UK & International Railway News Friday 19th December 2014

..Total Railway News

Crossrail's surface works now one third complete... HS2 compensation delayed....SNCF mulling over Eurostar ... a new recovery device for TfL... the 10 most read stories from SmartRail World....


Click on the links....




Headlines
UK 
SNCF mulls buyout of UK government's Eurostar stake - report.(Reuters)


Flooding causes train and road disruption in Powys.(BBC News)




Delayed Boris backs life-sciences hub in Sutton as travel hold up pushes case for trams.(This Is Local London)


HS2 compensation scheme launch delayed.(Bucks Free Press)


Promise to invest in Essex's 'underfunded' railways.(Essex Chronicle)


TfL is really proud of its new device: a stick (The Independent)

Office of Rail Regulation

Rail regulator seeking views on rolling stock leasing market

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) is seeking views from the rail industry on the Rolling Stock Leasing Market Investigation Order 2009 put in place by the Competition Commission (CC) following its market investigation that finished in the same year.
Following an initial referral made by ORR, the CC published the findings of its rolling stock leasing market investigation on 7 April 2009. The investigation identified adverse effects on competition in the market due to key market features such as a shortage of alternative rolling stock available to train operating companies when bidding for franchises.
The CC also proposed a package of remedies which came into effect in February 2010. These included an enforcement order (the Order), requiring rolling stock leasing companies to provide train operators with a set list of information, with a view to increasing the comparability of competing offers.
ORR is reviewing the Order so as to seek industry views on compliance and the Order's efficacy.
To learn more about this consultation, visit: http://orr.gov.uk/consultations/policy-consultations/open-consultations/review-of-the-rolling-stock-leasing-market-investigation-order-2009.


Crossrail




Crossrail’s surface works one third complete

• Crossrail works in outer London, Berkshire and Essex now one third complete
• More than nine million hours worked by Network Rail so far to upgrade existing national rail network for Crossrail

Work on Crossrail’s surface section in outer London, Berkshire and Essex is now one third complete.
The £2.3bn upgrade of the existing rail network for Crossrail is being undertaken by Network Rail. Highlights of the work to date include:

• The installation of the Stockley flyover in Hillingdon, which will improve links and increase capacity between Heathrow and central London from 2018
• Work on a new rail diveunder at Acton, which will be completed next year
• The opening of a temporary station at Abbey Wood to allow the construction of a new landmark, two storey station
• The demolition and replacement of four bridges in west London and Slough and piling work between Hillingdon and Maidenhead ahead of the installation of overhead electric wires for Crossrail
• Extensive track works across the route and preparations for the installation of two new tracks to link Abbey Wood to the Crossrail tunnels at Plumstead.

Matthew White, Surface Director at Crossrail said: “Crossrail will provide a step change in public transport right along the surface section of the route – for passengers that will mean new trains, better stations and quicker journeys. A huge amount of work has already been carried out to prepare the existing railway for the arrival of new services. Network Rail is now gearing up for a busy time over Christmas and New Year and in 2015 major station improvements will step up.”

Matthew Steele, Crossrail Programme Director at Network Rail said: “'£2.3bn is being invested in the existing rail network to deliver Crossrail.  Network Rail is upgrading stations, track, signalling and installing new overhead power supplies across the route to enable the new trains to run. We are also building a brand new station at Abbey Wood as well as delivering new flyovers to ease congestion between London and Heathrow airport. As we pass through this milestone the work is on schedule and within budget, so well done to everyone working within the combined Crossrail, Network Rail and supply chain team.”

The Christmas and New Year period will be the busiest yet for Crossrail’s surface section. Amongst a wide programme of works, bridges at Slough and Iver will be demolished, the new flyover at Stockley will be commissioned and a turnback facility will be installed at Chadwell Heath.

Major station improvements will step up in 2015 as part of the upgrade of the existing rail network for Crossrail. A number of stations in outer London will be completely rebuilt, providing passengers with brighter, more spacious ticket halls.
Across the surface section, more than 40 lifts will be installed to provide step free access at every station and platforms at 16 stations will be lengthened in preparation for the new, longer trains. Crossrail is also working closely with local authorities along the route to improve the areas around the stations, making them more welcoming, accessible and free from clutter.

From May 2015, Transport for London will begin operating the existing rolling stock between Shenfield and Liverpool Street. There will be staff at every station at all times that trains are running, better accessibility provision, full integration with TfL customer information channels and with TfL fares and ticketing, including cheaper journeys in many cases using Oyster or contactless pay as you go.
TfL will also put in place a phased programme of deep cleaning and painting the stations and introducing help points, CCTV, gate lines and better lighting and customer information. Ahead of the new Crossrail trains arriving on the Shenfield to Liverpool Street services in 2017, TfL will clean up the existing trains and refresh them inside and out within six months of transfer.





Review of the 2014

Each daily edition of "The Railway Chronicle" is prefaced with a paragraph outlining the key railway news of the day....

Look back to January and February 2014 to see how the year unfolded... and, you've guessed it...Dawlish features strongly.......

Look back..hopefully not in anger......HERE

What were the most read rail stories of 2014? By Luke Upton, 19 Dec 2014 10:55:23 As the year comes to an end, SmartRail World Editor Luke Upton digs through the year’s stories to find the ten most popular by page views. From lost trains, BatTrams, man vs tube races and mega budgets it’s an eclectic mix! What’s your favourite? Honourable mentions to those not making the top ten include: The Shinkansen, the Japanese 'super express of dreams' turns 50 , How did BART know about the San Fran quake before anyone else? and How the 2014 World Cup is being embraced by rail and metro A big thank you to all our readers, contributors and partners for your support in 2014. We look forward to sharing more international stories from the world of rail and metro in 2015! We have some very exciting plans which will be revealed soon!

International

India

Railway Board to examine Mangaluru’s merger with Konkan Railway.(The Hindu)

Pictures courtesy Konkan Railway

Siemens

World's first application of new in-line rail hardening goes commercial at Baotou

Linz, 2014-Dec-17

• Idrha+ produces hardened rails with improved resistance to contact fatigue and wear
• System was developed by Siemens and RINA-CSM

Siemens Metals Technologies has received notice from Baotou Iron & Steel (Group) Co. Ltd. that the in-line "Injector Dual-phase Rail Hardening" (Idrha+) achieved the expected performances for the rail R60 U75V gr.340 according to TB/T2344-2012 norm and has therefore entered the regular commercial production. The system, contracted to Siemens in December 2012, is capable to improve the rail resistance to both wear and rolling contact fatigue, and was designed by Siemens Metals Technologies and Centro Sviluppo Materiali S.p.A. (RINA-CSM).


Hot tests of Idrha+ system at Baotou Iron & Steel. The "Injector Dual-phase Rail Hardening" system enables long hardened rails up to over 100 m length to be in-line processed for improved resistance to contact fatigue and wear. The first system of this kind went into regular commercial production at Baotou Iron & Steel (Group) Co. Ltd. in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China.
The grade U75V is one of the most widely produced rails for high-speed application. After head-hardening treatment with Idrha+ process, all the obtained mechanical and metallurgical characteristics of the rails exceed the values required by the applicable standards. In particular, the minimum values of UTS tensile strength and A% elongation are 1180 MPa and 10%, respectively. The measured values of hardness range from 340 to 400 Brinell HBW10/3000 at the surface of the rail head, and from 34 to 42 Rockwell HRC across the rail section, according to the applicable measuring protocol. R60 U75V gr.340 is the first rail in the world to be commercially processed through Idrha+, and is now in industrial production already at a rate of 15 pieces per hour with a 100 m standard length.
With a rail production capacity up to 1.36 million tons (record reached in 2009), Baotou is the largest rail manufacturer in the world. The first in-line Idrha+ system is installed in the rail rolling mill nr. 2, which has a yearly capacity of 400,000 metric tons and produces various sizes and grades of rails for domestic and export markets, according to the main international standards.
The design of the Idrha+ system by Siemens and Centro Sviluppo Materiali S.p.A. (RINA-CSM) is based on thermo-mechanical and metallurgical process models, and validated by experimental trials in a pilot plant. This allows the simulation of various cooling strategies for different grades of rail steel prior to the start of production, thus enabling run-up times to be shortened and nominal capacity to be attained faster while relevant performance parameters are fulfilled consistently and reliably.
The Idrha+ system allows for a unique flexibility of use and consistency of performance, thanks to the integration of a selective induction heating station, including powerful sequential spraying cooling modules with adaptive settings. The in-line installation grants a very high productivity with significant energy savings.
For further information on solutions for steelworks, rolling mills and processing lines, please see www.siemens.com/metals


USA
www.progressiverailroading.com

STB sets procedural schedule for proposed NS/Delaware & Hudson line transaction

L.A. airport board's $4 billion modernization plan features new rail link

Sound Transit approves $1.2 billion budget with funds for light-rail expansion

AAR: All 10 U.S. carload groups netted gains in week No. 50

CSX opens locomotive shop in Chicago

MTA completes Second Avenue Subway station shell construction

Contract negotiations between CN, Unifor to carryover into January

Columbia Basin eyes BNSF interchange upgrades; ARG Transportation promotes two execs

Rail supplier news from GATX, GE, Tiger Cool, Sqills and Auto Truck (Dec. 19)

Progressive Railroading’s Secure Rail Conference Addresses Train Transport of Toxins December 19, 2014 — Milwaukee — Progressive Railroading's Secure Rail Conference — focused on protecting and managing the security of rail technology, assets and people — will feature three hazmat-centered sessions in the educational lineup: "Hazmat Security: Beyond the Tank Car," "Tank Car of the Future" and "Implications and Effects of the Rail Routing Rule." The Secure Rail Conference takes place February 3-4, 2015, at the Sheraton Lake Buena Vista Resort in Orlando, FL. "As railroads continue to increase the amount of security-sensitive materials — including poisonous by inhalation and toxic inhalation hazards — they transport throughout North America it's important that they take steps to ensure they reach their end destination without incident," says Amy Brown, director of education and conferencing. "Recent crude-oil train derailments have had catastrophic effects on both the communities where they occurred and the railroads operating the trains, which makes addressing the hazmat topic at Secure Rail both important and timely." Hazmat Security: Beyond the Tank Car This session features Richard Flynn of NorthEast Logistics Systems discussing the transport of poisonous by inhalation and toxic inhalation hazards and ways to minimize risk when transporting these materials. He will also discuss how to identify insurance companies' concerns about crude-oil transport. Tank Car of the Future Facilitated by Bob Fronczak with the Association of American Railroads and Francisco Gonzalez with the Federal Railroad Administration, this session highlights the current safety and security risks tank cars pose, and what can be done in the future to create tank cars that resist punctures, prevent oil spills, and mitigate fires in the event of a derailment. Implications and Effects of the Rail Routing Rule At this session, Elliott Shepherd with the Federal Railroad Administration discusses the Rail Routing Rule, which requires that railroads hauling security-sensitive materials select the safest and most secure route to transport those materials. You will hear how railroads are developing a risk analysis and security plan and how the FRA will handle enforcement of the rule. For the complete list of Secure Rail educational sessions, go to SecureRailConference.com. ============================================== US insists Alstom not GE pays $700m settlement.(FT.com) Spanish construction firm to build high-speed rail in USA (Olive Press) California's bullet train: We owe it to our grandchildren to get this right (Los Angeles Times)  Other Railway Press www.railway-technology.com Metrolink trains to offer Wi-Fi service for its passengers UK's Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is set to provide Wi-Fi service on its Metrolink trains by mid-2015, as part of an £1.7m deal. RATP launches Alstom Citadis tram on line T8 of Ile-de-France network France's Paris Transit Authority (RATP) has launched the Alstom-built Citadis tram on line T8 of the Ile-de-France tram network that connects Saint-Denis with Epinay-sur-Seine and Villetaneuse. UK to provide £60m in funding to improve access in 26 rail stations UK Transport Minister Susan Kramer has announced that £60m will be invested in 26 rail stations across the country, in a bid to improve access for passengers. Sydney's $2.1bn light rail contract awarded to ALTRAC Light Rail Australia's New South Wales (NSW) Transport has awarded the $2.1bn CBD and South East Light Rail line to the ALTRAC Light Rail consortium, formerly named as Connecting Sydney. Big aims for 2015 Looking ahead to 2015 we have some big aims and we are hoping you will help us to achieve them: In India we would like to increase our child friendly station model to provide a safety net for even more children at risk. Getting to street children as early as possible is key to their safety. Through our work in Kenya and Tanzania we aim to reach at least 25% of the most vulnerable children within two days of their arrival on the streets. In the UK we are looking to invest in more family intervention work to help reduce issues at home that lead to children running away. Thank you again if you have given to our Christmas appeal or supported us during 2014. Best wishes from us all at Railway Children PS. Please support us in achieving our aims for 2015 by donating today.