In brief
($US 69.7m) project includes refurbishment of the station building, construction of new passenger subways and platform canopies, and the rebuilding of two road underpasses. The work will largely be funded by the European Union.
International
Following a successful trial, Trenitalia Cargo, Padova Freight and Slovenian Railways (SZ) have launched a new weekly service between the Slovenian port of Koper and Milan. The service, which has capacity for 72 TEUs, will be increased to twice-weekly
CN puts natural gas power to the test: Canadian National has begun testing two EMD SD40-2 locomotives that have been adapted to evaluate the performance of natural gas as an alternative to diesel. The locomotives use a mix of 90% natural gas with 10% diesel fuel, which is drawn from a specially-equipped tanker wagon. Trials are being carried out on the Edmonton - Fort McMurray line in Alberta. Engine laboratory tests will be carried out next year and a prototype mainline locomotive will be rolled out in 2014.
McLoughlin made the surprise announcement on October 3 that the government has cancelled the franchise for the West Coast Main Line, due to “significant technical flaws” in the franchising process. The 13-year four-month franchise was awarded on August 15 to First Group, which was due to take over from Virgin Trains on December 9, but was subsequently challenged by the unsuccessful bidder’s parent company Virgin Group. The Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed that it will no longer contest the judicial review of the franchise brought by Virgin Group which was due to start on October 4 in the High Court. During preparation for the High Court hearing, the DfT says flaws were discovered in the evaluation of the level of risk in each bid, while mistakes were made in the assessment of inflation and
IRJ November 2012
British franchising process in turmoil B
RITAIN’s transport secretary Mr Patrick
passenger forecasts, and how much money bidders were asked to guarantee.
“I have had to cancel the competition for the running of the West Coast franchise because of deeply regrettable and completely unacceptable mistakes made by my department in the way it managed the process,” McLoughlin says. The four bidders for the franchise - First Group, Virgin Group, Abellio, and Keolis/French National Railways - will have their bidding costs reimbursed, a total of around £40m.
McLoughlin has paused the competitions for the franchises currently underway for Great Western, Essex Thameside and Thameslink, and ordered two independent reviews. The first, which will be overseen by two DfT non-executive directors, Mr Sam Laidlaw and Mr Ed Smith, will examine what went wrong. An initial report was due by the end of October. The second review will be conducted by the
early next year. Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) has entered negotiations with SMH Rail, Malaysia, over rehabilitation of locomotives and wagons as part of an effort to ease the railway’s chronic stock shortage. Under the proposed arrangement, SMH Rail will carry out regular maintenance for a specific period, while Tazara will provide facilities and staff for the work.
Iran
chairman of Eurostar, Mr Richard Brown, who will report by the end of December on whether changes are needed to the way risk is assessed in franchise bids, the bidding and evaluation process, and how to resume passenger rail franchising. The DfT is now negotiating
with Virgin Trains to operate train services on the route for between nine and 13 months when the current franchise expires on December 9, instead of appointing its own in-house operator to run the service.
This will allow time for the DfT to launch a tender for a two-year interim franchise. This stop-gap measure is necessary as the DfT does not know whether the Brown inquiry into the franchising process will recommend major changes which could take a considerable time to
implement. It is still the DfT’s intention to eventually invite tenders for a long-term franchise for the West Coast.
Russian Railways (RZD) has completed the electrification of the 46km line from Tabriz to Azarshahr in the northwest of the country. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony on October 13, RZD president Mr Vladimir Yakunin said the project would provide a basis for further cooperation between Iran and Russia in the rail sector.
Ireland
Mr David Franks will succeed Mr Dick Fearn as chief executive of Irish Rail (IE) when the latter retires at the end of his seven-year contract in February. Franks joins IE from Keolis’ British subsidiary, and has previously held senior roles with National Express Group and Stockholm Metro.
New Zealand
KiwiRail is to slash its infrastructure and engineering workforce by almost a quarter as part of its continuing drive to reduce operating expenses by $NZ 200m ($US 164m) over three years. The state-owned
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