Dec Cover:Layout 1 21/11/2016 14:10 Page 1 December 2016 I Volume 56 Issue 12 www.railjournal.com | @railjournal IRJInternational Railway Journal Points of the future Open for competition New-generation of turnouts NTV and the benefits of open- reduces maintenance costs access high-speed in Italy Olympic champion Rio’s new light railway set to expand Dec Cover:Layout 1 21/11/2016 14:10 Page 1 December 2016 I Volume 56 Issue 12 www.railjournal.com | @railjournal IRJInternational Railway Journal Points of the future Open for competition New-generation of turnouts NTV and the benefits of open- reduces maintenance costs access high-speed in Italy Olympic champion Rio’s new light railway set to expand IRJDECXX (Schaeffler1):Layout 1 16/11/2016 09:05 Page 1 Mobility for Tomorrow In an increasingly dynamic world, bearings and system solutions from Schaeffler not only help railways prepare for the challenges of the future, but also improve their safety. • Thanks to the cost-efficiency of our application solutions, you can make lasting savings in terms of your overall costs. • We constantly test the reliability of our components in our inde- pendent Schaeffler Railway Testing Facility for rolling bearings. • We manage the entire lifecycle of our products, right up to railway bearing reconditioning with certification. 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Dec Contents:Layout 1 21/11/2016 17:01 Page 3 Contents Contact us December 2016 Volume 56 issue 12 Editorial offices News Post 46 Killigrew Street 4 This month Falmouth Cornwall, TR11 3PP 6 News headlines UK 12 Transit Tel +44 1326 313945 14 Financial Fax +44 1326 211576 Web www.railjournal.com 16 Technology Editor-in-Chief David Briginshaw South America 18 [email protected] Associate Editor 18 Argentina’s roadmap for rail revival Keith Barrow Government embarks on $US 16.6bn railway investment [email protected] programme following years of neglect Features Editor Kevin Smith 22 Light rail transforms Rio’s city centre [email protected] Porto Maravilha light rail line already proving a successful Features & News Reporter legacy project of the 2016 Rio Olympics Dan Templeton [email protected] 26 Peru’s capital backs metro to beat congestion Market Researcher Work on network expansion projects now well underway Jonny Deardon as Lima strives to improve mobility 26 [email protected] 30 EFE’s suburban projects run into trouble Sales Executive Chloe Pickering Cost overruns and delays hampering progress on Chilean [email protected] State Railways’ improvement programme Production Manager Sue Morant [email protected] High-speed 32 Competition delivering benefits to passengers Advertising sales offices NTV reflects on its first four years of operation Post 19 John De Mierre House Bridge Road Haywards Heath Track 36 West Sussex, RH16 1UA UK 36 High-speed grinding now includes turnouts Tel +44 1444 849123 Vossloh looks to expand across German network in 2017 International area sales manager 40 Voestalpine unveils new-generation turnout Louise Cooper [email protected] Solutions aim to increase reliability while cutting costs Tel +44 1444 849123 International area sales manager Julie Richardson [email protected] Tel +44 1444 849318 Operations management International Railway Journal (Print ISSN 2161-7376, 42 Vietnam Railways streamlines control systems Digital ISSN 2161-7368), is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp, 55 Broad Upgrades improve staff efficiency and passenger services Street, 26th Fl, New York, NY 10004-2580, USA. 42 Printed in Great Britain by Buxton Press and distributed in the USA by Mail Right International, 1637 Stelton Road B4, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Piscataway, NJ and December 2016 I Volume 56 Issue 12 additional mailing offices. COPYRIGHT © Simmons- Also in this issue www.railjournal.com | @railjournal Boardman Publishing Corporation 2016. All rights Front cover IRJ reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without 44 Rendezvous Rio de Janeiro’s new light International Railway Journal Points of the future Open for competition permission. For reprint information please contact New-generation of turnouts NTV and the benefits of open- rail network was a major reduces maintenance costs access high-speed in Italy Editor-in-Chief. For subscriptions & address changes, 45 Full contact list part of the investments in Olympic champion please call +1 402 346-4740, Fax +1 402 346-3670, Rio’s new light railway set to expand Email: [email protected] or 45 Advertisers index the city’s transport system write to: International Railway Journal, Simmons- for the 2016 Olympics. Boardman Publishing Corp, 46 The last word Following the success of 555 Huehl Rd, Northbrook, IL the initial phase, the 60062 USA. network is set to expand POSTMASTER: Send address changes to International Rail- over the next few months. way Journal, 555 Huehl Rd, Northbrook, IL 60062 USA. IRJ December 2016 3 Dec TM:Layout 1 17/11/2016 15:53 Page 4 This month | David Briginshaw Britain needs the sparks to fly again combination of poor entire fleet is bi-mode rather avoided. Unfortunately there secretary of state for transport A project management and than the original plan for a is a tendency to dismiss in 2009 that electrification was overengineering which had mixture of electric and bi-mode former British Rail engineers taken seriously again, and he led to delays and soaring costs trains. Doubts have also been on the grounds that the world managed to push through the on a major British raised as to whether the trains has changed and things have GWML project and electrification project will will be powerful enough in to be done differently today. electrification of the Liverpool seriously undermine the diesel mode to match the Even now, insufficient - Manchester - Preston triangle. prospects for future main line timings of the 40-year diesel thought appears to be given to NR and the DfT need to electrification in Britain, unless trains they will replace, let alone trying to understand exactly launch an in-depth investigation urgent action is taken to tackle improve on them. what mistakes have been into what has gone wrong in these deficiencies. The delays and deferrals made, how they can be order to understand clearly how The project in question is the mean that the fleet of EMUs corrected, how costs can be electrification can be electrification and already being supplied by reduced, and how the project implemented in a timely and modernisation of the Great Bombardier for shorter- can be brought back on track, cost-effective manner, and help Western Main Line (GWML) distance services to Oxford rather than simply deferring should be enlisted from other from Maidenhead, west of and Newbury are currently key elements of the project, railways to discover best London Paddington, to sitting in sidings for most of which will only achieve practice. Oxford, Newbury, Bristol and NR also urgently needs to Cardiff. Electrification from rediscover its project the junction with the spur to management skills. In 2014, Heathrow Airport and Network Rail also urgently needs to NR completed the £895m Maidenhead is part of the project to rebuild and expand Crossrail project, although rediscover its project management skills. Reading station, a major Britain’s infrastructure “ bottleneck on the GWML, on manager Network Rail (NR) is budget and one year ahead of responsible for both schemes. schedule. If it can manage one A damning report by the the day with little to do, and relatively small savings large and complex project so National Audit Office (NAO) on their deployment will need to anyway. well, why has it failed to November 9 revealed that the be rethought as they will not Failure to reduce the cost of manage the modernisation of cost of the project has soared by be able to run to Windsor, electrifying and modernising the rest of the GWML? 73% from £3.48bn as originally Henley or Oxford. This in turn main lines and accelerate their The future of electrification planned in 2013 to £5.58bn will have consequences for the implementation will seriously in Britain is at stake, so there is today and it will take between redeployment of DMUs to jeopardise the chances of any no time to waste in rebuilding 18 and 36 months longer to other routes. further electrification in Britain’s electrification skills. complete. The electrification The NAO lists several Britain. Delays with the element has increased from reasons for the delays and cost GWML, northwestern, and £1.6bn to £2.8bn. overruns by both NR and the Scottish electrification The government’s reaction is Department for Transport schemes, have already resulted to defer some of the more (DfT). According to the NAO, in work being halted to challenging elements of the NR underestimated the cost of electrify the London - Sheffield [email protected] electrification project to save the project, the number of Midland Main Line and the £146m - £165m. These include bridges which would require deferral of electrification west both routes into Bristol Temple upgrading or reconstruction, of Cardiff to Swansea. Meads station where major the duration of the project, the It took a huge effort to track remodelling is planned cost of obtaining planning get electrification back on and the section through the permission for the works, and the agenda in Britain. historic city of Bath Spa where it failed to plan and deliver the Railway privatisation in special measures are required infrastructure programme. The the 1990s followed by to lessen the impact of DfT is criticised for failing to strong opposition from the electrification. Other sections manage and plan the DfT to even the idea of being deferred are Didcot to programme cohesively, and electrifying railways in the Oxford where track and station both organisations are accused vain hope that some new reconstruction is needed and of not integrating crucial form of powering trains the single-track Windsor and elements into one programme.