March Cover_Layout 1 02/03/2021 17:17 Page 1 March 2021 | Volume 61 Issue 3 www.railjournal.com | @railjournal IRJInternational Railway Journal years of repor•ng the world’s railways High-speed evolution How the Shinkansen sparked a global railway revolution Heavyweight champions How the world’s heavy-haul railways continue to push the boundaries IRJ celebrates 60 years of railway development IRJMARXX (Goldschmidt)_Layout 1 08/02/2021 15:55 Page 1 MOBILITY WITH VISION Together with you, Goldschmidt masters all challenges of modern, railbound mobility – for safe, sustainable and long-lasting railways of premium quality. As with Thermit®, Goldschmidt is also a pioneer in maintenance, inspection and digitalization and continues to improve processes and extend the lifecycle of railways. Goldschmidt combines its extensive railway expertise and benefits from its global expertise and cross-disciplinary thinking to create tailor-made local solutions for you. The global presence of Goldschmidt gives you access to its whole portfolio – with one goal: to lead your railway infrastructure into the future. www.goldschmidt.com Mar contents_Layout 1 03/03/2021 15:49 Page 3 Contact us ContentsMarch 2021 Volume 61 issue 3 Editorial offices Post 46 Killigrew Street News Falmouth 4 This month Cornwall, TR11 3PP, UK 6 News Tel +44 1326 313945 16 Transit news Web www.railjournal.com 18 Financial news Editor-in-Chief Kevin Smith [email protected] High-speed Consulting Editor/ 20 The high-speed revolution Associate Publisher Charting progress since the Tokaido Shinkansen in 1964 20 David Briginshaw [email protected] News & Features Writer Heavy-haul David Burroughs 26 Railway heavyweights continue to tip the scales [email protected] Innovation helps heavy-haul railways to improve performance News & Features Writer Oliver Cuenca Traction and rolling stock [email protected] 32 Train technologies transform rail’s offer Production Manager Sue Morant Making trains more reliable and energy efficient [email protected] 32 Signalling and automation 38 Unlocking network capacity Advertising sales office Bringing automation from the metro to the main line Post 88 Pine Street, 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 Track and infrastructure United States 44 Making rail harder, better, faster Tel +1 732 887 5562 Tracking the key revolutions in track technology Business development manager Jerome Marullo [email protected] Tel +1 732 887 5562 Japan 47a Online Extra: research in the land of the rising sun 44 Subscriptions hotline Tel (US only) +1 800 553 8878 RTRI charts the key achievements over 60 years in Japan (Canada/International) +1 319 364 6167 Fax +1 402 346 4740 Ticketing and fare collection 48 Fare collection meets digitalisation Ditching the paper ticket for modern solutions International Railway Journal (Print ISSN 2161-7376, IRJ through the years Digital ISSN 2161-7368), is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp, 88 Pine Street, 51 60 years of headlines 23rd floor, New York, NY 10005, USA. Printed in Charting the major events from the last six decades Great Britain by Buxton Press and distributed in the USA by Mail Right International, 1637 Stelton Road 48 B4, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Piscataway, NJ and additional mailing offices. 02/03/2021 17:17 Page 1 March 2021 | Volume 61 Issue 3 COPYRIGHT © Simmons-Boardman Publishing Cor- Also in this issue www.railjournal.com | @railjournal poration 2021. All rights reserved. Contents may Front cover IRJInternational Railway Journal not be reproduced without permission. For reprint 57 Full contact list IRJ began regular monthly information please contact Editor-in-Chief. For sub- publication in January 1961. scriptions & address changes, please call +1 319 364 57 Advertisers index 6167, Fax +1 319 364 4278, Email: internationalrail- Since then the magazine has [email protected] or write to: International 57 Fresh faces reported on the rail industry’s Railway Journal, Simmons-Boardman Publishing key events and technological years of repor•ng the world’s railways Corp, PO Box 1407, Cedar 58 The last word revolutions. This month we Rapids, IA, 52406-1407. High-speed evolution How the Shinkansen sparked look back through the archives a global railway revolution POSTMASTER: Send address Heavyweight champions to reflect on progress and How the world’s heavy-haul railways changes to International Rail- continue to push the boundaries way Journal, PO Box 1407, consider where the sector is IRJ Cedar Rapids, IA, 52406-1407. heading next. Photo: Shutterstock celebrates 60 years of railway development IRJ March 2021 3 March TM_Layout 1 26/02/2021 16:36 Page 4 This month | Kevin Smith is steadily spreading to the their way out of road congestion mainline and could be a - adding more lanes to the 60 years of railway potential game changer for motorway simply does not railway operation. Indeed, in work. They are also looking for 2021, rail appears to be on the ways to reduce transport progress and counting precipice of a major leap forward emissions. Europe’s Sustainable HIS month we celebrate 60 lines is indicative of how the in performance. Digitalisation and Smart Mobility Strategy calls years of International industry has come full circle. is already unlocking new for doubling of high-speed rail RailwayT Journal, the world’s The shoots for the railway innovations that are helping traffic by 2030 and rail freight first truly global business-to- renaissance were arguably rail engineers to achieve volumes by 2050. China’s business publication for the found in Japan’s decision to efficiencies they could have rapid high-speed network railway industry. construct the 515km New only dreamt of a few years ago. expansion in the past 15 years The pilot edition of IRJ was Tokaido Line, which opened in Crucially, the industry is is also a strong basis for its launched in October 1960, with October 1964. IRJ co-founder, increasingly looking beyond carbon neutral future. regular monthly circulation Robert Lewis, was among the its own wheelhouse for In urban environments, beginning in January 1961. An first westerners to experience innovations. For example, expansions of metro and light advertisement in the inaugural the Shinkansen and he marvelled much of the tech to develop rail networks have come hand- edition endorsed IRJ as an at the technology, describing driverless and intelligent in-hand with improvements in international selling opportunity the railway as “peculiarly suited rolling stock will come from the quality of life. Public transport for railway suppliers. “In to the job of moving people.” the road sector. Yet rail, for the is at the heart of Copenhagen, International Railway Journal “When this intensive usage most part, has a reputation as a Portland, and Zürich, which your advertising message can of a railway can be attained slow innovator and is unlikely often come close to the top of reach the growing world-wide there probably isn’t any form to be at the forefront of lists of the most desirable market for railway products places to live in the world. economically and efficiently in However, as the world one magazine. IRJ is a separate continues to urbanise, again international publication, not At IRJ we pride ourselves on bringing there is pressure to deliver an international edition of a more of these benefits to more domestic magazine.” our readers a snapshot of the latest areas, and fast. Major Flicking through the pages developments in the sector. infrastructure projects are of the pilot edition this is “ expensive and take a long time, readily apparent. A report on a so getting more out of what is Japanese National Railway (JNR) of transportation in the world developments in new areas already there while these schemes programme to spend Yen 975bn that can match the economy, such as quantum computing. come to fruition is crucial. on 1800km of electrification, tonne-km for tonne-km,” Rail’s strict safety standards Innovation is again essential 2200 electric railcars, 1100km Lewis wrote. is one reason for this. The use to achieve this. And with the of track doubling, and 500 Japan’s high-speed innovation of Artificial Intelligence in rail industry seemingly willing diesel locomotives is nestled was followed by France in the signalling applications is likely to rise to the challenge, IRJ alongside plans to build a 50- 1980s and the rest of Europe to take longer than it might will be there with it every step storey skyscraper at Paris and Asia in the 1990s and because of regulations which of the way, as we have been Montparnasse station - the 2000s. We look at the evolution do an exceptional job of keeping since 1961. Tour-Maine Montparnasse - and of high-speed on page 20. This the railway safe but can stifle Britain’s pilot of a road-rail edition also includes reports progress. vehicle, which is described as a on the five other technical Economics is another reason. “revolutionary form of transport.” areas that we regard as driving This is not the space industry At IRJ we pride ourselves the industry forward over the where funding is seemingly [email protected] on bringing our readers a past 60 years: heavy-haul infinite. Rail has to compete snapshot of the latest (p26), traction and rolling with other sectors and modes developments in the sector stock (p32), signalling and of transport for funding. while analysing the latest automation (p38), track and Shift2Rail is a shining light of trends and holding industry infrastructure (p44), and fare current European rail leaders to account. IRJ was collection and ticketing (p48). innovation. Encouragingly, launched at a difficult time for A common thread in these Europe’s Rail, the second railways. The expansion of articles is technological incarnation of the public- roads and increasingly advancement, which has private initiative, was confirmed affordable air travel meant allowed railways to push the on February 25.