All Policy articles – Page 63
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NewsEuropean Commission launches investigation into proposed 520 km/h test track
SPAIN: The European Commission is to undertake an in-depth investigation into whether proposals for public funding of a planned high speed rail test centre near Málaga would be compatible with state aid rules. The Spanish government has proposed that the planned Centro de Ensayos de Alta Tecnología Ferroviaria would ...
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NewsMTR launches open access inter-city service
SWEDEN: Head-to-head competition came to the 455 km Stockholm – Göteborg corridor on March 21 when open access operator MTR Express launched commercial services. Initially operating around 50 trains per week, rising to 90 from August, MTR Express is offering an end-to-end journey time of 3 h 19 min with ...
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NewsFirst Great Western plans AT300s to Cornwall
UK: Two fleets of new trains and potentially a third will be introduced on the Great Western network over the next four years under the terms of a direct-award franchise announced by Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin on March 23. These would boost capacity on the network by ...
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NewsInfrastructure renationalisation begins
ARGENTINA: On March 18 Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo announced that the bill to return the national rail network to state control had begun its progress through the legislature. A new ‘mother’ company, Ferrocarriles Argentinos, would be created to manage access to the network, absorbing federal operating ...
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NewsSaudi Railways Master Plan update contract
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Railways Organization has awarded Dornier Consulting GmbH a contract to provide consultancy services for an update of the Saudi Railways Master Plan. The six-month contract is worth 2·84 million riyals. SRO said the main objective of the SRMP update is to provide an ‘integrated and clear ...
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NewsSino-Thai railway operating agreement
THAILAND: An operating model for the planned 872 route-km standard gauge north-south corridor was agreed at a meeting of Chinese and Thai officials in Bangkok on March 12. The first of four civil works packages worth a total of 328bn baht (US$10bn) would be implemented from September with a view ...
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NewsFirstGroup targets airlines with London – Edinburgh open access proposal
UK: FirstGroup has applied to the Office of Rail Regulation for track access rights which would enable it to launch an open access passenger service between London King’s Cross, Stevenage, Newcastle, Morpeth and Edinburgh from 2018. The service of five return trains/day with journey times of 4 h to ...
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NewsDB signs first station development framework
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn’s station management business unit DB Station&Service has signed the first of a planned series of framework agreements with the Länder for the development of new stations. Intended to boost ridership on the rail network, these stations would be located in residential and commercial areas and near traffic ...
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NewsLet the cosmos flowers bloom!
NORTH KOREA: Railways feature in a number of slogans which were published by the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea to celebrate its 70th anniversary: Railways are the arteries of the country. Let the rail transport sector establish rigid discipline as ...
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NewsUK Eurostar sale price 'ahead of expectations'
EUROPE: The British government announced an agreement to sell its entire stake in Eurostar International Ltd for £757·1m on March 4. Eurostar International owns the UK’s 40% stake in the cross-Channel high speed train operator, with France’s state-owned train operator SNCF holding 55% and its Belgian counterpart SNCB the remaining ...
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NewsBuenos Aires commuter routes renationalised
ARGENTINA: By means of a resolution published on March 2, Minister of the Interior & Transport Florencio Randazzo has instructed federal railway operating company SOFSE to take direct charge of the Mitre, San Martín, Roca and Belgrano Sur commuter networks in Buenos Aires, rescinding operating agreements signed on February 10 ...
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NewsIsrael Railways ready to launch first bond issue
ISRAEL: Proposals for Israel Railways to raise private investment to fund infrastructure development are moving forwards, with the company expecting to start marketing its first bond issue at the beginning of March ahead of a formal offering later in the month. Under a framework agreement signed with the government in ...
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NewsInvitations to tender issued for Northern and TransPennine franchises
UK: The invitations to tender for the next Northern and TransPennine Express passenger franchises were issued by the Department for Transport on February 27. The ITTs set out the minimum requirements which must be included by bidders in their proposals. Last year Abellio Northern Ltd, Arriva Rail North Ltd and ...
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NewsIndian Railways budget launches five-year plan
INDIA: The 2015-16 railways budget should be seen as the beginning of a Rs8 560bn five-year action plan to transform the network, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said when he presented the budget to parliament on February 26. This year’s budget forms part of a ‘trilogy’ of documents being produced by ...
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News‘Healthy DSB’ objectives achieved in 2014
DENMARK: National passenger operator DSB presented its annual report for 2014 on February 26, with Chairman Peter Schütze and Acting CEO Stig Pastwa saying it has achieved its objectives under the ‘Healthy DSB’ programme to improve its financial performance, punctuality and reputation. Ridership was up 2% on the previous year ...
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NewsHelsinki to delay suburban train tendering
FINLAND: Helsinki regional transport authority HSL is negotiating a new operating agreement with national operator VR which would see a three-year delay to plans to tender the operation of commuter services around the capital. If VR’s proposal is accepted and a letter of intent is agreed by the end of ...
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NewsSNCF posts stable results as competitive threats mount
FRANCE: National operator SNCF issued its 2014 financial results on February 12, which highlighted the scale of the competitive threats that the business is facing in its home market. In what the company termed ‘the difficult environment in France’, SNCF reported year-on-year growth in revenue of 1·5% against 0·5% for ...
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NewsRDC withdraws Bonn - Berlin inter-city proposal
GERMANY: Open-access operator RDC Deutschland announced on February 11 that it had withdrawn its application to introduce a Bonn – Köln – Berlin inter-city service following the partial rejection of its bid for paths by infrastructure manager DB Netz. Under DB Netz's path allocation process for the 2016-20 period, RDC ...
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NewsEBRD sells its stake in PKP Cargo
POLAND: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has sold the 5·1% stake in PKP Cargo which it acquired when 50% minus one share of the national freight operator was offered through an IPO in October 2013. The sale was undertaken through an accelerated bookbuild offering launched after ...
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NewsEIB signs €950m loan for Italian rail upgrading
ITALY: On February 2 the Economics & Finance Ministry and the European Investment Bank signed a €950m loan agreement to finance infrastructure manager RFI’s planned programme of investment in the conventional network. EIB said the strength of its capital base enables it to make loads on favourable terms, reducing the ...