All Policy articles – Page 60
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NewsFinnish passenger market to be opened to competition
FINLAND: Proposals for opening the passenger rail market to competition are to be published in spring next year, Minister of Transport & Communications Anne Berner announced on October 1. The ministry is to study the possible options for competition, aiming to identify the most viable model for Finnish conditions ...
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NewsPTC deadline extension legislation introduced
USA: Bipartisan legislation which would extend the December 31 2015 deadline for the implementation of Positive Train Control was introduced by the leaders of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure on September 30. This follows a Government Accountability Office study which confirmed that most railways would not be able ...
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NewsTrans-Pennine and Midland Main Line electrification by 2023 as work unpaused
UK: Work to electrify the trans-Pennine and Midland Main Line routes is to resume with completion envisaged by 2023, Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin announced on September 30. Following significant delays and cost over-runs on the electrification of the Great Western Main Line from London to Bristol and ...
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NewsRailroads warn of worst-case scenario if PTC deadline is not extended
USA: Congress must act to extend the 'unattainable' December 31 2015 deadline for the roll-out of Positive Train Control, rail industry associations reiterated in response to the release on September 16 of a Government Accountability Office report which says the Federal Railroad Administration needs to develop an adequate and comprehensive ...
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NewsSwiss government funds more maintenance
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways has secured a 15% increase in infrastructure funding from the government for the next three-year performance contract covering 2017-20. Due to be submitted to parliament after a hearing in September, the increase is justified by a predicted 9% rise in gross tonne-km and additions to the ...
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NewsThe Digital Future is now arriving
RG:TV: Digital technology is set to play an increasing role in all aspects of the rail sector, according to panellists participating in the Railway Gazette TV interactive debate on The Digital Future. Broadcast from London’s Tower Bridge Studio on September 9, the discussion attracted almost 500 registered viewers from 50 ...
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NewsGermany studies feasibility of a national clockface timetable
GERMANY: A detailed study of the feasibility of introducing of a national clock-face timetable based a 30 min and 60 min cycle of long distance trains with optimised connections has been published. The study was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Transport from the IGES Institut and TU Braunschweig, with ...
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NewsHigh speed rail priority in 2016 budget
SPAIN: Appearing before a parliamentary committee on August 19, Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport & Housing Julio Gómez-Pomar provided details of the rail spending budgeted by the Ministry of Development for 2016. Next year, the ministry is planning to spend a total of €5∙46bn on rail, a 5% ...
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NewsVladimir Yakunin to stand down as head of Russian Railways
RUSSIA: Vladimir Yakunin confirmed his intention to stand down as President of Russian Railways and enter politics on August 17. The exclave of Kaliningrad is scheduled to hold an election for governor on September 13, and Yakunin has registered as a candidate to be appointed by the incoming governor as ...
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NewsDecember deadline for Greek rail asset offers
GREECE: The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund announced on August 13 that a deadline of December 2015 has been agreed for binding offers to take over state-owned operator TrainOSE and rolling stock maintenance contractor Rosco. The announcement follows the conclusion of negotiations between the privatisation agency, the government and the ...
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NewsRethinking freight terminal operations
NORWAY: Infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket announced on August 10 that it is looking to encourage new operators to provide services at its Ganddal rail freight terminal in Stavanger and the Brattøra terminal in Trondheim. The project is a trial at the behest of the Ministry of Transport & Communications, which wants ...
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NewsMost railroads ‘will miss PTC deadline’, FRA confirms
USA: The deadline of December 31 2015 mandated by Congress for the installation of Positive Train Control by US railroads will not be met, the Federal Railroad Administration confirmed on August 7. The Rail Safety Improvement Act passed by Congress in October 2008 requires all Class I freight railways and ...
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NewsLondon – Blackpool open access service approved
UK: On August 7 the Office of Rail Regulation informed Alliance Rail Holdings that it had decided to approve a 10-year track access contract between Network Rail and Great North Western Railway, an Alliance subsidiary which is planning to launch open access passenger services between London and Blackpool in early ...
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NewsIrish public transport budget increased
IRELAND: National railway Iarnród Éireann is set to be benefit from an additional €60m which the government has allocated to the Ministry of Transport, Tourism & Sport’s public transport budget for 2015. The aim is to catch up with the backlog of work which resulted from country’s recession. Rolling stock ...
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NewsGovernment funds Phnom Penh – Sisophon rehabilitation
CAMBODIA: Work is expected to begin in September on initial repairs to the Northern line which links the capital Phnom Penh with Sisophon, 40 km from the border with Thailand. The government has agreed to provide US$33m to support what it terms ‘emergency repairs’ on the 386 km metre gauge ...
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NewsUS$300m loan for Kazakh national railway
KAZAKHSTAN: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development and a group of commercial banks signed a US$300m syndicated financing package to support modernisation and restructuring at national railway KTZ on July 27. EBRD is providing US$150m on its own account, and syndicating the remaining US$150m to Citibank, Mizuho Bank, ...
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NewsGovernment becomes majority shareholder in Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp
TAIWAN: The build-operate-transfer concession for the Taipei – Kaohsiung high speed line and an agreement for developments at stations were terminated with the signing of two agreements by the Ministry of Transportation & Communications and concessionaire Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp on July 27. The agreements are designed to mitigate ...
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NewsPartial privatisation studies included in DB restructuring
GERMANY: A six-point plan for the reorganisation of national railway holding company Deutsche Bahn AG was approved by the supervisory board on July 27, and options for the part-privatisation of the Arriva international passenger and DB Schenker Logistics businesses are to be studied. ‘DB is going to become leaner, faster, ...
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NewsMonopolies Commission calls for DB unbundling and privatisation
GERMANY: The Monopolies Commission calls for the unbundling of Deutsche Bahn’s infrastructure and operating activities and the sale of its train operating business units to private owners in its fifth biennial report on the railway market. In Railway 2015: Competition policy off track?, the Commission argues that DB’s integrated ...
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NewsEuropean Commission approves Fehmarn Belt financing model
EUROPE: Denmark’s proposed model for public financing of the planning, construction and operation of the Fehmarn Belt rail and road tunnel to Germany is compliant with EU state aid rules, the European Commission announced on July 23. The Commission decided that it did not need to ascertain whether public financing ...