All Policy articles – Page 53
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NewsRail regulator publishes principles for driver-controlled operation
UK: On April 5 the Office of Rail & Road published the six high-level safety principles that it expects train operators to follow when rolling out and managing driver-controlled operation. DCO is defined as a method of working where the train driver is responsible for door operation and determining that ...
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NewsQuiet wagons mandatory by 2020
GERMANY: Noisy freight wagons will effectively be banned from the national rail network from the December 13 2020 timetable change, after Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced on March 30 that the Bundestag had passed legislation requiring the use of low-noise freight wagons as part of his ‘Quiet Rail Strategy’. ...
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NewsAmtrak’s Gardner calms fears over Trump budget cuts
USA: National passenger operator Amtrak has sought to calm concerns about budget cuts affecting its inter-city passenger services in the wake of federal government budget proposals presented by President Trump on March 16.Speaking at the ‘Future Railway Organisation’ seminar arranged by consultancy Steer Davies Gleave in London on March 29, ...
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Railway supply industry responds to Article 50 notification
UK: Responding to the UK’s formal notification on March 29 of its intention to withdraw from the European Union, the Railway Industry Association which represents manufacturers and service providers said it would be ‘engaging with government to ensure that the UK railway supply industry’s needs are represented’. ‘Brexit presents the ...
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NewsThird-party operators get access to ČD depots
CZECH REPUBLIC: The government has passed an amendment to the Railway Act obliging state operator ČD to provide non-discriminatory access to its depots on a commercial basis with effect from on April 1. Third-party operators will be granted access to ČD’s repair, maintenance and servicing facilities, fuelling and toilet waste ...
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NewsEuropean Commission sees Rail Baltica as a priority project
EUROPE: Lithuania’s Minister of Transport & Communications Rokas Masiulis met European Co-ordinator for the TEN-T North Sea-Baltic Corridor Catherine Trautmann on March 22 to discuss the progress of the Rail Baltica project to build a 1 435 mm gauge line from Poland to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Trautmann assured the ...
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NewsSwedish national operator to bid for Norwegian contracts
NORWAY: Swedish national passenger operator SJ has established local subsidiary SJ Norge to bid for the operating contracts which are being tendered under Norway’s railway reform programme. The Ministry of Transport & Communications expects to award two contracts this year covering the operation from December 2018 of the Sørlandet, Jær ...
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NewsLutz confirmed as DB Chairman as board reshaped
GERMANY: Meeting on March 22, the Deutsche Bahn AG Supervisory Board confirmed the appointment of Dr Richard Lutz as CEO of the national railway, succeeding Dr Rüdiger Grube who stepped down as Chairman of the Management Board in January. Having served as Chief Financial Officer since 2010, Lutz had been ...
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NewsMontecargo privatisation negotiations completed
MONTENEGRO: The Ministry of Finance has completed negotiations for Polish group OT Logistics to acquire a 51% stake in national rail freight operator Montecargo and a 30% stake in Port of Bar operator Luka Bar. The privatisation must now be approved by parliament. Under the final agreement, OT Logistics ...
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NewsTrump proposes dramatic cuts to Amtrak operations and capital project grants
USA: In a blueprint for its proposed Financial Year 2018 budget, the Trump administration is planning to cut funding for the Department of Transportation to $16bn, a 13% reduction on that available for FY2017. Under the proposals, swinging cuts would be made both to passenger train and municipal transport ...
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NewsChinese proposal to bail out crisis-hit Bulgarian railway
BULGARIA: China Railway Rolling Stock Corp has submitted a proposal to make a significant investment in national rail operator BDZ Holding, caretaker Minister of Transport, Information Technology & Communications Hristo Alexiev has announced. The March 9 announcement came after the ministry made a series of decisions and management changes ...
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NewsDispute brings end to pallet exchange agreement
EUROPE: The European Pallet Association has announced that it is to terminate with effect from May 1 an agreement enabling the unrestricted exchangeability of EPAL Euro pallets with UIC/EUR pallets signed in October 2014. EPAL expressed concerns about quality assurance, claiming there have been ‘substantial shortcomings of UIC’s organisation of ...
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NewsRail industry leaders attend Brexit round table
UK: Minister for Exiting the European Union David Jones and Transport Minister Paul Maynard attended a round table meeting on March 1 to hear rail industry leaders’ views on the forthcoming Brexit negotiations. Issues discussed included market access, cross-border services, the supply chain, safety, technical standards, trade, customs and research ...
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NewsFreight operators fined for stifling competition
SPAIN: National competition authority CNMC announced on March 6 that it would be imposing fines totalling €75∙6m on freight operators, following an investigation which had revealed anti-competitive practices in breach of Spanish and European Union law. CNMC says that national operator RENFE and various companies within the DB group, together ...
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NewsRail industry marks International Women's Day 2017
INTERNATIONAL: The railway operations and supply industries around the world marked International Women's Day on March 8. Special events were organised, and the diverse range of career opportunities available in the rail sector was highlighted.
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NewsOpen access operators could pay public service obligation levy
UK: The Department for Transport has begun a two-month consultation on proposals to introduce a public service obligation levy which open access passenger operators would pay to support loss-making franchised services deemed to be socially and economically desirable. This follows the Competition in passenger rail services in Great Britain report ...
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NewsUNIFE seeks better access to Japanese market
INTERNATIONAL: European suppliers’ association UNIFE has called on the Japanese government to ensure ‘transparent and open’ procurement in the country’s railway sector, ‘particularly given the major contracts Japanese suppliers have been awarded in the European Union.’ The ongoing negotiations for an EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement were discussed during the sixth ...
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NewsDeadlines extended as Caltrain seeks to save electrification programme
USA: San Francisco to San Jose commuter operator Caltrain announced on February 27 that it had reached agreement with contractors Balfour Beatty and Stadler to extend the contractual deadlines for start of work on the Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project.Caltrain had been expected to issue ‘Notice to Proceed’ ...
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NewsLong-distance operating contract tender cancelled
SLOVAKIA: The Ministry of Transport & Construction has formally cancelled the tendering of a €10m contract to operate subsidised long-distance passenger services between Bratislava and Banská Bystrica via Šurany and Levice. As a result, all passenger services on the 230 km route will continue to be operated by state-owned ZSSK ...
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NewsGerman contracts more attractive than UK franchises, says National Express CEO
NATIONAL EXPRESS: German passenger train operating contracts offer more attractive business opportunities than UK franchises, National Express Group CEO Dean Finch said when the transport group's annual results were published on February 23. 'The current UK rail market is one that we believe is not as attractive as our other ...