Irj_september_2020.pdf

IRJ

September 2020 | Volume 60 Issue 9 www.railjournal.com | @railjournal

Innovations Showcase

International Railway Journal

Latest railway technologies revealed

Cybersecurity for railways = FlixTrain on post Covid plans

IRJ

September 2020 | Volume 60 Issue 9 www.railjournal.com | @railjournal

Innovations Showcase

International Railway Journal

Latest railway technologies revealed

Cybersecurity for railways = FlixTrain on post Covid plans

Our new antiviral air filter captures airborne particles which may contain viruses such as COVID -19 and then eliminates 99.9% of the virus , making rail travel safer than ever before. And the best part ? Our filter is immediately available, and can even be retrofitted to existing fleets . T To ogether we move – safely

w w w. bombardier.com

B o m b a r dier a n d To g eth e r we m ove are tra de e m ar ks of B omb ard i e r I nc . or it s s u b s id i ar i e s .

Wondering g how ow w health t y th t e air on a train is?

Contact us Editorial offices Post

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46 Killigrew Street Falmouth Cornwall, TR11 3PP, UK +44 1326 313945 www.railjournal.com

Editor-in-Chief Kevin Smith [email protected] Consulting Editor/ Associate Publisher David Briginshaw [email protected] News & Features Writer David Burroughs [email protected] News & Features Writer Oliver Cuenca [email protected] Production Manager Sue Morant [email protected] IRJ Pro Account Manager Chloe Pickering [email protected] IRJ Pro Market Analyst Oscar Sinclair [email protected]

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88 Pine Street, 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 United States Tel +1 732 887 5563 Business development manager Jerome Marullo [email protected] Tel +1 732 887 5562 Subscriptions hotline Tel (US only) +1 800 553 8878 (Canada/International) +1 319 364 6167 Fax +1 402 346 4740 International Railway Journal (Print ISSN 2161-7376, Digital ISSN 2161-7368), is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp, 88 Pine Street, 23rd floor, New York, NY 10005, USA. 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 additional mailing offices. COPYRIGHT © Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation 2020. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. For reprint information please contact Editor-in-Chief. For subscriptions & address changes, please call +1 319 364 6167, Fax +1 319 364 4278, Email: [email protected] or write to: International Railway Journal, Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp, PO Box 1407, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52406-1407. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to International Railway Journal, PO Box 1407, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52406-1407.

IRJ September 2020

Contents September 2020 Volume 60 issue 9

News 4 6 8 16 18 22

This month News extra News headlines Transit news Financial news World market analysis

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Germany 26 32 36 38

Pandemic pushes operators to the brink

Kevin Smith reports on the challenges ahead

FlixTrain returns to the rails

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Private operator still plans to expand business

Iconic Stuttgart 21 makes progress

Complex project will finally be completed in 2025

Learning the lessons of Rastatt

Guidelines put into practice following Auggen accident

IRJ Insights 

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Cybersecurity 40

Responding to the digital threat

As rail becomes more digitalised, it must protect itself against increasingly sophisticated threats

IRJ 2020 Innovations Showcase Pushing the boundaries 46

36

The latest industry innovations revealed

Suppliers continue to push the limits despite the coronavirus pandemic

Also in this issue 52 53 53 53 54

Rendezvous Full contact list Advertisers index Fresh faces The last word

Front cover

Plasser & Theurer’s versatile E³ hybrid drive technology has demonstrated a CO2 reduction of 27 tonnes per 100 hours of operation while electric powered transfer between work sites produces even greater savings.

27/08/2020 00:18 Page 1

IRJ

September 2020 | Volume 60 Issue 9 www.railjournal.com | @railjournal

Innovations Showcase

International Railway Journal

Latest railway technologies revealed

Cybersecurity for railways

FlixTrain on post Covid plans

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The return of the state run railway? This month | Kevin Smith

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RITAIN’s Office for National Statistics declared that Train Operating Companies (TOCs) were in state control on July 31. The government’s Emergency Measures Arrangement (EMA), introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic, replaced the franchise operators, which are running the system at no risk under a central contract. The franchising system was already on its last legs before the crisis. However, the goal posts have moved, and the long-awaited Williams Review might not now ever see the light of day. The EMAs are set to expire this month and whether the government persists with the arrangement - it is currently pouring in around £700m a month to keep the network operational remains to be seen. This is still an opportunity to right the wrongs of the recent past. The effective mix of market competition on profitable commuter and intercity services with a public service obligation network that offers a viable and sustainable alternative to road transport can offer Britain’s railway a sustainable footing. It might also encourage the private companies that have turned away to come back. However, with usage still low - around 20% of pre-crisis levels with the government only just rolling back its dangerous message to avoid public transport - the fear is that the railway may not be seen to justify further support and miss out on the radical overhaul it so badly needs. Britain took a different path from its European neighbours when introducing privatisation. There the state incumbent railways remain. But with these railways struggling with similarly dramatic drops in traffic and only partial recoveries, some government decisions in recent weeks to offer a crutch to the embattled incumbents have been criticised by their would-be competitors which are equally feeling the pinch. Netherlands Railways (NS)

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says that without government subsidies it would have reported a loss of É1.078bn in the first half of 2020. It is engaging in cost cutting measures worth É1.4bn, including cutting up to 2300 jobs, or 11.5% of its workforce, to return to a financially healthy position by 2025. However, five regional operators have launched legal proceedings against the award to NS of a 15-year direct award concession to operate ‘core network’ passenger services - the heart of NS’ service - from the start of the December 2024 timetable.

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year while the railway’s debt ceiling has been increased from É25bn to É30bn. Mofair says its members are again at a disadvantage. It says private competitors cannot expect their shareholders to pour in cash because unlike the German government, DB’s sole shareholder, they expect a return on their investment. Similar arguments surround the apparent preferential treatment by national governments of state operators hoping to revitalise Europe’s night train network. Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) is seeking and securing direct award subsidies for operating overnight trains in certain territories. However, private competitors, including Sweden’s

Not offering the same level of support to other operators threatens to unravel much of the progress that has been made.

The Netherlands Federation of Mobility Companies (FNM) is pushing for greater competition in the awarding of passenger concessions. Meanwhile across the border, Belgian National Railways’ (SNCB) is requesting a 10-year direct award contract for the whole network, which would prevent any tendering of services for the foreseeable future. German Rail (DB) also reported equally depressing financial results, going from a É757m profit in the first half of 2019, to a É1.8bn operating loss in the first half of this year. Yet the decision to award Siemens a É1bn contract for new highspeed trains on July 15 has left prospective competitors incensed for reinforcing DB’s long-distance monpoly (p26). Mofair has accused DB and the government of trying to “kill” the prospects for longdistance competition. There are also concerns over the extent to which DB Regio will benefit from a federal-state É5bn compensation package after DB received its own separate É5bn capital injection from the German government. Another É3.6bn is planned for next

Snälltåget, do not have access to the same support. Reinforcing the incumbent is an understandable government response to Covid-19. Doing so to back rail as a sustainable transport mode is a policy we have been encouraging for years. However, not offering the same level of support to other operators threatens to unravel much of the progress that has been made and damage the financial viability of the sector. With less competition, costs will go up. The European Commission is the check and the balance in this process. It is up to the commission to approve bailout funds proposed by member states and ensure they are distributed fairly. While the Fourth Railway Package’s market pillar is not legally binding until 2024, if the EC wants a truly competitive rail market to survive the crisis it must act quickly. The great caveat in all of this is whether passengers return. In its bi-annual report of the global rail market (p20), SCI Verkehr says it does not expect patronage

to return to pre-crisis levels before 2023, predicting a 35% decline this year. Both Mr Christian Schreyer, CEO of Transdev North and Central Europe, and Ms Anne Mathieu, CEO of Keolis Germany, report that traffic on their regional services has recovered to around 60% of pre-crisis levels but no further. They both say the next few weeks are critical as schools and universities return after the summer break and if more people decide to return to the office. At 60% of previous traffic and revenues, in a low margin business, Schreyer says net contracts are simply not sustainable. Local public transport authorities are also under pressure to continue to support public service obligation contracts with very little revenue coming in. This is all against the backdrop of rising Covid-19 infections in Europe in recent weeks and whispers of the worst possible scenario - a second comprehensive lockdown. The economic consequences of this for the railway as well as the wider economy are unfathomable the public funds which have propped up the sector so far might not be available second time around. We all hold our breath.

[email protected]

News | extra

EC approves Alstom’s acquisition of Bombardier Transportation

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HE European Commission (EC) has approved Alstom’s bid to take over rival Bombardier Transportation, a move which will reinforce Alstom’s position as the second largest railway equipment manufacturer behind CRRC. The approval is subject to conditions, including the divestment of Bombardier Transportation’s stake in the V300 Zefiro high-speed train and Alstom’s Coradia Polyvalent platform. “Thanks to the comprehensive remedies offered to solve the competition concerns in the areas of very high-speed, mainline trains and mainline signalling, the commission has been able to speedily review and approve this transaction,” says Ms Margrethe Vestager, EU executive vice-president in charge of competition policy. “Thanks to these remedies, the new company will also continue to be challenged in its core markets to the benefit of European customers and consumers.” Alstom announced its plan to acquire 100% of Bombardier Transportation’s shares for between É5.8 and É6.2bn in February. Under the deal, CDPQ, which currently holds a 32.5% stake in Bombardier Transportation, will become Alstom’s largest shareholder with around 18% of capital. CDPQ will reinvest about É2bn in Alstom plus an additional É700m. Bouygues will remain a shareholder in Alstom with around 10% of capital. The EC raised serious concerns over aspects of the original proposal. The EC said the acquisition would have made the merged entity the undisputed market leader in high-speed trains and strengthened its

already large combined position in mainline rolling stock, particularly in France and Germany. Regarding ETCS, the EC feared the acquisition would have made it more difficult for other suppliers of onboard units (OBUs) to interface with the merged company’s many installed signalling systems (legacy OBUs) and fleet of trains, the largest in the European Economic Area (EEA). The merger risked making the combined company an unavoidable supplier of legacy OBUs in the Netherlands. The investigation confirmed that the proposed transaction did not raise competition concerns in any other markets, particularly in mainline and urban signalling, where Bombardier’s position in the EEA is very limited. Alstom committed to sell key product lines to assuage the concerns raised by the EC on the effect of its acquisition of Bombardier Transportation on the European rail market, including: = a transfer of Bombardier Transportation’s contribution to the V300 Zefiro high-speed train and an offer of an IP licence to Hitachi for the train

co-developed by Hitachi and Bombardier Transportation for use in future high-speed tenders in Britain = sale of Alstom’s Coradia Polyvalent EMU and bi-mode train platforms and its Reichshoffen factory in France = sale of Bombardier’s Talent 3 multiple unit platform and dedicated production facilities located at Bombardier’s Hennigsdorf factory, and = provide access to certain interfaces and products for some of Bombardier Transportation’s signalling OBUs and train control management systems (TCMS). The commission’s decision is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments. Alstom and Bombardier said the divestitures would comply with all applicable social processes and consultations with unions. The transaction is subject to further regulatory approvals in several other jurisdictions and closure conditions, but Alstom says it expects completion in the first half of 2021. The deal could have faced a four-month investigation with or without conditions if the EC had raised serious concerns. A similar investigation thwarted

Alstom and Siemens’ attempted merger in February 2019. However, this deal is different. The combination of Alstom with Bombardier Transportation is a smaller transaction than the proposed merger with Siemens, which some analysts estimated would have had a 70% share of the rail equipment market. The deal is also an acquisition rather than a merger, with more complementary rather than competing elements - Bombardier is a smaller player in high-speed rolling stock, for example. Nevertheless, Ms Maria Leenen, CEO of rail market analyst, SCI Verkehr, says the approval is surprising in view of the strong market presence of the new company in important vehicle segments and countries and the critical stance that the EU Competition Commission still took in the attempted AlstomSiemens deal. “It is possible that the governments of Germany and France have been able to express concern for jobs - particularly at Bombardier - so maybe the Commission has given in to prevent anything worse from happening,” Leenen says.

Alstom to consider weak Bombardier Transportation results in takeover talks

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LSTOM says it will “take into account the consequences” of Bombardier Transportation’s latest financial results in takeover discussions after it reported an adjusted Ebit second quarter loss of $US 383m. Bombardier Transportation reported revenues of $US 1.5bn in the second quarter, reflecting a lower level of production as key sites in Europe and North America suspended operation due to Covid-19.

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Adjusted Ebitda was negative $US 350m. The company says the Ebit loss was below expectations and reflects an extra charge of $US 435m, largely relating to some late-stage projects mainly in Britain and Germany. “Alstom remains convinced of the strong strategic rationale for the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation and is confident in its ability to restore in the medium term

the profitability and commercial performance of the business,” Alstom says. “However, the quarterly announcement points to unexpected and negative developments regarding Bombardier Transportation, which is currently facing challenges, especially when compared to the information available prior to the February 17 2020 announcement regarding Alstom’s intended acquisition.” IRJ

IRJ September 2020

News | headlines

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HE European Commission (EC) is inviting expressions of interest by October 1 from private and public organisations to become founding members of a new European rail research partnership to succeed Shift2Rail (S2R). The EC says the new European Partnership on Rail Research and Innovation will have a long-term commitment from the European Union and its members “to deliver systemfocused solutions ready to enter industrialisation, deployment and operation.” “This partnership will focus on accelerating research, development and demonstrations of innovative technologies and operational solutions to make rail more attractive, enabled by digitalisation and automation,” the EC says. The EC will consult with the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee

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Photo: SNCF

European rail research partnership to succeed Shift2Rail

before putting the proposal to the European Council to establish the new rail partnership under the EU’s new Horizon Europe research programme. The core membership will comprise around 20 organisations representing infrastructure managers, passenger and freight operators, suppliers, and rail research centres. Members will be expected to contribute about É30m each, of which 5% will go towards running costs. The partnership will also be able to access various European programmes such as the Connecting Europe Facility, European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund for funding. “A possible schedule could be that the proposal will be examined at the European Council meeting at the end of November, followed by around six months of negotiations with member states,” Mr Carlo

Borghini, executive director of S2R, told IRJ. This would enable the new partnership to be established in the second half of 2021. “We want to build on the results already achieved and go to the next level of a systemintegrated approach,” Borghini says. “This will include new methods of operation based on digitalisation, a strong focus on freight, opportunities for highspeed to compete with regional flights, and better urban connections.” = S2R will provide up to É75.4m in funding for 19 projects worth a total of É147.7m under the 2020 call for proposals for research and innovation (R&I) activities. S2R members will undertake eight projects worth É127.7m, with S2R providing É55.4m in funding. An additional 11 open call projects worth É22m have been approved, of which up to É20m will be funded by S2R.

Testing and development of digital automatic couplings launched

HIFT2RAIL (S2R) and a consortium led by German Rail (DB) have launched two connected projects to develop and test digital automatic couplings (DAC) on freight wagons. Both projects aim to select a single solution for use across Europe. The consortium includes DB, DB Cargo, SBB Cargo, Rail Cargo Austria and freight wagon leasers Ermewa, GATX Rail Europe and VTG. The pilot project, awarded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), will run until December 2022 and BMVI will provide 13m for the project. With DAC, freight wagons and their power, data and compressed air lines are coupled together automatically, removing the need for heavy physical work. During the first stage of the project, 12 freight and tank wagons from DB Cargo and GATX will be equipped with coupling prototypes from four different manufacturers. Tests will be undertaken to select the preferred coupling type. In the second stage, a demonstrator train consisting of 24 freight wagons will be equipped with the selected coupling, before operating in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and other European countries, which will include daily use in marshalling yards. The results from the project will then be integrated into the European DAC Programme, which was approved by S2R’s governing board on July 23.

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British TOCs reclassified as part of public sector

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RITAIN’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) has concluded that Train Operating Companies (TOCs), which entered into emergency measures agreements (EMAs) with the British and Scottish governments on April 1 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, should be reclassified as public nonfinancial corporations. The ONS says it reached the conclusion after reviewing the classification against international statistical guidelines. Under the EMAs, the normal franchise arrangements have been amended with almost all revenue and cost risk transferring to the government while the TOCs have had restrictions imposed on their ability to borrow money. The operators also cannot make significant changes to fares or staffing levels by more than 5% without government agreement. “The TOCs’ net borrowing and debt will be included in the relevant ONS public sector finances series and their workforces will be included in the public sector employment totals as soon as possible,” the ONS says. The assessment notes that the main reason why train services continue to operate is to follow government policy to maintain the services. Some of the open-access operators not included in the EMA package suspended services as passenger numbers fell sharply due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. “This is a temporary accounting change that reflects the extent of government involvement in running trains during a national emergency,” says Mr Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents TOCs. “The Covid crisis presents a chance to move towards a new way of running the railway where contracts put customers at the centre and the private sector’s track record of attracting people to travel by train in safety is harnessed.”

IRJ September 2020

India increases rail connections with Bangladesh

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NDIA is increasing the number of cross-border links with neighbouring Bangladesh in a bid to balance China’s efforts to increase rail connectivity with its southeast Asian neighbours. Work is underway on three new rail links comprising Haldibari - Chilahati, Mahishashan - Shahbazar and Agartala - Akhoura. Reopening the Chilahati -

Haldibari line will allow freight and passenger services to operate from Bangladesh via Siliguri to Darjeeling in India. This will provide a route from India’s landlocked northeastern states and Bhutan and Nepal to the Port of Mongla near Khulna, the second busiest seaport in Bangladesh. There used to be seven regular rail connections between the countries. Four

lines have since reopened, including Gede - Darsana and Petrapole - Benapole, which carry both passengers and freight, and the Singhbad Rohanpur and Radhikapur Birol freight lines. Indian-funded rail bridges have been completed over the Titas and Bhoirab rivers and a new rail link from Rajshahi, Bangladesh, to Kolkata, India, is planned.

Amtrak says calculations for future demand and for its 2021 financial plan will account for reduced availability of spaces due to both reduced ridership, caps on ticket sales and other coronavirus-related social distancing measures. If all criteria are met by a given route, services could be restored to daily by May 2021. Amtrak hopes that full restoration of all services will be achieved by the end of June 2021 but warns that it currently lacks sufficient data to confirm this. The operator also notes that plans to restore services depend on sufficient federal government support. It estimates it will require $US 3.5bn in government funding for the 2021 fiscal year assuming a 50% network-wide ridership level. Amtrak has so far received $US 1.02bn of government support under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (Cares) Act. This support is currently scheduled to expire at the end of September. An additional $US 1.48bn was requested by

Mr Bill Flynn, Amtrak’s CEO, on May 25 to support the operation of services across its network. However, no additional funding has been forthcoming. The long-distance service reductions are scheduled to be introduced in October and Amtrak released its new timetable on August 13. Mr Roger Harris, Amtrak’s executive vice-president and chief marketing and revenue officer, says that the costcutting measures are part of a pledge to Congress to reduce costs by $US 500m. The reductions should save $US 150m during the 2021 fiscal year. Amtrak services made a $US 500m annual loss before the pandemic. Amtrak reported an 81% fall in demand for long distance services in April and May alone, reflecting a networkwide 95% drop in ridership compared with 2019. Amtrak also attempted to address concerns that the service reductions could be permanent by affirming its commitment to its longdistance trains.

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NITED States national passenger rail operator Amtrak has released criteria for the restoration of regular long-distance services following an announcement that most daily services would be cut to three times a week from October due to the coronavirus pandemic. Amtrak has confirmed that the return to daily services along its routes will be determined by three metrics, with assessments according to these benchmarks scheduled to begin from February 15 2021: = Covid-19-related hospitalisation rates in areas served by the long-distance trains must be stable or falling = the number of available seat and room-miles booked in February for operating services in June 2021 must be comparable with at least 90% of tickets booked for those services in June 2020, taking into account the currently reduced timetable, and = projected network ridership for autumn 2021 must be at least 90% of figures estimated in Amtrak’s 2021 financial year operating plan.

Photo: Stephen C Host

Amtrak releases plan to restore long-distance services

In brief Austria

The Ministry of Transport has announced that infrastructure access charges will be cut to support rail freight flows which are suffering as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The measure needs to be approved by the European Commission, which is preparing a legislative initiative on the matter.

Azerbaijan

Alstom has launched validation tests for the Prima T8 AZ8A freight locomotives on the Baku - Kars freight corridor in Azerbaijan, which was recently converted from 3kV dc to 25kV ac. The first T8 locomotive was delivered on December 19 2018, from a É288m order for 50 units awarded to EKZ, a joint venture of Alstom and Transmashholding (TMH).

Britain

The government has allocated £598m for electrification of the Trans-Pennine main line linking Manchester, Huddersfield and Leeds. The most congested section of the route will be doubled from two to four tracks. Most of the line will be electrified, with full electrification, digital signalling and more multitracking under consideration. = HS2 Ltd has signed an agreement with the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) to access technologies produced by the group’s research facilities.

China

Technical studies for the 77km Ningbo - Zhoushan highspeed line have been completed following two years of development. The line will reduce Ningbo - Zhoushan travel times from 1h 30min by road to 30 minutes by rail. Construction is expected to start later this year.

Egypt

Egyptian National Railways (ENR) has begun operation with new passenger coaches supplied by Transmashholding under a É1bn contract from 2018. The trains will operate on the Cairo - Alexandria and Cairo - Asyut - Sohag lines.

IRJ September 2020

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RAIB confirms fatal Scottish derailment caused by landslip News | headlines

northbound track at Carmont and travelled approximately 2.25km north towards Aberdeen before hitting a separate landslip, 6.4km southwest of Stonehaven. The train subsequently derailed, and as the line curved to the right, the train continued in roughly a straight line for 91m until it struck part of a bridge parapet. The leading power car continued over the bridge and fell from the railway down a wooded embankment along with the third coach. The first

Swedish government approves night trains to Brussels and Hamburg

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HE Swedish government has approved plans to operate overnight services on the Malmö - Brussels and Stockholm - Hamburg routes, instructing national transport administrator Trafikverket to procure the services by August 1 2022. The government says the need for such rail services is growing as passengers become more climate conscious and look increasingly to travel by train for business or leisure. The government previously announced an SKr 400m ($US 45.1m) investment to procure the night train services, with the exact annual investment due to be announced in the autumn budget. A report by Trafikverket on April 27 found an “appropriate first step” to expand Sweden’s overnight rail offer to continental Europe would be to procure a service to Germany and Belgium via Denmark. “There are no conditions to procure night train traffic

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through Germany,” the government says. “On the other hand, it is possible through Sweden and Denmark and operators can run night train traffic on commercial grounds from the German border. The government has therefore instructed Trafikverket to procure night train traffic to the border between Denmark and Germany.” The services will operate for four years, with an option for a two-year extension. Private operator Snälltåget operates an open-access service between Malmö and Berlin, which is currently on hold, but will be rerouted via Hamburg and extended to Stockholm when relaunched next year. The service will operate daily in June, July and August 2021, and at weekends in April, May and September. Snälltåget expects passenger numbers on the route to grow but warns its competitiveness could be affected by the launch of a publicly-funded service.

and second coaches came to rest on their roofs, with the first lying perpendicular to the track and the second lying on top of it. The fourth coach also lay on the first coach but remained upright and attached to the rear power car, which was derailed but also upright. RAIB says it is collecting evidence to identify the cause and consequences of the accident. “Fatal derailments are a rare occurrence on Britain’s national network,” says Mr Simon French, RAIB’s chief inspector

of rail accidents. “However, landslips and other earthworks failures remain a risk to trains that needs to be constantly managed, and this is becoming even more challenging for the rail industry due to the increasing incidence of extreme weather events.” Network Rail says it will now carry out an inspection of high-risk trackside slopes following a government request to review its resilience to and management of extreme weather.

Trenitalia awards Ilsa HS fleet order

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RENITALIA has awarded Hitachi Rail and Bombardier Transportation a contract to supply 23 Frecciarossa 1000 highspeed trains for the new Intermodalidad de Levante (Ilsa) service in Spain, a joint venture between Trenitalia and Operador Ferroviario de Levante (OFL). The contract is worth É797m, with Hitachi Rail and Bombardier taking a 60% and 40% stake respectively. Bombardier’s share is worth É319m. Each 200m-long train will have capacity for around 460 passengers and will be capable of commercial speeds of up to 360km/h. The trains will feature state-of-the-art aerodynamics and energy saving technologies, along with Wi-Fi, a bistro area and high levels of comfort in all classes. Ilsa will launch high-speed services on the Madrid - Barcelona, Madrid - Valencia/Alicante and Madrid - Seville/Malaga/Grenada lines on March 1 2022, after it was awarded one of three packages to operate on the Spanish high-speed network by infrastructure manager Adif in November 2019. Ilsa will compete with Renfe and Rielsfera, a subsidiary of French National Railways (SNCF), which will launch services under the new packages at Easter 2021.

Photo: Marco Stellini

RITAIN’s Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has confirmed that the 06.38 service from Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street, which derailed near Stonehaven on August 12 killing three people, did so following a collision with a landslip. The ScotRail-operated InterCity 7 HST comprising four Mark 3 coaches and two power cars, designated as 1T08, had nine people onboard when it hit the landslip at around 09.40. All coaches subsequently derailed, killing two crew members and one passenger. The remaining six survivors were later taken to hospital. After departing Stonehaven, RAIB found that 1T08 was instructed to stop by the signaller at Carmont where the signaller instructed the driver to return to Aberdeen following reports from the driver of a northbound train of a landslip between Carmont and Laurencekirk, which had obstructed its progress. 1T08 switched to the

Photo: RAIB

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IRJ September 2020

Making tracks available In developing new perspectives for modern and cost-effective rail transport, Vossloh occupies a unique position as a systems provider within the field of rail infrastructure. An intelligent combination of established rail technology and digital solutions allows us to equip rail tracks for a high-performance future.

vossloh.com

News | headlines

Czechs push ahead with national ETCS rollout

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HE Czech Ministry of Transport, together with infrastructure manager SZ, has announced an investment of around Koruna 100bn ($US 4.5bn) to install ETCS on the national network and fleets over the next 20 years. “In total, we are ready to invest Koruna 5bn a year by 2040 to secure all railway lines in the Czech Republic, at an estimated total cost of Koruna

84bn,” says transport minister, Mr Karel Havlícek. “We expect a budget of about Koruna 23bn over 10 years to equip all rolling stock, around two billion a year.” ETCS is currently installed on about 225km of line, with another 206km between Breclav and Petrovice u Karviné being tested. The 108km section between Prerov and Ceská Trebová is due to be equipped later this year, with

preparation underway for several other sections. Havlícek confirmed that from January 1 2025, trains not equipped with ETCS will not be allowed on selected corridors. In February, the European Commission (EC) approved É134m to support the installation of ERTMS on Czech rolling stock. The scheme will run until 2022.

RFI and Hitachi to CRRC Zhuzhou unveils 28.8MW sixsection electric freight locomotive pilot satellitebased ERTMS

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TALIAN Rail Network (RFI) and Hitachi have signed an agreement to launch a pilot project for the Ersat EAV satellite signalling system on the Mediterranean corridor between Novara and Rho. Ersat EAV integrates ERTMS with GPS and the Galileo satellite navigation and geolocation system and public telecommunications networks. The technology locates trains via satellite and interfaces with ERTMS. By using satellite location and public networks, the system is intended to bring the benefits of ERTMS to lower traffic regional lines with reduced installation and operating costs than conventional ERTMS. RFI says the agreement will enable the creation, validation and certification of the Ersat system, to speed up the commissioning process. ERTMS Level 2 is currently being installed on the Novara Rho line. The pilot system will initially use GPS to determine train position, with this later replaced with the Galileo system. Ersat promises to reduce the installation and maintenance costs of ERTMS by using a satellite link to create ‘virtual balises’ every 50m to allow signallers to track the position of trains. Base stations are needed every 7km rather than balises every 1.3km or less under conventional ERTMS. The agreement follows testing and experimentation with the satellite technologies. RFI completed initial testing of the Ersat system in Sardinia in February 2017.

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In brief Germany

The Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) and Allianz pro Schiene have proposed reopening up to 238 disused or freight-only lines to passenger services, covering up to 4016km of infrastructure. Around three million people in 291 towns could benefit. = The European Commission has approved a É500m scheme to support research, development and innovation in rail freight transport. The scheme, which will run until the end of 2024, will have an annual budget of É100m with direct grants of É25,000-É30m available.

International

Eurostar will launch the first direct Amsterdam - Rotterdam - London service on October 26. Eurostar plans to operate two London - Amsterdam round trips per day.

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RRC Zhuzhou has unveiled the first of its Shen 24 28.8MW six-section electric locomotives at a ceremony attended by Chinese government officials and academics from the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The 106m-long, 24-axle locomotive is part of an order of eight for mining company China Shenhua Energy. The locomotives will haul 10,000-tonne coal trains along the 266km Shenmu - Shuozhou railway. The locomotives are capable of top speeds of 120km/h and can manage gradients of up to 1.2% at capacity. The locomotive is based on the China Railways HXD1 twosection freight locomotive, but is designed to be safer and more environmentally friendly. The company is reported to be planning a further order of 12 Shen 24 locomotives.

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KL-Singapore HS agreement expected

INGAPORE and Malaysia hope to come to an agreement on the future of the Kuala Lumpur - Singapore high-speed project by the end of the year, Singapore prime minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, says. “The Malaysian side has given us certain proposals on the changes, which we are studying carefully and we’ll discuss further with them,” Lee told reporters following a ceremony to mark the official resumption of work on the 4km Johor Baru Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link. Lee said the basic need for the line, to increase business and improve ties between the two cities, were still important, Uif Tusbju!Ujnft reported. Malaysia’s former prime minister, Mr Mahathir Mohamad, had threatened to scrap the high-speed project, which was a flagship scheme of his predecessor, Mr Najib Razak. In September 2018 the governments agreed to suspend the project until May 2020 to allow time for a cost review. In June, the governments agreed to a further extension until December 31.

Ireland

The governments of Ireland and Britain are launching a feasibility study into a highspeed line on the Belfast Dublin - Cork/Limerick TENT corridor. The study is due to commence by November and will develop high-level design and operational proposals.

Italy

Tunnelling has resumed on the Genoa Node element of Italy’s É6.9bn Terzo Valico rail project following a two-year suspension of work.

Mongolia

Ulaanbaatar Railway (UBTZ) has completed construction of the first 58.5km of the 414.6km Tughrik 750bn ($US 263m) Talvin Tolgoi - Zumbayan 1520mm-gauge railway. The new railway will connect with the UBTZ’s central line and will transport coking coal from Tavan-Tolgoi in southern Mongolia. The line is expected to carry its first train in December.

Switzerland

The 15.4km Ceneri Base Tunnel under the Swiss Alps is due to be handed over to Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) on September 4, 14 years after construction started, with operation due to begin by the

IRJ September 2020

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Pakistan approves Peshawar - Lahore - Karachi upgrade

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AKISTAN’s Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved a $US 6.8bn project to upgrade 2655km of railway infrastructure on the Peshawar - Lahore - Karachi corridor and establish a dry port at Havelian. The Mainline-1 (ML-1) project involves upgrading and trackdoubling the corridor, helping to increase line speeds from 110km/h to 165km/h for passenger trains and 120km/h

for freight. Capacity will also increase from 34 to 171 trains in each direction per day. The project will be divided into three packages. Work on the first package covering the Peshawar - Rawalpindi - Lahore section is due to commence in January 2021 and will conclude in December 2024 at a cost of $US 2.4bn. The second package, which involves upgrading the Lahore - Hyderabad section, will start in January 2022 and be completed in December

2026 at a cost of $US 2.7bn. The third package, between Hyderabad and Karachi, is expected to cost $US 1.7bn. China is expected to finance 90% of the project. Separate financial agreements will be reached for each stage, with the Hyderabad - Karachi section expected to be delivered as a public-private partnership. The government has announced the formation of the Mainline-1 Authority to oversee the project.

Botswana Railways launches coal trains to South Africa

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OTSWANA Railways (BR) exported the first coal consignment by rail from the Masama coal mine following a launch ceremony on July 17. The 2650-tonne coal shipment was initially transported 60km by road from the mine in Mmamabula to the Tshele Hills rail siding in Kgatleng, southern Botswana, which was upgraded to support the loading of coal onto freight trains. The train consisted of 50 high-sided BHS wagons, each carrying around 53 tonnes. It is the first of three consignments ultimately destined for delivery to a South African cement manufacturer.

The coal was mined at Minergy’s Masama coal mine, Botswana’s first privately-operated coal mine, which began production in February last year. BR plans to begin construction of the 56km Mmamabula - Lephalale 1067mm-gauge freight line in the second half of 2021. The line will provide a more direct route between the coal field and Lephalale in Limpopo Province, South Africa, where it will connect with the existing rail network. Planning for a 367km cross-border Mosetse - Kazungula - Livingstone freight line between Botswana and Zambia is also underway.

China outlines ambitious long-term network expansion plans

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HINA National Railways (CR) says it wants to extend the rail network to 200,000km, including around 70,000km of high-speed lines, by 2035. All cities with more than 200,000 residents will be connected to the conventional network, while cities with more than 500,000 residents will be served by the high-

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speed network. The country’s network of eight vertical and eight horizontal corridors will be further enhanced. China has invested around Yuan 800bn ($US 115bn) a year in rail since 2016, with the network reaching 141,000km at the end of July. The high-speed network is now 36,000km long, connecting 94.7% of cities with

more than one million residents. CR says rail is a strategic, critical infrastructure and forms the main artery of the Chinese economy. CR says the plan will produce a high-level, modern railway by 2050. China invested Yuan 325.8bn in the network in the first half of 2020, up Yuan 3.8bn (1.2%) on the same period last year.

Brightline drops Virgin

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LORIDA-based private operator Brightline, which has operated as Virgin Trains USA since 2019, says it will revert to its former name and end its partnership with Virgin Enterprises, following a termination notice delivered on July 29. The operator, which has suspended its Miami - West Palm Beach service due to the coronavirus pandemic, stated that it will “change its name to Brightline Trains LLC following the expiration of the applicable notice period for name changes under the senior loan agreement.” Brightline adds that Virgin has no remaining equity ownership or affiliation with the company. Virgin plans to dispute the notice. The rebranding was part of a 20-year licencing agreement with Virgin agreed in November 2018. The deal was made in advance of a planned initial public offering intended to finance a 273km extension to Orlando. The IPO was scrapped in February 2019 following approval to raise $US 950m in loans as part of a strategy to retain private control of the company.

Israel announces Likit rail link plans

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SRAEL’s Minister of Transport and Road Safety, Mrs Miri Regev, has announced plans to construct new rail and light rail connections to a planned military intelligence campus in Likit, northeast of Be’er Sheva, Negev. The main line would connect to the existing network at Goral junction north of Be’er Sheva and run eastwards to Likit. The light rail connection will link Be’er Sheva city centre with Likit. The campus will open in 2026, with thousands of military personnel expected to commute daily from central Israel. The new lines would provide journey times of around 1h 10min between central Israel and the facility.

IRJ September 2020

China approves $US 68bn inter-city plan for Pearl River Delta

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HINA’s National Development and Reform Commission (NRDC) has approved a Yuan 474.1bn ($US 67.91bn) plan to develop intercity railway connections in the Guangdong-Hong KongMacau Greater Bay area of southern China. The plan comprises 13 new line projects, which will add a total of 775km to the railway network, two track expansion projects, and the redevelopment of Guangzhou and Guangzhou East stations. The plan envisages that the region will have 4700km of railway infrastructure in operation or under construction

by 2025, expanding to 5700km by 2035. Work on seven new line projects will start before 2022. Construction on a project to add a fifth and sixth track between Guangzhou East and Xintang (29km, Yuan 5.8bn) and to redevelop Guangzhou East station (Yuan 2.5bn) will also start before 2022. A further seven new line projects, one track expansion scheme and the redevelopment of Guangzhou station (Yuan 18.3bn) are planned but with no confirmed start date. NRDC says the new projects will improve integration with existing high-speed, suburban

railway networks as well as transit services at major hubs centred on Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, on the border with Macau, along with Zhaoqing East and Pearl River Delta Airport stations. The goal is to offer journey times of one hour between the major cities in the Greater Bay Area and in Guangdong province, and three hours to other provincial capitals. Guangdong province will organise and implement the projects. The GuangdongHong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area covers 56,000km²and has a population of 72.65 million.

ASSENGER Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has presented a business case to parliament to acquire the remaining Afro 4000 and Afro Dual locomotives built by Vossloh Spain (now Stadler Rail Valencia), which were ordered but never delivered after it was discovered they exceeded the loading gauge on part of the network. The controversial Rand 2.5bn ($US 147m) deal, under which Swifambo Rail contracted Vossloh in 2013 to supply 20 Afro 4000 diesel-electric and 50 AfroDual electro-diesel locomotives, ground to a halt in South Africa’s courts in November 2015 following allegations of corruption. Only 13 Afro 4000 locomotives - a 1067mm-gauge version of the Euro 4000 - were delivered to South Africa before Prasa’s

board launched legal proceedings to challenge the procurement process on the grounds of collusion during the tendering process. Prasa, which is desperately short of reliable power to haul its Shosholoza Meyl longdistance passenger trains, is now lobbying to acquire 22 locomotives from Stadler. Under the proposal Stadler, which was paid Rand 1.8bn by Swifambo, would supply seven Afro 4000 and five AfroDual locomotives that were built but are still in Spain. Stadler would build another four AfroDual locomotives and help Prasa recommission six of the Afro 4000 locomotives that have been idle since 2015. The original deal drew national media attention when engineers from freight operator Transnet, which shares track

with Prasa, discovered that the Afro 4000 locomotives were too high to operate safely under the country’s 3kV electrified network with a minimum roof clearance of just 10mm below the contact wire. The country’s rail safety regulator banned the locomotives from operating on the 3kV network, pending an investigation. Prasa mothballed the locomotives in 2015 when the court proceedings began, and the contract was set aside in 2017. To cut its losses, Prasa, which is now under administration, elected to sell 13 Afro 4000s at auction, with private operator Traxtion purchasing seven of them. An auction for the remaining six locomotives was halted pending the outcome of the proposal before parliament.

Prasa launches bid to acquire additional Afro locomotives

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Trafikverket completes ‘wasp’s waist’ upgrade: Trafikverket has completed a three-year upgrade of the 2km railway between Stockholm Central and Stockholm Södra, one of the Swedish network’s busiest sections. Work included replacing bridges over the Söderström River, connecting Södermalm with Riddarholmen last summer, and between Riddarholmen and Tegelbacken this summer. The project also involved rebuilding the Älvsjö freight railway and Stockholm South station and the completion of the City Line 6km tunnel beneath central Stockholm in 2017.

IRJ September 2020

In brief end of the year. The tunnel is the final section of the Zürich Milan New Alpine Rail Link (Neat) corridor project. = The Lötschberg Base Tunnel will undergo a SFr 15m ($US 16m) emergency renovation by BLS, starting this month, following unexpected water ingress earlier this year. Work is expected to be completed by mid-December.

Taiwan

Hyundai Rotem has competed the assembly of the first two class 900 EMUs from a contract for 52 for Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), which are expected to enter service in January. The first batch was due to be delivered this month, but has since been delayed until October.

Thailand

State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has begun a feasibility study for the 190km Baht 101.7bn ($US 3.2bn) Rayong Chanthaburi - Trat eastern Phase II section of its highspeed rail project. Work on the study is expected to be completed this month and will be submitted to the Thai cabinet next year. The study will advise SRT in planning of a public-private investment plan due to launch in 2022 before tendering for construction begins in 2024.

UAE

Etihad Rail has awarded a contract for the manufacture, supply and commissioning of 842 new freight wagons to CRRC Yangtze. The new wagons will more than triple Etihad Rail’s fleet to more than 1000 units and multiply the railway’s annual transport capacity by eight times to 59 million tonnes.

United States

The Nevada State Board of Finance has approved up to $US 200m in state bonds for Brightline’s privately-funded $US 4.8bn high-speed line between Las Vegas and Southern California. The funding will allow Brightline to issue bonds worth up to $US 800m, which can be used to design, develop and build facilities for the line. IRJ

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Tender for 504 tram-trains worth €4bn launched S News | transit

IX German and Austrian urban transport operators have issued a combined tender worth up to É4bn for 504 tram-trains, with a goal of saving up to É1m on each vehicle. The tender also includes maintenance of the vehicles for up to 32 years. The tender was launched by Albtal Transport Company (AVG), Karlsruhe Transport Authority (VBK), Saarbahn, the State of Salzburg, the NeckarAlb tram-train association, and Upper Austria infrastructure manager, Schiene OÖ. This follows the signing of an

agreement in Karlsruhe on March 11 2019 to jointly procure tram-trains through the VDV TramTrain project with the aim of achieving significant savings in resources, lead times and costs. The project, launched in July 2017, aims to ensure the future viability of the Karlsruhe model for tram-train systems and potentially open it up to new operators. The full delivery of the order is expected to take 10 years. The project will start with the development and approval of a standard model, with the

The partners will jointly fund the development of a base model, before a further five varations are developed.

costs shared by the partners, resulting in major savings. From this, five variants will be produced that meet operatorspecific requirements. As

Crossrail opening delayed until first half of 2022

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ROSSRAIL Ltd says the 21km underground central London section of the new Elizabeth Line between Paddington, Stratford and Abbey Wood will not be ready to open until the first half of 2022 and could cost an additional £450m to complete the project was originally scheduled to open in December 2018. The latest cost estimate is £1.1bn more than the financing package agreed in December 2018 and £450m above the upper end of the range announced in November 2019, taking the total cost to £18bn. The project was estimated to cost £15.9bn in 2007 and cut to £14.8bn in 2010 by the government. Crossrail cites three main factors for the schedule delay: = lower than planned productivity in the completion

USTIN city council and Capital Metro have unanimously approved a new $US 7bn financial plan for the construction of the Texan capital’s Project Connect transport system, following a joint meeting on July 27. Under the new plan, $US 3.15bn (45%) of total costs would be funded through a planned capital investment grant (CIG) from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

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Hyundai Rotem and Ulsan launch hydrogen project

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and handover of the tunnel shafts and portals which contain many complex operating systems = revision to the schedule for handing over the 10 central section stations to Transport for London (TfL), and = a pause of work during the Covid-19 lockdown and significant constraints due to a 50% reduction in workers on sites.

“Our focus remains on opening the Elizabeth Line as soon as possible,” says Mr Mark Wild, Crossrail Ltd’s chief executive. “We have a comprehensive plan to complete the railway and we are striving to commence intensive operational testing for the Elizabeth Line, known as trial running, at the earliest opportunity.”

HE Korean city of Ulsan and Hyundai Rotem signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on August 13 to produce and test the country’s first hydrogen-powered LRVs. Hyundai Rotem is currently working on a 70km/h hydrogen LRV, capable of travelling 150km on a single charge using 95kW fuel cells, and will be responsible for infrastructure upgrades, hydrogen charging stations and operation. The LRVs will be tested on a disused 4.6km line serving Ulsan Port. The objective is to investigate the feasibility of using the technology on Ulsan’s planned Won 1.3 trillion ($US 1bn) 48.3km four-line LRT network. The 25.3km first phase is scheduled to open in 2027.

The remaining $US 3.85bn will be covered through an additional 8.75 cent municipal tax increase which must be approved by voters in November. The new financial plan reduces the cost of the system by around $US 2.6bn from its original $US 9.6bn price tag. The budget cut includes scrapping the 9.7km Gold Line and deferring extensions to the Orange Line.

HEINBAHN has stopped accepting new Bombardier Flexity HF6 LRVs for its Düsseldorf light rail network until further notice following the discovery of manufacturing defects. The problems were identified during welding of the underframes for the highfloor vehicles. Bombardier has appointed an independent technical supervisory authority to provide a second opinion of the steel samples, which will determine the safety and

longevity of the vehicles and whether any modifications are required. Rheinbahn received authorisation to operate the vehicles with passengers in June. So far seven vehicles have been delivered. However, the plan to deliver a further nine to enable Rheinbahn to increase the frequency of U75 services from October are on hold along with accelerated delivery of the remaining 26 LRVs from the É167m framework 2015 order.

Crossrail says it has a comprehensive plan to begin trial running at the earliest opportunity.

Austin city council approves $US 7bn finance plan for Project Connect

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Saarbahn does not require any modifications from the base variant it will receive the first vehicles, which are due to be delivered in July 2024.

Rheinbahn halts acceptance of LRVs

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IRJ September 2020

China-India tensions cloud Chinese involvement in Indian metro projects

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NDIA’s continuing border hostilities with China have led to uncertainty about the future of several metro projects involving Chinese companies. Six Chinese companies are involved in Mumbai projects to build 337km of metro lines. Of these, Shanghai Tunnel Engineering, China Rail Tunnel Group and Continental Engineering are participating in Line 3, while China Harbour Engineering is building part of Line 4 in a joint venture with Tata Projects. “Two Chinese firms had been interested to supply rakes [coaches] for the Jacob - Circle - Wadala - Chembur monorail project, but we have scrapped the bidding process,” says Mr B G Pawar, spokesman for Mumbai Metro Rail

Development Authority (MMRDA). “As for the Chinese involvement in other lines, we will abide by the instructions of IR, which we are awaiting.” A review of other projects could be tricky. For example, four tunnel boring machines ordered from China for Bangalore’s Namma Metro have already arrived, while CRCC Nanjing Puzhen is shipping 204 metro cars required for Phase II. At the same time, officials of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) expressed apprehension that a $US 335m loan for Phase II, signed last year by BMRCL and the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), might not go through.

In brief Cairo

Cairo Metro inaugurated the 7km Phase 4B section of Line 3 on August 17, extending Line 3 east on an elevated line from El-Shams Club to Adly Mansour.

Copenhagen

A new metro line has been proposed to serve a planned artificial island in Copenhagen harbour and provide extra services through the centre of the city. Lynetteholmen Island will have space for 35,000 new homes and construction of the island will begin in 2022.

Gold Coast

The government of the Australian state of Queensland and Gold Coast city council will equally co-fund a $A 7m ($US 5m) business case for a 13km extension to the Gold Coast Light Rail line (G:link). The extension, known as Stage 4, will extend the light rail line from Burleigh Heads to Gold Coast Airport at Tugun, at the southern tip of the Gold Coast.

Kunming

First Tokyo Metro series 17000 train unveiled: Tokyo Metro presented the first of its new series 17000 trains on August 11. The first 10-car train will enter service on the Yurakucho and Fukutoshin lines in February 2021. Tokyo Metro plans to have the rest of the fleet, comprising six 10-car trains and 15 eight-car trains, in service by 2022. The new trains will replace series 7000 trains that have been in service for about 45 years.

SkyTrain preferred bidder announced

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RITISH Columbia, Canada, has selected the AccionaGhella joint venture as the preferred bidder for a $C 2.8bn ($US 2bn) contract to design and construct a 5.7km underground westward extension to the Millennium Line of the SkyTrain metro. The contract includes the construction of 5.2m internal diameter twin tunnels and six new stations. Construction is planned to start this year, with the line scheduled to open in 2025. The new line will connect

IRJ September 2020

VCC-Clark to a new station at the intersection of Broadway and Arbutus, offering a journey time of 11 minutes. The extension will interchange with the Canada Line at Broadway City Hall. The Transportation Investment Corporation (TI Corp) will lead the designbuild-finance project. The BC government will provide funding of $C 1.82bn, with $C 888.4m provided by the Canadian federal government, and $C 99.8m from Vancouver City Council.

CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive has rolled out its first super capacitor-powered LRV, which is also designed for automatic operation. The LRV will operate on a line serving Kunming Changshui International Airport, and is designed to run for up to 5km on a single charge. The sevensection bi-directional vehicle will be able to accommodate a maximum of 500 passengers.

Ludwigsburg

Ludwigsburg in the state of Baden Württemberg has established a special purpose organisation to design and build a new ƒ250m 28km light rail network, which will use 8km of disused railway. Detailed planning will begin in 2021 with a target opening date of 2030.

New York

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has awarded a $US 233m contract to Wabtec for 25 MotivePower R255 hybrid battery-diesel locomotives for use on NYC Transit (NYCT) work trains, with an option for up to 45 additional units. The

locomotives will be delivered before 2025.

Porto

Porto has awarded two contracts worth a combined É288m for the construction of two new light rail lines to a consortium of Ferrovial Construction and Alberto Couto Alves. The projects comprise a 3.15km É106m double-track light rail extension to the existing Line D (Yellow Line) and a new 3.1km É181m underground Line G (Pink Line). Work will begin later this year.

Seoul

The first phase of the 4.7km eastern extension of Line 5 opened on August 7, connecting Hanam in Gyeonggi Province to the metro network for the first time.

Shenzhen

Shenzhen Metro opened two new lines with a total length of 78km on August 18, bringing the network’s length to 373km. The 49km Line 6 runs northwest from the city centre to Songgang. The 29.3km north-south Line 10 opened on the same day. Shenzhen city government has awarded MTR Consulting and the China Railway Electrification Bureau (EEB) a public-private partnership (PPP) contract to construct, finance and operate the 22.4km Line 13 project.

Singapore

SMRT, Singapore, and Malaysian public transport operator Prasarana have signed a joint venture agreement to form RTS Operations, which will operate the cross-border Johor Bahru Singapore light metro system when it opens at the end of 2026.

Xiamen

The first of a fleet of 10 trains powered by permanent magnet synchronous traction motors has entered service on Xiamen Metro’s 41.6km Line 2. The trains are manufactured by CRRC Tangshan, while the permanent magnet synchronous traction system is produced by CRRC Times Electric. IRJ

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News | financial

Strikes and pandemic plunge SNCF into €2.4bn first half net loss

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RENCH National Railways (SNCF) reported a 2020 first-half net loss of É2.4bn, compared with a 2019 first-half net profit of É20m, due to strikes and the coronavirus pandemic. First-half revenue plunged by 21% to É14.1bn resulting from strikes against pension reforms which cost É275m, and government-imposed travel restrictions to combat Covid-19, which started on March 17, and cost É3.9bn in lost revenue. Following the January strikes, SNCF achieved a 4% increase in TER regional passenger traffic and 6% growth in TGV patronage. However, growth came to an abrupt end in March with the start of the national lockdown. In April, SNCF cut rail capacity to 7% of normal for TGV services, 34% for Paris Transilien commuter services, and 16% for TER, while only 8% of Eurostar and Thalys trains ran. Around 70% of freight trains continued to operate. Passenger services started to resume in May, but with lower train occupancy levels. SNCF introduced promotions in June to stimulate passenger traffic.

As of June 30, Transilien was running 98% of timetabled services, TER 87%, and TGV 70%, while rail freight was running nearly 85% of normal services. SNCF will launch a passenger traffic recovery plan this month, focussing on adapting fares and digital tools to reflect new passenger behaviour patterns such as working from home. To limit the fallout from the pandemic, SNCF expanded its cost cutting action plan in

April. At the end of June, this plan had already cut costs by É350m, reduced investment by É130m, and saved É600m from activating cash flow levers. “The plan’s impact will continue into H2 2020, improving liquidity by É1.8bn over the full year,” SNCF says. “This unprecedented effort will have no impact on jobs in the rail sector proper, nor will it affect essential investment in the network or in rail operations.” As a result, first half investment fell from

É4.3bn in 2019 to É3.7bn in 2020. “It is still difficult to judge the long-term financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic with any degree of precision, given the high level of uncertainty about how and when the crisis will end, and what the economic fallout will be,” SNCF says. SNCF says it hopes to reach an agreement with the government before the end of the year to define a financial support package.

ORTH American Class 1 railways have reported a difficult second quarter, as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic caused a reduction in freight traffic. However, the railways remain confident as the economy begins its recovery. Union Pacific (UP) reported net income of $US 1.1bn, down from $US 1.6bn last year. Operating revenue was $US 4.2bn, down 24% compared with 2019, while revenue wagonloads fell by 20%. UP suffered a 20% volume decline due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and expects full year wagon volumes to be down by around 10% compared with 2019. Canadian Pacific (CP) announced second-quarter revenues of $US 1.79bn, down

9% from $US 1.98bn year-onyear, with an operating ratio of 57%. CSX announced second quarter net earnings of $US 499m, down from $US 870m. Revenue decreased 26% to $US 2.26bn, primarily due to the pandemic. Expenses fell 19% to $US 1.43bn, while operating income declined 37% to $US 828m. Canadian National (CN) reported revenue of $C 3.2bn ($US 2.39bn), a 19% decrease from $C 3.2bn in the second quarter. Kansas City Southern (KCS) reported a 23% drop in second quarter revenues to $US 547.9m. Overall, freight volumes were down 21% yearon-year. Operating income was $US 180.4m and KCS reported an operating ratio of 67.1%. Second quarter net income was $US 110.3m.

ETHERLANDS Railways (NS) says it would have recorded a É1.078bn loss in the first half of 2020 if it wasn’t for government support as passenger numbers plummeted. Instead, NS reported a É185m first half net loss on August 14 compared with a 2019 first half profit of É96m. The loss, the first in several years, was the result of a É52m loss in performance and tax. NS’ turnover in the Netherlands declined by É188m from É1.58bn in 2019 to É1.4bn in 2020. Passenger revenue dropped by É467m due to Covid-19, while turnover from other activities fell by É72m. Passenger traffic dropped to 10% of normal in March after the government introduced measures to combat the spread of Covid-19. Volumes have since recovered to around 40%

of normal after these measures were partially lifted. However, NS has urged the Dutch government to arrange further support for the public transport sector. NS says it wants to recover financially by 2025 in time for the start of the 2025-2040 core network concession. NS estimates lost turnover of about É4.7bn over the next four years and plans to cut costs by É1.4bn. “Due to different travel behaviour and the economic downturn, it is expected that recovery of passenger transport will not be achieved before 2024,” says outgoing NS CEO, Mr Roger van Boxtel. “Meanwhile, permanent costs continue. The Dutch public transport sector has to adapt to the new situation. However, it will not make it without further support.”

Class 1s report shrinking Q2 revenue

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NS reports significant loss in first half

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IRJ September 2020

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Three nine-year regional tenders for Hauts-de-France launched

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AUTS-de-France regional council has begun tendering for three nine-year contracts to operate three regional rail concessions. The first concession covers services operating on lines radiating from Amiens to Abancourt, Rouen, Abbeville, Albert, Saint-Quentin, Laon, Compiègne, and Creil, as well as well as the Creil - Beauvais, Beauvais - Le Tréport and Laon - Hirson lines. The contract will run from mid-December 2023 at the latest, and will cover a network with an estimated annual traffic volume of 3.4 million train-km. The concession is also expected to include an option for the management and operation of the currently closed Abbeville Le Tréport line. The second concession,

valued at É155m, covers a network centred on Saint-Polsur-Ternoise, specifically lines running to Étaples, Béthune and Arras with a combined traffic volume of around 600,000 train-km per year. Services should begin no later than mid-July 2024, and two options for the construction of a maintenance workshop and the provision of regular bus services on the route to Béthuneare are expected to be included. A third is for the Beauvais Paris Gare du Nord line, valued at É228m, which will start from mid-July 2024, and will encompass 900,000 trainkm per year. Bidders are invited to submit a second offer outlining proposals to reduce end-to-end journey times for selected services to under one hour.

The contract includes services radiating from Amiens.

Rolling stock will be provided by Hauts-de-France through a recent procurement from French National Railways (SNCF). However, additional financial support may be provided for investment in extra stock if deemed appropriate. Successful bidders for all three concessions must also

Plan to save Latvian Railways’ rail freight business launched

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ATVIAN Railways (LDz) has drawn up a new business model in a bid to halt a continuing steep decline in freight traffic and to modernise passenger stations and lines. LDz says rail freight traffic dropped to the lowest level for decades in 2019, “substantially reducing the company’s income, affecting the company’s financial situation and posing a significant threat to the company’s overall stability.” The downward trend is continuing in the first half of 2020. “Given the current geopolitical trends and the declining demand for fossil fuels in Europe, the volumes of the most frequently shipped goods coal and oil products - are not likely to recover in the coming years,” LDz says. The new business model will expand the company’s range of freight services substantially and see LDz become a full-scale provider of third-party logistics (3PL) services. The plan also

foresees an expansion into freight forwarding, including by sea and road transport, and warehousing services, coupled with a drive to increase efficiency, reduce operating costs, and improve productivity. “By expanding into new markets and developing new competitive services with high added value, it is possible to partly and gradually replace the declining transit flows of fossil fuels through Latvia with other types of freight, even though we are aware that the new types of freight will not restore freight transport volumes to the former amounts,” says LDz chairman, Mr Maris Kleinbergs. In addition, LDz has revised its investment plans to include the construction and modernisation of 48 stations, and the complete upgrade of infrastructure on four electrified lines radiating from the capital of Riga to Tukums II, Skulte, Krustpils and Jelgava.

Philippines awards North-South Commuter Railway contracts

P

HILIPPINES National Railway (PNR) has awarded the first two engineering and construction contracts for Clark Phase 2 of its North-South Commuter Railway Project (NSCR), following a virtual signing ceremony on August 1. Contract Package 4 was awarded to a partnership of EEI and Acciona Construction Philippines, and Contract Package 5 was awarded to Posco, Korea. The two contracts cover infrastructure on the final 8km stretch of the

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53km Clark Phase 2 section between Mabalacat, Pampanga and an underground station serving Clark International Airport. Package 4 covers the engineering and construction of approximately 6.3km of main line and 1.6km of depot access line, as well as the construction of the Clark Airport station. Package 5 covers the engineering and construction of the NSCR Clark Depot in Mabalacat, which will cover approximately 33 hectares, and

Photo: Shutterstock/Takashi Images

News | financial

includes the operations control centre (OCC), stabling points, workshops, training centre and other buildings. The following contracts have not yet been awarded although bids have been submitted by 11 local and international companies: = package 1 covering work on 17km of railway including Calumpit and Apalit stations = package 2 covering work on 16km including San Fernando station, and = package 3 covering 12km including Angeles station.

provide services including security, fraud prevention, fare collection and marketing, as well as providing sufficient asset and infrastructure maintenance necessary for operation. Contracts would then be finalised by mid-2022 to allow the new operators to mobilise.

$US 1bn ADB loan for Delhi Meerut project

I

NDIA’s National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) has been awarded a $US 1bn loan by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support construction of the 82km Delhi - Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS). The Delhi - Meerut line, which is projected to cost $US 3.94bn, will reduce journey times to less than 60 minutes and carry an estimated ridership of around 800,000 passengers per day when it opens in 2025. ADB financing will be combined with $US 1.89bn of funding from the Indian government and $US 1bn from co-financiers. Construction of the project will be carried out by Heavy Civil Infrastructure, a subsidiary of L&T Construction, under two contracts awarded in April. A further contract worth Rs 25.77bn ($US 344.4m) for 40 trains for the line was awarded by NCRTC to Bombardier in May, comprising 30 six-car regional commuter trains and 10 three-car intra-city trains together with 15 years of maintenance.

IRJ September 2020

Kazakhstan Railways to sell Tulpar plant while expanding night train fleet

K

AZAKHSTAN Railways (KTZ) has launched a tender to sell the Tulpar Wagon Building Plant, with the winning bidder expected to supply and maintain overnight trains for KTZ. The tender comes after a joint venture between Talgo and KTZ to manufacture 420 coaches at Tulpar ended in 2019. The competition is being facilitated by DB Engineering and Consulting, under its long-term cooperation with KTZ to introduce international standards across the company, particularly in the passenger division. KTZ will sign a strategic agreement with the winning bidder, covering the investment

in and purchase of the Tulpar manufacturing site. Under the control and support of the strategic partner, Tulpar Wagon Building Plant will then sign an agreement to supply a minimum of 26 trains consisting of around 18 coaches each to KTZ between 2022 and 2029. The maintenance aspect of the contract includes providing technical support, maintenance, repairs, spare parts and overhauls for 20 years, with an option for another 20 years. KTZ plans to conclude the contract for the sale of Tulpar and the order for the coaches in April 2021, with the maintenance contract expected to be finalised by December 2021.

Renewal of Vale concession approved

In brief Austria

Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) has been granted permission to purchase an additional 20 seven-car Nightjet trains plus locomotives for around É500m. The new order will take ÖBB’s total fleet of new Nightjet vehicles to 231 sleeping cars, couchettes, and seated vehicles.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Railways has signed a Taka 6.58bn ($US 77.7m) contract with a joint venture of Korean companies Sung Shin Rolling Stock Technology and Posco International for the procurement of 150 metre-gauge passenger coaches.

Britain

Hitachi has announced the purchase of technology firm Perpetuum as part of plans to advance its digital maintenance capabilities. The deal is expected to be completed later this year following approval by antitrust authorities.

Croatia

Croatian Railways (HZ) subsidiary HZ Infrastructure will launch a construction tender for track doubling on the 44km Hrvatski Leskovac Karlovac line this month. The Kunas 2.3bn ($US 361.3m) project will primarily be financed through a European Union Cohesion Fund grant.

France

Paris Transport Authority (RATP) has reported an Ebit of É57m in the first six months of the year, declining by É190m (77%) year-on-year. Overall group net income fell by É214m to -É88m, a 170.1% fall year-onyear caused by the coronavirus pandemic and strikes in December and January.

Italy

Infrastructure manager Italian Rail Network (RFI) has issued a call for tender for a É1.15bn contract to design and build a 22.5km southern extension to the Brenner Base Tunnel. IRJ

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ALL-ROUNDER FOR THE DOOR AREA

B

RAZIL’s Federal Audit Court (TCU) has authorised early renewals for the concession contracts for the Carajás Railway (EFC) and Vitoria-Minas Railway (EFVM), which are currently held by Brazilian company Vale. The draft addendum of the updated contracts will now be sent back to the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT), which will analyse the recommendations and include the determinations made by the TCU’s reporting minister, Mr Bruno Dantas. The new contracts include investments of Reais 8.5bn ($US 1.5bn) in EFVM and Reais 9.8bn in EFC over the 30 years of the concession, which will run until 2057. Reais 2.8bn will be

IRJ September 2020

due to visual and acoustic signaling. allocated for the acquisition of a new fleet for both railways, and another Reais 370m will be reserved for work to resolve urban conflicts in 55 municipalities. An additional Reais 11.3bn will be invested in maintaining operation during the term of the new contracts. Vale will pay the government a fee worth approximately Reais 2.2bn for both railways. The contract extension provides for the use of a cross-investment mechanism for the first time which will be used for the construction of the Central-West Integration Railway (Fico). Reais 2.73bn is allocated for Vale to build the stretch between Mara Rosa, Goiás, and Água Boa, Mato Grosso.

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operators will invest around É20bn in new rolling stock in 2024 which is about the same as in 2019. High investment costs and the resulting project delays and cancellations will lead to the infrastructure industry only having a marginal annual growth rate of 0.2% between 2019 and 2024. Trackside system technology is also affected by this development and will only grow by 0.7%. Due to numerous upgrade measures and the more comprehensive deployment of ETCS and ATO, the signalling and train control sector has a higher growth potential which is especially geared towards increasing the capacity of existing routes. In Europe, the importance of ETCS will grow strongly in the coming years. On the one hand, the expansion of international European corridor routes will be accelerated, while on the other hand, complete networks are being converted to ETCS, especially in smaller countries. A current example is the decision

to convert the entire Czech railway network of around 9000km and approximately 3000 vehicles to ETCS. A decisive driver in this case was the increase in safety offered by the system. The rolling stock industry shows the strongest rate of growth which is expected to increase by 3.2%. The market for high-speed trains, EMUs and diesel and hybrid multiple units is growing disproportionately strongly. The aftersales market in these segments is growing strongly due to increasing inventories, while larger procurement projects are being maintained despite the Covid19 crisis Climate protection will be the most important driver for the rail industry in the coming years. The European Commission’s Green Deal climate protection programme specifies a 90% reduction in transport-related CO2 emissions by 2050 compared with 1990, while environmental protection is also becoming noticeably more important in other regions

CRRC

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Alstom Bombardier3 Siemens Mobility Alstom Bombardier Wabtec Hitachi Rail Transmashholding Knorr Bremse Stadler Rail Greenbrier

Figure 3: Top-10 railway suppliers by rail turnover in 20191 (€ billion2) 0

5

10

15

20

R AW I E . D E

1 Revenue partly estimated. Financial years ending in the first half of 2019 have been assigned to the year 2019. 2 Foreign currencies have been converted with the average yearly exchange rate of the reporting period. 3 Combined revenues of Alstom and Bombardier to demonstrate their position after the merger.

IRJ September 2020

23 09:46

With the recently approved takeover of Bombardier Transportation by Alstom (p6), the competitive landscape in Europe, but also worldwide, will change massively. The merger creates the world’s

0

10

20

60

6%

40

4%

20

2%

0

3%

Market volume (€ billion)

100 2%

75 50

1%

25 0

OEM

After-Sales

SALES TYPE

0%

Figure 5: Worldwide market development 2019 to 2024 (€ billion; CAGR in %)

The pandemic, together with the deteriorating economic situation and the supply of raw materials, is having a particular influence on the development of regional railway technology markets.

30

Russia Germany India France Britain Japan Italy Figure 6: Top-10 worldwide railway markets for OEM and after-sales in 2019 (€ billion)

O

0%

Urban rail

125

United States

24

Conventional rail

Figure 4: Worldwide market development by rail mode 2019 to 2024 (€ billion; CAGR in %)

China

Canada

High-speed rail

Growth rate (CAGR in %)

Alstom-Bombardier

second largest manufacturer of railway technologies behind Chinese manufacturer CRRC which specialises in rolling stock. Outside of China, Alstom/Bombardier have a combined turnover of É17bn (cumulated revenue from 2019) which is about double the revenue of the next largest manufacturer Siemens Mobility. Against the background of a stagnating Chinese market, it remains a challenge for the market leader CRRC to continue to grow in foreign markets. The sales share of CRRC’s non-Chinese business has been relatively stable for several years at around 10% but is no longer growing significantly. The further development of the US business, where CRRC has already won orders worth more than É2bn, is highly uncertain due to political tensions. In Europe, the company has so far only been able to gain a foothold with smaller orders for specialised vehicles. But this situation will change with the takeover of Vossloh’s German-based locomotive plant. For the first time, CRRC now has a production facility in Central Europe. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all manufacturers are under increasing pressure to reduce their fixed and one-off costs and to leverage optimisation potential through synergies.

Growth rate (CAGR in %)

of the world. The prerequisite for lower transport emissions is a significant shift of passenger and freight traffic to rail, which will require an extensive expansion of rail infrastructure and capacity. As a result of governments taking a stake in airlines in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis in Europe, several airlines have already announced their intention to abandon national short-haul flights and improve their links with rail transport. This will encourage the procurement of further high-speed and long-distance trains in the coming years. However, the railways also want to become more environmentally friendly. Here the industry is facing a massive challenge: up to 100,000 diesel locomotives and more than 10,000 diesel multiple units worldwide will have to be replaced in the long term by the electrification of lines or introduction of vehicles with alternative drive technologies such as battery or hydrogen. Europe is leading the way in this development.

Market volume (€ billion)

News | analysis

40

SCI Verkehr expects a negative market development in Africa/Middle East and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) during the next five years. South America, with its lead market Brazil which is particularly affected by Covid19, is growing at 1.3% which is a lower rate than for the worldwide market. However, South America already had to accept a significant reduction in market volume in 2019 due to a low number of deliveries and reduced investment in infrastructure. The strongest growth is expected in Australia/Pacific, Western Europe, Asia and Eastern Europe. In total, the top five largest railway markets accounted for 53% of the worldwide market volume for railway technology in 2019. Newly included in the top five of the largest rail markets is India, which has ousted France from fifth position and will grow significantly in the long term despite current Covid-19 crisis. IRJ

IRJ September 2020

6

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Pandemic pushes German operators to the brink

A sign of the times. Face coverings are mandatory on German public transport, where loadings remain around 60% of pre-lockdown levels.

Photo: DB AG/Oliver Lange

Germany | Covid-19

Germany’s Covid-19 lockdown resulted in passenger rail use falling to around 10% of normal levels in much of March and April, causing economic devastation to the sector. As operators embark on their respective recoveries, Kevin Smith analyses the impact of the crisis and its implications for the future of the market.

S

TANDING proudly, and roughly 1.5m apart, Germany’s federal minister for transport and the heads of German Rail (DB) and Siemens, enthusiastically announced a É1bn order for 30 high-speed ICE trains on July 15. The minister for transport and digital infrastructure, Mr Andreas Scheuer, praised the investment for providing a “turbo boost” to the German economy during the era of coronavirus. He said the order reinforces the German government’s longer-term commitment to sustainable transport. The new trains will offer 25,000 additional seats and support a 30-minute service frequency between major cities as DB expands its ICE fleet to 411 trains by 2026. “With investments in our entire fleet of É12bn by 2026, of which É8.5bn is in long-distance traffic alone, with massive

26

expansion and consistent modernisation of the railways, we are jointly creating the conditions for a substantial shift to climate-friendly rail transport,” said DB CEO, Dr Richard Lutz. Although the tender was announced in October 2019, critics have questioned the timing of the contract award. An equivalent private company, they say, simply would not make such a huge investment in assets at the height of the largest crisis in living memory. Indeed, DB, along with all public transport operators, suffered a crash in traffic after the coronavirus lockdown was instituted across Germany on March 22. DB introduced only minor adjustments to the long-distance domestic timetable, operating 70-90% of its usual services while it was carrying less than 10% of normal passengers. In contrast, its largest long-distance

competitor, FlixTrain, was forced to suspend all services on March 20 until July 23 (p32). There have been mixed messages about the rationale for this policy - DB said it was following government instructions to maintain the service to prevent overcrowding, something the government has consistently denied. While they might continue to agree to disagree, this is one certainty: the damage done to DB’s finances is unprecedented. “Covid has pushed us into the red from an operating profit of É757m in the first half of 2019 to an operating loss of É1.8bn in the first half of 2020,” DB’s CFO, Dr Levin Holle, said on July 30. “Our rail business is fixed-cost heavy, so when people stop travelling and revenues fall, that has an almost direct impact on our bottom line. Our group

IRJ September 2020

revenues fell roughly 12% to É19.4bn in the first half of 2020.” While the outlook is uncertain, overall DB is predicting a É3.5bn loss by the end of the year with sales dropping to É38.5bn. Long Distance reported an overall 44% drop in volumes in the first half with

“

told IRJ. “What is a little frightening is that it has frozen at this level. We had a strong recovery in May and we still saw a bit of recovery in June and then not a lot has happened. It is a little different from state to state, passenger numbers are lower in the south where Covid was

Our rail business is fixed-cost heavy, so when people

stop travelling and revenues fall, that has an almost direct impact on our bottom line. Levin Holle, DB

stronger, like in Bavaria, we are still around 50%, whereas in the eastern parts of Germany, such as Saxony, we are at 70-80% of ridership.” Mr Thomas Prechtl, CEO of Bavaria Railway Authority (BEG), which oversees a network of roughly 6000km and traffic approaching 130 million train-km per year across 35 separate contracts, likens the impact of Covid-19 to driving a car at 180km/h into a brick wall. “We lost 80-90% of our passengers year-on-year, so the trains were nearly empty, but at the same time we tried to maximise the available capacity by running 60-70% of the trains,” Prechtl says. “This is to ensure the transport of people who must travel by train could do so at a safe distance.” Mr Dirk Gründler, personal assistant to the board director and head of the inhouse legal team at BEG, says regular talks and meetings were held with the operators in the early days of the Photo: DB AG/Pablo Castagnola

passenger numbers recovering to around half of their previous levels in July. DB Cargo experienced a 13% drop in volumes in the first six months of the year while regional operator DB Regio witnessed a 41% fall compared with the first half of 2019. DB Regio’s situation is mirrored by its competitors in the regional market. Transdev, Germany’s largest private rail and bus operator, which operates 23 rail contracts in six federal states, covering more than 45 million train-km per year, experienced a 90% decline in passengers during the lockdown. Keolis, which operates four contracts in North-Rhine Westphalia and a cross-border service to the Netherlands accounting for 16.5 million train-km per annum, reported a similar fall. “On average we are back to around 50-60% of pre-crisis,” Mr Christian Schreyer, president and CEO of Transdev North and Central Europe,

Germany’s transport minister, Andreas Scheur (left) and DB CEO, Richard Lutz (right), say government support for DB will encourage a shift to “climate friendly” rail transport.

IRJ September 2020

27

Germany | Covid-19 70%, you are just dead,” says Schreyer, who is also president of Mofair, which represents private and independent rail operators in Germany. “If you have less passengers on a lasting basis you must take out capacity or renegotiate the contract otherwise you will not survive.”

Cut costs

In contrast, all of Keolis Germany’s contracts are concessions, whereby the operator is paid a set fee by the transport authority to deliver the service. CEO, Ms Anne Mathieu, says the company can live with the current arrangement, although she says the operator has looked to cut costs where possible, including a non-essential worker hire freeze. Mathieu says Keolis reduced its offer in coordination with the local public transport authorities and ministries of transport to around 65% of previous levels during the crisis and passenger numbers have since recovered to an average of 65%. This close coordination has continued since the lockdown was lifted. Mathieu says ‘Focus Bahn’ meetings, which previously considered employment issues, now discuss the consequences and recovery from the pandemic, and how they might bring passengers back. Mathieu says Keolis’ approach to encouraging a return has been to inform passengers of the situation, what

instructions they should follow, and as restrictions have been lifted, to offer reassurance that travelling by train is safe. Safety is also reinforced by the legal requirement for German public transport passengers to wear face coverings with fines for passengers who do not conform. A national campaign to support the measure is underway and is backed by the roughly 600 members of the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV). “Keolis Germany conducted a survey of our passengers to try and understand what they were worried about,” Mathieu says. “We could see that most passengers left public transport during the lockdown but that 86% want to come back. Already two-thirds feel safe on the train and at the station, but the biggest worry is about other passengers not wearing masks.” Another campaign recently launched by VDV is the #BesserWeiter initiative to convince the public that trains and buses are safe and that they should return to using them but only while wearing a mask. As part of the campaign, VDV has also launched a ‘bus and train trust index’ to measure the mood of the public using public transport in Germany in monthly representative surveys. BEG is also using a variety of techniques and campaigns to encourage Bavarians to return to the train. However, Gründler admits there is still

Photo: Transdev/Holger Jacoby

pandemic to establish a stable timetable, which the operators guaranteed to maintain for the duration of the crisis. In turn, BEG guaranteed that it would continue to pay normal fees without the penalties for late running or not meeting the contractually agreed level of service. “Our greatest fear at this time was if employees were to become ill,” Prechtl says. “If that happened some of the trains would not be able to operate. We were successful in doing this. Traffic was stable and after Easter we increased traffic back to the normal level.” Prechtl says the total losses incurred is a “very big sum.” With operators suffering from a lack of liquidity due to the fall in ticket revenues, BEG continued to pay regular monthly instalments at the same level as before despite the reduction in service level. This would normally result in a reduction in the payment, or a penalty for the operator. Indeed, nearly all of Bavaria’s contracts are operated on a net contract basis, whereby the operator takes on the risk of operating the service and receives income from ticket sales and other commercial ventures. Six of Transdev’s 23 contracts in Germany are operated on this basis, and their continuing viability is a concern to Schreyer. “The margins are low in our business and if you have a net contract with 60-

Transdev operates 23 contracts in Germany. However, CEO for Northern and Central Europe, Christian Schreyer, fears for their future viability.

28

IRJ September 2020

“

We could see that

most passengers left

public transport during the lockdown but that 86% want to come back. Already two-

thirds feel safe on the train and at the

station. Anne Mathieu

some way to go. “We don’t have to tell their minds, we have to bring it to their heart,” he says. Schreyer and Mathieu say a major test of whether the current ridership figure will further recover is expected this month. The end of the summer holidays and the return of schools and universities should normally result in a surge in public transport use in Germany. Many people who have been working at home since March are likely to be encouraged to return to the office as Germany attempts to return to something approaching normal. This month the federal states should begin accepting applications for compensation promised to transport companies for lost revenues experienced between March 1 and August 31. The European Commission (EC) approved a É6bn scheme from the German government to support local and regional public transport operators on August 10. In reality, it is a É5bn programme, with the federal government contributing É2.5bn and the states É2.5bn. Schreyer says this figure is calculated on the assumption that the operators will return to 90% of their previous revenues by the end of the year. The federal funds will account for approximately 50% of lost income. It could be 100% but this depends on how the states will distribute their É2.5bn share, with different states taking different approaches. In Bavaria the compensation programme will supersede the regular instalment payments offered by BEG

IRJ September 2020

“ Prechtl says the process has two phases. The first phase comprised an application for the refund from the government by August 31. In the second phase, BEG is accepting applications for compensation up to September 30, at which point teams at the authority will go to work to check the losses against gains from the agreed limitations of service during the lockdown to calculate what they might be owed. He estimates that the state will have É387m available, which the Bavarian state government will match, taking the total to É774m, which should cover up to 90% of an operator’s losses. He expects the process to conclude by September 30 2021. Whether other states take the same approach remains to be seen. For example, Schreyer says Saxony, which also has a lot of net contracts, has not yet stated whether they will use their part of the funding to help the private operators. “If this process is not fair, it will be tough for us,” Schreyer says. “We are concerned right now that a big portion of these funds will go to municipal transport companies in cities which have not been able to reduce costs during the crisis. Will there be any money in the end for private operators? We don’t know yet.” There are also questions over how or whether DB will benefit from this fund. DB Regio could receive up to É800m and is potentially the biggest single beneficiary. However, the government said DB will receive its own separate É5bn capital increase from the government due to the coronavirus

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Germany | Covid-19

“

All normal shareholders expect a return one day on their

investment. The taxpayer does

not have the same expectation. Christian Schreyer, Transdev

losses, which is set to be followed by up to É3.6bn next year. The company’s debt ceiling has also been increased to É30bn from É25bn previously. Mofair believes that using taxpayers’ money in such a way could have serious implications for future competition by providing DB with an unfair competitive advantage. They argue that covering losses incurred by DB Long Distance is the equivalent of a direct award and that FlixTrain or other competitors should have had the opportunity to fill this gap. For commuter and regional services, the government argues that the cash injection is equivalent to a private company increasing capital into its business. However, Mofair does not feel that DB should be able to benefit twice. “It is a little bit strange when the CFO of DB says that we are steering through the crisis while talking about the new trains for DB Long Distance and not adding where the money came from,” says Dr Matthias Stoffregen, Mofair’s managing director. “It comes directly from the state, which is state aid that other competitors do not get. It is a really huge problem that questions the principle of competition in German rail generally.” “They are using taxpayer’s money but are saying to the private operators to ask their shareholders for the same capital increase, where their shareholder is not a taxpayer and doesn’t have unlimited funds,” Schreyer says. “All normal shareholders expect a return one day on their investment. The taxpayer does not have the same expectation. This is why this comment

30

is so arrogant and has made us really furious. It shows the mindset of DB currently.” Dipl-Pol Oliver Mietzsch, executive director of Greater Leipzig Transport Authority (ZVNL), shares the concern that the capital injection could potentially distort future competition. He says ZVNL has appointed the consultancy KZV, which has a good handle on DB’s finances, to monitor how the É5bn will be redistributed throughout the company, although it is too early to say what the outcome will be. Stoffregen says the European Commission is also closely engaged in the process and could yet rule against it if it is deemed to offer an unfair advantage to DB. “The federal government must not do the capital increase before the commission has allowed it,” he says. “That is forbidden by European law.” Another area where Mofair feels that DB is distorting the market is the use of its recently-established low-cost carrier, Regional Transport Start Germany, to compete in tenders where it is looking to regain market share, already winning back one contract from Transdev in Saxony. In addition, it has been common in recent tenders for three, two, or sometimes only one bidder to come forward compared with five or six for previous contracts. Mietzsch says Start was founded to help DB compete more effectively because it discounts overheads that its competitors don’t have, such as the large blue-collar workforce. However, he says the reduction in bidders competing for contracts is not a

consequence of the pandemic but an overall trend in the market. “The parent companies of both the private and the state-owned operators like Abellio are in difficulty because they do not make too much money in the German regional rail market,” Mietzsch says. “For 5-6% margins, they are asking themselves whether they need to do all of this work? There is an argument that we have gained all of the possible gains in the competition process - we the authorities but also the companies, so there is not much left to get any more money out of it.” This view is shared by Prechtl and Gründler. They believe that several firms could withdraw from the market altogether. Takeovers and mergers of smaller players are also likely as operators seek synergies between contracts to drive efficiency improvements.

Reforms

They also believe that several reforms are possible, which could support participants which do not have the backing of the state, potentially reinvigorating the market. For example, in Bavaria the state currently guarantees the finance of new trains, providing an equal opportunity to all bidders. This is a unique arrangement, but other states have similar initiatives - Baden Württemberg for example owns the trains which are rented to the operator. Similar guarantees could be offered in other areas where operators take on risk or are exposed to large costs, such as train maintenance. Many of the operators are

IRJ September 2020

expected to renegotiate contracts sometimes agreed 12-15 years ago so the terms are more favourable. “The way we have organised competition in public transport in Germany has been good, but it is not perfect,” Gründler says. “We have some problems. We thought this before but maybe now we need to think a little bit

“

will be taken up with the compensation process, limiting their ability to come up with and institute new ideas. Nevertheless, Gründler feels the pandemic offers an opportunity to reset. If passenger numbers remain down in the medium-term, he says this is a chance for the rail operators and authorities to focus on offering a higher

Maybe now we need to think a little bit faster to resolve

these issues and stabilise future competition because the problems are increasing, and the need is really urgent. Dirk Gründler, BEG

faster to resolve these issues and stabilise future competition because the problems are increasing, and the need is really urgent.” The problem for BEG and other authorities to introduce reforms could be a lack of capacity to innovate. A significant proportion of BEG’s staff

IRJ September 2020

quality and more reliable service, which will strengthen the sector in the long term, ultimately encouraging both old and new passengers to use the train. Likewise, Mathieu says that as well as safety, the pandemic is forcing Keolis to rethink how it might attract passengers to use its services. “We have to put

ourselves in their position and really rethink what our offer is,” she says. “For me this is positive.” Mathieu says it could be an opportunity to accelerate digitalisation projects, an area where she says there is room for improvement in Germany. “Other countries might be more advanced, but the pandemic is pushing us in this direction,” she says. “Things like buying your ticket with a card and making this a contactless payment will be accelerated by the pandemic.” The big question that no one yet has the answer to is what happens next. With coronavirus cases on the rise again in Europe as IRJ went to press, there are growing concerns about the prospect of a second wave and what this might do to rail businesses if the unthinkable happens: a second comprehensive lockdown. This would cast doubt on whether third party and private operators are able to continue to operate on a risk basis, let alone compete for future contracts. The German market is seemingly facing its biggest challenge since it was conceived in the mid-1990s. “We are waiting to see what happens,” Mathieu says. IRJ

31

Germany’s open-access operator revam Germany | FlixTrain

Flixtrain, Germany largest open-access long-distance passenger operator, started to reintroduce train services on July 23 following a four-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. As FlixTrain’s managing director, Fabian Stenger, explains to David Briginshaw, passengers are returning, and the company intends to resume its expansion plans next year.

F

LIXTRAIN, in common with Europe’s other open-access longdistance train operators, was forced to suspend operations when the coronavirus pandemic struck earlier this year. The company shut down its threeline network in Germany on March 19, but it was not until July that it felt confident enough to start running trains again. Two routes, Cologne - Berlin and Cologne - Hamburg, restarted on July 23, but at a lower frequency than before. “We were cautious in the beginning, but after a couple of weeks we decided to increase capacity and almost doubled the number of journeys,” Mr Fabian

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Stenger, FlixTrain’s managing director told IRJ. Stenger says he is “happy with the restart” and that FlixTrain is currently performing above the market average in terms of load factor. Stenger says adapting to the new normal during Covid-19 has been a tough challenge for all modes of transport in Germany. “There is close contact with the government on how to operate safely and the same measures have been agreed for all carriers in Germany,” Stenger says. For FlixTrain, these measures include: = mandatory face masks for all passengers and staff = cleaning and disinfecting trains

FlixTrain rein

throughout, before and after each journey = providing every passenger with an assigned seat, meaning passengers can board the train through the correct door and nobody needs to stand in the aisles = contactless check-in = continuous supply of fresh air, and = load indicators for each train on its website. Passengers are given the current safety instructions together with their booking confirmation. Train crew also inform passengers of all hygiene measures when boarding. Stenger says these measures have enabled FlixTrain to maintain capacity

IRJ September 2020

mped and ready to grow

SPACE SAVING & QUICK. Exchanging rails and switches in station platforms, underpasses and tunnels.

ROLIFT SYSTEM Mobile Exchange System

ntroduced limited services on the Cologne - Berlin and Cologne - Hamburg routes on July 23. Photo: Keith Fender

on its trains. “Compared with German Rail (DB), we can’t overbook a train because every passenger is assigned a seat so we can carry the same number of passengers as before,” Stenger told IRJ. “It is hard to say what the additional cost is, but it is an investment from our side, and we are happy to start up again.” German operators have benefited from a positive attitude to the use of public transport, partly due to a much lower incidence of Covid-19 in Germany than in other European countries. Indeed, while most of Europe’s incumbent national rail operators cut back services drastically during national lockdowns, DB continued virtually as normal. However, FlixMobility, FlixTrain’s parent company, is unhappy with the German government’s planned stateaid package to DB to offset the effects of the coronavirus pandemic which it believes will give DB, which has a 99%

IRJ September 2020

share of the long-distance rail market in Germany, an even greater advantage over private operators. FlixBus founder and CEO, Mr André Schwämmlein, wrote to the European commissioner for competition, Ms Margrethe Vestager, on July 7 calling for measures to balance competition in the German rail market. Schwämmlein is particularly concerned about the É11bn in state aid which DB was promised last autumn as part of Germany’s climate package and an increase in its debt ceiling from É25bn to É30bn. “DB seems to be incessantly using crisis situations to strengthen its competitive advantage,” Schwämmlein says. “Such a pattern could set a dangerous precedent in the EU, turning back the clock on decades-long efforts and preventing other private rail services to launch competitive offers across Europe in the foreseeable future.”

• Quick workflow and short maintenance periods due to automated offloading and pre-assembled gantries • Delivered, exchanged and recovered in the same shift • Electrical remote operation of gantries for even offloading of rails and switches

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Germany | FlixTrain In order to maintain fair competition in the German rail market, FlixMobility would like to see non-discriminatory access to DB’s distribution channels such as the DB Navigator app and website. “Consumers are still being misled, thinking this is a comprehensive overview of journeys, but there is not always full transparency and consumers are not able to buy FlixTrain tickets directly via bahn.de,” Stenger says. FlixMobility also wants a reduction in train access charges for commercial operators, fair access to train paths, maintenance and train stabling facilities, and a ban on aggressive price dumping by DB. “It is a tough time for everyone, and we are not against some kind of state aid for the incumbent,” Stenger told IRJ. “DB received huge financial support last year, and with Covid-19 another package is coming to the table. We are talking about billions of euros, but there is no transparency on how DB will use the money. “State aid should not endanger fair competition. There is far more competition in air transport than rail, but the German government placed a lot more conditions on Lufthansa than it has on DB. We are a private company and we had to cease our operation whereas DB continued with virtually the same capacity, so it is somewhat unfair when the incumbent gets government support and we do not.

“There are anti-trust authorities we can appeal to in Germany, but in the end it is a political decision. We want to maintain fair competition in the German train market. We are talking to a lot of German politicians, but DB is a stateowned company.” While FlixTrain ramped up services on its two reopened routes in Germany in August, Stenger says the company is planning to reopen the third route linking Berlin with Stuttgart, but it does not have a set timing on when to do so. “It’s a tricky question - I don’t have a crystal ball,” he says. “We are more on the conservative side at the moment and looking at how to proceed for 2021.” Nevertheless, Stenger says FlixTrain is “looking for expansion in 2021.”

Expansion

FlixTrain’s growth has been rapid since it entered the German long-distance rail market in March 2018 when it took over the operation of the former HamburgCologne Express (HKX) service linking the two cities. The following month, the company launched its second route linking Berlin to Stuttgart with Leo Express, Czech Republic, as the operator. This revived the short-lived crowd-funded Locomore service between the two cities. FlixTrain added a second round trip on the Berlin - Stuttgart route and stepped up the frequency from five times per week to daily in June 2018. The following month, the Cologne - Hamburg service

was expanded to two round trips a day. A third route, linking Berlin with Cologne and running six days per week, was launched in May 2019. FlixTrain added seven new destinations to its nationwide long-distance rail network with the start of the new timetable on December 15 2019, and the journey time for Hamburg - Cologne services was cut from a minimum of 4h 8min to just over 3h 30min. FlixTrain planned to launch a new Hamburg - Stuttgart service this spring with up to three departures per day by the summer. However, expansion plans came to an abrupt halt with the spread of coronavirus forcing the company to suspend all services on March 19. Up to that point, Stenger says traffic was building up well. “We carried more than 1 million passengers during our first year of operation,” he says. “We were very happy with the numbers which were exceeding our expectations. We are the first private long-distance passenger rail network in Germany competing with DB. We are aware that it is an up-hill task and a long-term investment.” Last year, the company decided to upgrade its rolling stock. FlixTrain’s financial partner, Railpool, acquired used compartment coaches which are being converted to high-capacity vehicles by Talbot Services in Aachen. Talbot will also maintain the vehicles under Railpool’s 15-year lease agreement with FlixTrain.

Former compartment coaches were converted to open saloons and refurbished for the relaunch.

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IRJ September 2020

“

Rail is a long-term

investment for us. We have slowed down a

little, but we still want to expand

Fabian Stenger

The work involves more than 100 coaches and includes removing the traditional compartments and converting the coaches to open-plan saloons, fitting new seats and modernising the toilets. Power sockets and Wi-Fi have been installed as well as an onboard entertainment system. The refurbishment should extend the life of the coaches by 15-20 years. Train services are only being resumed using the refurbished coaches. “We have refurbished more coaches than we currently have in service,” Stenger says. “We are always looking at options to add more coaches to the fleet, but the number of second-hand vehicles is limited, so we have also been looking at new vehicles.” The company had initial talks with a number of train manufacturers last year.

Operators

The restoration of services also coincided with a switch in train operators following the ending of agreements with FlixTrain’s two launch operators, BahnTouristikExpress, in partnership with Railroad Development Corporation (RDC), and Leo Express. “The current situation is a great challenge for the entire mobility industry, which includes our partner companies,” Stenger explains. “Both FlixTrain and RDC decided to terminate their cooperation. Leo Express has recently made entrepreneurial decisions that have affected their cooperation with FlixTrain and the re-start of operations. Economically, we did not come to an agreement and therefore we had to decide to terminate our cooperation. We regret that Leo Express will not continue to be our partner.” The two routes are now operated by SVG and IGE. FlixMobility, which also

IRJ September 2020

owns FlixBus, has similar partnership agreements with both train and bus operators. “We may need additional partners for specific routes, and we will discuss this over the next couple of months about how we grow and expand next year,” Stenger says. FlixTrain was planning to become the first open-access long-distance train operator in France with services radiating from Paris to Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lyon, Nice (an overnight train) and across the border to Brussels. However, FlixTrain decided in April not to proceed with plans to enter the French market. Stenger says one of the obstacles is the “enormous” cost of track access charges in France which reach É30/km for high-speed services. This compares with “the still very high” É10/km in Germany and just É1.50/km in Sweden. “With fees at the current levels, it is very challenging to offer customers an affordable product similar to that which FlixTrain successfully provides in Germany,” the company told IRJ at the time. “If French decision makers can demonstrate a willingness to align with other European markets and conditions improve, FlixTrain is open to reconsidering a French expansion.” FlixTrain announced plans last September to launch services in Sweden from Stockholm to Gothenburg and Malmö this year. Despite the pandemic, FlixTrain still plans to enter the Swedish rail market due to the “excellent situation for private operators.” “Rail is a long-term investment for us,” Stenger says. “We have slowed down a little, but we still want to expand. The question is what impact Covid-19 will have on demand in the future. We still expect to open new routes in Germany and to start business in Sweden next year.” IRJ

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Iconic project makes progress despite growing costs Germany | Stuttgart 21

Despite stiff opposition, funding disputes, and delays, German Rail’s controversial and ambitious Stuttgart 21 project is now making steady progress. As David Briginshaw and Anitra Green report, the project will radically alter the rail network in the Stuttgart area when it is finally completed in 2025.

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HE ambitious project to replace Stuttgart’s terminus station with an underground through station and build a new direct line to the city’s airport and exhibition centre was originally launched in 1994. However, Stuttgart 21 has been dogged by controversy since the outset due to disagreements over funding and mounting opposition from politicians and local residents who questioned the project’s value for money in the face of rising costs and the destruction of landmark buildings in the city centre. The cost of the project was originally estimated at around É2.5bn, but by 2009 this had risen to É4.5bn with funding split between the state of Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart city council, Stuttgart Transport Association (VVS), Stuttgart Airport and German Rail (DB). However, costs continued to mount with DB blaming a building boom for higher-than-expected prices from contractors. Nevertheless, DB was determined to push ahead and started work in 2010. This only enflamed opposition further leading to violent protests. It was only after a referendum in 2011, which backed the project, that work could finally get going properly. There are still some protests, but they are far less serious than before thanks to a public relations campaign that includes guided tours

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round the building sites and a multimedia exhibition in the station’s iconic square tower. Even so, costs continued to rise, with the total cost officially estimated at É6.5bn in March 2013. On January 26 2018, DB’s Supervisory Board approved a financing framework of É8.2bn for Stuttgart 21, which includes a É495m risk buffer. Stuttgart 21 is being financed by DB, the German federal government, the European Union, the state of Baden-Württemberg, the City of Stuttgart, Stuttgart Airport and VVS. Construction is also taking far longer than expected. Stuttgart 21 should have completed by last year. However, the completion date was first extended to 2022, and subsequently slipped to 2025. Stuttgart 21 will be linked to a new high-speed line being built from Wendlingen, to the east of the city, to Ulm, which will effectively extend the Mannheim - Stuttgart high-speed line to Ulm en route to Munich when it opens in 2022. DB expects more than 10 million long-distance passengers a year to benefit from the Stuttgart - Ulm project. The cost of the Wendlingen - Ulm line section is budgeted at É3.7bn as of December 2017, with DB funding É141m, Baden-Württemberg É950m and the German government and the EU the remaining É2.6bn. Both projects are being managed by DB Project Stuttgart-Ulm,

which was set up in 2013. In total, DB is building five new stations, 120km of tunnels and 81 bridges. The new through main station in Stuttgart will also mean that there are many new direct links for regional traffic, which will take the pressure off Stuttgart’s SBahn network, already operating at its limit. The core of the Stuttgart 21 project is the new eight-track underground station for through trains. The new station will run along the side of the existing main station building, at an angle of 90o°to the existing terminus station. The historic station building with its tower is being retained, and DB is investing É200m in the É250m renovation scheme. Supports have been inserted beneath the building to allow the new station platforms and track to be constructed. Meanwhile work is in progress on constructing new lines forming a circle around the city centre, mostly in tunnels, and including the new Mitternacht S-Bahn station. On July 20 the project partners

IRJ September 2020

celebrated the start of the main construction work for the rail connection at the airport and the city’s main exhibition centre. Once the new main station opens in 2025, the existing terminus station will close and the whole area, in the heart of the city, will be free for redevelopment. Out of the total of about 100 hectares, 20 hectares will be reserved for parks and green areas. Two new districts will be created - the Europaviertel and Rosenstein - under a framework plan developed in 1997.

Stuttgart up!Nbooifjn

Stuttgart Main Station

Existing main lines Stuttgart 21 lines under construction Neckarpark

Stuttgart 21

Total route length: 57km High-speed lines: 20km Tunnels: 33km Bridges: 44 Passenger stations: 3 Park and ride station: 1 Planned commissioning: December 2025

Stuttgart - Ulm

Total route length: 59.6km Tunnels: 30.4km Maximum speed: 250km/h Railway overpasses: 17 Road bridges: 20 Planned commissioning: December 2022

IRJ September 2020

In tunnel

N

Unterturkheim Oberturkheim

Esslingen Plochingen

Construction

Stuttgart 21 is underway at eight construction sites. To the north, tunnels are being built to provide better connections to Feuerbach and Bad Cannstatt. To the south, the Filder tunnel will provide a direct line to Stuttgart airport and the exhibition centre, as well as a better connection with the Gäubahn line to Boblingen. From the airport, a new line is being constructed parallel to the existing highway to Wendlingen am Neckar as part of the new Stuttgart - Ulm high-speed line. Since travelling times to the airport will be considerably shorter for both long-distance and regional passengers, a substantial shift from road to rail is expected, especially for travellers from other regions. For example, a trip by rail from Stuttgart main station to the airport will take only 8 minutes instead of 27 minutes today, from Ulm 30 minutes instead of 1h 35min, from Rottweil 59 minutes instead of 2h 2min, and from Tübingen 35 minutes instead of 65. The Stuttgart 21 partners have also agreed on a pilot project to introduce a digital signalling and train control system, which would make Stuttgart the first city in Germany to introduce such a system. By 2025, all lines in the Stuttgart 21 project as well as the greater

Surface

up!Vmn!boe! Nvojdi Wendlingen

Airport/Exhibition Centre Filderstadt

IRJ

part of the S-Bahn network will be equipped with ETCS, digital signalboxes and highly automated operation. The first phase will involve equipping the lines radiating from Stuttgart to Feuerbach, Bad Cannstatt, and Sommerrain to the north, Untertürkheim to the east, Filderstadt-Bernhausen near the airport, and Goldberg to the southwest. The entire S-Bahn network will follow by 2030, including lines also used by longdistance, regional and freight trains. The 60km Wendlingen - Ulm line is designed for 250km/h operation and is being built in seven sections. Half of the route consists of nine tunnels, otherwise it runs parallel to the A8 highway. The new line takes a more direct route than the existing Stuttgart - Ulm main line, crossing the Swabian Jura hills further to the south. Around 40 rail and road bridges are being built. One of the two major bridges crosses the Neckar river at Wendlingen, and is 136m long at an altitude of 271m above sea level. The other, the 458m-long Fils Valley bridge between Mühlhausen im Täle and Wiesensteig is an even more imposing structure. At an altitude of 485m, it is one of the highest railway bridges in Germany. The bridge connects the Boßler tunnel with the Steinbühl tunnel directly. “This rare combination of tunnel-bridge-tunnel is architecturally and technically demanding,” says DB. The existing railway bridge over the River Danube in Ulm has already been widened to accommodate four tracks under a joint project called Neu-Ulm 21, and was completed in 2007. The highest point of the new line is at

Kirkheim

up!Vmn! boe! Nvojdi

750m, which means a climb of almost 500m on the 16km uphill section from Wendlingen towards Ulm. This is too steep for heavy freight trains, so the new line will be restricted to trains weighing a maximum of 1500 tonnes. According to DB, the shell of the new Wendlingen - Ulm line is 90% complete. More than 60km of tunnel bores have been completed. Equipping the line is also making good progress with 37km of track already laid and 800 catenary masts erected. Completion of the two projects will have many benefits. The high-speed line will open in 2022 and will be used by two or three high-speed passenger trains per hour. The non-stop trip from Stuttgart to Ulm will take 30 minutes, compared with 58 minutes today. The line will also be used by regional trains which will stop at a new station being built at Merklingen, though this is not actually part of the main project and was planned and financed separately. Regional trains will take 41 minutes to complete the journey. Stuttgart’s main station can currently handle a maximum of 35 trains per hour today, but with the start of the new timetable in December 2025, the new through station will have capacity for 42 long-distance and regional trains between 07.00 and 08.00. The new lines leading to the new main station will also permit much higher speeds, with a maximum of 160km/h. In future it will be possible to approach the station at speeds of up to 100km/h, whereas trains today are restricted to 20km/h, which will help to reduce journey times. IRJ

37

Learning the lessons of Rastatt Germany | incident management

The accident at Auggen on April 2 closed the Rhine-Alpine corridor for six days. Photo: Patrick Seeger/dpa/Alamy Live News

Developed following the Rastatt incident in 2017, the ICM Handbook is designed to improve responses to disruptions along the Rail Freight Corridor network. Christiane Warnecke and Alessandro Fattorini from the Rhine-Alpine Rail Freight Corridor talk with David Burroughs about how guidelines from the handbook and other lessons learned from the Rastatt incident were put into practice following an accident at Auggen in April.

T

HE Rastatt tunnel collapse in August 2017 caused one of the biggest disruptions to rail traffic in Europe’s recent history, halting services along the route for seven weeks before the line was repaired and reopened in October 2017. A study carried out by Hanseatic Transport Consultancy (HTC) on behalf of the European Rail Freight Association (Erfa), Network of European Railways (NEE), and the International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport (UIRR), calculated that the total losses stemming directly from the incident reached É2.048bn. Following the disaster, DB Networks, SBB Infrastructure and RFC Rhine-Alpine launched a series of workshops to develop a blueprint covering the future response to similar incidents and to identify options for strengthening the existing disaster management process. This led to the development of the Handbook for International Contingency Management (ICM), which was accepted by the Rail Net Europe (RNE) general assembly in May 2018 and by the Platform of Rail Infrastructure

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Managers in Europe (Prime) in June 2018. It was also confirmed and supported by the transport ministries of Rail Freight Corridor (RFC) Rhine-Alpine and RFC North Sea-Mediterranean in May 2018. The ICM was first used by corridors RFC Mediterranean in France and RFC Scandinavian-Mediterranean in Denmark in 2019, with the handbook also used during an incident in northern Germany in August. The first test of whether the RFC RhineAlpine and the related infrastructure managers (IMs) had learned the lessons of Rastatt came at 19.50 on April 2, when a BLS Cargo locomotive hauling an SBB Cargo International rolling-road service derailed after colliding with a 140-tonne concrete bridge section at Auggen on the Karlsruhe - Basle main line, about 20km north of Basle. The locomotive driver was killed, with several lorry drivers travelling on the train also injured. The road bridge was scheduled to be demolished as part of the project to expand the line to four tracks, says Rhine-Alpine corridor manager, Mr Alessandro Fattorini, and an investigation

is currently underway into how the concrete block came to be on the track. Fattorini was notified of the accident by BLS around 21.30, and immediately contacted the German traffic control centre to clarify whether the ICM process would be triggered. Following the technical specifications and analysis conducted by German IM DB Networks, it was announced around 01.30 on April 3 that the incident was an international disruption under the ICM, triggering the ICM international contingency process on RFC Rhine-Alpine for the first time. “This is triggered when the leading IM figures that it will take longer than three days to resolve an incident,” says corridor managing director, Ms Christiane Warnecke. “Another condition is that traffic is seriously affected. It could be that only one track is affected and most traffic could still run, and then the ICM process would not be initiated. In this case DB Networks found it would take longer than three days and traffic would be strongly affected, so they started the ICM processes.”

IRJ September 2020

The first call between the incident managers from the affected IMs was organised for 10.00 on April 3, with a separate process launched for the communications managers. “Before 10.00, we had several coordination calls with the leading infrastructure manager, which in this case was DB Networks, to better understand what had happened and to better organise the information flow during the calls with the incident managers and with the communications managers,” Fattorini says. The associated IMs - ProRail, Infrabel, SBB Infrastructure, and Italian Rail Network (RFI) - participated in the ICM coordination processes, along with French National Railways (SNCF), Luxembourg National Railways (CFL) and Austrian Federal Railway (ÖBB) and the neighbouring RFCs, NSMed (2) and RFC ScanMed (3). The initial calls were used by the leading IM, DB Networks, to inform attendees what had happened and to offer a forecast of how long the incident could last and what services could be affected. All participants coordinated on re-routing possibilities for freight trains, using the re-routing scenarios developed after Rastatt. These routes, reviewed in January 2020 and openly available on the corridor’s website, give an off-the-shelf view of which services could operate on which diversionary lines, depending on the weight, train length, and profile. DB Networks was able to meet all requests for capacity on re-routing lines in Germany, where rail freight mostly used the route via Stuttgart/Singen. These re-routings were closely coordinated between DB Networks and SBB Infrastructure. Several freight trains were also redirected via France and the Brenner route. The situation was eased by the coronavirus pandemic, which had caused many passenger services and some freight services to come to a halt, reducing pressure on capacity. However, there was a drawback, as it meant many trains were filling the limited stabling areas available to hold services waiting to pass the incident. In order to facilitate this, the online “Park or Run” tool developed by Rail Net Europe in connection with the Train Information System (TIS) was used. “In Switzerland the big issue was that a lot of the stabling capacity was taken by passenger trains, because due to the lockdown there was a very big restriction in Switzerland,” Fattorini says. The Park or Run tool has been used by several IMs on RFC Rhine-Alpine

IRJ September 2020

since January 2018. In order to facilitate communication, the tool helps dispatchers to identify and agree on the handling of the trains directly affected by the interruption. The tool also allows online communication with affected IMs about which trains may run as planned and which should be held and where, and helps to speed up border processes in daily business and minimise track occupation times in marshalling yards. “We had some problems in the northern part of the corridor but everything was managed very well due to this tool,” Fattorini says. “We are reflecting on the lessons learned within the ICM processes and what is foreseen in the handbook. So we have to tackle these issues and come up with a proposal of how it will be better handled in the future.”

Cross-border management

This was echoed by Mr Marcel Theis, COO and member of the executive board at SBB Cargo International, who said the process of managing and creating cross-border train paths needed to be improved during incidents. SBB Infrastructure created a timetable showing which trains were allocated to different train paths in Switzerland, which could then be cross referenced with train paths in Germany. “What is needed for the future is cross-border train paths in case of incidents, otherwise we will not be able to handle all the trains and we will get into a mess at the border stations,” Theis says. “For Auggen it was OK with the dispatch table, but for bigger incidents we see the necessity to have these cross-border train paths available.” However, Theis says there was a marked improvement in the IMs’ response between the Rastatt and Auggen incidents. While it took more than a day to get trains running following Rastatt, Theis says SBB was on a call with DB Networks at 23.00 on April 2, with the first train running again at 04.00 the next morning. “This was one point where we said this was really a learning curve from Rastatt to now, there was good coordination between the IMs, they coordinated their telephone calls with all participants at the table,” he says. “We see the necessity to have one coordinator at the coordinator level if there are bigger incidents that take longer but for Auggen, the coordination between the IMs was really good. From our point of view as an operator we

were better prepared because we also had a learning curve and were able to react very quickly to this broken line and organise these new trains via Stuttgart.” Warnecke agrees. “I think in terms of available information and in terms of the re-routing scenarios, and the very quick reaction, it was a very strong improvement,” she says. While the Covid-19 pandemic eased pressure by reducing traffic, it also created additional challenges such as staff working from home. Two simulations were run following the implementation of the ICM Handbook in 2018, followed by an extended consultation to improve responses, but these were run from simulating the management of an incident from the RFC headquarters. “All participants from IMs and RFCs were aware of their roles and the rules during the whole process,” Fattorini says. “The big challenge for me personally… was having to coordinate the process from the home office. During the simulations all persons from the RFC involved in the ICM coordination were in our crisis room so you can share information, you can ask your colleague to take over, you can ask ‘can you write down something.’ This was not possible in the home office situation - which was very challenging.” The line was reopened at 20.00 on April 8, just under a week after the accident occurred. The ICM process was closed with a final teleconference to notify to all impacted IMs and RFCs when the line would reopen, along with any final details from the leading IM. A review process of the ICM Handbook is currently ongoing at Rail Net Europe until the end of 2020, with all interested IM and RFC stakeholders involved in the process. This will look at how the handbook was implemented, what processes were and weren’t followed, and what might require adjustment for further improving the International Contingency Management processes at IMs and with the support of RFCs. The operators have also developed an ICM Handbook to coordinate processes between operators in an ICM case. The first version of the handbook is supported by a large number of European operators, and was presented at a meeting of the Railway Undertakings Dialogue forum and Prime in January 2020. “Every accident is different but I think we can see that with very good international cooperation and with the good background from the simulations, we can strongly improve the response to big international incidents,” Fattorini says. IRJ

39

IRJ Insights | cybersecurity

Photo: Deutsche Bahn AG / Max Lautenschläger

Preparing to face the digital threat

T

Increasing digitalisation opens the railway up to a broad range of cybersecurity threats, both known and unknown. David Burroughs looks at the dangers to the industry, how it is preparing and what else is required to protect suppliers, operators and customers in this digital era.

HE railway industry is no stranger to managing security in the physical sense, but as trains increasingly become digital hubs, communication systems become ever more sophisticated and corporate secrets are increasingly stored on web-connected servers, the dangers posed by a lack of digital security are growing exponentially. Cybersecurity is a subject that has only recently become a major topic of conversation among operators, manufacturers and suppliers. But recent incidents such as the data breaches at Stadler and Spanish infrastructure manager Adif have highlighted the risks to the industry, while other incidents such as the 2015 Ukraine power grid cyberattack show the damaging impact attacks can have on critical infrastructure. The WannaCry attack that brought down

40

German Rail’s (DB) passenger information displays as part of a larger attack that spread around the world in May 2017 also highlights how rail can be caught up in wider indiscriminate attacks. Technology supplier Ensco Rail says it has received numerous questions from both freight and passenger operators over the past 18 months asking it to confirm that its products comply with various cybersecurity standards, highlighting how this has become a major topic of concern. This is echoed by cybersecurity analysts RazorSecure which says it has been involved in more conversations about cybersecurity over the past 12 months than was previously the norm. But this awareness and discussion must be translated into concrete action if the industry is to remain ahead of the

game - or catch up with threats it has fallen behind. An alert issued on July 23 by the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) emphasised the growing risks, warning that operational technology (OT) infrastructure was becoming an attractive target. “Legacy OT assets that were not designed to defend against malicious cyber activities, combined with readily available information that identifies OT assets connected via the internet, are creating a ‘perfect storm’ of easy access to unsecured assets; use of common, open-source information about devices; and an extensive list of exploits deployable via common exploit frameworks,” the alert warned. “It is

important to note that while the behaviour may not be technically advanced, it is still a serious threat because the potential impact to critical assets is so high.” The state of cybersecurity in the rail industry, and its ability to respond to these threats, is very much a mixed bag says RazorSecure CEO and founder, Mr Alex Cowan. “There are some companies that are much further along the path, they’ve been doing it for four or five years and have quite a strong view on what good cybersecurity looks like,” Cowan says. “And there are others that are really very much further behind and are starting to take the first steps, but maybe lack some of the maturity that the others have developed through starting a bit earlier.”

Data

The risks of not taking data protection seriously include loss of intellectual property, the theft of sensitive data, and damage to high value systems and infrastructure. When it announced the attack on May 7, Stadler said it had immediately initiated the required security measures, involved the responsible authorities and launched a detailed investigation. “Stadler’s internal surveillance services found out that the company’s IT network has been attacked by malware which has most likely led to a data leak,” the company said at the time. Later that month, internal documents stolen during the cyber-attack were published online after the manufacturer refused to give in to a $US 6m ransom demand, to be paid in Bitcoin. “Stadler is not and was at no time willing to make payments to the blackmailers and has not entered into the negotiations,” the company told IRJ after 4GB of information was published, along with a list of files the hackers had accessed and could potentially have extracted. The attack on Adif appears to have followed a similar pattern, with hackers claiming to have taken 800GB of data including correspondence and contracts. In a message posted to a leak site related to REvil ransomware, they threatened to publish the data if Adif did not make contact. “Simultaneously with the publication, the third attack will follow,” the message read. “We will continue to download your data until you contact us.” Adif confirmed to IRJ that a cyberattack using ransomware software had been controlled by its internal security services.

“The infrastructure has not been affected at any time, and the correct functioning of all its services has been guaranteed,” the company says. “Adif, aware of being the manager of a critical infrastructure such as the exploitation of the railway network, considers cybersecurity as one of the pillars of comprehensive security.” These are not isolated incidents, with the 2020 IBM Dptu!pg!b!Ebub!Csfbdi Sfqpsu finding that the average data breach in the transport industry cost $US 3.58m, up from $US 2.9m in 2015. The average time to identify and contain a breach in the industry was 275 days. Mr Brett Callow, a Canadian-based threat analyst with New Zealand cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, says it is a common misconception that ransomware attacks are instantaneous. “People think you open an email attachment and your files immediately start being encrypted but that’s not how it works,” he says. “The deployment of the ransomware and the encryption of the files is very much the last stage in an attack. They will have had access to the network for days, weeks or possibly even months prior to starting to encrypt the files and they’ll have used that time to spread laterally through the network to collect credentials and steal data.” Callow says there has been an increase in hackers stealing data from companies instead of just encrypting it. This comes despite the increased risks, as there is a greater chance that a company may notice the unusual activity and stop it before the hackers have the opportunity to encrypt the data, leaving them empty handed. Callow says there are things companies can do to protect their data in order to stop most attacks, or at least limit their scope: = use multi-factor authentication everywhere it can be used, including on internal administration accounts = limit admin rights = disable remote desktop protocol (RDP) if not needed and lock it down if it is, and secure other remote access solutions = segment networks = patch in a timely manner = disable PowerShell, a cross-platform task automation and configuration management framework, when not needed = continuously conduct security awareness training, and = assume that perimeters will be breached and ensure the tools and processes are in place to monitor for indications of compromise. Image: Shutterstock/SkillUp

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IRJ Insights | cybersecurity “If you understand what typical activity looks like on your internal network you can spot things that may be abnormal,” Callow says. “Companies need to have the tools and processes in place to enable them to do that.” Staff play a critical role in ensuring these tools and processes are followed. This was highlighted by a recent incident at Twitter, where multiple major accounts including those of Barack Obama and Elon Musk were compromised and used to promote a bitcoin scam. The attack was made possible after the alleged United States-based hacker, 17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark, phoned an information technology employee at Twitter and convinced him that he was a colleague who needed login credentials to access the company’s customer support platform. Clark now faces 30 felonies for the attack.

Operational Technology

As OT and IT systems become ever more closely connected, the threat of cyberattacks being used against this infrastructure continue to grow. Innovative solutions such as autonomous controls for safety critical systems, Internet of Things (IoT)-connected sensors and real-time communication services have all introduced additional attack vectors that can expand an attacker’s footprint and increase vulnerability. These new capabilities often require integration into dated architectures and are often reliant upon legacy support systems which can be inherently less secure. Trains are also much more digitalised today than even a few years ago, with more than 100 Internet Protocol (IP) connected systems and up to 10times as many processors onboard as previous models. “Part of the challenge [operators and manufacturers] run into is that this adds a lot of additional risk,” Cowan says. “It means that you have an onboard network that itself needs to be secured, you have lots of different systems running a lot of different software on board as well. But there are a lot of existing suppliers that haven’t really considered how they will maintain and manage that software over the whole life of an asset. That’s probably the biggest gap I see in the industry today.” This complexity can pose real challenges to operators trying to protect their fleets, especially if they’re not aware of just how extensively connected they are and what systems need protecting. “The thing that I find quite extraordinary

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Keeping operational technology secure

ITH critical infrastructure such as rail coming under increased pressure, the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recommends developing an OT resilience plan that allows organisations to: = immediately disconnect systems from the internet that do not need internet connectivity for safe and reliable operations, and ensure that compensating controls are in place where connectivity cannot be removed = plan for continued manual operation should the Industrial Control Systems (ICS) become unavailable or need to be deactivated due to hostile takeover = remove additional functionality that could induce risk and attack surface area = identify system and operational dependencies = restore OT devices and services in a timely manner, and assign roles and responsibilities for OT network and device restoration = back-up “gold copy” resources such

as firmware, software, service contracts, product licenses, product keys and configuration information, and verify that all gold copy resources are stored off-network and store at least one copy in a locked tamperproof environment such as a locked safe, and = test and validate data backups and processes in the event of data loss due to malicious cyber activity. Before an incident, organisations should develop a well-exercised incident response plan: = conduct a table top exercise, including executive personnel, to test the existing incident response plan = include public affairs and legal teams in the exercise in addition to IT, OT, and executive management = discuss key decision points in the response plan and identify who has the authority to make key decisions under what circumstances, and = partner with third parties for support, and review service contracts and government services for emergency incident response and recovery support.

is when you listen to train manufacturers and operators, and they openly admit that a lot of operators don’t know what is installed on their train,” says RazorSecure executive chairman, Mr Robert Brown. “They might know 90% of it, but 10% they don’t know. With cybersecurity, unless you know what assets you’re trying to protect, how do you protect them? I think that is really quite a glaring example of how the industry needs to catch up.” The way this can pose added risks are varied and numerous. RazorSecure has seen multiple instances where devices lack basic passwords or encryption, and there have also been instances where protected devices have been openly available for sale on Ebay. This can pose a major security risk as hackers can use these to decompile the inbuilt software that will allow them to discover vulnerabilities or loopholes to enable future attacks.

While GSM-R is a 2G-based system, FRMCS is an IP-based system that will use 5G. “We all know that IP is a good entry door for cyberattacks, unfortunately,” says Mr Jean-Michel Evanghelou, head of telecoms at the International Union of Railways (UIC), which is leading the FRMCS project. The most likely threat against FRMCS is a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack, Evanghelou says. A DoS is designed to shut down a machine or network, making it inaccessible to its intended users. This is usually achieved by flooding the target with traffic, or sending it information that triggers a crash. While this is not likely to affect the safety of the railway due to the failsafe systems in place, it would more than likely result in a lack of service. In order to protect against this, the UIC is looking to bake countermeasures into FRMCS. As part of the technological jump from 2G to 5G, a new Telecom On-Board Architecture (Toba) is being developed to manage telecommunication between the train and the network. “In the design of Toba, particularly speaking of FRMCS, we will have some level of cybersecurity protection,” Evanghelou says. “And we are starting to decide what kind of protection level we will put into the system. “What we are looking at is having a double layer of protection, not only

FRMCS

One of the most important digital systems currently under development across the railway industry is the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), a successor to GSM-R that will provide wireless train radio voice applications and ETCS data communication between the train and the network.

protection at the communication layer, which is very important, but also additional protection at the application layer, the objective being that when we start to put the first FRMCS products in place that these products are embedded with these levels of protection.”

Critical time

Evanghelou explains that it is always more difficult to add protection to an existing system than to design one with protection embedded from the start, which is why the development of the FRMCS standard has come at a critical time. This is not to say that GSM-R is not secure, despite cybersecurity not being a major topic of concern when it was developed around 2000. In fact, the system’s core basic design means it is less impregnable than newer IP-based systems with the biggest vulnerability coming from the IP-based networks it connects with. “There is always a weakness point when you introduce GSM-R into the IP network of a company,” Evanghelou says. “The good thing now is that the work we are doing with FRMCS will be applied to

the existing GSM-R network. What we are being pushed to look at for the future for FRMCS has also pushed us to increase the level of protection of GSM-R.” A number of suppliers across the industry are working with the UIC on the development of FRMCS, including the cybersecurity development. For this, Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) is critical, especially for those suppliers providing technology that is safety critical in nature or involves proprietary information. “Managing the risks associated with the supply chain requires suppliers to adhere to standards and best practices and participate in vulnerability testing with proof of successful defence mechanisms including attack sensing and warning,” says Mr Ruben Peña, director, government surface transportation at Ensco Rail. “Appropriate incident response measures must be in place throughout the supply chain to contain the problem, communicate effectively with internal and external customers, conduct the necessary forensics, and ultimately determine the root cause and preventative action.” The way a security flaw can propagate

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through the supply chain was highlighted by a collection of vulnerabilities called Ripple20. The 19 hackable bugs were identified by Israeli security firm JSOF in code sold by a small Ohio-based company called Treck, which provides software used in IoT devices. JSOF found that a piece of code carrying the bug, which was designed to handle the ubiquitous TCP-IP protocol that connects the device to networks and the internet, was installed in devices from more than 10 different manufacturers, including HP, Intel, Caterpillar and Schneider Electric. Rail is exposed because the affected devices range from power supply systems in data centres to the programmable logic controllers used in power grids and manufacturing. JSOF began contacting the affected manufacturers in February. Schneider Electric put out a security bulletin on June 16, followed by a security notification on June 23 and a subsequent patch for some of the vulnerabilities. “Customers should immediately ensure they have implemented cybersecurity best practices across their operations to protect themselves from possible exploitation of these vulnerabilities,”

IRJ Insights | cybersecurity the security notification says. “Where appropriate, this includes locating their industrial systems and remotely accessible devices behind firewalls; installing physical controls to prevent unauthorised access; preventing mission-critical systems and devices from being accessed from outside networks; and following remediation and general security recommendations.”

Risks

With the risk of not taking cybersecurity seriously seemingly so obvious and costly, it would appear logical to embed the highest level of protection possible into systems and fleets. But Brown says it comes down to a simple calculation: money. With existing fleets, the operator may not have the funding available to install a new cybersecurity system across its trains while with new orders, it depends on whether the company placing the order has included it as a condition when writing the specifications. Building cybersecurity into the fleet may increase the attractiveness of a bid, but it could also add in major new costs that could result in a lower cost competitor providing less security if it is not specified specifically by the tender. Brown also points out that there is currently a gap between the tenders and specifications being written now, which generally include cybersecurity, and new trains being delivered that may have been tendered five years ago when cybersecurity was less of a concern. During a recent cybersecurity

summit in London, a group of cybersecurity experts demonstrated how they were able to expose the vulnerabilities of a control system of a train that had recently been delivered. “They were able to gain access to the Train Control and Management System (TCMS) and essentially had full privileged access, including to the braking system,” Cowan says. The hackers were also able to demonstrate how they could use the access to one train to then gain access to another train’s TCMS. “There is potentially a very serious event that could occur as a result,” Cowan continues. “They’re not saying that people are in that system today, but they demonstrated that it could be done on a live train that is out running around Britain today.” Standards to protect against this have already been introduced for some sectors of the industry, including the United States’ National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-171 as well as accreditation with the International Organisation for Standardisation/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 27001 standard. Other standards such as the Cenelec TS50701 Cyber Security Technical Specification for the EU rail industry will be published in June 2021. This will help to standardise cybersecurity requirements for rolling stock, signalling and infrastructure, and is designed to become an EN standard that will be used globally. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) senior director of cybersecurity and chief information security officer (CISO), Mr Kyle Malo,

New trains are increasingly becoming digital hubs, but each new technology introduced poses another challenge to digital security. Photo: Transport for London

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says meeting these standards will soon become a requirement, meaning suppliers should look to conform now. Malo, who was previously CISO at the FBI, says there are two ways a hacker can use the supply chain to compromise a railway. The first is through intentional interference in the supply chain, in order to compromise products and embed sleeper malware than can be activated once these components have been installed. The second is through exploiting simple weaknesses that have not been identified and fixed. “The result is the same for us, and that is compromise,” Malo says. “I’m worried about customer safety, I’m worried about our customer’s personal information and their credit card information, and obviously reputation. The conversation I have within our organisation is what happens the day after a cyberattack, what happens to our ridership levels, what does that mean to our revenue.” This also has major follow-on implications for a supplier if their products are found to be the source of the breach. “If I’m going to follow a NIST framework and I have to certify that in order to get hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, I can tell you that things like the supply chain and how we secure the technology we’re buying is not just something we like to do, it’s now something that we have to do,” Malo says.

Partnerships

Rail is not alone in its fight against cyberattacks, and it is one area where it can look to build partnerships with both the private and public sectors to share information, learn from previous attacks and gain an early understanding of how it could be at risk from future attacks. Looking at the state of the industry and the wide range of risks posed, the task of protecting the entire rail sector might seem daunting and unachievable. Cowan disagrees.“I don’t think it’s too big, and I don’t think it can be too big,” he says. “There’s a long way to go, and there’s a mix of challenges. In terms of actually delivering and securing the entire rail industry, there are still many years of work ahead. But I don’t think it’s an impossible task. I think it just requires a lot more effort and dedication in order to get there. I think the industry will get there, it’s just a question of timing and money.” IRJ

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IRJ 2020 Innovations showcase Latest rail industry innovations revealed

The global railway supply industry continues to push the boundaries of innovation. To bridge the gap left by the postponement of trade shows where many of the latest products and services are revealed for the first time, we present IRJ 2020 Innovations Showcase. In the second of a two-part series, Oliver Cuenca looks at some of the latest innovations in rail.

Bombardier retrofits AGC fleets for electric power

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OMBARDIER is developing batteries for retrofitting of its Autorail à Grande Capacité (AGC) multiple-unit trains, as part of an effort to improve the environmental impact of the vehicles. The project aims to convert at least 50 dual-mode electrodiesel AGCs to electric as part of a complementary service included as part of the trains’ necessary mid-life overhaul. The trains’ existing diesel packs will be replaced by four battery units, as well as a high-power charger to transfer energy between the battery, traction equipment and pantograph. The batteries will complement weak catenary power supply during acceleration and improve operational robustness, and prevent the unnecessary replacement of existing rolling stock fleets while reducing their environmental impact in line with plans to eliminate all diesel trains by 2035. The conversion to electric also reduces energy costs in AGCs compared with diesel-fuelled counterparts, and allows the

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incorporation of regenerative braking, offering 15% higher peak power. = A Bombardier-led Shift2Rail initiative, for the development of the technology to operate multiple traction units simultaneously via LTE radio communication will enable the operation of up to 1500m long freight trains, doubling the capacity of European freight trains and significantly improving the productivity and competitiveness of rail freight on the continent.

The initiative is currently developing a model capable of controlling three locomotives in a 700m-long mixed train. Later versions will include radio technologies such as 5G and FRMCS. The initiative is part of the EU-funded FFL4E project, which previously demonstrated the technology with a 500m, 3500-tonne train in push-pull configuration with 39 fully-loaded Falwagons controlled through GSM-R.

SAB Bröckskes provides high-flexibility rail cable

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HE new SAB RailLine 560 halogen-free flexible cable is capable of withstanding heavy weather conditions and is resistant to mechanical stress. It is ideal for use in door control systems, bogies or as jumper cables or sensor cables for the wheelset. In addition, the cable has high

flame protection and is non-toxic, as well as resistant to oil, fuel, UV and ozone. The RailLine 560 is available as control cable with a nominal voltage of 300/500V, as a screened version or as paired data cable, or designed for a nominal voltage of 0.6/1kV.

Sinclair Technologies offers rugged antennas for safety applications

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INCLAIR Technologies’ SD242 series of rugged antennas are well suited for public safety applications. The 2-bay exposed dipole antenna is designed for applications where moderate gain is required, and Passive Intermodulation interference (PIM) is a consideration.

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IVU Traffic Technologies integrates path management

It provides coverage from 118 to 225MHz in three subbands, and the 138-174MHz band is for private mobile networks and public safety. Key features include 5dBd gain with bi-directional pattern, 300W power handling and a universal mount which enables top or side mounting.

VU Traffic Technologies will include integrated train path management in its IVU.rail software in the near future, using the upcoming European TAF/TAP TSI standard. The software will allow planners to import the latest train path planned and published by the network operator into IVU.rail’s planning environment, and incorporate it into timetable planning and vehicle scheduling. It also enables planners to analyse train path changes before transferring them to the scheduled trains. In addition, integrated conflict management makes planners aware of technical conflicts between a train and a scheduled train path, such as formation restrictions, maximum weight and other infrastructure requirements. Using the future TAF/TAP TSI standard and integrating it with the actual planning process, IVU.rail will ensure consistent planning information, from journeys and vehicle schedules to disruption management and day-to-day operation.

Colas Rail start-stop saves fuel

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OLAS Rail’s Ramfer Ecostop start-stop module can be integrated into any diesel rail vehicle, and enables the engine to be put on standby during idle periods of waiting and parking. The system stops the engine when the vehicle is idling and the brake is applied, allowing for significant fuel cost

savings and reduced air pollution, with an average reduction of 15,000 litres of fuel and 39 tonnes of CO2 emitted per year, per vehicle. In addition, the system is equipped with a telematic module that generates and transmits data to communicate the current status of the system.

IRJ September 2020

Huber+Suhner antennas improve operational planning

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UBER+Suhner has extended the capabilities of its rail rooftop antennas with the launch of its Sencity Rail Mimo embedded dual-band GNSSreceiving antenna. The rooftop antenna supports both upper and lower GNSS bands, and enables train operators to improve their geospatial positioning and time precision of their operations to pin-point accuracy for applications including autonomous trains. The antenna provides greater transparency of movement on tracks, enabling improvements to operational planning on busy lines, as well as significantly improving the viability of automated operation. The antenna’s robust design meets the stringent EN 50155 railway standard and is fire

retardant. Additionally, the antenna’s GNSS port on the antenna supports a range of satellite constellations, including GPS, Galileo, BeiDou and Glonass. The GNSS port is also complemented by two broadband mobile and Wi-Fi compatible ports which can be deployed for a variety of different train to ground services. = Huber+Suhner has also launched its new Sencity PTC antenna which offers an ultranarrow bandwidth, supporting the very high frequency PTC band of 220MHz. Operators can select a standalone PTC antenna or have the option of an embedded multi-band GNSS receiving antenna to support upper GNSS bands on GPS, Galileo, DeiDou and Glonass constellations.

Battery power supply keeps trains running during outages

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ITACHI ABB Power Grids is developing a new system in partnership with energy storage operator Zenobe Energy which will enable the powering of 25kV ac overhead lines through energy stored in batteries. The technology, which couples Zenobe’s batteries with Hitachi’s Static Frequency Converter (SFC) system, will be used on the British rail network in its first application in the country. The first planned applications will be to provide

IRJ September 2020

24/7 traction power to depots, providing a cost-effective alternative power supply which will remain accessible at times when power is normally unavailable. In addition, the technology could also be used in future to provide power to sections of track where electrification is currently undergoing maintenance and upgrading, providing significantly decreased disruption, greater efficiency and enabling longer work times.

ZF offers flexibility with EcoMet

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F has developed a range of products for rail vehicles including EcoMet, a modular gearbox for metro trains which allows easy adaptation to the needs of individual clients. The gearbox is easily modifiable, providing reductions in development times and manufacturing costs while still benefitting from high performance. The gearbox can operate variable centre distance of 350mm to 370mm, and ratios within a single, noise-optimised housing. It is designed for a maximum load of 17 tonnes and a top speed of 120km/h at a maximum engine speed of about 6000rpm. In addition, the gearbox is easily adaptable to incorporate digital functionality, including comprehensive monitoring systems such as the ZF connect@rail system.

ZF’s EcoWorld is a compact, powerful and cost-efficient DMU system which offers a drive power maximum of 600kW and an input torque of 2500Nm. It features a revised and extended powershift transmission, and a reversing gear with two shift positions directly integrated into the transmission. Thanks to a new drive system that can be combined with a range of axle ratios, the transmission is suitable for both slow-speed and fast long-distance operation. Equipped with an optional advanced coasting function, the transmission allows additional fuel savings of 5% depending on route, engine type and load condition. EcoWorld can be fitted in existing trains to prolong the vehicle’s service life and significantly reduce operating costs.

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IRJ 2020 Innovations showcase Knorr-Bremse iCOM improves efficiency

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NORR-BREMSE’s iCOM toolkit features a range of digital applications to assist the operation and maintenance of fleets. These functions enable advanced service models to increase availability within an agreed timeframe and provide a more stable cost framework to facilitate planning. Additionally, driver advisory systems like Leader provide predictive support to drivers, allowing for improved energy efficiency and reduced maintenance costs and environmental impact. For light rail, features include maintenance optimisation, continuous performance monitoring and energy optimisation of HVAC systems. iCom is part of a portfolio which includes optimisation algorithms for energy-efficient driving styles, assistance systems with obstacle detection and collision avoidance, reproducible braking distance functionalities and ATO systems for freight train operation.

Progress Rail develops battery-powered shunter: The new EMD Joule battery-powered shunting locomotive, developed in collaboration with Vale, Brazil, has a nominal power of up to 2.2MW and an operating time of up to 24 hours, depending on charging and use. It is equipped with a 1.9MWh-capacity lithium-ion battery pack, with options to expand this to 2.4MWh. The shunter will undergo trials later this year and is expected to begin full service at Vale’s Tubarão rail yard soon after. Progress Rail plans to release the locomotive globally from early 2021.

Siemens and Ballard develop hydrogen trains

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IEMENS Mobility is currently developing a modular hydrogen fuel cell drive for its Mireo Plus H regional train platform, which will subsequently be integrated into other platforms. The É12m project, in partnership with Canadian fuel cell producer Ballard Power Systems and the Rhine-Westphalian Technical University in Aachen (RWTH), plans to produce a usable fuel cell drive by 2021, with a planned range of 600km-900km in two or three-car trains. The fuel cell trains should perform to the same level as electric trains, emitting no CO2

Taking maintenance to a higher level

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ECHAN’s bogie lift works in pairs to raise a bogie frame to a comfortable height for maintenance and repairs to take place underneath. The lift grips the bogie securely and lifts it to a desired height, allowing maximum clearance to give operators full access

when dismantling and reassembling the unit. Mechan’s bogie lift offers a cost-effective, safe alternative to traditional bogie rotators in cases where there is no need for the bogie to revolve. The product was designed for Siemens Mobility, but is now commercially available.

HE Oelcheck sample data entry app provides a userfriendly interface to monitor the quality of locomotives’ operating fluid and lubricant, ensuring higher levels of safety and guaranteeing reliability. The app allows users to record sample data in three steps: scan the QR code for the machine and select the component, scan the barcode of the sample, and the app sends the sample data to

Oelcheck, with no need for handwritten forms. The app also offers encrypted communication and storage. The latest 4.0 update also allows for easy retrieval of lab reports, as well as the ability to send sample photos and enter data offline, meaning that users no longer have to worry about poor internet connections. The app is available on iOS and Android.

Oelcheck 4.0 brings on-the-rail analyses

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and have low maintenance costs. The new hydrogen fuel cell has a triple service life, 50% higher power density and 5% better efficiency. The hydrogen-powered Plus H trains will be used on existing diesel routes and in regions where hydrogen is cheaply available through wind power and the chemicals industry. The project is being funded by the German federal Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) as part of its National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology.

Adaptable communication technology

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OKIA’s new 5G SA solutions provide a portfolio of services for all entry points and connectivity requirements. Customers can utilise the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC), a compact, plug-andplay system with automation enablers which operates on 4.9G/LTE and 5G private wireless networking standards. DAC allows for on-site data management and processing to support real-time applications for remote operations, predictive maintenance and smart manufacturing. The services offer low latency, strong security and dependable QoS management, and offer flexibility for customers including full control of multi-local networks and easy scalability to suit all operation sizes, with further

customisation available through Nokia’s Modular Private Wireless (MPW) solution. Nokia has conducted multiple in-situ trials of the technology in cooperation with customers and mobile operators since the first quarter of 2020. In addition, the company was awarded a contract in December 2019 for the implementation of 5G ATO systems for the Hamburg SBahn. Nokia 5G SA will also feature Ultra-Reliable LowLatency Communication (URLLC), Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) in future 5G 3GPP releases (R16-18), allowing for low latency and ultra-high reliability on mission-critical applications such as ATO and intelligent power management.

IRJ September 2020

Enabling real-time GPS tracking

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YNTONY’s GNSS SoftSpot IoT receiver enables energyefficient real-time GPS tracking of rail assets such as construction tools, containers and materials. Thanks to the use of secured cloud software to compute positions, any GPS chipset can have its life extended 10-fold without expensive increases in battery capacity, enabling costeffective monitoring of assets once deemed too expensive to track. With GPS now in use in most management centres, implementation is easy and inexpensive. The Syntony SubWave GPS Coverage Extension allows for the monitoring of assets in real-time even in tunnels

which are usually out of reach of GPS signals using existing telecommunication infrastructure to boost signals. The system, which combines GPS with PTC solutions, was first used on the Stockholm metro in Sweden, and enables operators to position their teams and trains inside tunnels, either in a defined zone or at specific points. Zone-based positioning is intended to optimise rescue action in the event of emergencies. Continuous location tracking, which enables tracking of down to 2m of error, is designed for improvements to management on high-traffic lines.

OLLON launched a project in June to revamp its entire product range starting with Compact Rail, Elm and Robot actuators, Plus System products, and E-Smart and R-Smart. All these products have been technologically and aesthetically renewed to increase performance and opportunities for industrial designers as well as offer pleasant looking products that can be integrated into the factory design. Compact Rail is a system of rails with bearings in cold drawn steel with induction hardened and ground raceways to manage misalignment. The new version is reliable in dirty environments, resistant to corrosion and has a long life due to induction hardened

raceways, solidity and sturdiness guaranteed by the steel slider. The new Plus version also provides better performance, thanks to double ball bearings and new rails with convex raceways which guarantee greater rigidity with increased load capacities up to +170% in the axial direction and +65% in the radial direction. The entire Compact Rail range now offers new steel sliders equipped with self-centering raceway cleaners, integrated lubrication systems for the raceway cleaners with a slow-release felt pad for automatic lubrication, lateral seals to protect the internal components and a cover on top to prevent accidental alterations or tampering with the radial ball bearing rollers.

Rollon revamps entire product range

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IRJ September 2020

Teltronic streamlines communications

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ELTRONIC’s new RTP-800 is a radio system which integrates single rack Tetra, LTE and Wi-Fi for voice and data communications. The hardware allows for full dedication to broadband communications and comes with an independent interface that allows the transmission of data without interfering with mission critical functions, and without additional equipment. The new onboard equipment is configured as a single hardware platform that supports multiple configurations: Tetra

voice and data, Tetra voice plus LTE data, or LTE MCPTT and VoIP services for voice and broadband data services. Additionally, the RTP-800 provides massive data transmission for signalling applications including ETCS, CBTC and PTC, as well as onboard video and voice services which work without downtime. The equipment can be integrated with other subsystems such as the Train Control Management System (TCMS) and public address systems.

LATFORM Basket’s new RR9/200 aerial work platform is designed to be light, compact and transportable on road trailers with a maximum weight of 3.5 tonnes. The platform is equipped with a two person basket and is capable of lifting a 200kg payload up to 9.5m, with a reach of 4.7m. It is ideal for light maintenance work on signalling, lighting and power lines, as well as the maintenance of station infrastructure.

The platform is designed for use on both rail and road, and is equipped with hydraulic rotational tracks which allow for ease of transition between the two without the need for special alignment manoeuvres. The platform is equipped with a 10.5kW diesel endothermic engine, but can also be equipped with lithiumion batteries for fully electric operation for use in tunnels, stations and other interior environments.

Raising aerial platform standards

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IRJ 2020 Innovations showcase Voith develops locomotive stop-start

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HE OnEfficiency.StopStart system from Voith is designed to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by automatically switching off locomotive diesel engines during long periods of idling. At present, the average locomotive spends more than 30% of its operating time idling due to train formation processes, bottlenecks and loading and unloading periods. The new solution, approved by the German Federal Railway Authority (EBA), enables automatic engine shutdown

and restart, reducing idle times by an average of 720 hours per year, offering potential fuel savings of up to 11,000 litres per vehicle. The system also monitors the status of the engine and auxiliary systems to avoid long set-up times, enabling the locomotive to be ready for operation even in stop mode. In addition, the number of refuelling stops is significantly reduced, and maintenance intervals can be extended due to the reduction in operating hours.

Vossloh offers augmented reality rail testing with Soniq Rail Explorer

Soniq uses both augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to find and display rail defects.

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Powerpack from RailCare and Molinari keeps freight movements

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HE modular RailCare rCE Powerpack is a power supply system for freight wagons, which provides costeffective temperature controls for containers. The system, developed by RailCare in partnership with Molinari Rail, consists of an independent axle generator that takes up the kinetic energy of the wheel at speeds in excess of 30km/h, converts it into electrical energy and stores it in eight highperformance modular battery packs. This enables logistics companies to supply their containers with cost-effective energy even during standstills, with potential reductions in CO2 output of up to 75%, and noise reductions of 30 to 35%.

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The Powerpack’s adapter frame fits on a 20-foot container’s spigot positions, and doesn’t require complicated modifications to be made to the wagon’s structure. The system also implements a loading connection for the controlled supply of temperature control systems, as well as satellitebased real-time remote monitoring systems. The wagons are fully independent, with no cable connections required, and allow for easy cross-border use without the need to adapt for country-specific electrical systems. RailCare is currently equipping 80 container wagons for Coop Group, Switzerland, with rCE Powerpacks.

OSSLOH’s Soniq Rail Explorer is a rail tester that offers high-performance inspection capabilities enhanced with augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Developed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Research Institute, Soniq employs AI to analyse serious rail defects and AR to display results clearly for operators. As well as detecting any irregularities inside the rail, the system also detects squats, head-checks and rail-base corrosion. The data is permanently saved for later analysis and sent to the office via a SIMcard module, thus assisting asset management and maintenance optimisation to increase track availability. Raw data collected during rail inspections and displayed using B-scans and camera

images document the rail’s condition at the time of the inspection. Integration with Microsoft HoloLens enhances the inspection data and shows the operator a spatially accurate virtual overlay superimposed on the real rail. The intelligent integration of proven ultrasound technology with existing infrastructure enables easier interpretation and classification of the data. The learned algorithms option allows serious rail defects to be automatically identified and reported. Findings can be incorporated into the company’s digitalised process chains to serve as evidence if problems occur. Long-term access to ultrasound data also produces knowledge about damage progression allowing for optimised rail maintenance measures.

Rail Movement Planner provides real-time train scheduling

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AIL Movement Planner is a real-time train scheduling system which offers smart management for network operation centres. The system enables traffic controllers to predict future delays and inefficiencies in their networks through the use of powerful algorithms and heuristics, allowing potential delays and

inefficiencies to be resolved within a few seconds. Rail Movement Planner offers better network efficiency including improved energy efficiency and fewer delays, and more effective automation, allowing for standardised planning processes and less variance in the network, even in the event of disruption.

IRJ September 2020

TMH AC unit kills bacteria and viruses

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RANSMASHHOLDING (TMH) has developed a new air-conditioning unit which includes a built-in air sanitiser capable of reliably purifying the air of bacteria and viruses such as Covid-19 as it regulates onboard temperatures. The system, developed in collaboration with Andreyev Acoustics Institute, is equipped with UV lamps which eliminate pathogens before returning the air to coaches. The system also significantly reduces the noise emitted during operation by harnessing a set of proprietary assemblies

located in the air ducts of a vehicle, which blocks acoustic radiation produced by the fans while maintaining an unobstructed flow of air. During tests, noise levels were found to have reduced by around 10dBA compared with previous versions of the product. The new system will be installed on the new metro vehicles, locomotives, EMUs, and other rolling stock produced by TMH, and has been validated for safety and efficiency by the Russian Scientific Research Institute of Railway Hygiene.

TRUKTON Wire Scan provides rail operators with a high standard of contact wire measurement technology for use on electrified rail networks including light rail. Wire Scan provides infrastructure managers with a system to measure thickness, height, stagger and dynamics of the wires. Wire Scan uses advanced scanning technology to automatically and accurately measure the position and condition of overhead catenary, reducing the need for manual, physical inspections. Data is then displayed via a GIS interface. The system also enables customised algorithms for specific monitoring thresholds. In addition, Strukton’s Poss data monitoring and analysis system uses non-intrusive sensors and data loggers to track the condition of a broad range of infrastructure assets such as points and track circuits. The system allows for the collection and analysis of data on a broad range of parameters including temperature, current, impact, movement, humidity and hydraulic pressure,

making use of big data, Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning technologies, and complies with all European Union (EU) standards for EMC, safety and ICT security. Poss hardware is linked to an advanced software algorithm in which data is analysed under the eyes of maintenance experts. Smart algorithms analyse and interpret the data and report on the root causes of failures. The latest data is available online via the PossOnline digital platform, allowing operators to optimise the maintenance process and enable maintenance work to be carried out accurately and efficiently. The predictive strength of Poss means that users only receive information that they need, when they need it. Technicians immediately know where they need to be, what the problem is and how to solve it, and asset managers immediately obtain full insight into the performance and condition of their assets.

VTG unveils new Traigo management system for rail freight fleet

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RAIGO is VTG’s platform for digital rail freight products including contract, fleet and transport management and wagon tracking. The platform is a central hub for fleet management, giving users access 24/7 to contractual information and allowing them to call up the data of wagons on hire in real time. Recent features include estimated time of arrival services and the ability for customers to check brake block conversion status. VTG’s FastTrack service enables customers to book short-term, flexible freight train hire via Traigo, enabling

them to manage spikes in demand or unplanned loads. Short-term hire is now available in Hamburg, Rotterdam and Gothenberg, and all container wagons are fitted with VTG Connector sensors, which allow customers to track the status of all transport data including container temperature, shock detection and positioning through GPS/QZSS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou and GSM systems. VTG plans to expand its range of ports in future. In addition, VTG will provide traction in-house through its subsidiary VTG Retrack.

Strukton launches Wire Scan tool

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IRJ September 2020

Ganser components offer reductions in costs and pollution

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ANSER, the developer of the first Common Rail Systems (CRS) for passenger vehicles and large diesel engines, offers two state-ofthe-art injector components: the patented Poppet Valve and the Wave Dynamics and Dampening device (WDD), which have been field-tested on V16 GE 7FDL and Alco locomotive engines. The results of these trials confirmed an injected quantity deviation of less than 1%, and a return fuel quantity below 10%, combined with zero static leakage and a minimal dynamic leakage. This results in reduced parasitic losses and an efficient usage of the pressurised fuel. The poppet valve’s robustness

enables highly accurate multiple injections, while the WDD dampens the propagation of pressure fluctuations. This offers 5-10% fuel savings across the whole duty cycle as well reductions of 50-90% of black smoke, 6090% of CO2 and 20-50% of NOx. In micro pilot injectors for dual-fuel locomotives, 9899.5% fuel substitution rates are also enabled by the poppet valve’s accurate switching even at the smallest injection quantities. The WDD and injector-integrated accumulators allow jumper lines to be used instead of rails to connect the injectors thereby saving space. IRJ

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Rendezvous September 2020

13-17—USA AREMA Virtual Conference 8 AREMA, Maryland, USA. https://conference.arema.org 22—Germany Railway Forum - “Europe needs a strong rail - even in turbulent times” Virtual Conference 8 IPM, Hannover, Germany www.railwayforumdigital.com

October 2020

5-7—Dubai, UAE UITP/MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition 8 UITP, Brussels, Belgium. https://mena.uitp.org/uitp-mena -congress-exhibition 12-15—Changsha, China Maglev International Conference 8 Hunan Maglev Research, Changsha, China. www.maglev2020.com 14—Britain Rail Freight Group Virtual Conference 8 Waterfront, London, Britain. https://bit.ly/3bSGNcD 19-20—Johannesburg, South Africa

Africa Rail Conference & Exhibition 8 Terrapinn, Bryanston, South Africa. www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/ africa-rail

20-22—Kyiv, Ukraine Rail Expo 8 PromGruz, Dnipro, Ukraine. https://railexpoua.com/en 21—Britain Northern Transport and Infrastructure Development Virtual Conference 8 Waterfront, London, Britain. https://bit.ly/3cUahbh 27-28—Sydney, Australia RISSB Safety Conference 8 RISSB, Melbourne, Australia. www.rissb.com.au/events/rissbrail-safety-conference-2020

8 Waterfront, London, Britain. https://bit.ly/38mfRA4

10—Stockholm, Sweden Scandinavian Rail Evolution Conference 8 Rotatia Media, Ashford, Britain. www.scandinavianrail.co.uk 10-12—Thailand Asia Pacific Rail Virtual Conference 8 Terrapinn, Singapore. www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/ asia-pacific-rail 16-18—Amsterdam, Netherlands World Rail Festival 8 Terrapinn, London, Britain. www.terrapinn.com/conference/ rail-festival 25—London, Britain Rolling Stock Procurement Forum 8 Waterfront, London, Britain. https://bit.ly/3g9cdPh

30-Dec 2—Prague, Czech Republic International Railway Forum 8 Oltis, Olomouc, Czech Republic. https://irfc.eu/en

December 2020

1-3—Australia AusRail 2020 Virtual – Live & On Demand 8 Informa, Sydney, Australia. www.ausrail.com 1-3—Karlsruhe, Germany IT Trans International Conference & Exhibition 8 UITP, Brussels, Belgium. www.it-trans.org/en 9-10—Valenciennes, France Rail Industry Meetings 8 ABE, Paris, France. www.railindustrymeetings.com

28-30—Singapore SITCE 2020 8 UITP, Brussels, Belgium. www.uitp.org/events/sitce-2020

25-26—Bangkok, Thailand Rail Asia Expo 8 AES, Bangkok, Thailand. www.railasiaexpo.com

14-15—London, Britain ERTMS & ETCS – The Future of Railway Signalling Conference 8 Waterfront, London, Britain. https://bit.ly/2vtYWhS

10—Britain UK Rail Station Development and Regeneration Virtual Conference

30-Dec 2 —Madrid, Spain Rail Live Conference 8 Terrapinn, London, Britain. www.terrapinn.com/conference/ rail-live

24-26—Berlin, Germany International Railway Summit 8 IRITS, London, Britain. www.irits.org

November 2020

February 2021

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IRJ September 2020

The supervisory board of Keolis has appointed Ms Marie-Ange Debon as executive chairwoman, effective August 24. From 2008 to March 2020, Debon served as deputy CEO of Suez Group, where she led the international and French divisions. From 1998 to 2008, she was deputy chief financial officer and then general secretary of Thomson Group, now Technicolor. Mr Benoit Gilson has been named as the CEO of Belgian infrastructure manager Infrabel. He was previously a spokesman responsible for the communication service before becoming general manager, corporate and public affairs. He replaces interim CEO Ms Ann Billiau, who announced her departure in June. Ms Lilia Krutonog has been appointed general director of RZD Logistics subsidiary Far East Land Bridge (FELB). Krutonog worked for 12 years at Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) subsidiary Rail Cargo Group. From 2018 to 2020, she was the general director for the eastern division of CD Cargo. Norfolk Southern (NS) has appointed Ms Cindy Sanborn as executive vice-president and chief operating officer, effective September 1. Sanborn succeeds Mr Michael Wheeler, who will retire on October 1. Sanborn joins NS from Union Pacific, where she most recently served as vice president, network planning and formerly oversaw all activities in the northern region. Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) has appointed Mr Peter Sturm as general director of its passenger transport division. Sturm was previously head of DB Engineering and Consulting’s Asia-Pacific Region, and has more than 25 years’ management experience in various international rail companies. Mr Hermann Lanfer has been elected as chairman of the board of German multimodal freight operator Kombiverkehr. Lanfer, who has been a member of Kombiverkehr’s board of directors of since 2014, succeeds Mr Gudrun Winner-Athens who has held the office since 2002 but decided this year not to run for the board of directors.

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49 45 41 IFC 7 BC 29 52 35 47 IBC 25 19 5 FC 31 13 23 33 27 21 43 11

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Collaboration needed to generate modal shift The last word | passenger experience

Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility, sets out a five-point plan to make rail a more attractive option than the private car for people travelling door-to-door.

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OW do I get from A to B? At first glance, it’s quite a simple question. But if you ask yourself, ‘how do I get from A to B efficiently?’ it becomes more complex and people tend to stick to what they know: their own vehicle. In the broader context of optimising passenger flows in transport networks, rail naturally outperforms the use of private cars as it requires less space while providing more relative capacity. But for many people, using their own vehicle seems to be more convenient. So how do we break this habit? The alternative must be significantly better: more comfortable, faster, cheaper, and with fewer headaches. To change people’s mindset, political decision makers, operators and the industry need to jointly focus on five key objectives. Usually, every door-to-door trip has a core section that passengers want to bridge as efficiently and as fast as possible. A highly reliable rail network with punctual trains is the backbone that will guarantee efficiency. However, commuters also want to use their time effectively while on a train. Today, being productive remotely for work or leisure is the reality and has been made possible through broadband access to the internet. Trains must offer reliable broadband if rail is to be the leading transport mode in the future. Operators and manufacturers need to devise stable solutions to ensure connectivity to the internet at all times and under all conditions. New train designs should incorporate dedicated spaces for those activities that matter most to passengers. This is a real competitive advantage compared with airlines. While fully automatic train operation (ATO) has become standard for metros, its application on mainline railways is still on the starting blocks. Past successful implementations

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of ATO over ETCS for example will guide the way to make this a standard in the future.

ATO benefits

But what is the real benefit of ATO? Saving a train driver’s salary? Definitely not if you compare it with the rest of a train’s running costs. Better breaking and acceleration will save energy, but the major benefits are flexibility and punctuality: reacting to changing passenger demand more quickly and dispatching trains reliably regardless of schedules and staff availability. Ultimately, this results in higher train frequencies, less waiting at stations, fewer packed trains and a better travel experience:

“

solve the first and last mile problem, they must be certified and able to run safely under real traffic conditions without a driver, while vehicle utilisation must be maximised to achieve a solid business case. What will make these

The pandemic has challenged us to

rethink the status quo and develop even better solutions for passengers Michael Peter

true demand-responsive transport. You are arriving at the main station of a big city for the first time, what’s your next move as you need to catch another train or bus that departs in 10 minutes? This is where technology comes in. Digital station solutions where the operation control centres and station management are integrated offer remarkable advantages to optimise passenger flows. For passengers, this means less stress and an improved travel experience through station guidance apps. For operators, this means running powerful software that allows holistic station management to reduce dwell times and unplanned, prolonged stops. Trials with autonomous vehicles (AV) are running all over the world with promising results. But, to leverage AVs to

individual innovations actually work as one system? It is based on advanced technology which puts the passenger at the centre. Passengers need a multimodal, intuitive and highly reliable app on their smartphone. This digital travel companion comes up with the best option of how to get from A to B, with a single ticket available for the entire journey, making travel a seamless experience. The user experience is key as it creates acceptance, while operators will have a secure and broadly accepted app. If we want to implement these fundamental changes to create a more attractive public transport system, we need collaboration from all transport industry stakeholders. System suppliers need to prioritise and accelerate their innovation and digitalisation efforts. Together with their lead customers, the industry needs

to complete existing proof of concept projects to demonstrate the applicability of these innovations under real conditions. Achieving these solid reference points for complex solutions like ATO over ETCS or fully autonomous buses will open the door for further innovation and funding. Most political decision makers already have sustainability and strengthening rail transport at the top of their agendas. They now need to act consistently to lay the foundations for future transport systems by providing funds and robust regulation, for example for autonomous driving or seamless ticketing. Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the use and perception of public transport. On the flipside, it can serve as an accelerator for digitalisation and change. The pandemic has challenged us to rethink the status quo and develop even better solutions for passengers. The time to act is now. If we want to realise the ambitious goals of carbon neutrality, rail has to become the number one transport mode. To achieve this, we need to increase passenger traffic by offering a seamless and convenient trip from the first to the last mile. A strong rail backbone plus AV feeder systems and multimodal user apps will relieve travel-related stress and enable passengers to focus on other aspects of their life. Together, we can transform the way we travel. IRJ

IRJ September 2020

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After Aft

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