All Policy articles – Page 96
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NewsInvestment brings Ireland's railways back from the brink
Pat Mangan, Assistant Secretary at Ireland’s Department of Transport, told Andrew Grantham how a 10-year strategic plan will rectify decades of under-investment
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Tanzania Railways Corp bids go in
TANZANIA: March 9 is the deadline for shortlisted bidders to submit proposals for a 25-year concession to operate the Tanzania Railways Corp network. Financial bids are to be opened on April 27, and the government hopes to name a preferred bidder in June 2005. The aim is to hand control ...
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ERA at the gates of Europe
When Marcel Verslype takes office as Executive Director of the European Railway Agency on January 1, one of his earliest tasks will be to appoint the staff who will oversee the establishment of the entity which will in many ways determine the future of Europe's railways. Recruitment was in hand ...
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ERTMS: The view from Brussels
IN THE FINAL months of 2004 there was frantic activity as the European Commission strove to make progress towards the roll-out of ERTMS. Interest centred on Chapter 7 of the TSI on conventional railway lines, which covers the migration process from conventional signalling and train control systems to ETCS. According ...
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NZ infrastructure handed over
NEW ZEALAND's rail infrastructure returned to government ownership at 23.57 on June 30, following tense negotiations between the Treasury and Australian logistics group Toll Holdings. The 4128 km of track was bought back for the same symbolic NZ$1 as it was sold to Tranz Rail in 1993, with the government ...
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NewsReport backs Translink growth
UK: A radical increase in Northern Ireland's railway services is recommended by an independent report from Booz Allen Hamilton. Commissioned by Translink on behalf of Northern Ireland Transport Holding Co, the report's conclusions will form the basis of Translink's rail investment proposals for the 2004 Government Spending Review. The ...
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SNCB prepares to move ahead
January 1 2005 may see Belgian Railways split into separate infrastructure and operations companies, but Chief Executive Karel Vinck told Chris Jackson that implementation of his four-year business plan is likely to take longer
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NewsRealities and costs drive Kazakhstan's railway reform
The Kazakh government has integrated the three distinct rail networks it inherited at independence, and is now introducing reforms to encourage private-sector investment and reduce the need for domestic services to cross international borders, explains Gordon Feller
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A promise unfulfilled in Victoria
When National Express withdrew from its franchises in Melbourne last year, privatisation in the state of Victoria was called into question. John Kirk reviews what has happened and concludes that there are deep flaws in both state and federal policies
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Achieving public value through co-operation
Alexander van Altena, Director for Rail in the Ministry of Transport & Public Works, spoke to Andrew Grantham about the new Railways Act, and the Dutch government’s plans for the future of the national rail network
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Competition is coming to the French network
Speaking to Murray Hughes in Paris, Transport Minister Gilles de Robien dismissed the previous government's target of doubling tonne-km hauled by rail by 2010 as 'completely unrealistic'. Whether the advent of open access competition from March 15 will generate more rail freight business remains to be seen, but de Robien ...
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‘In five years it will be necessary to think very differently’
Two years after it came into existence, Italy’s state-owned train operator has laid the groundwork to cope with liberalisation in its domestic market. Trenitalia Chief Executive Roberto Renon outlined his vision to Chris Jackson
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Northern Ireland invests
UK: New stock for Translink's Northern Ireland Railways and a rapid transit network in Belfast are the key rail elements in a 10-year Regional Transportation Strategy announced by regional development minister Peter Robinson last month. As part of the government's 25-year Regional Development Strategy, £1·4bn is to be invested ...
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Railway sector is 'not considered strategic'
Andrew F Saxe takes his annual look at the railway supply industry, and finds that prospects for profitability are being dented by poor performance among rail operators
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The cost of being profitable
Rail freight rates in North America are not merely the lowest in the world, but they have been falling steadily since deregulation over 20 years ago. Independent consultant David Burns asks how the US railroads have been able to charge such low rates and still show a positive balance sheet
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News‘The situation in Holland is critical’
Seven years after the separation of infrastructure and operations, the punctuality on Netherlands Railways hit a post-1995 low, fuelled by labour and rolling stock shortages. Chris Jackson spoke to NS and the ministry of transport about their recently-agreed five-year recovery plan, which provides for a 23% growth in passenger traffic. New legislation will see the formation of a state-owned infrastructure management company and the award of long-term operating concessions, in a bid to restore quality and support high levels of investment in the rail network.
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NewsNIR staves off closure
UK: Rail services in Northern Ireland look more secure after a ruling by the Northern Ireland Assembly to consolidate rather than shut down the 357 km network. Following a report commissioned by Translink from A D Little, a task force convened by the Assembly carried out public consultation. Four ...
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CTRL charges too high, says Gallois
SNCF President Louis Gallois asserted last month that high track access charges for using the Channel Tunnel Rail Link 'will make it hard to have a viable Eurostar service' into St Pancras when Section 2 is completed in 2007. He also told the Financial Times that 'we will lose Waterloo' ...
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Danish local concessions
SEPTEMBER 17 is the closing date for bids to operate regional passenger services in Jylland from the beginning of 2003. The Danish Transport Ministry has called international bids for two concessions totalling 582 route-km. Around 10 consortia have expressed interest, including German Railway's local passenger business DB Regio. Preferred bidders ...
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PKP starts the privatisation process
The restructuring of Polish State Railways reaches a crucial phase on October 1 this year when new companies responsible for regional passenger services, freight, traction power supplies, telecommunications and IT begin trading as wholly-owned subsidiaries of PKP. With various measures planned to reduce the state railway's historic debt, some operations ...