In brief Australia
Amtrak to seek FRA approval for lightweight HS trains
MTRAK is planning to formally request revisions to United States Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) safety standards to facilitate the introduction of standard lightweight high-speed trains, a move US rail advocates have sought for at least two decades. President and CEO Mr Joseph Boardman says Amtrak is seeking the amendment as part of its plans to replace the fleet of 20 Acela Express trains used on the Northeast Corridor within five to seven years.
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US crashworthiness standards mean passenger vehicles are considerably heavier than their European or Asian counterparts, preventing the use of standard train designs and increasing energy consumption. FRA and some safety experts have favoured the emphasis on ‘survivability’ over collision avoidance in part because many Amtrak services use freight lines for much or all of their journeys. Critics note the emphasis
ETWEEN Yuan 600bn ($US 96bn) and Yuan 650bn will be invested in China’s national railway this year, while Yuan 1.8 trillion will be spent on railway construction during 2013-2015. These figures are included in a report on railway development by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Mr Zhang Jiangyu, a transport specialist with NDRC, says 24,000km of new railway will be constructed during the next three years. Work will start on 4500km of high-
PAIN celebrated the completion of Iberia’s first high-speed connection with the rest of Europe on January 8 with the inauguration of the 131km line between Figueres and Barcelona, which completes the 804km high- speed line between Madrid and the French border. The ƒ3.7bn project involved the construction of 30 tunnels totalling 34.3km, including a 5.8km tunnel under the centre of Barcelona between Sants station and La Sagrera, and 60 viaducts with a total length of
IRJ February 2013
came about in part due to an incident in January 1987, when Amtrak’s Colonialslammed into a freight train that had passed a signal at danger on the Northeast Corridor, which is owned by Amtrak. The FRA is coordinating development of safety standards for trains designed for operation at speeds exceeding 240km/h in consultation with Amtrak and numerous other parties, including the American Public Transportation Association.
China to raise railway investment to $US 96bn this year speed lines during the period.
Almost 4000km of new railway opened last
year, of which 2932km are high-speed lines. This culminated with the opening on December 26 2012 of the 681km Beijing - Zhengzhou high-speed line, which is the final section of China’s longest high-speed railway linking Beijing and Guangzhou, a total distance of 2297km. China now has 9300km of high-speed railway, with a further 3000km of high-speed lines and 3300km of conventional railway due to open this year.
Spain completes Iberia’s high-speed link to Europe S
12.6km. The line is equipped with ERTMS and electrified at 25kV ac. Commercial services began on January 9, when Renfe extended eight Madrid - Zaragoza - Barcelona services to Girona, and Figueres, with one additional train operating only between Figueres and Barcelona. Journey times from Barcelona to Girona have been reduced from 1h 30min to 37 minutes and from Barcelona to Figueres from two hours to 53 minutes. Two of the trains from
Madrid are timed to connect at Figueres with French National Railways (SNCF) TGV services to Paris, but from April direct high-speed services will be launched between Barcelona and Paris.
The Madrid - Barcelona -
Figueres line has been built with the aid of more than ƒ3.44bn in EU funding, in addition to financing from the European Investment Bank. Completion of the project takes the total length of the Spanish high-speed network to more than 3000km.
The federal government has allocated $A 95m ($US 90m) to Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to support investment in reliability and capacity upgrades on the Adelaide - Perth rail corridor. The funds include $A 35m to go towards the installation of Centralised Train Control (CTC) between Port Pirie and Tarcoola on the Trans Australia Railway, and building extra passing loops between Port Augusta and Tarcoola.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria’s Privatisation and Post Privatisation Control Agency (PPCA) says seven prospective bidders have expressed an interest in the privatisation of Bulgarian State Railways’ (BDZ) freight unit BDZ Tovarni Prevozi. The privatisation process began in November last year and is PPCA’s second attempt to sell Bulgaria’s largest railfreight operator.
Cambodia
Toll Royal Railway has begun trial operation of freight services on the newly- rehabilitated 146km section of the Southern Line between Samrong and Sihanoukville Port. Trains can operate at speeds of up to 60km/h and the line has a maximum axleload of 20 tonnes.
Croatia
The 3kV dc electrification was switched off on the last section of the Moravice - Rijeka line on December 16 2012, and trains began running on 25kV ac power a few weeks later. However, all trains on the section north from Rijeka to the Slovenian border at Sapjane are currently diesel- hauled due to a lack of voltage changeover points.
Czech Republic
Open-access passenger operator Leo Express launched its full service on the Prague - Ostrava - Bohumin route on January 18, ramping up the number of weekday round trips from five to eight to provide a service every two hours. Leo Express had
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