All Policy articles – Page 65
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NewsCP ends CSX merger talks
NORTH AMERICA: Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd announced on October 20 that an ‘exploratory conversation’ about a possible merger with CSX Corp had ended, and that no further talks were planned. CP confirmed that it had proposed a merger which it envisaged would create ‘an integrated coast-to-coast combination that would ...
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NewsFirst MTR Express inter-city Flirt on test
SWEDEN: Ahead of the launch of MTR Express Stockholm – Göteborg open access services in March 2015, guests including Railway Gazette joined MTR Nordic and Stadler staff on a test run of the operator’s first Flirt Intercity EMU in Switzerland on October 17. MTR Express is part of the Nordic ...
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NewsUK invites interest in buying 40% stake in Eurostar
EUROPE: The British government formally invited expressions of interest in buying its 40% stake in cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar International Ltd on October 13. Potential bidders have until October 31 to respond, with the government saying its key objective is to ‘maximise value for money for the ...
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NewsJernbaneverket budget increased to NKr17·7bn
NORWAY: Acting Director General of Jernbaneverket, Gunnar Løvås, said on October 8 that he was ‘very pleased’ with the government’s budget which allocates a record NKr17·7bn to the infrastructure manager in 2015, an increase of NKr1·5bn on this year. Nearly NKr11·3bn is for capital investment and NKr6·5bn for operations ...
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NewsEuropean Commission seeks associated members to join Shift2Rail
EUROPE: The European Commission has invited organisations to express interest in becoming associated members of the Shift2Rail initiative, which is to invest almost €920m in railway research and innovation in 2014-20. Applications are to be submitted by November 12, with the associated members to be selected in early 2015. The ...
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NewsDoppelbauer to head European Railway Agency
EUROPE: Meeting in Lille on September 30, the Administrative Board of the European Railway Agency voted to appoint Dr Josef Doppelbauer as the next Executive Director, succeeding Marcel Verslype with effect from January 1 2015. Holding both a degree and a doctorate in physics, Doppelbauer started his career at the ...
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NewsEuro-Brazilian co-operation accord
A key step towards greater regulatory co-operation between the European and Brazilian railway sectors was taken on September 23, with the signing at InnoTrans of a Memorandum of Understanding between Jorge Luiz Macedo Bastos, General Director of Brazilian land transport agency ANTT and the Executive Director of the European Railway ...
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NewsEuropean Commission approves Thalys restructuring
EUROPE: The European Commission announced on September 22 that it had approved the restructuring of Thalys as a 60:40 joint venture between SNCF of France and SNCB of Belgium. Operating high speed services from Paris to Brussels, Amsterdam and Köln, Thalys had originally been established in partnership with DB of ...
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NewsUK’s biggest rail franchise launched
UK: Rail Minister Claire Perry joined senior executives and VIPs at The Shard, the landmark tower overlooking London Bridge station, on September 15 to mark the launch of Govia Thameslink Railway. The new franchise had taken over the operation of London's Thameslink and Great Northern routes from First Capital Connect ...
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NewsTEN-T funding bids invited
EUROPE: The European Commission’s Innovation & Networks Executive Agency announced on September 11 that it had opened the bidding for €11·9bn of funding to improve European transport links under the revised TEN-T programme. Member state governments have until February 26 to submit proposals, with the selected projects to be announced ...
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NewsChallenging and frustrating year hits KiwiRail
NEW ZEALAND: KiwiRail has had a ‘challenging’ and ‘frustrating’ financial year, the national railway announced on August 29, adding that it is ‘cautious about the outlook for 2015’, particularly in the commodities sector. KiwiRail warned that it ‘cannot rely on revenue growth alone to get us to a sustainable position’. ...
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NewsReclassification nationalises Network Rail
UK: National infrastructure manager Network Rail has been formally designated as a part of central government with effect from September 1. This coincides with a change in European accounting rules from the same date, requiring what NR called ‘a statistical change’ to reclassify its debt from the private to the ...
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NewsFRA funds Short Line Safety Institute
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded grants of $250 000 to the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association and $100 000 to the University of Connecticut to support the development of a Short Line Safety Institute. SLSI is intended to help mitigate the risks associated with shipping hazardous ...
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NewsDSB sets out long-term rolling stock requirements
DENMARK: National passenger operator DSB has supplied the Ministry of Transport with an assessment of the rolling stock needed under the government’s Togfonden DK strategy. This aims to use taxes on hydrocarbon extraction to fund electrification and infrastructure works to provide 1 h journey times between Denmark’s main cities. The ...
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NewsCrude oil rules to be tightened
USA: The Department of Transportation issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on July 23 setting out ‘comprehensive proposals’ to improve safety in the movement of flammable materials by rail, with a particular focus on crude oil and ethanol. The proposals are based on an Advanced Notice published by the Pipeline ...
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NewsPrivate operators to be encouraged under railway reform plans
THAILAND: State Railway of Thailand is likely to be abolished under a wide-ranging reform programme planned by the interim military government. Giving a briefing on railway investment in Bangkok on July 23, Dr Chula Sukmanop, Director-General of the Office of Transport & Traffic Policy & Planning, said the government saw ...
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NewsSénat approves French railway reforms
FRANCE: The government’s draft legislation to restructure the rail sector passed its reading in the Sénat by 188 votes to 150 on July 10. The revised text had been adopted by 355 votes to 168 during a reading in the Assemblée Nationale on June 24. Under an accelerated process, the ...
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NewsShift2Rail joins Horizon 2020 launch
EUROPE: Following its formal adoption by the European Union’s Council of Ministers on June 16, the Shift2Rail Joint Technology Initiative was launched at a conference in Brussels on July 9 alongside six other JTIs under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research programme. The conference marked the start of calls for ...
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NewsIndian Railways budget makes the case for change
INDIA: Presenting his first budget since the new government took office, Railways Minister D V Sadanand Gowda said on July 8 that he wanted to see Indian Railways become ‘the largest freight carrier in the world’, having recently ‘achieved the distinction of entering the select club’ carrying more than one ...