International Railway Journal - May 2008 - (Page 11)

In brief Best ever sales for Vossloh Finland Westinghouse Rail Systems, Britain, has commissioned a Westex GCP3000 level crossing predictor system for Finnish track authority RHK. The system is on a 12-month trial at Skogby station, on the Hanjo to Karjaa line in southwest Finland. V OSSLOH, Germany, reported its best ever financial results in the 2007 financial year, exceeding forecasts which were revised upwards twice over the 12 months. Group sales rose by 21% to É1.23 billion, while pre-tax earnings increased 47% to É121.5 million: overall group earnings more than trebled to É71.4 million. Vossloh CEO, Mr Werner Andree, credited the improvement to the company’s international expansion, including a new factory in China and its entry into the United States market. Its rail infrastructure division recorded sales of É763.1 million, helped by a rise of 30% in sales of fastening systems. Only the infrastructure services division reported a decline in business, blamed on the conclusion of projects in France. Locomotive sales rose 15% to É340.5 million, thanks to a determined sales drive by Vossloh’s Spanish trainbuilding business. France French National Railways could spend up to €3 billion on investments in logistics company Geodis, in addition to É600 million on shares it does not already own. SNCF already holds a 42.37% stake in the company. SNCF tests wi-fi internet access on TGV India Indian Railways plans to invest $US 140 million on modernising its workshops, and another $US 23.5 million on machines in the next year. Indian Railways is upgrading its engineering capabilities as it modernise its operations. F RENCH National Railways (SNCF) is trialling onboard internet access on trains travelling at up to 320km/h is being tested on selected TGV services. After a preliminary test phase in December in France involving 7500 TGV passengers, the test programme has been expanded to three international services from France to Switzerland, Luxembourg and Germany. The system is based on directional satellite with onboard wi-fi (in tunnels for example), which the project managers found was the only solution for providing a reliable connection at 320km/h . Service providers, selected by tender, include Orange Business Services, Capgemini, Eutelsat and Alstom Transport. Access is offered throughout the train. So far, SNCF has invested É19 million in researching the new service. It will decide in June or July this year whether to extend the service. International Channel Tunnel passenger operator Eurostar saw passenger journeys rise by more than 21% during the first quarter of 2008. This was credited to the complete opening of the High Speed 1 line to London. Ticket revenues rose by 25.2% to £17.4 million, and the operator recorded record punctuality levels of 93.6%. The Betuwe freight line between the Netherlands and Germany carried its 1000th train on April 3. The line opened in June last year but is still limited to just one train in each direction at any time because the European Rail Traffic Management System Level 2 is not yet operational.. Contract awarded for Trinidad and Tobago railway RINITRAIN, a French consortium of Alstom, Bouygues Construction and RATP Développment has won a contract to design, build, operate and maintain a 105km passenger railway network on the island of Trinidad. The network will initially consist of a 50km north-south line from the capital Port of Spain to San Fernando, and a 54km an east-west line from T Port of Spain to Sangre Grande. The network will include 20km of viaducts and 10 stations, and will have capacity for at least 100,000 passengers per day. During the $US 70 million first phase, Trinitrain will carry out preliminary design to finalise the route and produce specifications for the project. This will take around 20 months, after which costs and detailed scheduling will be agreed with the National Infrastructure Development Company. Construction will be managed by Bouygues and the government says it expects the lines to open in 2012 or 2013. Alstom will supply railway systems and rolling stock, and RATP Développment will operate and maintain the network for 15 years. F INNISH Railways (VR) says its 2007 operating profits of É87.1 million were the best the company has achieved in the past 10 years, boosted by a record number of passenger journeys. Only its international freight arm, which predominantly operates between Finland and Russia, saw major falls in business – of 30%. Italy Switzerland’s third-largest railfreight company, Crossrail, founded a new company called Crossrail Italia in March, following the granting of a safety certificate by the Italian Ministry of Transport. Crossrail can now use its own traction to haul trains between Domodossola on the Swiss border and Novara. continued on page 12 IRJ May 2008 11

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of International Railway Journal - May 2008

International Railway Journal - May 2008 Contents This Month News Transit News Market News Technology News News Analysis Italian Railways on the Road to Recovery High-Speed: On the Home Straight Korea Develops High-Speed Ambitions Setting New Standards for New Rolling Stock India Solves Traction Motor Conundrum Weathering the Storm with Climatic Testing Technology Drives US Train Inspections Rendezvous Full Contact List Advertisers Index The Last Word

International Railway Journal - May 2008

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