All Policy articles – Page 46
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NewsUzbekistan backs Afghan rail proposal
AFGHANISTAN: Uzbekistan has pledged to provide US$500m to part-fund the construction of a 657 km railway from Mazar-i-Sharif to Herat, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance said following an international conference on Afghanistan held in Toshkent on March 26-27. The proposed line would be an extension of the existing 75 km route ...
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NewsFreight restructuring as SNCF reforms push ahead
FRANCE: Visiting the port of Bonneuil-sur-Marne on April 16, Prime Minister Eduard Phillippe, Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot and Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne announced a series of measures to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of SNCF’s rail freight business. The package includes increased support for intermodal transport and a ‘remission’ of ...
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NewsTRC returns as vertical separation ends
TANZANIA: A new Tanzania Railways Corp has been established to bring together railway infrastructure and operations, following a decade of vertical separation, Minister of Construction, Transport & Communications. Prof Makame Mbarawa explained at a ceremony in Dar es Salaam to launch the organisation. Under the terms of the Tanzania Railway ...
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NewsLebanon railway revival discussed
LEBANON: Long-standing proposals to rehabilitate the out-of-use railway which once ran 80 km along the coast from Beirut to Tripoli were discussed at a meeting of the EuroMed Transport Rail project in Beirut on March 22. An action plan is to be presented at a conference to be held in ...
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NewsRail to benefit from reduction in wind energy surcharge
GERMANY: The European Commission has ruled that Germany’s plan to grant railways a reduction on a planned offshore energy surcharge is permitted under EU state aid rules, because it would contribute to the rail sector’s competitiveness without unduly distorting the single market. Under an amendment to the German Energy Act ...
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NewsCost drove cancellation of UK electrification projects
UK: The National Audit Office has published an investigation into why and how the government cancelled the planned 25 kV 50 Hz electrification of the Cardiff – Swansea route, the Oxenholme – Windermere branch and the Midland Main Line north from Kettering to Nottingham and Sheffield. The report released on ...
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NewsWest Coast Partnership invitations to tender issued
UK: The Department for Transport issued invitations to tender for the West Coast Partnership franchise on March 27. The contract will cover the operation of InterCity West Coast services from September 15 2019 until 2031, and the planning of the initial service on High Speed 2 in partnership with project ...
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NewsHopes rise on Gateway tunnel funding despite Trump opposition
USA: Hopes of progress in the Gateway Programme to build new tunnels between New York and New Jersey were raised on March 22 when $650m of federal funding was directed to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. The Gateway Programme covers a series of enhancements worth approximately $30bn to the busiest section ...
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NewsRegional corridor studies to go ahead
AUSTRALIA: The federal government has selected three projects for development under the Faster Rail Prospectus announced as part of the 2017 budget. The aim of the programme is to develop proposals for faster rail services between major cities and their surrounding regions, to support ‘continued economic success’. The budget allocates ...
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NewsRailway project leads to political crisis in Slovenia
SLOVENIA: Prime Minister Miro Cerar announced his resignation on March 14, after a court annulled the result of a September 2017 referendum in which 53·5% of voters had backed the government’s plans to build a 27 km second track to increase capacity on the route serving the Port of Koper. ...
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NewsTransdev receives safety approval for French passenger market
FRANCE: Transdev announced on March 12 that its train operating subsidiary CFTA had received a certificate of railway safety. This is a prerequisite for Transdev to enter the main line passenger market as a competitor to national railway SNCF. CFTA already operates two rural passenger services in Bretagne, through a ...
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NewsUzbekistan – Tajikistan rail link reopens
ASIA: The cross-border railway between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan via Ghalaba and Amuzang on the north bank of the River Amu Darya was officially reopened with a ceremony on March 9. The event was held during a state visit by Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon, and the ...
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NewsDG Move highlights Brexit concerns for rail sector
EUROPE: ‘In view of the considerable uncertainties’ surrounding the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility & Transport issued a ‘Notice to Stakeholders’ on February 27. This is intended to inform operators, suppliers and other bodies of the ‘legal repercussions which need to ...
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NewsGovernment spares rural railways but backs Spinetta reforms
FRANCE: In announcing on February 26 his response to the Spinetta review of the state of France’s national railway, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe rejected a proposal to close up to 9 000 route-km of secondary railway. Former Air France-KLM Chief Executive Jean-Cyril Spinetta had issued his wide-ranging report into the ...
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NewsUK railway research network established
UK: A parliamentary reception on February 20 marked the formal launch of the UK Rail Research & Innovation Network, bringing together railway industry bodies and eight universities. Through a £92m funding package, these partners are to work together to establish four ‘world class’ centres of excellence focused on rolling stock, ...
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NewsState aid for freight sidings approved
FRANCE: The European Commission has approved the granting of €60m of state aid for the construction, renewal or extension of freight sidings. The European Rail Freight Association welcomed the decision, saying ‘around 50% of the 2 500 to 3 000 sidings are out of service’, and many industries were ‘facing ...
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NewsSpinetta report urges SNCF to prepare for competition
FRANCE: The national railway must refocus on ‘the areas where it has greatest relevance’: transporting large numbers of passengers within urban areas, and providing high speed connectivity between France’s principal cities. This mission statement is at the heart of a landmark report handed to Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on February ...
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NewsLyon – Torino base tunnel contracts awarded
EUROPE: Franco-Italian base tunnel promoter Tunnel Euralpin Lyon-Turin has awarded three project management contracts totalling €90m to oversee civil engineering work on the French side of the border, accounting for around 80% of the 57·5 km tunnel. Announcing the contract awards on February 1, TELT Managing Director Mario Virano said ...
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NewsTrump budget plans to halve federal subsidy to Amtrak
USA: The formal 2019 financial year budget issued by President Donald Trump on February 12 includes plans to cut federal subsidy to Amtrak by almost half. The proposed budget, which would take effect from October 1, would see federal support payments for Amtrak reduced from $1·5bn to $738m. The savings ...
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NewsNetwork Rail unveils CP6 business plan
UK: A strong focus on safety, reliability and performance underpins Network Rail’s objectives for the five-year Control Period 6, which starts on April 1 2019. Publishing its strategic business plan on February 13 for regulatory approval, the infrastructure manager explained how it expects to spend the £47bn allocated for CP6 ...