international passenger news

[daveklepper]

The Haifa Carmelite is back in business, the underground funicular with six symmetrically-spaced subway stations, two trains, and one passing track between the third and fourth stations.   Brand new equipmenet.  Reopened a week ago.

[blue streak 1]

PRASA rail of south Africa is on brink of being shut down by government regulators.  This is a commuter operation in low income areas.

https://www.railwaygazette.com/analysis/single-news/view/prasa-on-the-brink-as-court-defers-safety-shutdown.html 

[blue streak 1]

Norway continues its slow but sure reductions of several lines with another reduction out of Oslo of 27 minutes by December.  See related news at end of link !

https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/infrastructure/single-view/view/vestfoldbanen-double-tracking-inaugurated.html

 

[PJS1]

blue streak 1

  China set to open another 343 kM  ( ~ 215 miles ) HSR line 200kM / hr (125 MPH )  This is getting to be a recurring annoying occurrence compared to the USA!  

According to the Financial Times, the development of China’s HSR was prompted by the 2008-09 financial crisis.  It was a dramatic example of the Chinese Communist party’s debt-fueled response to the global financial crisis.  But the HSR lines have also saddled China Railway Corp with huge amounts of debt, which seems to be overlooked by HSR enthusiasts in the U.S.

 

China Railway’s total debts are approximately $750 billion.  As much as 80 per cent of the debt burden is related to HSR construction.  This is within the context of China’s total government debt, which rose from 100 percent of GDP in 2006 to 190 percent in 2016.  China’s national debt problem is worse than that of the U.S.  

 

According to government officials, the Chinese HSR network may be a debt crisis waiting to happen.  It is dependent on unsustainable government subsidies, with many lines incapable of repaying the interest on their debt, let alone principal. The company’s interest payments on its debt have exceeded its operating profit since 2015. 

 

Proponents of Chinese HSR believe it will be able in time to cover its operating expenses and service the debt.  The goal is not to have every line breakeven, but to have those that can do so carry the ones that probably never will have an operating profit.  But it could be well beyond 2040 before this outcome is realized.

[Anonymous]

I know/understand the reasons. CSSHEGEWISCH's sounded to me like an excuse not to have high-speed rail like China.
Regards, Volker

[PJS1]

VOLKER LANDWEHR

  So please don't use not being an authoritarian state as an excuse why the USA doesn't have high-speed rail.  

The United States does not have high speed rail, at least as it is defined in Japan, China, etc., because the public has not clamored for it.  Most people are happy with personal vehicles for relatively short and intermediate trips and airplanes for the long haul. 

Money is the other reason.  At the end of June 2018 U.S. government debt - national, state, and local - was $24.5 trillion, and it is expected to grow by another trillion this year. 

Personal and corporate debt add to the burden.  Personal debt was $16.7 trillion at the end of June, and corporate debt, while not falling directly on individuals, was more than $8 trillion. 

The U.S. is awash in debt as shown by the gross amounts and as a percentage of GDP.  Federal public debt was 81 percent of GDP at the end of June, the highest it has been since WWII.  

State and federal governments are not likely to come forth with the monies to build high speed railways in the U.S.  So, that leaves the private sector or other governments to fund any high speed rail in the U.S., e.g. Texas Central Railway. 

[Anonymous]

CSSHEGEWISCH

 

 

blue streak 1

China set to open another 343 kM  ( ~ 215 miles ) HSR line 200kM / hr (125 MPH )  This is getting to be a recurring annoying occurrence compared to the USA !

https://www.railjournal.com/passenger/main-line/china-completes-new-harbin-jiamusi-line

 

 

 

I suppose that it's one of the advantages of living in an authoritarian state.

 

You don't need to live in an authoritarian state to have high-speed rail as 13 EU member countries as well as Norway and Switzerland in Europe show. In Asia you have Turkey (since a few years on the way to an authoritarian state), Japan, South Korea, Taiwan. Even India and Thailand are currently building a high-speed line.

So please don't use not being an authoritarian state as an excuse why the USA doesn't have high-speed rail.
Regards, Volker

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

blue streak 1

China set to open another 343 kM  ( ~ 215 miles ) HSR line 200kM / hr (125 MPH )  This is getting to be a recurring annoying occurrence compared to the USA !

https://www.railjournal.com/passenger/main-line/china-completes-new-harbin-jiamusi-line

I suppose that it's one of the advantages of living in an authoritarian state.

[blue streak 1]

China set to open another 343 kM  ( ~ 215 miles ) HSR line 200kM / hr (125 MPH )  This is getting to be a recurring annoying occurrence compared to the USA !

https://www.railjournal.com/passenger/main-line/china-completes-new-harbin-jiamusi-line

 

[blue streak 1]

Dutch rail reaching capacity

https://www.railjournal.com/index.php/main-line/prorail-warns-of-capacity-crunch-on-dutch-network.html?channel=000

 

[blue streak 1]

South Korea has a station just waiting for trains that never come.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/south-korea-longs-for-a-train-to-europe--but-us-sanctions-on-north-korea-block-the-way/2018/08/03/1760ef76-9007-11e8-9b0d-749fb254bc3d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.aeb7d00a69a1  

[Anonymous]

charlie hebdo

DB first half 2018 punctuality and Ebit are down.  http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/financial/db-records-steep-drop-in-first-half-profit.html

 

Some additional information. The on-time performance given in the linked article is for long distance trains only. The punctuality measure is as follows: if the train is less than 6 minutes late it is called on-time. For less than 16 minutes it is about 90%.

I have looked for Amtrak's measures without success. Perhaps someone can help.
Regards, Volker

Edit: After a recurring search I found Amtrak's on-time definitions.

- <250 miles:  max. 10 min. after scheduled arrival
- 251-350 mi:  max. 15 min.
- 351-450 mi:  max. 20 min.
- 451-550 mi:  max. 25 min.
- >550 miles:   max. 30 min

[charlie hebdo]

DB first half 2018 punctuality and Ebit are down.  http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/financial/db-records-steep-drop-in-first-half-profit.html

[blue streak 1]

China is still leading in HSR with over 50% of world's total.  China's definition is 200 Km/Hr or higher (125 MPH).  Presently 26859 Km in service end of May ( 16786 miles ).  Expects 38,000 Km by  2022  (23750 miles ) .  Here is some other stats.  Comments ?

https://www.railjournal.com/index.php/high-speed/ten-years-27000km-china-celebrates-a-decade-of-high-speed.html?channel=000  

[Anonymous]

krtraveler

Another year with two more operators achieving the impossible.

Looks good but the circumstances are very different compared to the USA.

Deutsche Bahn (DB) is a stock corporation completely owned by the German government. The stock is not traded yet though it was planned for a long time.

The German constitution (Grundgesetz §87e) rules that the government has to secure rail transport.

Public transit and regional rail traffic is paid for by the states. The government pays annual subsidies for rail infrastructure, $5.4 billion in 2015.

As the infrastructure is government owned we have open access used by more than 150 operators.
Regards, Volker

 

[krtraveler]

Another year with two more operators achieving the impossible.

[daveklepper]

TOKYO — It may have been the most profusely regretted 20 seconds in history.

Living up to Japan’s reputation for being precise as well as contrite, a train company in Tokyo delivered a formal apology on Tuesday because one of its trains left a station just 20 seconds early.

In a country where conductors will beg forgiveness when a train is even a minute late, the Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company posted an apology on its website Tuesday for “the severe inconvenience imposed upon our customers” when the No. 5255 Tsukuba Express train left Minami-Nagareyama station in Chiba, a suburban prefecture east of Tokyo, at 9:44:20 a.m., instead of as scheduled at 9:44:40 a.m.

According to the statement, the train arrived at Minami-Nagareyama on time, at precisely 9:43:40 a.m. But when it came time to leave, the overeager crew closed the doors prematurely and pulled out of the station ahead of schedule. According to Metropolitan Intercity, no passengers missed the train or complained about the jump-start.

Photo

 

Passengers at a railway station in Tokyo. A train company apologized to customers after an express left a station early. Yes, you read that right. Credit Behrouz Mehri/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

 

The effusive apology was in keeping with a culture where an ice cream company ran a television advertisement to express regret for raising the price of an ice cream bar by 10 yen last spring.

 

As the foreign news media began to cover the news Thursday, observers abroad expressed envy on Twitter at the trainspotting exactitude.

 

[cogloadreturns]

schlimm

 

Buslist

Just to put things into perspective here is a list of enhancements that the train operator (JREast and others in this case) to win the Midlands Franchise.

 

 

That's a lot of investment cost.  No wonder operators drop out.

 

 

The majority of which is underwritten by the taxpayer. Especially the rolling stock.

[blue streak 1]

International passengers operators that use Kobe steel products may have quality concerns because of Kobe specification false certifications.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/business/kobe-steel-japan-trains.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

 

[Paul of Covington]

daveklepper

Europe's second largest railroad station building, a ghost station, on the French - Spanish boarder, is going to re-open.

Pull up the website:  www.bbc.co.uk/news/maga

 

   I sure hope they succeed in the resurrection.   It's always sad to see a beautiful building die from neglect.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-41445860

[daveklepper]

Europe's second largest railroad station building, a ghost station, on the French - Spanish boarder, is going to re-open.

Pull up the website:  www.bbc.co.uk/news/maga

[blue streak 1]

Apppepars Network rail ( UK) is replacing some variable tension CAT with constant tension CAT ?

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/uk-railway-news-round-up-30.html

 

[blue streak 1]

China appears to have finished another HSR line .

http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/main-line/tracklaying-complete-on-new-line-in-northern-china.html?channel=524

 

[schlimm]

Buslist

Just to put things into perspective here is a list of enhancements that the train operator (JREast and others in this case) to win the Midlands Franchise.

That's a lot of investment cost.  No wonder operators drop out.

[blue streak 1]

Any information about the Egyptian RR passenger train that rear ended another pass train ?

[Buslist]

schlimm

 

 

Buslist

Trenitalia pulls out of bidding for a U.K. franchise. It tends to reinforce my feelings that the problem with the franchises is the process and conditions. I have been trying to articulate this in my U.K. situation write up. But having worked mostly on the infrastructure side my observations on the operators may be less spot on. I'll get it finished one of these days.

http://m.railjournal.com/index.php/main-line/trenitalia-pulls-out-of-south-eastern-franchise-contest.html

 

 

 

 

Given the nature of GB, that sounds like another Herculean task for you. But I would like to read that if you undertake it.

Is it possible operators appear to underestimate costs or some deliberately makes low-ball bids, thinking they will get some 'help' later?

 

Don't know that I've ever seen them deliberately underestimate costs. (The franchasie proposal review process ought to catch that). But they do seem to overestimate revenue that includes increases from enhancements to both infrastructure (shorter trip times) and new rolling stock. Not sure any of them got "help" in the sense we might mean it. Remember for the major franchises the usually is a payment to the govt. for the privilege of running the trains.

Just to put things into perspective here is a list of enhancements that the train operator (JREast and others in this case) to win the Midlands Franchise.

 

The new franchise runs from December 2017 until March 2026. ‘We will be investing nearly £1bn into the network, delivering new trains, better stations and a whole host of other benefits for passengers’, said Abellio UK Managing Director Dominic Booth. This will include:

• 100 new coaches for Birmingham's Cross-City Line and 80 for the Snow Hill Line by 2021. Discussions are currently underway to select a supplier. The Cross-City Line would have 'metro style services' using high-capacity vehicles similar to those used on London Overground with wide doors and a focus on standing room. 
• 225 new vehicles for London services by 2021, with others to be refurbished; 
• 'Modern trains' for the St Albans Abbey line; 
• An extra 20 000 extra rush-hour seats in Birmingham, and 10 000 extra seats and standing room for 5 000 more passengers in London; 
• Various additional services, including on Sundays; 
• Free wi-fi on all main line services by the end of 2019; 
• Mobile and laptop charging points on all London services by May 2021; 
• Smart ticketing with 'better value tickets for part-time workers', and smart cards for the Northampton - London and St Albans Abbey lines; 
• Refunds of 25% for delays of more than 15 min, as well as the current 50% for 30 min and full refunds after 60 min; 
• Improved services for passengers requiring assistance; 
• Live capacity information via mobile devices; 
• A closer partnership between the operator and infrastructure manager Network Rail; 
• £70m investment in new and existing depots; 
• £60m of station improvements including additional parking spaces for 1 000 cars and 2 500 bicycles, and a cycle hire scheme; 
• 800 real-time information screens at 150 stations; 
• Feasibility studies for new stations in the West Midlands.

[schlimm]

Buslist

Trenitalia pulls out of bidding for a U.K. franchise. It tends to reinforce my feelings that the problem with the franchises is the process and conditions. I have been trying to articulate this in my U.K. situation write up. But having worked mostly on the infrastructure side my observations on the operators may be less spot on. I'll get it finished one of these days.

http://m.railjournal.com/index.php/main-line/trenitalia-pulls-out-of-south-eastern-franchise-contest.html

 

Given the nature of GB, that sounds like another Herculean task for you. But I would like to read that if you undertake it.

Is it possible operators appear to underestimate costs or some deliberately makes low-ball bids, thinking they will get some 'help' later?

[Buslist]

Trenitalia pulls out of bidding for a U.K. franchise. It tends to reinforce my feelings that the problem with the franchises is the process and conditions. I have been trying to articulate this in my U.K. situation write up. But having worked mostly on the infrastructure side my observations on the operators may be less spot on. I'll get it finished one of these days.

http://m.railjournal.com/index.php/main-line/trenitalia-pulls-out-of-south-eastern-franchise-contest.html

[blue streak 1]

Gotthard base tunnel passenger traffic up 30% since opening to traffic.  Also freight traffic up but is restricted since other tunnel not complete.

http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/europe/strong-start-for-gotthard-base-tunnel.html?channel=537

 

[schlimm]

Buslist

 

 

schlimm

As I was saying, maybe there is something inherent in the UK that makes rail a struggle?

 

 

 

 

And the fact that SNCF was not broken up into more than 130 companies as was BR. That and its vertical disintegration has been minimal. I thought I read somewhere that the EU is not happy with them because of insufficient separation of infrastructure and operating companies. Open access seems to be almost nonexistent.

 

Note that just now the French are preparing to contract out some local services which the Brits have been doing for about 15 years and the Germans 5-10(?).

 

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/regions-prepare-for-market-opening.html

Working on a summary of my thoughts on the U.K. situation, will post in a day or 2.

 

 

I'm looking forward to it.  

German private operations are not just local but quite regional in scope in some cases. There are many and most seem well run.