Crossrail – only overseas operators have so far said they will apply. Domestic firms (the usual bus operator types) – are expected to focus instead on the 10 mainline franchises.

Is it too tough for the poor darlings? To have to run a boring (but a monopoly) railway day in day out – but one where precision counts.

Why do the bus operator types want mainline franchises? Because they are easy cash generators requiring no real investment, no long term commitment – simply shoals of marketing types and modern business school mangers who have never had to run a real competitive business in their lives.

What do the city folk say? Many of these ‘investors’ – quick buck merchants are in on the game too and will no doubt canvass for better deals and margins for the companies they invest in. Intercity franchises are easy (monopolies) and with the blessing of government – no competition, no ‘abstraction’ – lose criteria – you cannot but make money.

Apparently the EU think we are great – again some EU apartik’s complete ignorance – we were meant to have competition.

Do the ministers care? No – they simply wish the problems would disappear.

But do none of them realize the plan was to have competition?

BUT it is unfair to blame firms and city types – if you can make money from trying to run a decent service – many TOCs do – why not? No the blame for lack of choice and long term commitment is down to governments – ever since passivisation.

Why, the nationalised East Coast is reputed to have made 600m in the last year or so and this when they have been selling seats at ludicrously low prices – my transport costs are 40% of what they were under BR and GNER (and I get ‘complimentary’ drinks). How much economic activity could there have been if we had at least 2 competing franchises? AND choice for the passengers.

Do the politicians – particularly those of a free market persuasion (maybe there are none) not see the absurdity of giving state controlled (for that is what they are ) monopolies to outfits which have not the slightest need to do anything but bleed money from the ‘system’.

Let us have competition on the main line routes – more than one franchise – let them buy the trains and run them to meet customers’ needs – not at the diktat of the DfT, OR let us support the unions – bring rail back into public ownership. There is no reason as to why a state run monopoly should not be efficient – the idea is simply out of fashion.

But today’s fashion is that the ‘market’ should be the impartial arbiter of where investment should be made to satisfy the markets’ (customers’) needs – but we do not have an open and free market for rail – Stalin would probably find our system too rigid!

So will the UK and the EU (while they continue to be our template) please decide – do we have real competition in rail – choice for the long suffering passengers – or State railways that we can perpetually complain about – but at least which we own?

Guest blog post by Ralph Tiffin, trainer on the 3 Day MBA in Rail, a comprehensive three-day training course covering everything you need to know about the rail industry. The next course will be running from 21 – 23 May 2013 in Dubai – download brochure now >

Who are the biggest pubic railroad companies? Who dominates the industry- which countries do they operate in? Browsing the Forbes World’s biggest public companies list, there are 10 companies in the railroad industry. Here they are…

10. Tokyu

Japan
Sales- $13.2 B  Profits- $0.4 B  Assets- $23.8 B  Market Value- $9.3 B

9. West Japan Railway

Japan
Sales- $15.6 B  Profits- $0.4 B  Assets- $30.6 B  Market Value- $9.2 B

8. Daqin Railway

China
Sales- $7.2 B  Profits- $1.9 B  Assets- $14.9 B  Market Value- $18.7 B

7. MTR

Hong Kong-China
Sales- $4.6 B  Profits- $1.7 B  Assets- $26.7 B  Market Value- $23 B

6. Norfolk Southern

United States
Sales- $11 B  Profits- $1.7 B  Assets- $30.3 B  Market Value- $23.7 B

5. CSX

United States
Sales- $11.8 B  Profits- $1.9 B  Assets- $30.6 B  Market Value- $24.5 B

4. Canadian National Railway

Canada
Sales- $10 B  Profits- $2.7 B  Assets- $26.8 B  Market Value- $42.7 B

3. Central Japan Railway

Japan
Sales- $18.2 B  Profits- $1.6 B  Assets- $61.3 B  Market Value- $20.6 B

2. Eastern Japan Railway

Japan
Sales- $30.6 B  Profits- $1.3 B  Assets- $82.9 B  Market Value- $32.5 B

1. Union Pacific

United States
Sales- $20.9 B  Profits- $3.9 B  Assets- $47.2 B  Market Value- $66.5 B

The US, Japan and China dominate the list. What do you think? Let us know your thoughts.

Rail Revenue & Customer Management World Europe will further discuss boosting revenue and customer engagement for European passenger rail.

Total Rail provides content on investment and development in rail for operators, developers and investors. Click here to subscribe to our enewsletter and get the content directly to you. It’s free and only takes a moment.

Railway, ports, airline, logistics and finance professionals from local and African operators, major end-users, emerging mines, petrochemical, agribusiness, finance houses and government already booked & committed to attend the Africa Transport & Infrastructure Show.

How many of these professionals would you like to meet with? Here are some of our confirmed participants…

SADC AFRICA:

Ministry of Works & Transport- Namibia• Namibian Ports Authority • National Railways of Zimbabwe • TransNamib Holdings • CCFB- Mozambique• TAZARA- Tanzania • Luanda Ministry of Transport- Angola • Ministry of Transport-Swaziland • Northern Development Corridor- Mozambique • Dar es Salaam Corridor Secretariat-Tanzania • Walvis Bay Corridor Group, Namibia • Air Namibia • Linnaeus Aires Mozambique • Precision Air-Tanzania

SOUTH AFRICA:

The Department of Public Enterprise • Ford Motor Company • Continuum Investment Principles • Transnet • PRASA• Lanxess• Kumba Iron Ore• Gautrain Management Services • USTDA • The Department of Transport of South Africa • National Treasury of Southern Africa • GE Transportation • Mott MacDonald •Electromotive Diesels• SAMSA•ARUP• Akiem• ICTSI Africa• Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative • Freight Forwarder’s Association of South Africa• Coega Development Corporation• Development Bank of Southern Africa• Nedbank Capital• South African Airways •South Africa Express• Comair Limited

CENTRAL & WEST AFRICA:

Camrail-Cameroon • Nigerian Railways• OCBN-Benin • Nigerian Ports Authority • Ghana Ports And Harbours Authority • Transmission Company Nigeria • Port Autonome de Cotonou, Benin• Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa- Nigeria • Air Express Algeria • African Precision Airlines- Ghana • Dana Air- Nigeria

EAST AFRICA :

Rift Valley Railways- Kenya • Central East African Railways-Malawi • Transport and Environment Association- Mali • Kenya Ports Authority • Ghana Ports And Harbours Authority• Kenya Maritime Authority • Rift Valley Railways- Uganda • Digna Port • AFRAA • Ethiopian Airlines • Egyptian Railways• EgyptAir • Ethiopian Airlines • Air Uganda• RwandAir

Join the excitement at The largest Transport and Infrastructure show in Africa!

9 weeks to go! If you don’t want to miss out, contact Desiree Clothier on +27 011 516 4075 or on desiree.clothier@terrapinn.com

Mott MacDonald has been working on this project since 2008. There is currently a team of 120 engineers and designers working on the outline design phase.

Scope of this Presentation and benefits:
• Background to the project
• Concept and feasibility stages
• Overall timescales
• The current phase of the work
• Progress to date

> Download the presentation

Mott Macdonald will be sponsoring and exhibiting at this years Africa Rail. Part of “Africa’s transport and infrastructure show”, Africa Rail will have a strategic conference and 72 seminars for your organisation.

> Click here to see more

> Click here to download the conference programme

> Click here to register

 

Middle East Rail 2013 post-event report available!

The 7th annual Middle East Rail conference and exhibition was a huge success, bringing together over 1900 attendees from more than 40 countries, between 5th – 7th February 2013.

The event was attended by the region’s leading rail operators, including Etihad Rail, Qatar Rail, Saudi Railway Company, the UAE Roads & Transport Authority and more.

View the full post-event report

Here’s a quick snapshot of some of the highlights…

• 28% of visitors to Middle East Rail told us they came to buy new products
• The most popular job function in attendance were company MDs or Directors
• Number 1 on the list of products or services that visitors came to purchase, were construction services
• More than 50% of delegates at the Middle East Rail conferences were from the UAE or Saudi Arabia

For more facts, figures and details about the 2013 show and who attended, download the report now.

· Bombardier’s rail control solution to operate on Durban’s main rail corridors

· First major delivery of Bombardier signalling technology for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA)

· Commitment to local partnership, employment and economic empowerment

Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation announced today that, as leader of the consortium Bombardier Africa Alliance, it has won the contract to implement one of the largest conventional mainline re-signalling projects in South Africa. The total contract is valued at approximately 1.1 billion South African Rand (95 million euro, $122 million US), with Bombardier’s share valued at approximately 318 million South African Rand (27 million euro, $34 million US).

The consortium, which includes ERB Technologies, Basil Read, Bakara Engineering, R&H Railway Consultants, SIMS and Tractionel, is delivering the globally-proven, state-of-the-art BOMBARDIER INTERFLO 200 rail control solution for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA). This is the first major delivery of Bombardier signalling technology for PRASA. Once commissioned in 2017, the planned increase in trains operating on the lines is set to enhance mobility in the region for about 700,000 passengers daily. It constitutes a major multidisciplinary rail modernisation of the Durban main corridors.

The Bombardier Africa Alliance includes local and international railway expertise that share the vision of PRASA and the South African Government to create a modern rail environment. Bombardier is responsible for the signalling technology and is the overall project management lead on this highly complex metro application.

The INTERFLO technology is being delivered for 42 stations and 120 km of double-track. It will enable 2.5 minute headways, eliminating bottlenecks while increasing safety and availability. The upgrade also introduces the latest generation, high capacity BOMBARDIER EBI Lock 950 computer-based interlocking Release 4 and EBI Screen 900 local central traffic control (CTC) systems to the market, and includes replacement of all wayside equipment. Associated telecommunications equipment (fibre-optic backbone and voice radio) is being provided while the civil works include modifications to existing platforms, track and overhead equipment and new pedestrian bridges.

Bombardier will be exhibiting at the 16th Annual Africa Rail Conference and Exhibition – to learn more about how they can assist your railway – visit them at booth number A10 to register as a visitor and attend the trade show for free register via https://secure.terrapinn.com/V5/vDetails.aspx?E=5757

Introduction of ERTMS on the Emmerich – Basel section of the Rotterdam – Genova Corridor A is to be completed by the end of 2018, Deutsche Bahn confirmed on March 8.

Under the deployment strategy outlined by the European Commission in 2008, six priority corridors were due to be equipped with ERTMS by 2015. However, since 2011 Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport has been arguing that fitting STMs to large numbers of locomotives, enabling them to work with legacy train control systems, would be cheaper than premature replacement of existing equipment on the German sections of Corridors A, B (Stockholm – Napoli), E (Dresden – Budapest) and F (Aachen – Warszawa).

Read the full article on the Railway Gazette

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Interoperability is one of the most important aspects behind GSM-R implementation in Europe. ‘Interoperability’ means the ability of a rail system to allow the safe and uninterrupted movement of trains which accomplish the required levels of performance for these lines. This ability depends on all the regulatory, technical and operational conditions which must be met in order to satisfy the essential requirements.

The European Railway Association is one of the key bodies behind the standardisation of telecommunications in European rail. Hans Bier, ERTMS Project Officer at ERA, gave a presentation at this year’s RailTel Congress looking at how to ensure interoperability and sustainability for railway telecommunications. He looked at:

· What is the outlook for GSM-R obsolescence? How can the industry work to both maximise GSM-R output and prepare for next generation telecommunications?

· What is the policy outlook for ensuring interoperability and sustainability for railway telecommunications in Europe?

· How is the EU contributing to GSM-R migration planning?

The key message in the presentation: maintain GSM-R for as long as possible.

What do you think? Have a look at Hans’ presentation slides here and please feel free to leave your comments below!

From a railway perspective, most mainline operators I’ve spoken with are concerned with interoperability for another reason beyond safety. That is, to build a system for the train’s on-board wi-fi that doesn’t drop out as the train moves into new countries or even different network strongholds within a country. It’s a more commercial approach, but perhaps for that reason it’s where the real weight of operator contribution in this area come from. My advice for suppliers looking to engage with rail companies in this sector is to talk with the commercial teams, who have a vested interest in improving the interoperability of Europe’s railways.

For more on how to improve wi-fi connectivity and interoperability why don’t you join us at Rail Experience World in November? For more information check out the website or download more information here.

Daegu is the fourth largest city in Korea, on the south-west peninsula. With two subway lines in operation, the Metro Line 3 is currently under construction. The 23.95km line consists of 30 stations and 2 depots, and is due for completion October 2014. Total investment is $775bn. Part of the operational development includes the deployment of TETRA communications on the line.

Tae-Jung Lee from Hyndai Information Technology gave a presentation at the RailTel Congress last month detailing the specifics of the project (and the investment allocations) as well as technical specifications behind implication of TETRA for a metro system. You can download the full presentation for free here.

For more on TETRA for metros, please join us at this year’s MetroRail Congress in Madrid where the likes of Teletronic and Kapsche are in place to explain the systems in more detail.

The Channel Tunnel is the longest undersea tunnel in the world, with the sea section being 39Km long. The tunnel consists of 3 separate tunnels, each 50km long, bored at an average of 40m below the sea bed, and linking England to France. Eurotunnel manages the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel & shuttle services for cars, buses and trucks between Folkestone in the UK and Calais in France. In 2012, Eurotunnel provided access through the Tunnel for 20 million passengers (10M passengers on Eurostar trains and 10M passengers on Eurotunnel shuttles).  And with the introduction of new services from ICE Trains and Deutsche Bahn, the tunnel expects huge growth up to 15M passengers by 2020.

Eurotunnel have been in the long process of upgrading the communications networks to GSM-R, which is due for completion by 2014. Part of this project includes delivery of mobile communications for train users – or the GSM-P initiative. GSM-P project launched in anticipation, with the objective to offer services before the start of London Olympic games in July 2012.

Eurotunnel has deployed a Distributed Antenna System to allow the connectivity of all mobile operator networks (MNOs) in the UK and France with GSM900, GSM1800 and UMTS2100 in order to provide coverage into the two running tunnels of Eurotunnel for mobiles used by passengers into the different types of trains running into the Channel Tunnel. Operators are divided between tunnels for even loading and prevention of call drops due to country border roaming in the middle of the tunnel.  Each operator provides dedicated coverage through the tunnel for each operator starting from its entrance. So UK operators: North tunnel travelling from UK to France. FR operators: South tunnel travelling from FR to the UK. The regulatory framework for this model now in place between OFCOM and its French counterparts, following signature of a binational MOU in Dec 2011 (MOU on frequency coordination between FR & the UK for the Channel Tunnel).

Eurotunnel’s Head of Telecoms and Control Systems, Christian Redmond, introduced the initiative at this year’s RailTel Congress in Vienna last month. For more detail on deployment and challenges encountered to date, please see his full presentation from the event – it’s available for free download here. And let us know your thoughts!

Or for more on signalling and communications in railways please join us at MetroRail in Madrid this April.