Nr 200 - 15 September 2010
Nr 200 of UIC e-News
Long live UIC e-News: the newsletter dedicated to its 200 members and 2000 readers hits its 200th issue!
UIC is pleased to send you herewith the 200th issue of its in-house electronic newsletter UIC e-News, released each week – and sometimes more frequently at busier periods in the railway calendar – to over 2000 contacts across the world including rail company and business unit leaders and institutional partners.
I can but delight in the ongoing development of this efficient, fast and cost-effective source of information and its ever-expanding readership.
Though not totally comprehensive given the broad range of activities carried out or coordinated by UIC, the UIC e-News electronic newsletter helps turn the spotlight on the main areas of cooperation, project progress and the results achieved, not to mention the staff who are lifeblood of the association. Over 1500 articles have been released to date on one or another of these aspects.
For our members the newsletter is also a means for them to communicate their most important achievements to the international railway community as a whole.
Each and every one of the team at UIC tasked with producing this newsletter, in close collaboration with the technical experts, joins me in thanking you for your loyalty, and we hope you enjoy reading this 200th issue.
Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General
1 Nr 200 of UIC e-News
UIC e-News – your opinion matters to us!
In January 2010, the cover design of UIC e-News was adapted to incorporate UIC’s new visual identity and since April, a series of improvements has been made, making it possible for readers to consult the UIC eNews online version by clicking on a link enabling them to:
Navigate more easily with “clickable” links Zoom in on photos and illustrations Have a consistently updated version of the newsletter (taking into account any errors without the newsletter being sent back to you)
Other advantages and functions of this online version will be available shortly (in particular a clickable contents page).
We would be grateful if you could complete our (anonymous) reader satisfaction survey available at the following link:
The results of the survey will be available immediately.
Thank you very much for your feedback and input!
UIC website
New image for the UIC website
2 The UIC website is evolving to further support the organisation’s position as the worldwide association of cooperation for railway companies. The site is open both to UIC members and the overall international railway community, and is in a process of perpetual development.
In the next few weeks, a new homepage will offer visitors easy access to the latest features.
Among them:
A new UIC image, new look/design A new pressroom offering more information and material: maps, photos, logos etc. Improvement of tools for UIC members: list of projects, Vade mecum… New use of key words in the site navigation/display of connected content Greater visibility of UIC news, events and products Greater interactivity: multiple RSS feeds, social network sharing, newsletter, etc.
As well as…
All UIC products and services and those of its subsidiaries ETF, L&T and UICP All the UIC online databases and reference texts A range of dedicated spaces focusing on UIC activities (Technical & Research Infrastructure, Environment, etc.) Several thousand downloadable documents
With 60,000 visits per month from 150 countries/territories the UIC website is still the most visited site dedicated to railway cooperation. Thank you! http://www.uic.org
3 For more information please contact Aymeric Boniou: [email protected]
Railway Freight
3rd UIC-FIATA Market Place Seminar on 2 – 3 November 2010 in Barcelona: “The French-Iberian rail link – Fostering European Connectivity”
UIC and the International Freight Forwarders’ Association (FIATA) will hold their third edition of the
4 Market Place Seminar on 2 – 3 November 2010 in Barcelona.
The Market Place Seminar aims to create opportunities for increased cooperation and business development within the rail freight sector by offering a common platform for railway undertakings, freight forwarders and customers.
Following the success of the two previous seminars hosted in Prague (2008) and Istanbul (2009), which focused on rail’s attractiveness and competitiveness in the Eastern and Southeastern European market, the seminar now turns the spotlight on France and Spain, and in particular the axis connecting central Europe to Spain.
The seminar is backed by RENFE, the Spanish railways, Fret SNCF, French railways, as well as the Port of Barcelona. “It was natural for us to focus on a new market region this year. The French and the Spanish markets were a logical choice since the opening of the new railway line from Barcelona to the French border using the UIC standard gauge (launch scheduled for December 2010) will create new business opportunities for the railway sector in this area”, says Oliver Sellnick, UIC Freight Director.
Seminar highlights:
Introduction of the UIC standard gauge on the railway line from Barcelona to the French border: How will this influence the railway market? Development of hinterland transport around the port of Barcelona: What are the possible rail freight solutions and how can they be implemented? The railway connection: Best practices in the field of tailor-made solutions Shipping companies and logistics solutions: What is the state-of–the-art in multimodal solutions?
The Market Place Seminar is an excellent occasion for the European rail logistics professionals to learn more about business opportunities and requirements for doing rail business in this region and to expand their business network. The seminar will comprise two half-day sessions, between which there will be a social event allowing you to network with your industry peers in a relaxed and casual setting.
For more information about the seminar please visit the dedicated website: http:// www.marketplaceseminar.org
5 For the Seminar please contact Gustav Manding, UIC Senior Freight Advisor: manding@ uic.org and Rene Zimmerman, FIATA secretariat: [email protected]
Railway Research
R&D projects involving UIC will be presented during InnoTrans, the International Exhibition Fair to be held in Berlin (20 - 24 September 2010)
Representatives from UIC and UNIFE will present various R&D projects during the International Trade Fair “InnoTrans”, to be held in Berlin from 20 - 24 September 2010.
Among the projects presented:
CleanER-D – Tuesday 21 September, 17:00 Clean European Rail-Diesel – aims to develop, improve and integrate emissions reduction technologies for diesel locomotives and rail vehicles. Its target is to achieve emissions levels below the limits established by the new European Directive 2004/26/ EC and to evaluate innovative and hybrid solutions for the best possible contribution to reductions in CO2 emissions.
ERRAC – Thursday 23 September, 10:00 The European Rail Research Advisory Council (ERRAC) is an advisory body to the EU Commission (European Technology Platform) representing member states and all stakeholders in the railway sector. Its mission is to develop a ‘Strategic Rail Research Agenda’ to inform and define the planning of research programmes across the EU. The new ERRAC-ROADMAP project will help translate, monitor and disseminate to the European industry as a whole the strategic recommendations and guidelines of the Strategic Rail Research Agenda.
6 INNOTRACK – Wednesday 22 September, 14:00 Innovative Track Systems – aims to develop cost- effective high performance track infrastructure for heavy rail systems. It is a joint initiative between railways and the supply industry to provide innovative solutions for major cost reductions in investment and maintenance with the aim of reducing life-cycle costs (around 30%), while improving the RAMS characteristics of a conventional line with a mixed traffic duty and increasing traffic.
PROTECTRAIL – Tuesday 21 September, 17:00 Protectrail will develop an integrated system to improve the security of rail transport through better protection of railways (infrastructures) and trains, and to reduce disparity in security between European railway systems. Its challenge is to make the single asset-specific solutions interoperable and to conceive and design a modular architectural framework where each asset-specific solution can be “plugged”.
Railenergy – Tuesday 21 September, 14:00 & Thursday 23 September, 14:30 The RAILENERGY project targeted energy efficiency of the integrated railway system by investigating and validating solutions ranging from the introduction of innovative traction technologies, components and layouts to the development of rolling stock, operation and infrastructure management strategies.
TrioTRAIN – Thursday 23 September, 16:00 Total Regulatory Acceptance for the Interoperable Network – a cluster of integrated projects to promote interoperability by increasing the use of virtual certification. This means replacing the physical testing processes by virtual simulation and simplifying complicated authorisation processes through an optimised mix of field testing, mock-up testing and simulation.
INESS (INtegrated European Signalling System) - hosted in UNIFE Stand The project will define and develop specifications for a new generation of interlocking systems, and will thus extend and enhance the standardisation process according to the current European policies. It will further
7 lead to industry being more directly involved with Infrastructure Managers in developing innovative solutions for the future based on an enhanced and common understanding of the operational requirements needing to be delivered into the railway transportation system.
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Asset Management
Announcement of the Asset Management Workshop (Paris, 27 October)
UIC is pleased to invite you to a workshop dedicated to Asset Management that will be held in Paris on 27 October 2010.
Main objectives
Improving your business Learning how to use the potential benefit of asset management approach Learning from best practice Showing that you are engaged in a professional and transparent approach
Target audience
Decision makers from UIC member railways concerned with asset management
8 Other railway organisations interested in the concept
Provisional programme
08.30: Registration 09.00: Welcome and introduction by A. Bauer (ProRail) 09.15: Framework of asset management by A. Kirwan (Network Rail)
1. Experience of implementation & self assessment (ProRail) 2. Differentiation (SBB) 3. AI System (RFI)
11.00: Line comparison “benchmark” (Infrabel and RFF) Lunch 13:30: Information
1. LICB LICB Lasting Infrastructure Cost Benchmarking report - (Lasting Infrastructure Costs Benchmarking) presentation of the new methodology and IT system by T. Gradinariu (UIC) 2. ORR presentation by GC Scarsi
14.30: Reporting and summary by D. Mc Keown from IAM (The Institute of Asset Management, UK) as independent party 16.00: Conclusions and next steps by A. Bauer (ProRail)
For more information please contact Françoise El Alaoui: [email protected]
Publications
Newly-published CD ROM on the 6th World Congress on Railway Security
The successful 6th edition of the World Congress on security jointly organised by UIC and Turkish
9 Railways (TCDD) was held in Istanbul from 23 June to 25 June 2010.
For three days, 200 delegates from 30 countries representing all parts of the world, benefited from very interesting technical presentations given by companies and speeches given by institutional partners, in particular those given by representatives of the European Commission, OSCE, UNECE or the FRONTEX Agency. These representatives stressed the value of their partnerships with UIC and presented the current status of their work, ongoing projects and possible ways of cooperation. This congress provided the opportunity for railway companies to stress their desires beyond staying constantly alert to incidents which are difficult to predict, to develop security strategies which deal with risks and threats of all kinds, and to make those strategies a key component of their activities.
It was also the opportunity for the Asian and Middle-East regional assemblies (ARA and RAME) to confirm their interest and their decision to create regional expert working groups in order to develop the work already done.
All presentations are now available in a CD Rom as well as the video message from Mr Yoshio Ishida, UIC Chairman, the opening speech made by Mr Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General and the final declaration adopted by the participants.
Should you wish to order a copy of the CD Rom, please contact Marie-Hélène Bonneau: [email protected]
Publications
Asset Management Brochure just published Guidelines for the application of asset management in railway infrastructure organisations
The UIC Asset Management Working Group (AMWG) was established two years ago under the umbrella of the Infrastructure Forum, now known as Rail System Forum, to develop and communicate methods and tools to support the consistent
10 application of asset management principles for the benefit of railway infrastructure managers. The group was started under the impetus of Mr. Anthonie Bauer, Asset Management Director at ProRail, and a core group of railways (ADIF, Infrabel, ProRail, RFF, RFI, Network Rail, SBB and SNCF).
The first phase of this development aimed to establish a common understanding of asset management, together with practical steps to help railway infrastructure managers develop their own approach and methods. Taking as its starting point the PAS 55 (Publically Available Specification – Asset Management Specification for the optimised management of physical assets), the group introduced the rail sector’s first-ever set of guidelines entitled “Guidelines for the application of asset management in railway infrastructure organisations”.
The document summarises the outcome of the work in the form of a set of asset management guidelines. The guidelines are based on an asset management framework which we believe is generally applicable to railway infrastructure organisations.
A second phase of work is currently underway in which we are using the asset management framework as a reference for assessing asset management processes and systems and for comparing actual performance and costs of the railway infrastructures that we manage. We are already seeing some good practices emerging from this phase of work and we will be publishing the initial results early in 2011.
The document will be sent to all UIC members to give them fresh insight into the implementation of best practices and help them improve their management of assets, develop their business effectively and reduce day-to-day costs.
For further information please contact Teodor Gradinariu: [email protected]
News from UIC Members
Japan: “Smart Station” R&D facilities
11 East Japan Railway Company (JR East) has been making its stations cleaner and safer so that customers feel they are reliable and secure, in accordance with one of its targets, “the improvement of customer satisfaction,” as part of the “JR East Vision towards 2020.”
In order to create next-generation stations to provide customers with service at a higher standard than ever before, JR East established its “Smart Station R&D facilities” in June 2010. The facility has almost the same space as an actual station. It is truly necessary for railway companies to promote R&D by themselves since they know best what customers really need at stations due to their direct contact with them, which is extremely effective for making railways more competitive than other transport modes. By carrying out experiments in this facility, JR East is aims to optimise space for its Copyright: JR East customers in all of its various types of stations.
JR East intends to use this facility to carry out proof tests and overall evaluations in a continuous and efficient manner that cannot be done in actual stations or at its R&D centre. JR East also intends to step up its R&D efforts on stations, aiming to make the latter highly convenient and comfortable, more environmentally-friendly, as well as safer and more reliable. Examples of this include the use of robots, sensors to control lights and temperature in stations and using natural wind and sunlight for the station environment. With regard to the near future, JR East is starting to study and develop more available information services for customers on board, practical use of power-generating floors and more effective installation of see-through film solar cells in stations.
The “Smart Station” R&D facility is a three-story building with a total area of 1500㎡ and has, among other features, a passage, a ticket vending machine, a ticket gate, a concourse, an information panel, a staircase, an escalator, a 70m x 7m platform and a train. It is located in the JR East R&D centre in Saitama, north of Tokyo.
(Source: JR East)
News from UIC Members
China-Singapore: New railway line
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is involved in overseeing the construction of a high speed railway line set to link China and Singapore. The line will stretch from Kunming,
12 the capital of Yunnan province in southwest China, to the Lion City, spanning 5500 km across several countries in Southeast Asia. The line, which could become a flourishing economic corridor, is to be completed by 2015.
News from UIC Members
Latvia: Exhibition at Riga Central Station
From 5 August – the 91st anniversary of Latvian Railways – to 1 October, Riga Central Station will be the venue for a photo exhibition on Latvian Railways.
“Riga Central Station is a great public space, with tens of thousands of people of all ages and from all walks of life passing through every day – passengers, tourists, holiday-makers, city dwellers and immigrants. Latvian Railways are therefore Riga Central Station using this excellent opportunity to inform the public about the company. The exhibition will show photos of the company’s activities as well as the people who work for the railway and who are united not only through their work for the rail company but in the leisure facilities they enjoy”, says Ugis Magonis, Chairman of the Board of SJSC Latvian Railways.
The exhibition is composed of 16 parts. Three of the stands will display information about the major events of this year: the commissioning of the second track at Bigosava (Indra district), which took place on 29 April, the 52nd meeting of the Railway Transport Council, held on 13 – 14 May in Jurmala, and the process of electrifying the country’s railways launched circa 60 years ago. The four stories describe the important railway infrastructure reconstruction projects undertaken at the border stations of Indra, Karsava and Zilupe.
The exhibition will also display information about the group’s subsidiaries: LDZ Cargo (freight forwarding and international transport of passengers); LDZ Infrastructure (track construction and maintenance); LDZ rolling stock (locomotives and freight wagons repair) and LDZ Security (freight trains, territory and building security).
Latvian Railways is composed of the prevailing company JSC Latvian Railway and four subsidiaries: SIA LDZ Cargo, which deals with rail freight services, the infrastructure construction company LDZ Infrastructure, the rolling stock repair company LDZ Rolling Stock Service and the security company LDZ Security.
(Source: LDZ)
13 News from UIC Members
Finland / Russia: Allegro rail services start on 12 December
High-speed Allegro rail services between Helsinki and St. Petersburg start on 12 December. The travel time between the two cities will be cut by two hours to three and a half hours.
Travel time is cut due to technically more modern Allegro high speed train of the Helsinki-St trains, faster border formalities and upgraded line. Petersburg line The top speed of the Allegro is 220 km/h. The trains are electric multiple units which means that locomotive change is no longer required.
Finnish Sibelius and Russian Repin trains are longer operated on Helsinki-St. Petersburg line as Allegro services start. Russian night train Tolstoi continues to run between Helsinki and Moscow.
“By summer 2011, the number of daily return journeys is planned to be increased from two to four”, the Russian Railways vice president said.
Allegro has seats for 344 passengers of which 296 in 2nd Class and 48 in 1st Class.
VR and RZD joint venture
The Allegro is a joint venture by VR and RZD, i.e. Russian Railways. VR and RZD are responsible for onboard services, timetables and ticket sales. The trainsets are owned by VR and RZD’s joint rolling stock company Karelian Trains.
Three of the four ordered Allegro trainsets are undergoing testing and test runs in Finland and Russia. The fourth trainset is due to arrive in Finland in the autumn from the factory.
For detailed information on Allegro onboard services, timetables and fares go to VR’s web site at www.vr.fi/allegro and http://eng.rzd.ru/isvp/public/rzdeng
(Sources: VR Group / RZD)
14 News from UIC Members / High Speed
Spain: The Spanish Minister of Development José Blanco and his Portuguese counterpart visit the Madrid-Lisbon high speed line works
Spain’s Minister of Development, Jose Blanco, and Portugal’s Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications Antonio Mendonça, visited the construction works on the Montijo-Badajoz section of the Madrid-Extremadura-Lisbon high speed line.
They were accompanied by the President of the Junta de Extremadura (Extremadura Autonomous Government), Guillermo Fernández Vara, and the President of Adif, Antonio González Marín. During the visit a static load test was carried out on the 130 metre-long Alcazaba river viaduct. The test demonstrated the adequate set up, stability and performance of the viaduct. The Ministry of Development is investing €41.14 million in this section of line – 20.2 kilometres long – that runs through the municipalities of Montijo, Badajoz and Pueblonuevo del Guadiana in the province of Badajoz.
This is the first stretch on this line that will link Madrid with the Portuguese capital, and is part of the Mérida-Badajoz section, which totals 36.2 kilometres. The Madrid-Lisbon high speed line now has eight sections under construction along the Spanish route, totalling 104.2 km, with a joint investment of more than €410 million. Furthermore, investments planned for the Talayuela (Navalmoral de la Mata)–Caceres–Badajoz–Portuguese border section of this infrastructure amount to €2.714 billion.
A major boost to the Madrid-Lisbon connection
The two contracts recently allocated are worth a total of € 4,135,589. The first contract refers to the Cuarto de la Jara-Arroyo de la Albuera sector embankment project, included in the access to Mérida (Badajoz). This amounts to €1,470,086 and works are to be carried out within a 12 month period. The second contract refers to technical assistance for embankment works monitoring, on the Casar de Caceres–Caceres sub-section, within the Talayuela–Caceres (province of Caceres) section. To this end €2,665,502 has been allocated and works are to be carried out within a 26 month period. The contract covers the provision of assistance services for the control, monitoring and coordination of safety and health issues in high speed line construction, which amongst other actions includes ground movements, drainage works, structures, replacement of right of access and of other services that may have been disrupted, including cross-connections that ensure line permeability, as well as the project for correction measures of environmental impacts. The Madrid- Extremadura-Portuguese border high speed link will be a double-tracked line built to the UIC standard gauge for both passenger and freight.
15 (Source: ADIF)
Forthcoming Events
Invitation to the CREAM Final Conference Customer-driven Rail-freight services on a European mega-corridor based on advanced business and operating Models
UIC, HaCon Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH and the CREAM partners have the great pleasure to invite you to the CREAM Final Conference in Brussels (Belgium) on 4 November 2010.
You will have the opportunity to gain an exclusive and comprehensive one-day insight into this collaborative rail freight research project, summarising the results and achievements on rail freight logistics on the corridor from Western Europe through to Southeast Europe and the Middle-East. The latest developments and good practice on this important European rail and freight axis will be presented as well as the most promising new technologies and advanced business and operating models.
Conference Highlights
Successfully implemented rail freight services on the CREAM corridor Quality manuals for rail services Innovative telematic solutions The latest technical developments (e.g. Semi-trailers in unaccompanied intermodal transport chains, semi-trailers for unaccompanied intermodal carriage of plate glass and the dual-power locomotive)
The conference will conclude with a reflection on the day’s outcomes and consider which developments are likely to occur in the R&D field in the coming years. Simultaneous interpretation will be offered into German and English.
We ask you to register exclusively online by clicking here or using the following link: http:// www.uic.org/forms/spip.php?article1291 The online registration will close on 22 October 2010.
For this conference UIC and Resotel Belgium are offering a special web application to facilitate your hotel booking. Please click here to access the hotel booking http://www.resotel.be/cream All room charges are at the participants’ own expense. The quoted rates are in Euro, per room, per night, including breakfast & services. Payments for all room bookings are to be settled with the hotels directly upon departure. Valid credit card details must be given when making your booking request in order to guarantee and secure your reservation. Rooms are available on a first-come first-served basis.
16 The CREAM partners are looking forward to welcoming you to Brussels!
Please find all information on the official CREAM website http://www.cream-project.eu or contact Lars Deiterding (HaCon) [email protected] or Enno Wiebe (UIC) wiebe@ uic.org
17 Next meetings scheduled
17 September 2010: Workshop : Train-Track Interaction Group (Paris, UIC)
17 September 2010: RCG Core Group Meeting (53 avenue des Arts B-1000 Brussels (6th floor))
20 September 2010: Security Platform Steering Committee (Paris, HQ)
20-21 September 2010: RSF RS SET 15 (Berlin (D))
21-22 September 2010: Statistics Steering Committee (BERLIN)
24 September 2010: International Union of Railway Medical Services Congress (Rabat (Morocco) )
27 September 2010 - 1 October 2010: SIAFI 2010 - Session II (Paris)
28 September 2010: SAFETY PLATFORM STEERING GROUP (UIC HQ)
28-29 September 2010: SAFETY PLATFORM PLENARY (UIC HQ )
28 September 2010: Panel of Structural Experts meeting (BRATISLAVA)
28 September 2010: Workshop "Economic Evaluation of ERTMS" (UIC Headquarters, Paris)
30 September 2010: SG WU
30 September 2010: Global Team of Experts (GTE) (Bratislava)
4 October 2010: Freight Steering Committee (Paris)
4-5 October 2010: PASSAGE Project Meeting 2
4-6 October 2010: CC-EDB planning review (Stockholm ?)
4 October 2010: Ecotransit - INE meeting (Paris, UIC HQ)
5-7 October 2010: PROTECTRAIL Kick-Off Meeting (UIC HQ in Paris )
5 October 2010: Freight Forum (Paris)
5 October 2010: EcoTransIT Workshop (UIC HQ, Paris)
UIC e-News Editor: Marie Plaud UIC Communications Department, Paris, 15 September 2010
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