Shrinking trade volumes due to the global economic crises led to an estimated 15% drop in railfreight traffic worldwide last year, taking traffic back to the level of 2005. But, says Maria Leenen, CEO of SCI Verkehr, Germany, the downturn has winners and losers.

Not one of the thousands of Eurostar passengers stuck in the Channel Tunnel on December 18 will forget that tumultuous experience any time soon. Now a highly-critical report into the events is demanding that Eurostar act quickly to prevent similar failures from happening again. Kevin Smith looks at the implications for the Channel Tunnel passenger operator.

 

ALL modes of transport are vulnerable to disruption caused by bad weather, human error, or circumstances beyond the control of the operator concerned. But what marks out a good operator from a bad one, is the ability to deal with problems swiftly and efficiently to mitigate the effects of the disruption, to communicate effectively with both staff and customers, and to get the passengers or goods to their final destination safely and with as little delay as possible. According to the independent report into the failure of five Eurostar trains in the Channel Tunnel on December 18-19, Eurostar failed on all counts.

AS the world’s leading economies stagger out of recession and record their first periods of meagre growth, the rail sector looks set to achieve much stronger growth than the overall economic performance of most countries, as investment in rail surges ahead.

The need to restore battered economies and substantially reduce carbon emissions will provide all countries with immense challenges in the decade ahead. International Association of Public Transport secretary general Hans Rat (pictured) explains to Keith Barrow why public transport offers hope on both fronts.

With the inquest into what caused five trains to fail in the Channel Tunnel on December 18, and the subsequent response of Eurostar and Eurotunnel continuing, Kevin Smith reports on the incident and its aftermath.

 

With Swiss rail transport facing some difficult challenges over the next 20 years, regional editor Anitra Green reports from Suissetraffic 2009 where the country’s leading transport figures gathered to discuss the future of the nation’s transport network.

 

THE 119 world leaders attending the United Nations’ COP15 climate change conference in Copenhagen last month had yet to make any pronouncements as this issue of IRJ went to press. However, as transport accounts for 23% of global CO2 emissions, it is sure to feature in the final declaration. Rail transport, being the only good boy, amongst the different modes, has done an excellent job in promoting rail as the only green mode, but the question is whether this momentum can be maintained.

 

David Azema, French National Railways’ (SNCF) director of finance and strategy, talked to Keith Fender about SNCF’s plans to develop its freight business and high-speed services.

 

YOU don’t get to be the world’s second richest man and one of the world’s most successful investors by making bad investments. So Warren Buffett’s audacious decision to sink a cool $US 34 billion into one of North America’s largest railways, BNSF, is a huge vote of confidence in the future of rail transport. It is not that long ago that investors of the calibre of Buffett would not have touched railway stock with a barge pole, and for sure, they would have lost their shirts.