International Railway Journal
THE autonomous region of Madrid is to mothball a suburban line opened just eleven years ago, which connects the capital with the Warner Bros amusement park and the town of San Martin de la Vega, which has a population of 19,000.
THE founder of Hungary's first open-access railfreight operator Floyd, Mr András Bogdán, has set up a new railway company called Fox Rail after selling his shares in Floyd earlier this year
THE Russian government was presented with a provisional three-year investment budget of Roubles 1.2 trillion ($US 37.78bn) for Russian Railways (RZD) during a cabinet meeting on November 14..
SERVICES commenced on a new 6.1km, six-station metro line in Gurgaon, India, on November 14, which links Gurgaon Cyber City, which is located 30km south of central Delhi, with Delhi metro Line 2 at Sikandepur..
www.progressiverailroading.com US News
US HSR
LA CONFERENCE RECEIVES GREAT REVIEWS!
 |
"One of the best conferences I've ever attended!" "I loved it."
"What a great line up of speakers" "Incredible networking!"
|
 |
"I was able to make some great new contacts" "Best investment in years"
"I got on a construction team!" "Definitely excellent" "Great!"
|
 |
"I really enjoyed the transportation tour" "I learned a lot!"
"I was super impressed" "It was a very dynamic event!" "Awesome!"
|
 |
"It was fast paced and exciting..." "The reception was spectacular!"
"Great job USHSR!" "I'll be at all future USHSR events for sure!"
|
 |
The big news from the conference is High Speed Rail is underway in California!
|
WATCH FOR THE VIDEOS!
|
www.railway-technology.com Updates
India's Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon opens turnkey metro line
The new six kilometre turnkey metro line in Gurgaon, in Delhi's metropolitan area, India, has been opened for operations by Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon.
Siemens Rail to deploy PTC system on MTA commuter lines
Siemens Rail Automation, in partnership with Bombardier Transportation, has won a $428m contract to develop, test and deploy a new positive train control carborne system on the Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road commuter lines of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York.
Alstom unveils first Citadis Compact tram
Transport infrastructure provider Alstom has unveiled the first Citadis Compact tram at its manufacturing site in La Rochelle, France.
Balfour Beatty JV recommended for North Metro Rail Line design-build project
Balfour Beatty joint venture GBBH has been shortlisted as the preferred winner by the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) for the North Metro Rail Line design-build project.
Siemens
Turnkey metro line from Siemens begins operation in Gurgaon, India
Siemens Press Picture
Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon Limited has commenced passenger operation on the six-kilometer metro line in Gurgaon, in the metropolitan area of Delhi. Siemens supplied all of the rail technology, from the trains and the electrification systems, through the installation of the service workshop and the signal technology, to the system integration. The line links Gurgaon Cyber City, a business and residential district located some 30 kilometers south of central Delhi, to the capital's metro network. The existing line will be extended by around seven kilometers to the south by the end of 2015. In summer of this year, Siemens was also awarded the contract to implement this extension as a turnkey rail system.
Around two million commuters travel by metro every day in India's second largest city. The line that has just been opened for revenue service is built to cope with an expected volume of approximately 30,000 passengers per hour, with each three-car train providing a maximum transport capacity of about 800 passengers. The Gurgaon metro line marks the first time that Siemens not only supplied subsystems in India, but was also responsible for the key components and their integration, including the interfaces, in the construction of a turnkey rail system.
The seven aluminum metro trains supplied by Siemens run on a standard-gauge track with a maximum speed of around 80 kilometers per hour. To achieve a headway of no more than 120 seconds during peak traffic times, Siemens has installed Sicas ECC type electronic interlocking, the LZB 700 M automatic train control system with ATP (Automatic Train Protection) and ATO (Automatic Train Operations), as well as the Vicos OC 501 ATS (Automatic Train Supervision) system. To fully electrify the new line, Siemens has installed a 750 V DC traction power supply along with a third-rail system for current collection. Power is fed into the line extension and the rest of the existing line from the 66 kV grid. A medium-voltage ring supplies four substations, six metro stations and the depot with 11 kV AC.
Siemens is currently constructing turnkey lines in Rennes (France) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) as well as the tram system for Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Lines already in operation are the fully automatic, driverless Line A in Rennes (France), Line 1 in Algiers (Algeria), Line 2 in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and the metro system in Uijeongbu (South Korea).
Vladimir Putin visits plant as mass production of regional trains is launched.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the production plant of Ural Locomotives yesterday as the company – a joint venture of the Sinara Group and Siemens AG – began the mass production of the new regional trains which go by the name of Lastochka in Russia. Putin was accompanied by Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Yakunin, President of JSC Russian Railways, Dmitry Pumpyansky, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sinara Group, and Joe Kaeser, President and CEO of Siemens AG.
"The Ural Locomotives joint venture between Siemens and our partner Sinara is an outstanding example of the cooperation between our countries – and thus also a prime example of how Germany and Russia can benefit from one another," noted Kaeser. "We're keeping our word with respect to localization and to our investments. Siemens has been, is and will remain a trusted partner for Russia and its companies," he added.
Located near Yekaterinburg, Russia, the Ural Locomotives plant specializes in the production of electric freight locomotives. The Lastochka regional trains (Desiro RUS) are now being manufactured at the plant's new production facility, one of the world's most advanced facilities of its kind. Ural Locomotives is currently implementing an extensive employee training program, as part of which workers and engineers are attending training courses at a Siemens plant in Krefeld, Germany. The new production facility at Ural Locomotives will have around 1,500 
Railway supply industry news in brief - Railway Gazette
ISR sets out plans for electric fleet - Railway Gazette
World Heritage & Railway News
Winter Civil Engineering Diary – Part 1 | North Yorkshire Moors Railway :: A steam train adventure through the stunning Yorkshire Moors
South London Books: "To the Edge of the World: The Story of the Trans-Siberian Railway", Christian Wolmar
Railway Engineering News
GOV.UK
1.High Speed Two: an engine for growth
Key facts
HS2 will be 351 miles of new track linking London to Birmingham and Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds. We haven’t built a new railway north of London for over 120 years.
Construction will expected to begin in 2017.
Phase 1 is scheduled to open in 2026 and Phase 2 in 2033.
The budget for HS2 is £42.6 billion over 20 years, including £14.4 billion of contingency.
The target price for Phase 1 – London to Birmingham is £17.16 billion.
In addition to HS2 government plans to invest over £56 billion on roads, rail and local transport between 2015 and 2021, compared to £16 billion on HS2 over this period.
2. Capacity
Journeys on intercity trains have doubled from 1997 to 2013 to 128 million a year. By the mid 2020s the West Coast Main Line will be full.All rail journeys have doubled from 1995 to 2012 from 750 million a year to 1.5 billion a year.
In 2011, during the morning peak, there were on average 4,000 people standing on arrival into London Euston; and 5,000 people standing on arrival into Birmingham.
HS2 will more than double the number of seats between London and Birmingham, increasing capacity by 143%. Enhancements to the existing railway would increase capacity by just 53%.
18 trains will run per hour in each direction each carrying as many as 1,100 passengers.
HS2 could take half a million HGV lorry journeys off the M1, M40 and M6 each year.
A recent study by Network Rail has shown that with HS2 over 100 towns and cities across the country could benefit from new commuter and intercity services on existing lines.
3. Connectivity
HS2 will link 8 of Britain’s 10 largest cities, serving 1 in 5 of the UK population.2/3 of the population of northern England will be within two hours of London.
The stations in Leeds, Sheffield, East Midlands and Birmingham will each be separated by a journey of less than 20 minutes.
4. Regeneration and growth
HS2 will support over 100,000 jobs. The Core Cities group estimate this could be as many as 400,000 jobs. A recent report by Centro found that there will be 50,000 jobs in Birmingham alone.70% of jobs estimated to be created by HS2 outside of London.
The HS2 Growth Taskforce, led by Lord Deighton, will have a relentless focus of maximising the economic growth potential of HS2.
HS2 Growth Taskforce comes to East Midlands to secure maximum boost for region's economy
HS2 Growth Taskforce meets key figures from across the East Midlands to maximise high speed rail benefits.
The HS2 Growth Taskforce is meeting key figures from across the East Midlands today (15 November 2013) as part of a series of visits designed to ensure regions maximise the economic benefits of high speed rail.
HS2 is set to play a key role in job creation, regeneration and development in the East Midlands. A new hub station at Toton (PDF, 372KB) would be very well connected with a fast and frequent rail shuttle service to Derby, Nottingham and Leicester. The journey time to London will be just 51 minutes from the East Midlands hub, while the stations in Leeds, Sheffield, East Midlands and Birmingham will each be less than 20 minutes apart, making daily commuting easy.
Combined with the current programme of rail electrification, this improved connectivity will help unlock the enormous potential and opportunities that Derby, Nottingham and the other cities and towns in the East Midlands have to offer – making them more attractive places to locate and do business.
Land around the East Midlands hub station will be a highly attractive investment proposition for developers and the Growth Taskforce will be looking at how to make the most of this opportunity. For example redevelopment of King’s Cross Station has seen public investment of £500 million attract £2.2 billion of private sector investment. As well as new businesses it could also mean hundreds of new houses in the region.
Commercial Secretary to the Treasury and Chair of the HS2 Growth Taskforce Lord Deighton said:
HS2 will give a massive boost to the East Midlands, creating new employment and business opportunities, freeing up capacity on the railways and improving connections to the West Midlands, north and south. But growth and regeneration will not just be handed on a plate and it is vital that the East Midlands does everything possible to harness the huge potential that the new north-south line offers.Chair of East Midlands Councils Cllr Jon Collins said:
The Growth Taskforce is determined to see the benefits of HS2 stretch far and wide, with an estimated 70% of jobs expected to be outside London. That is why getting out and meeting with city and business leaders is so vital. By planning ahead and thinking big, the East Midlands could start to benefit long before the first HS2 train arrives.
The government believes HS2 will be a key driver of jobs and growth. The East Midlands region will benefit from up to 1,600 jobs as a result of station supported employment. This is in addition to opportunities from the 10,000 construction jobs being created across Phase Two of the route between Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.HS2 has potential to boost our local economies through improving connectivity to London, Birmingham and the northern core cities, freeing up capacity on existing rail lines for more services, and creating jobs in our highly competitive transport engineering sector. However, we have to get it right. We are keen to work with Lord Deighton and others in government to ensure businesses and communities across the East Midlands can benefit from this investment.
While research published recently by KPMG showed that HS2 could boost productivity in Derby, Nottingham and the surrounding region by up to £2.2 billion per year within five years of the railway opening. The government sees the Taskforce as crucial in unlocking this potential.
For places not immediately on the HS2 route, Network Rail’s report, Better Connections, shows how over 100 towns and cities on the existing network - such as Leicester and Loughborough - could benefit from quicker, more frequent journeys and faster connections. It explains that very little additional capacity can be squeezed from the existing railway. HS2 will provide Britain’s main rail arteries with new capacity, taking significant inter-city traffic off the existing network and allowing more local and regional services to run on these lines.
Membership of the Taskforce - an independent expert group comprising senior business, academia and local government representatives - was originally confirmed in July. Last month it published its initial report, HS2 Growth Taskforce: The Challenge. In it Lord Deighton says towns and cities across the country need to act now to become ‘HS2-ready’. The report sets out the key areas on which its final report will focus. It will provide recommendations to government early next year.
The regional visits will continue to the end of the year with further meetings set to take place across the country. Crucially they will also involve representatives from non station cities ensuring the Taskforce hears from as many people as possible.
While in the East Midlands, Lord Deighton will speak to engineering students at Loughborough University about the huge opportunities HS2 will bring, before meeting key business and political figures from the region at Loughborough Town Hall.
HS2 will:
- better connect 18 of Britain’s cities either directly or indirectly
- provide 351 miles of track linking London to Birmingham and Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds
- see Phase 1 open in 2026 and Phase 2 open in 2033
- see up to 18 trains per hour run in each direction with phase 2
- see trains will run at 225 miles per hour, with the potential to increase this to 250 miles per hour
Find out what else the government is doing to support and grow the UK economy
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tell us your Railway News!