futuremodal wrote: martin.knoepfel wrote: There has been a test run with 35 engines in the new Lötschberg-tunnel. It's purpose was to test the computerized signalling system. The server must be able to aminstrate 30 trains simultanously and to automatically stop the 31. train that wants to enter the tunnel. The test took place on sunday and was declared a success, because train number 31 was stopped.There will be thousands of test-runs until the tunnel will be opened to revenue service gradually from june through the following months to december 07.Remind me, is the Lotschberg (sorry, I can't figure out how to put the ".." over the "o") Tunnel double track with crossovers in the tunnel?
martin.knoepfel wrote: There has been a test run with 35 engines in the new Lötschberg-tunnel. It's purpose was to test the computerized signalling system. The server must be able to aminstrate 30 trains simultanously and to automatically stop the 31. train that wants to enter the tunnel. The test took place on sunday and was declared a success, because train number 31 was stopped.There will be thousands of test-runs until the tunnel will be opened to revenue service gradually from june through the following months to december 07.
There has been a test run with 35 engines in the new Lötschberg-tunnel. It's purpose was to test the computerized signalling system. The server must be able to aminstrate 30 trains simultanously and to automatically stop the 31. train that wants to enter the tunnel. The test took place on sunday and was declared a success, because train number 31 was stopped.
There will be thousands of test-runs until the tunnel will be opened to revenue service gradually from june through the following months to december 07.
Remind me, is the Lotschberg (sorry, I can't figure out how to put the ".." over the "o") Tunnel double track with crossovers in the tunnel?
The accepted practice for people using keyboards that can't put an umlaut over a letter is to add an "e" after the letter, as in Loetschberg.
The Loetschberg Tunnel is designed as a pair of single track bores, and will be completed in three stages. The first stage is nearly complete. For now one bore is completed and the second bore is 2/3rds bored out, but only 1/3rd lined and equipped with track. So it is partially 2 MT for now. There are several crossovers connecting the two bores. Stage 2 will see another 1/3rd of the second bore completed. Stage 3 will see the whole of the 2nd bore completed and a connecting wye track built so that southbound trains can turn west towards Lausanne and Geneva. Stage 2 and 3 will be completed as traffic grows. Stage 2 is expected to be needed around 2020, no timetable has been set for Stage 3.
The existing line will remain in use for local traffic, and will be used for Hazmat freights.
A Regional Passenger Train running from Budapest to Vienna rear-ended a freight train at Szorny, Hungary. The Driver of the passenger train was killed, and the locomotive OeBB 1116 017 was, destroyed. Four Passengers were taken to the hospital with moderate injuries. Hopefully this important line will get ETCS.
After one day, the German Federal Railways was able to resume operations, which had been stopped due to storm "Kyrill". Most probably, it was the first time since the final months or weeks of WW II that the entire German railway system was shut down.
The new main-station at Berlin - on the site of the former Lehrter Bahnhof - has been damaged by the storm. Authorities do not yet say when it will be open to passengers again.
In eastern Switzerland, the storm turned over a driving and a non-driving trailer of a trainset of the Appenzeller Bahn. The Appenzeller Bahn is a narrow-gauge kind of interurban. The motor-car stayed on the tracks. The two trailers have a weight of only 20 metric tons. The motor-car is of course heavier. No passengers on board, but the engineer suffered minor injuries.
The German Statistics Bureau has reported the transportation figures for 2006
Road Transport
3258 million metric tonnes +5.9%
434,000 million metric tonne/km +7.3%
Railfreight
342 million metric tonnes +7.7%
105,500 million metric tonne/km +10.5%
For American readers, German statistics (all European) do not differentiate between Intercity and Intracity Trucking which significantly inflates the truck tonnage. So a truck delivering furnature from the store to your home counts as does a truck delivering building materials to a construction site.
This is the first time in more than 20 years that railfreight growth was greater than road freight.
Railion Nederland (Netherlands) has reported all time record figures for tonnes moved and tonne/kilometers in the Netherlands.
Hupac was reported the loading figures for 2006.
2005 2006 change
Regular Transalpine Intermodal 374,993 436,678 +16.4%
Regular Other Intermodal 120,666 154,491 +28.0%
Rolling Highway 23,501 21,319 -9.3%
Total 519,160 612,488 +18.0%
The last three years have seen shipments increase by 55.2%. 2007 will see the 40th Anniversary of the founding of Hupac, Ltd.
Intercity-Trains in Germany had to stop and stay at the next station. Most local passengers trains and some commuter trains do not run anymore. Thousands of passengers stranded in stations. Nothing was said about freight, but I guess, they don't run either. Tramways in Munich stopped operation, too. Nothing was said about undergrounds.
The children in the state of Bavaria will be happy. No school today afternoon and tomorrow.
marcimmeker wrote: At 19.00 PM CET today the Dutch railnetwork was closed down by Prorail, owner of the tracks, due to the dangerous situation because of a storm racing over our country. This doesn't happen often. Emergency shelter have been opened. Windspeed is 10 Beaufort. There heve been lots of problems in the center and west of the Netherlands because of the storm, road traffic is also badly hit. Three motorway bridges have been closed due to the fact that trucks turnover. It is almost impossible to get from Rotterdam or Utrecht to the south. Traffic jams reach up to 25 kilometersAmsterdam Central Station was closed because glass plates came falling down from the big shed onto the tracks and platforms. Utrecht Central Station was also closed early.Because it was getting dark it became difficult to see fallen trees on the tracks or cables from the catenary that had come down.I heard that some raillines in the west and northwest of Germany were also closed.The crew of a containership has been recued southwest from England during this storm. French and British Coastguard have to look on as the ship sinks. I hope you don't have a package coming!greetings,Marc Immeker
At 19.00 PM CET today the Dutch railnetwork was closed down by Prorail, owner of the tracks, due to the dangerous situation because of a storm racing over our country. This doesn't happen often. Emergency shelter have been opened. Windspeed is 10 Beaufort.
There heve been lots of problems in the center and west of the Netherlands because of the storm, road traffic is also badly hit. Three motorway bridges have been closed due to the fact that trucks turnover. It is almost impossible to get from Rotterdam or Utrecht to the south. Traffic jams reach up to 25 kilometers
Amsterdam Central Station was closed because glass plates came falling down from the big shed onto the tracks and platforms. Utrecht Central Station was also closed early.
Because it was getting dark it became difficult to see fallen trees on the tracks or cables from the catenary that had come down.
I heard that some raillines in the west and northwest of Germany were also closed.
The crew of a containership has been recued southwest from England during this storm. French and British Coastguard have to look on as the ship sinks. I hope you don't have a package coming!
greetings,
Marc Immeker
And around 20.00 PM Germany shut most of its raillines down too because of this storm.
jeremygharrison wrote: The Euro is also the currency in Spain, Portugal, Austria, Greece and Luxemburg.While the agreements which introduced the Euro laid down many conditions with which those nations had to comply, the extent to which they all do is debatable - but this isn't the place. Nor is it the place to discuss the reasons the UK hasn't adopted the Euro - I will do no more than say they are far more complex and contentious than beaulieu says.
The Euro is also the currency in Spain, Portugal, Austria, Greece and Luxemburg.
While the agreements which introduced the Euro laid down many conditions with which those nations had to comply, the extent to which they all do is debatable - but this isn't the place.
Nor is it the place to discuss the reasons the UK hasn't adopted the Euro - I will do no more than say they are far more complex and contentious than beaulieu says.
But how we love to debate about the EU and / or the euro! We curse it and yet reape the benefits...
Austrian Federal Railways has been critizised for investing to little in new rolling stock. Average age for passenger-coaches and locomotives is 21 years, the news reported today. They had to run intercity-trains with rolling-stock for suburban services. Furthermore, they lease passenger-cars from Romania und Hungary and recently from Switzerland.
Swiss Federal Railways suffered from a shortage of container and trailer-carrying-cars. Shippers complained on how long their loads had to wait.
Denmark and Sweden stayed with their national currencies, the Danisch or Swedish Crown. Cyprus, at least the Greek part of the island, does not use the Euro either. Lithuania wanted to join the Euro-zone, but has to wait because of too high an inflation.
In several countries with weak currencies, especially in the countries that emerged after the split of the former Yougoslavia, the Euro is practically the most widely used currency.
What you were thinking of, Murphy Siding, is the European Currency Unit (ECU), which was indeed only for transactions between countries. There were neither ECU-coins nor banknotes.
Murphy Siding wrote: Here's a question from a really ignorant American: Last night, I was talking to my 15 year old son, about currency in Europe. Is the *official* currency of Europe (at least EU nations),the Euro? Or, does each country still conduct business in pounds/francs/marcs/etc...? I was under the impression that Euros were used only for transactions between EU nations?
I don't know that you can call the "Euro" the official currency of the EU, but most of the countries of the Old EU use it. France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Ireland. The UK does not use the Euro. I am not sure about Denmark and Sweden. Of the new EU countries, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria, only Slovenia uses the Euro. Using the Euro requires that the country keeps its budget in near balance among other requirements. Because of all the requirements and restrictions the UK has chosen not to use the Euro, they prefer to have more economic options.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Hi Marc,
Firstly, I had to make a slight name change as I couldn't log-in with my original one.
Having read your post I realise my mistake. The programme I saw was indeed about the Halligen. My memory combined with the geographical closeness and similarity in names must have mixed me up a little.
Unfortunately I'm therefore unable to help with the question of railways on Helgoland. That said I found the narrow gauge on the Halligen fascinating and would be interested in seeing any pictures you have of the Helgoland remains.
Hi WestCoaster,
No the question has not been answered. However, I did visit the island (s, there are actually two) and one of these days I will get atround to upload a few pictures. I did not see any active trackage, just remains on the pier and on the upland as wel as on the smaller island Düne.
Do you remember when the programme was made?
From rereading your text I get the strong idea that it was not Helgoland but one of the socalled Halligen in the North Frisian islands. There are two islands that are connected by a narrow gauge line (60 cm I believe) where the people living on the two islands are allowed to make use of the line by using selfmade lorries (including using windpower!). Oland Is the name of one of them and both islands are connected in series. The line is normalyy used by the authority charged with the protection of the dikes etc. (wasserbau amt in German).
Interesting fact about the Halligen is that they are not protected by dikes. The islands themselves act as wave breakers and are maintained for that reason. People live on mademade hills (called warft in the local Frisian language) on these small islands. Some hills are large enough to contain severall houses and the church! The smallest has only one farm and 2 people living on it.
Hi everyone.
I haven't read the 15 pages on this topic so I apologise if the original question hs been answered within.
Whilst learning German a few years ago I watched a late night programme on the BBC designed to act as a German language learning aid. It basically visited different parts of Germany. The presenter visited the Heligoland and spent a day with the local postman (mailman). He took the mail across by boat, then when on the islands he had a motorised truck (basically a flat wagon with a seat on it) and a small engine which ran on a narrow guage railway across the island.
So the answer to the original question is there is narrow-guage track on the Heligoland islands although not used by 'trains' as such.
Good evening, FM,
it was in the "Observer" of 24th of dec. Also in the "Spielgel"-online (German magazine). Both are rather liberal publications, but enjoy a good reputation. The "Observer" is not a tabloid, the "Spiegel" is a weekly magazine, the example was it followed was "Newsweek" or "Time".
Personally, I don't believe it is possible to blow up the Chunnel. At least not a bomb you can hand in your baggage or in a bag you carry with you on the trip, but a bomb exploding on a train in a tunnel could of couse cause severe casualties. Traffic in the Chunnel would be severly restricted if there is a stretch of single track over 25+ miles. The Chunnel is actually a system with three parallel tunnels, with connections at least for rescue operations. One tunnel for each direction (single track) and one smaller tunnel for rescuers and maintenance people, located between the two railroad-bores. The smaller tunnels has neither rails nor catenary.
martin.knoepfel wrote: The Channel tunnel has been targeted by a group of Islamic militant terrorists aiming to cause maximum carnage during the holiday season, according to French and American secret services. The British Newspaper The Oberserver reported this story in its Dec. 24th edition.The plan, which the French DGSE foreign intelligence service became aware of earlier this year, is revealed in a secret report to the French government on threat levels. The report, dated December 19, indicates that the tip-off came from the American CIA. British and French intelligence agencies have run a series of checks of the security system protecting the 31-mile tunnel but the threat level, the DGSE warns, remains high. British security services remain on high alert throughout the holiday period.The news of the threat to the Channel Tunnel comes as Eurostar trains transport record numbers of passengers heading home for Christmas and as fog continues to affect flights to and from the continent.More than 8 million passengers travelled on Eurostar trains last year. Staff on the line went on strike earlier this year in protest at what they said were lax security arrangements.'A successful attack on such an installation would be almost as spectacular as September 11', said one terrorist expert. 'Al-Qaeda and those they inspire are trying everything from low-level strikes to major attacks on critical infrastructure.
The plan, which the French DGSE foreign intelligence service became aware of earlier this year, is revealed in a secret report to the French government on threat levels. The report, dated December 19, indicates that the tip-off came from the American CIA. British and French intelligence agencies have run a series of checks of the security system protecting the 31-mile tunnel but the threat level, the DGSE warns, remains high. British security services remain on high alert throughout the holiday period.
The news of the threat to the Channel Tunnel comes as Eurostar trains transport record numbers of passengers heading home for Christmas and as fog continues to affect flights to and from the continent.
More than 8 million passengers travelled on Eurostar trains last year. Staff on the line went on strike earlier this year in protest at what they said were lax security arrangements.
'A successful attack on such an installation would be almost as spectacular as September 11', said one terrorist expert. 'Al-Qaeda and those they inspire are trying everything from low-level strikes to major attacks on critical infrastructure.
What?! An Islamic terror group wants to blow up things in the Western World?! When did this all come about?!!?!!
The test-runs with 280 kmph will be done with German high-speed-trainsets ICE), since neither Swiss Federal (SBB/CFF/FFS) nor Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon (BLS) railway have engines or EMUs going fast than 230 kmph (144 MP mph).
If the new Lötschberg-tunnel ist equipped with ETCS-Level-II, this means, historic engines will not be able to go through on railfain-trips, or only if they are pulled by a modern engine
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