All Policy articles – Page 95
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NewsWorld railway market is 'robust and attractive'
A study commissioned by UNIFE from Roland Berger Strategy Consultants puts the value of the world railway market at over €100bn a year. Growth is predicted at 1·5% to 2% a year for the next decade.
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NewsBDZ separation plan approved
BULGARIA: The cabinet approved a plan to further restructure Bulgarian State Railways on January 18, following the creation of financially independent passenger, freight and traction divisions of the national operator on January 1 (RG 12.06 p764). Transport Minister Peter Mutafchiev plans to create separate telecoms, rolling stock management, maintenance ...
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NewsADIF plans €23bn spend in 2007-10
SPAIN: On January 26 the cabinet approved the 2007-10 contract programme between the government and ADIF, which will see the infrastructure authority receive a total of €11·9bn from the state. Over this period ADIF is planning to spend a total of €23bn, with the balance to be found from ...
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NewsCapacity crunch looms on busy UK network as policy failures bite
Contrasts abound in the complex UK railway business, with high costs militating against network enhancements despite the urgent need to raise capacity
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NewsQR on course to move freight throughout Australia
A transformation is taking place in Australian rail freight, as Queensland's state-owned railway emerges as the stronger of two major players and Pacific National seeks a new backer under Toll ownership. Richard Hope asked CEO Bob Scheuber where QR is heading now
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EVR's private interlude is over
BALTIC Rail Services announced on January 9 that the sale of its 66% holding in Eesti Raudtee had been completed, ending five years of private-sector operation of the Estonian rail network. The move was followed by the appointment as Chief Executive of former infrastructure director Kaido Simmermann, who immediately ...
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Reform is not the answer
ZIMBABWE: ’The Zimbabwe railway continues to be critical for the growth of regional and international trade’, reports the World Bank following a recent study of the country’s transport infrastructure. At the centre of international routes linking the DRC and Zambia with Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa, National Railways of Zimbabwe ...
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News1520 partners debate co-operation
Common technical specifications and improved border procedures will help the railways of Central Asia to work closer with their Russian neighbours to capture growing international business. Chris Jackson reports from Almaty
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Football fever fuels DB traffic boom
Buoyed up by booming business, DB AG's passenger operations are on a roll in the afterglow of the football World Cup. Board Member for Passenger Operations Dr Karl-Friedrich Rausch briefs Murray Hughes in Berlin
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East African concessions make progress
AFRICA: This month is due to see the transfer of operations on Tanzania Railways Corp's 2707 km metre-gauge network to Rites under a 25-year concession. The transfer is being partially funded by the World Bank and African Development Bank. Tanzania's Minister for Infrastructure Basil Mramba explained in Dodoma on August ...
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NewsEIB provides €10bn for PEIT
UNDER AN AGREEMENT signed in Madrid on July 4 by its President Philippe Maystadt, the European Investment Bank is to provide up to €10bn in 2007-13 to support the Spanish Ministry of Development's PEIT strategic infrastructure and transport investment plan. PEIT has a total budget of €249bn for 2005-20, of ...
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NewsRisks inherent in open access
TO MARK the opening up of the domestic rail freight market on March 31, six French transport unions declared a 'day of action' on May 5 to protest against 'the European project to deregulate passenger transport by road and rail'. Experience since the Trans-European Rail Freight Network was opened up ...
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NewsBahn 2000 follow-on programme agreed
SWISS Federal Railways and the Federal Transport Ministry have agreed a further programme of enhancements to the national rail network (RG 12.05 p771). Details were announced by a government-SBB planning committee on April 7. Known as ZEB (Zukünftige Entwicklung der Bahnprojekte - Future Development of Rail Projects), the plan envisages ...
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Sell-out mooted in Estonia
THE ACRIMONIOUS dispute between Baltic Rail Services, the majority shareholder in Eesti Raudtee, and the Estonian government has escalated to the highest level, with Prime Minister Andrus Ansip being asked last month to answer questions on the subject in Parliament. BRS is seeking damages from the government, accusing it of ...
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NewsBulgaria's ambitious plans hinge on reform
Krasimir Krastanov reports on a strategic plan designed to bring about modernisation of the Bulgarian rail network
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NewsDublin dominates Irish investment
RAIL expansion projects in Dublin and across the country form the backbone of the €34·4bn Transport 21 investment package unveiled by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Transport Minister Martin Cullen at Dublin Castle on November 1. Bringing together many existing proposals into a 10-year package, Transport 21 is expected to make ...
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No away games if you always win at home
COMPANIES enjoying a monopoly of local public transport in their home markets should not be allowed to operate services elsewhere. Such is the latest transport policy suggestion from the European Commission, which put forward the idea on July 20. Essentially, the concept is for local authorities responsible for organising public ...
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Hydrogen offers no alternative to main line electrification
FUEL CELLS combine hydrogen with oxygen in the atmosphere to produce water and electricity, eliminating local pollution. But as things stand, electrolytic production and delivery of H2 as a fuel would consume around four times more power than the fuel cells would actually produce on a train. In comparison, ...
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Real work starts at ERA
CEREMONIES were held in Valenciennes on June 16 to inaugurate the European Railway Agency, which was created last year to advise the European Commission as part of the Second Railway Package (RG 8.04 p449). ERA Executive Director Marcel Verslype said the event marked the end of the set-up phase and ...
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NewsEconomic growth boosts Ireland's railways
IRELAND: National economic growth has required a rapid increase in capacity and service quality at Iarnród Éireann. Chief Operating Officer Dick Fearn told Andrew Grantham how this is being provided, and why he is happy with a vertically-integrated railway.