg. The joint expects to carry 5800 TEU by the end of 2012, with potential clients seen as companies from the electronics, machinery, chemical and aviation sectors in the Chongqing region.


Electrification programme central to UK government's £9·4bn rail strategy

UK: A rolling programme of electrification is at the centre of the High Level Output Specification which sets out the government's strategic plans for rail investment in 2014-19.
The HLOS published on July 16 covers projects planned for Control Period 5, which runs from April 1 2014 to March 31 2019. It includes £5·2bn of schemes which are already committed, including Crossrail, Thameslink and electrification of the London - Cardiff, Manchester - Liverpool/Preston, and Manchester - York routes.
New schemes totalling £4·2bn envisage the electrification of the Midland Main Line as part of a high-capacity 'electric spine' passenger and freight route from Yorkshire and the West Midlands to Southampton.
Routes to be electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz as part of the electric spine are:

• Southampton port - Basingstoke;
• Basingstoke - Reading;
• Oxford - Leamington - Coventry;
• Coventry - Nuneaton;
• Oxford - Bletchley - Bedford;
• Bedford - Nottingham/Derby;
• Derby - Sheffield;
• Kettering - Corby;

The government hopes this will encourage private investment in electric freight locomotives. Completion will enable further electrification in the 2019-24 Control Period 6.
Conversion of the Basingstoke - Southampton route from 750 V DC third rail to overhead electrification will 'test the business case for the wider conversion of the third rail network south of the Thames'.
Electrification of the Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley line is planned as it offers 'regional and strategic value'.
The previously-announced Great Western electrification from London to Cardiff will be extended to Swansea, taking the total value of the project to more than £600m. The Valley Lines network in South Wales will be electrified, enabling the deployment of a new fleet of electric trains on local services.
The government also wishes to electrify the Acton - Willesden freight line, and the Windsor, Marlow and Henley-on-Thames branches. It has also announced support for £500m rail link between Slough and Heathrow airport, subject to a satisfactory business case, with completion planned for CP6.
The Northern Hub project will be completed in full, with the approval of £322m of track and capacity upgrades across Manchester city centre, Manchester Airport and across to Liverpool. The Micklefield - Selby line will be electrified. This is in addition to £477m of Northern Hub schemes already approved.
There will be capacity enhancement projects in cities including London Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, and £240m of improvements along the East Coast Main Line.
The HLOS package will be funded in part from fare rises announced in 2010 and also from the 'substantial efficiency savings' expected from electrification.
The Office of Rail Regulation must now reconcile the government's objectives in the HLOS with the funding allocated in the parallel Statement of Funds Available, in order to determine the industry's financial framework for CP5.

• For detailed analysis of the UK rail industry, read Rail Business Intelligence.