All Policy articles – Page 94
-
News
Veolia pulls out of Stuttgart S-Bahn bidding race
GERMANY: Veolia has withdrawn from the bidding process to run the Stuttgart S-Bahn. Announcing the decision on February 13, Andreas Winter, Head of Market Development & Communication for Veolia-Verkehr-Gruppe in Germany, said that his company was convinced that competitive bidding was possible for 'complex S-Bahnen and large urban public transport ...
-
News
Regulation tops the freight agenda
Delegates attending the freight day at EuroRail 2008 focused on the regulatory and capacity issues facing the sector as it works to realise the EU's vision of an open, liberalised and inter-operable market.
-
NewsCullen reveals buy-back bid
NEW ZEALAND: It looks as if private ownership of the country's railways may be drawing to a close, 15 years after Tranz Rail was sold outright to an international consortium led by Wisconsin Central, Fay Richwhite and Berkshire Partners. The railway has had a rocky ride. WC's charismatic and expansionist ...
-
News
'Reduce the flexibility of ERTMS'
Speaking at Terrapinn's EuroRail 2008 event in Milano on February 27, Swiss Federal Railways' Head of Train Protection Dr Thomas Staffelbach called for Europe's railways to recognise that less flexibility in the design of ERTMS would be for their own benefit
-
News
Freight for sale
ROMANIA: After years of speculation, proposals and counter-proposals, Minister of Transport Ludovic Orban confirmed on March 16 that state-owned rail freight operator CFR Marfa is to be privatised. Established as a stand-alone business during Romania's railway reform programme of 1998-99 (RG 3.07 p155), CFR Marfa was always intended to be ...
-
News
Vázquez loses patience
URUGUAY: Since March 10 state railway AFE has had a new board (p258), the previous incumbents having been suddenly removed by President Tabaré Vázquez. It appears that his administration had lost patience with the slow pace of reform at AFE, where projects to involve the private sector in restoring the ...
-
NewsKeep it simple
NIGERIA: Following the collapse of the agreement for Chinese engineering companies to fund as well as build its ambitious standard-gauge rail network, the Nigerian government has been looking for alternative sources of finance. But a recent approach to the World Bank seems to have come away empty-handed. The bank's advisers ...
-
News
On the path to competition
FRANCE: Open access freight services are now operating in every region of the French rail network, according to RFF President Hubert du Mesnil. He told the sixth national train paths conference on February 6 that private companies are now running an average of 80 trains a day, and a quarter ...
-
News
KTZ announces wiring plan
KYRGYZSTAN: Work is to begin this year on the US$100m electrification of the 154 km main line linking the capital Bishkek with Lugovoy in Kazakhstan, KTZ Chief Executive Nariman Tuleev announced on January 31. Logovoy is on the route from Toshkent in Uzbekistan to Almaty in Kazakhstan, and the line ...
-
News
UIC Highspeed 2008 looks to the future
Under the patronage of European Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot and the Mayor of Amsterdam Job Cohen, and with the support of the United Nations, UIC is organising the sixth world congress on high speed rail. UIC Highspeed 2008 is being jointly hosted by the main players in the Netherlands rail ...
-
News
Middle East plans
GULF: Ambitious proposals to build urban rail networks have been unveiled by authorities in Doha and Kuwait City. Both projects are intended to complement existing plans for a network of main lines and suburban routes across the Gulf states (RG 12.07 p756). A 140 km light rail network has ...
-
NewsScotland: ‘We are more hands-on’
Devolution of power from the UK to the Scottish Government has enabled Scotland to formulate its own transport strategy. Andrew Grantham asked Chief Executive of Transport Scotland Malcolm Reed about the future direction of Scotland’s railways
-
NewsCzech passenger reform
CZECH REPUBLIC: On January 9 the government approved in principle the Ministry of Transport's plans to hive off the passenger division of Czech Railways as a wholly-owned subsidiary company. The Ministry will complete detailed studies by the end of October, and the restructuring is to be completed by the end ...
-
NewsAn open passenger market beckons
The European market for international passenger services will be opened up to competition from January 2010. Murray Hughes investigates what preparations are being made
-
NewsSBB: Meyer has three mountains to climb
Surging passenger and freight traffic are putting pressure on the Swiss Federal Railways network, but funding for infrastructure enhancement is constrained. SBB Chief Executive Andreas Meyer tells Chris Jackson how he plans to tackle these issues and address continuing losses in the freight sector
-
News
Central America going nowhere
THE BRAVE hope that privatisation would lead to a railway revival in Central America appears to be coming to naught. Just three weeks after Railroad Development Corp filed for arbitration in its dispute with the government of Guatemala (RG 7.07 p414), FVG Chairman Henry Posner III wrote to all customers ...
-
NewsRegenerative braking boosts green credentials
Amid a growing focus on environmental issues, British operators are embracing regenerative braking as a means of saving energy and reducing maintenance costs. Roger Ford explains the benefits of the technology, and acknowledges the challenges standing in the way of wholesale adoption
-
News
Polish sell-off plans revived
PROSPECTS for the sale of PKP Cargo SA improved last month when reports surfaced that shares in the state-owned freight operator would go on sale in 2010. Rail freight in Poland is big business, with PKP Cargo handling around 150 million tonnes a year, much of it coal that moves ...
-
News
Morocco's rail renaissance takes a major step forward
The renewal of Morocco's railway is now proceeding rapidly with the start of work on major projects that will determine the future shape of the network. As well as providing major investment, the government is restructuring the national operator to facilitate the involvement of the private sector in both new ...
-
NewsModel restructuring reshapes CFR to survive in a competitive market
Romania's railways are preparing to operate in a market environment where the latest European regulations apply. Restructuring has helped to stabilise the freight sector, where private operators now have a 25% share, but more remains to be done to secure the passenger business