CER - The Voice of European Railways
TEN-T and CEF: a step towards a Single European Railway area
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Today, the plenary of the European Parliament formally adopted the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Guidelines and its related financial instrument, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) welcomes this agreement. Together, the new TEN-T Guidelines and CEF form an important building block in the development of a well-functioning Single European Railway Area. As soon as the Council formally adopts both dossiers there will be no obstacles to their entry into force.
The new TEN-T Guidelines, which seek to improve the interoperability and interconnections between modes, contain a dual layer approach, consisting of a core network and a comprehensive network. The core network, which reflects the strategically most important parts of the TEN-T network, will, with a few exceptions, be the only part of the network eligible for EU co-financing. CER welcomes this approach as it will enable focusing scarce financial resources on projects of high European added value, such as the removal of bottlenecks, the construction of missing links and cross border projects.
For rail, the improvements of the technical requirements and the new corridor concept lie at the heart of the new transport policy. In addition to being compliant to the Technical Specifications for Interoperability for Infrastructure, the rail infrastructure in the comprehensive network must be fully electrified and equipped with ERTMS by 2050. The core network requires a nominal track gauge of 1435 mm, and freight lines must be equipped to allow for 22.5 t axle load, 100km/h line speed and be able to run trains with a length of 740m by 31 December 2030. CER strongly supports these technical standards as they are the real enablers needed to achieve the ambitious modal shift targets for the railways in Europe. Furthermore, CER specifically welcomes the electrification of railway lines on the TEN-T network as this is a necessary condition for meeting the decarbonisation targets of the Transport White Paper.
The multimodal Core Network Corridors are intended to provide a highly resource efficient infrastructure use. CER welcomes this approach as it is expected to lead to better coordination between member states and stakeholders in the planning and investment of corridors, and enable efficiency gains for the rail sector in the long run. CER is pleased that the rail part of the Core Network Corridors will be fully aligned, both geographically and in terms of governance, to the already existing rail freight corridor as established under Regulation (EU) 913/2010. As such, the rail sector is expected to play a central role in the TEN-T corridor approach.
The objectives of the TEN-T Guidelines can, however, only be fully realised if an adequate budget and financing methodology are available for supporting these activities. CER is therefore pleased that the CEF, which defines the conditions, methods and procedures for providing Union financial aid, will focus scarce financial resources on the TEN-T priorities, including rail, and will provide the necessary tools geared toward encouraging member state involvement. Rail projects can benefit from a co-financing rate of up to 20% of the eligible costs, which can be increased to 30% for rail projects addressing bottlenecks and to 40% for rail projects concerning cross-border sections. Furthermore, the CEF provides a 20% co-financing rate up to a combined ceiling of 1% of the CEF budget to be granted for actions to reduce rail freight noise, including by retrofitting existing of rolling stock, and a 10% co-financing rate for creating better accessibility to transport infrastructure for disabled persons, which can be increased to 30% for adaptation works. CER is also pleased that the 50% co-financing rate of the eligible costs for land-based and on-board components of ERTMS, which already existed under previous TEN-T policy, has been maintained.
Regarding the overall CEF budget, CER regrets that the EUR 31.7 billion originally proposed by the European Commission for the EU budget 2014-2020 has been reduced by 25% to EUR 23.2 billion. Without adequate funding, the TEN-T goals of shifting toward a more sustainable and less fossil fuels dependent transport system cannot be realised. Although the new CEF budget is a clear improvement on the EUR 8 billion allocated to the TEN-T budget under the current financial period 2007-2013, CER feels that the reduction in the CEF budget has put at risk the realisation of the 2011 White Paper goals.
CER Executive Director Libor Lochman highlighted: “I am very pleased with the adoption of both dossiers, in particular with standardising the core network corridor parameters since it will increase efficiency of rail freight. On CEF, the co-financing rates will bring progress in areas of key importance to rail. This formal adoption will certainly lead the railways into the right direction.”
TRB Transportation Research
National Light Rail Conference: Light Rail Transit and Streetcars: Mobility Partners in the Evolving Metropolitan Environment
TRB is sponsoring the National Light Rail Conference: Light Rail Transit and Streetcars: Mobility Partners in the Evolving Metropolitan Environment on November 15-17, 2015, in a location still to be determined. The conference is designed to explore the latest issues and trends in light rail research and practice related to planning, design, construction, and operations and maintenance. The theme of the conference is the role of light rail in providing mobility in the evolving international metropolitan environment.
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POLAND's infrastructure manger PKP PLK has awarded a €41.5m contract to Kapsch CarrierCom and Torpol, Poland to install GSM-R radio communications on the main line linking Kunowice on the German border with Poznan, Warsaw and Terespol on the Belarus border.
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Crossrail reveals first completed train tunnel - Crossrail
Crossrail
Europe’s largest infrastructure project, Crossrail, has unveiled its first completed train tunnel 18 months after tunnelling machine, Phyllis, started her 6.8 kilometre journey from Royal Oak to Farringdon.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, Infrastructure Minister Lord Deighton and Deputy Mayor for Transport Isabel Dedring have become the first visitors to set foot inside the completed train tunnel, entering via what will be the future Crossrail Farringdon station.
They gained a glimpse of how the most significant addition to London’s transport network in a generation will look when it opens in 2018, and enclosed a time capsule in the remaining section of Crossrail’s first tunnelling machine, Phyllis.
Crossrail is delivering a significant economic boost across the UK with more than 10,000 people currently working across 45 construction sites. Over 75,000 business opportunities will be created across the UK during the life of the project.
The ministers met several of the workers including apprentices that have been constructing the new passenger tunnels underneath Farringdon station. Crossrail is on target to deliver over 400 apprenticeships with more than 260 apprentices already working on the project.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Rt Hon. Danny Alexander said: “This first tunnel is a key milestone in the journey towards a better transport network in London. Crossrail will transform the way people travel, slashing journey times from the City to Heathrow by around 30 minutes and increasing London's rail capacity by ten per cent. Anyone who travels in London knows Crossrail can’t come soon enough and today shows that the project is on track to open in 2018.
“This is just one part of the government’s plan to invest in our future through growth boosting projects. When completed Crossrail is set to create £42 billion for the UK economy, which means more jobs, better skills and growing businesses across the country.”
Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, Lord Deighton said: “Big projects bring big rewards and Crossrail is another excellent example of the UK delivering on time and on budget to create world-leading infrastructure that will drive our economy. The project will create the equivalent of 55,000 new jobs, support thousands of business and produce lasting benefits for the whole country through the supply chain.
“With 90 per cent of contracts going to UK firms and 62 per cent outside London, it is a model that projects should be looking to follow so that we get the infrastructure the UK needs to compete in the global race.”
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “The completion of the first section of Crossrail tunnel is a fantastic achievement for everyone involved in delivering this landmark infrastructure project. As well as creating thousands of jobs in the capital and across the UK, it is sending out a very strong message that London is planning for the future and delivering on a scheme that will revolutionise rail travel in our great city.”
Crossrail Chief Executive Andrew Wolstenholme said: “Crossrail has finished construction of its first section of tunnel, showing that the UK can deliver big projects on time and on budget. In the process we are creating a new generation of tunnellers, with many of them training at the new £13m Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy in east London, providing skills for not only Crossrail but future infrastructure projects. We have also helped more than 750 people move from unemployment into work.”
BAM Ferrovial Kier Joint Venture Managing Director, Tom Tagg said: "This has been a tremendous engineering performance which has taken skill and accuracy to deliver a complex piece of infrastructure while allowing London to function above. We have been proud to be the first tunnelling machine to start building Crossrail’s new tunnels and pleased to be finishing first and ahead of schedule.”
Among the items included in the Crossrail time capsule were a 2013 edition of the London A to Z donated by Phyllis Pearsall’s company who TBM Phyllis was named after, a Crossrail “Start of Tunnelling” mining tally and a tunnel phone used to communicate without standard telephone signal.
Crossrail’s seven giant tunnelling machines are approaching 25 kilometres out of 42 kilometres of new train tunnels that will link east and west London. Another 14 kilometres of new passenger, platform and service tunnels are being constructed below the new Crossrail stations.
Phyllis is the first tunnelling machines to complete her tunnel construction with another three 1,000 tonne, 150 metre long tunnelling machines due to complete tunnelling at Farringdon in the coming year.
Farringdon station will be at the heart of London’s rail network, becoming one of the UK’s busiest rail stations linking north, south, east and west London and three of London’s major airports. More than 140 trains an hour will pass through the station including 24 Crossrail trains an hour in each direction, during peak times.
More than 150,000 passengers a day will use Farringdon station after Crossrail opens and they will be able to travel to Tottenham Court Road in three minutes, Heathrow in just over 30 minutes and Canary Wharf in nine minutes.
When Crossrail opens in 2018, it will transform train travel across London and the south east, delivering faster journey times, boosting London’s rail capacity by 10% and bringing an additional 1.5 million people to within 45 minutes travel of the capital’s major business centres. Over 200 million passengers will travel on Crossrail each year.
Coradia for Regiolis - Alstom
Régiolis trains stem from Alstom's Coradia range. They are modular: they come in three lengths (56, 72 or 110 metres), feature four degrees of comfort in accordance with the distances being travelled (suburban, regional, inter-city, and trains for nationwide balance), and are equipped with a bimodal (diesel/electric) or electric engine. This is an ecological, cost-saving train thanks to its low energy use and reduced maintenance costs. Lastly, it is available to all for it has an integral low floor matching the height of the platforms.
The main chance for the Lords to debate legislation authorising further spending in preparation for the High Speed Two (HS2) rail network was in today's (Tuesday 19 November) second reading debate.
Watch the debate in this video clip....
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