Portugal's cutbacks halt high-speed train to Spain

 

The Portuguese austerity plan presented by Pedro Passos Coelho's conservative government last week is not to Spain's liking. It was particularly irked by the announcement that construction on the high-speed railway project between Madrid and Lisbon would be "suspended". The high-speed train would have connected the two capital cities in two hours and 45 minutes by 2013, instead of nine hours at present.

While conservative opposition to the project has regularly postponed work on the Portuguese side, work is well under way in Spain. Nearly €800m ($1.6bn) in public money has already been paid out from the total €3.8bn cost of the Spanish segment of the line.

Although the former Portuguese prime minister, Socialist José Sócrates, had made it a priority during his mandate, in the past two years the Portuguese track (estimated cost €3.3bn) has been facing vetoes from the centre-right opposition, which has criticised the high cost of the project at a time when the public deficit (9.3% of GDP) calls for austerity measures.

In exchange for a €78bn European bailout plan, the Social Democratic party (PSD), voted in on 6 June, has committed itself to a number of measures and reforms to reduce the public deficit to 3% of GDP by 2013. But Passos Coelho, who has boasted that he will exceed the austerity targets agreed in the EU-IMF bailout, has added objectives that weren't on the cards, including the postponement of the Iberian high-speed line.

In Spain, that Portuguese zeal is not appreciated. The Spanish transportation minister, José Blanco López, has described the Portuguese decision as a "bad" one and reminded his neighbour that "the project has obtained European financing". Madrid fears that the European funds allocated to the railway will be scaled down if the Portuguese decide to pull out permanently. To press his point, Blanco has asked to meet his Portuguese counterpart at the earliest opportunity.

In the Spanish regions that were to be covered by the high-speed train, there is concern about the local repercussions in terms of jobs and tourism, although according to the president of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara, "this decision won't affect the Spanish end of the line".

Last week, the Portuguese prime minister announced that further budget cuts would be put before parliament.

source: guardian

KTX to Connect Yeosu and Seoul by September

 

The KTX bullet train service will be extended to Yeosu, South Jeolla Province by the end of September, ahead of the 2012 Yeosu World Expo.
An official at the Yeosu World Expo Organizing Committee said visitors to the expo will find the service convenient since Yeosu Station is just a five-minute walk from the expo grounds. The KTX Sancheon high-speed train will ferry passengers from Seoul to Yeosu and back.
The bullet train will shorten travel time from five hours and 13 minutes to three hours and 20 minutes.

source: chosun

Bombardier’s newest train enters service with Chiltern Railways

 

The latest train to roll off Bombardier’s Derby production line has entered passenger service with Chiltern Railways, the first new commuter trains on the route for two decades.

The four two-car class 172s have been well received by passengers and staff alike.

The Chiltern four, which are the cleanest diesel trains in the country, will be followed later this summer by London Midland’s class 172s, enabling older diesel units to be replaced in the West Midlands.

Currently the new trains run three trips a day but this will increase once Chiltern’s new timetable comes into force during September.

This will coincide with a whole host of improvements including a new through line at Princes Risborough, allowing fast trains to overtake stopping services.

Introduction of the class 172s allows Chiltern to free up capacity and strengthen some of its busy services.

source: www.rail.co

High speed ‘ghost train’ cancelled in Spain

 

Spain’s state controlled rail operator Renfe has cancelled its high speed service that connects Toledo with the cities of Albacete and Cuenca.
The route began operations last December but was taken out of operation last Friday (1st July) due to lack of passenger demand.
Enrique Urkijo, the Director General for Passengers at Renfe called the service a ‘ghost train’.
Only 9 passengers on average use the route daily, Urkijo said last Monday; “Renfe feels the pain when we only transport steel”.
The route ‘works like a shot’ but costs €18,000 a day to operate and has transported just 2796 users in 6 months.
The Toledo to Albacete/Cuenca route was launched after demand from the Mayors of the towns, who said it would benefit their cities greatly.
Renfe have now decided to focus on services between Toledo and Madrid to ‘suit the actual demand for the corridor’.
Passengers who previously travelled on the now cancelled route will have to change trains in Madrid, increasing their journey time by around 25 minutes.

source: www.rail.co

Etihad Airways signs deal with French railway

 

Etihad Airways has signed a commercial agreement with French national railways SNCF.
The deal will allow Etihad passengers to book flights beyond Paris Charles de Gaulle airport by connecting onward to SNCF’s 2,000 km high-speed rail routes, and vice-versa, the carrier stated in a release.
Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ chief commercial officer said: ‘We’ve just gone double daily to Paris, and combined with this exciting new codeshare with SNCF, it illustrates Etihad’s growing commitment to passengers traveling to and from France.’
The seamless air-rail connections comprise 20 cities in France including Bordeaux, Le Mans, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Rennes and Strasbourg.

source: News One

Improvements on the Sena railroad in Mozambique to cost US$200 million

Maputo, Mozambique, 6 July – The introduction of improvement to the Sena railroad would cost over US$200 million and take at least 18 months, the chairman of Mozambican port and rail company, Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique, said Tuesday in Maputo.
Brazilian mining group Vale and Australia’s Riversdale Mining have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in coal mining projects in Tete province and plan to use the Sena railroad to transport the coal to the port of Beira.
“This work will have a cost of US$200 million and we are talking to the coal companies, namely Vale and Riversdale, which will be the main users of the line,” said Adelino Mesquita adding that the two companies were available to take on part of the cost.
Construction work on the Sena railroad was due to be concluded last March, 16 months later than initially planned, and the railroad now has a transport capacity of 6 million tons per year, which is clearly not enough for the amounts of coal that the two companies plan to mine and export.
Vale plans to mine 1.5 million tons of coal this year and 6.3 million tons in 2012 and Riversdale Mining, which is now 100 percent owned by the Rio Tinto group, plans initially to mine 2 million tons of coal.

source: macauhub

UNIFE sends strong signal to reinforce railway investment in Central and Eastern Europe

UNIFE, the European Rail Industry, and CER, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies, organised a rail investment seminar in Sofia to address the ‘very slow absorption of European’ funds by the railway sector in many Central and Eastern European member states and in particular in Bulgaria and Romania.
The European Union provides substantial funds for railway infrastructure but only a mere fraction is actually invested, putting rail transport in an ‘unfavourable light and hindering the employment of a modern, sustainable transport in those in those regions’.
Keynote speeches were given by the Bulgarian Minister charged with EU Funds Management, Tomislav Donchev, and the newly appointed Bulgarian Minister of Transport, Ivaylo Moskovski.
Both ministers, Mr Donchev and Mr Moskovski, pledged to remedy the gridlock caused by railway underfinancing.
Making reference to the EU2020 climate objectives, Transport Minister Moskovski made a clear commitment to rail transport in Bulgaria, naming rail investment a political priority for his administration.
Moreover, it became clear that the obstacles to growth in rail transport in Central and Eastern Europe is a consequence of long-lasting and continuing underfinancing of infrastructure and public service contracts in these countries, in contradiction to EU legislation.
Moreover, the following well-respected stakeholders also presented their views on the subject: Andrzej Massel, Polish Undersecretary of State responsible for railways, Jean-Marie Seyler, Director for Bulgaria at the European Commission’s DG REGIO, and Milcho Lambrev, Director-General of the Bulgarian Infrastructure Managers.
The rail industry was represented by the Managing Directors of Balfour Beatty Rail GmbH Germany and ComsaEmte, Dr Manfred Lerch and Miquel Llevat.
A knowledge transfer to Bulgarian authorities was the focus when best practise examples of European funding, such as Spain, were presented.
Setting the scene for the seminar, Michael Clausecker, UNIFE Director-General, listed a number of problems that many Central and Eastern European governments face in the attempt to modernise their railway systems.
These reach from the need to reform the railway sector to project planning, managing and implementing skills.
He stated; “The challenges are enormous, but the European railway industry is ready to help.”
Johannes Ludewig, CER Executive Director, in his speech stated:
“The issue of EU funds absorption is absolutely central: technical assistance programmes such as JASPERS should be coupled with adequate financing from the EU budget.
“But let’s not forget that because of the well-known principle of additionality, EU funds can be spent only if supported by a greater commitment coming from national budgets. It is at national level that rail shall become a priority, if we want to achieve together a decarbonised European transport system.”
Numerous contributions from the panelists and the audience helped to identify the need for a well-designed and widely accepted master plan for the railway sector as a key requirement to improving the situation for rail in Eastern Europe.
UNIFE and CER are at the disposal of the relevant transport authorities to assist in this process.

source: www.rail.co

Azerbaijan gives Georgia loan for Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway construction

Azerbaijan and Georgia have signed a deal in Baku. Azerbaijan will provide Georgia with a loan worth $575 million for construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the connector of the Azerbaijani, Georgian and Turkish railways, 1news.az reports.

The loan was provided for 25 years with a rate of 5%. Regardless of the rate payments, Georgia will pay commission fees worth 0.5%, which must not exceed 20,000 Georgian laris.
The loan will finance construction and rehabilitation of the Tetritskaro-Akhalkalaki railway line, construction of the Akhalkalaki train station and construction of other railway infrastructure facilities.
Kartsakhi-Marabda issued the credit, it is not a state debt. The loan will be paid off using income from realization of the railway project.
The first loan was worth $200 million, provided for 25 years at a rate of 1%.
Adjustments in the Azerbaijani-Georgian deal on financing, designing, construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation of the
Marabda-Kratsakhi (Turkish border) line increased the credit to $775 million.
The Azerbaijani State Oil Fund finances construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars. The project includes construction of a new 1059-kilometer line, 76 km of which will run through Turkey, 29 km – through Georgia.
Georgia will reconstruct the Akhalkalaki-Marabda-Tbilisi railway section. Akhalkalaki will have a switch from Georgian to European gauge.
Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mamedov said that they plan to finish construction in late 2012. The corridor will be launched in early 2013.
The railway line will have a capacity of 17 million tons of cargo. The line will transport 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo at the first stage.

source: vestnikkavkaza

First Hull Trains ranked 1st in the UK for customer satisfaction

 

Yorkshire-based open access train operating company First Hull Trains, which runs 14 direct daily trains between Hull and London, is officially amongst the very best in the country when it comes to customer satisfaction, an independent survey has revealed.

The spring 2011 National Passenger Survey (NPS) ranks the award-winning train operator joint first with Heathrow Express when it comes to customer satisfaction – with 95% of passengers stating they were satisfied with the overall service.

The result represents a 2% improvement in customer satisfaction for Hull Trains since last Autumn and is the highest level that they have achieved at any time since the company, which is headquartered in Hull, first participated in the independent survey.

Out of 22 passenger train operating companies that took part in the survey, First Hull Trains has topped the table for the very first time and new managing director Cath Bellamy is delighted.

The results from the survey rate the company’s services against strict criteria measured by Passenger Focus, the independent consumer watchdog for Britain’s rail passengers.

Cath Bellamy said: “We are absolutely thrilled that our customers have rated us so highly in this independent assessment of the services we offer.

“It is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the wonderful team at First Hull Trains that people think so highly of us and the services we deliver.

“I would like to say a big thank you to my team for their hard work every day and to our customers for their loyal support.

“That being said, we are not complacent and we will continue to work really hard to do things even better. Despite this shining result, we know we don’t get it right all the time.

“We remain firmly committed to doing the right thing for the people and communities we serve and providing a railway service that everyone can feel proud of.

“We are over the moon with this response and I would like to say a big thank you to everyone concerned.”

In January 2011, First Hull Trains introduced four fully refurbished trains having spent around £2.5m on an interior and exterior refurbishment in response to customer feedback.

In recent weeks the company has also introduced free, unlimited, WiFi, a brand new healthy options seasonal menus and a new timetable offering quicker journeys.

source:rail.co

Safety approval for new Eurostars

 

EUROSTAR'S plans to start running new state-of-the-art trains through the Channel Tunnel from 2014 have been approved by tunnel safety authorities.

The train operator announced last year that it was planning to buy 10 new trains from German manufacturer Siemens, but rival French firm Alstom, which makes the current Eurostar stock, claimed they were unsafe.

The new trains use a system called "distributive traction", where the engines are placed under the floors throughout the length of the train. The current Eurostar fleet has separate motor carriages at the front and back.

The committee responsible for Channel Tunnel safety has now confirmed to Eurostar that the new model will be allowed in the tunnel.

Alstom has one last chance to block the deal going through. It is awaiting a ruling from the high court in London next year on whether the decision to award the tender to German manufacturer Siemens breached contract law.

The 10 new Siemens Velaro trains, which are capable of reaching speeds of up to 320kph, will cut the journey time from Paris to London from to two hours.

The new trains will carry 900 passengers, a 20 per cent capacity increase on the current stock, and will include wi-fi and on-demand video and music.

Siemens carried out a test journey last year to prove the trains were safe and that the train can be efficiently evacuated in an emergency.

source: The Connexion

Railway to Tibet stands safety, environment tests

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest plateau railway, has stood safety and environmental tests while boosting regional economic growth over the past five years.

Friday marks five years since the railway opened.

The 1,956-km rail link running from Golmud in the northwestern Qinghai Province to Tibet's regional capital Lhasa has transported more than 41 million passengers and 180 million tonnes of cargo since it opened on July 1, 2006, sources with the railway operator said Thursday.

Last year, the railway carried 9.7 million passengers and 48 million tonnes of goods, compared with 6.4 million people and 24 million tonnes of goods in 2006, said Miao Xiaohua, deputy manager of Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company.

Tibet Autonomous Region received 6.8 million tourists in 2010, 3.8 times the 2005 figure, said Wang Songping, Tibet's deputy tourism official.

"Last year, 42 percent of the tourists traveled by train, a sharp rise from 26 percent reported in 2006," Wang said.

By the end of 2015, Tibet expects to host 15 million tourists annually and post an annual tourism revenue of 18 billion yuan (2.8 billion U.S. dollars), he said.

ADDRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway passes through three national nature reserves including Hoh Xil, a major habitat for the critically-endangered Tibetan antelope.

Perched at an average altitude of 4,500 meters, Hoh Xil reserve contains the largest area of uninhabited land in China and is dubbed the country's "last haven for wild animals."

Pregnant antelope cows, often followed by young members of the herd, migrate to Hoh Xil every June to give birth, and leave the reserve in September.

"The number of antelopes that make the migration has apparently risen in recent years," said Xiao Penghu, deputy chief of Hoh Xil Nature Reserve Administration.

Xiao said some people had thought the roaring trains might scare away the antelopes and disrupt their breeding pattern, but in fact their population in the Hoh Xil region had increased from around 50,000 in 2006 to more than 60,000 currently.

Thirty-three special passageways were built along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway enabling animals to follow their normal migration routes unhindered.

"I see herds of Tibetan antelopes going through these passageways every summer," said truck driver Li Jingui who drives along the route every year.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau used to have millions of Tibetan antelopes, but hunting and destruction of their habitat had decimated the population over the past decades.

Poachers hunt the antelopes for their hides as it can be sold and made into shahtoosh shawls, a luxury item that requires three to five antelope skins to make just one shawl.

Since 1979, the animal has been recognized as an endangered species and protected under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species.

"We've been watching out for potential pollution all these years," said Wang Zhiwei, a maintenance engineer with Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company.

Wang and his colleagues monitor all the 15 sewage treatment stations along the Golmud-Lhasa section of the railway every month to ensure sewage is treated properly and causes no pollution to the plateau air and water.

All the stations use clean energy to minimize emissions.

Meanwhile, railway authorities have worked to preserve and expand vegetation along the route, which is surrounded by 675 km, or 5.6 million square meters, of trees.

In 2008, the railway was named as an "environment-friendly project," China's top environment award.

SAFE OPERATION

Before the railway was built, people questioned its safety, fearing the permafrost along the route could never support tracks and trains and lack of oxygen could be fatal for the workers and passengers.

"After five years of operation, we have observed no changes in the frozen earth along the route," said Wang Zhiwei.

Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Health and the local governments and Qinghai and Tibet have worked effectively to prevent altitude diseases and the rat plague.

"No railway worker died of altitude disease and no rat plague had spread in the trains to and from Lhasa over the past five years," said Miao Xiaohua, deputy manager of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company.

Meanwhile, all the passengers who fell sick during the journey received timely treatment, he said.

ECONOMIC BOOM

The railway to Lhasa has proven effective in boosting the overall development in both Qinghai Province and Tibet.

Official figures show Qinghai's GDP soared from 64.1 billion yuan in 2006 to 134.2 billion yuan last year.

Meanwhile, Tibet's GDP rose from 34.2 billion yuan to 50 billion yuan, an average annual growth of at least 10 percent.

The railway has brought a surge of tourists, giving a boost to the local tourism and hospitality industries.

La Xuecai, a Muslim Hui who runs a restaurant in a remote town near Hoh Xil, said the railway had turned the formerly obscure place into a "boom town."

Tibetan businessman Tobgye said the surge of tourists following the railway's opening has brought a business boom for his theme restaurant in Lhasa that features Tibetan food and folk art performances.

"Many of my Tibetan friends and neighbors are also benefiting from the railway, running home inns and eateries."

The rail link to Lhasa is a starting point towards a more comprehensive railway network in the underdeveloped western China.

An extension of the railway from Lhasa to Xigaze, Tibet's second largest city, began last year and will be completed before the end of 2015.

Tibet will start building another extension of the plateau railway, from Lhasa to Nyingchi, in the next five years, according to the region's plan for economic and social development in the 2011-2015 period.

source: china.org.cn