DATA compiled by the European Railway Agency (ERA) shows that 2011 was the safest year on Europe's railways since the first study to compile common data across 27 EU member states and Norway was released in 2006.
With its punishing gradients, sharp curves, and intensive freight traffic, the Brenner corridor between Germany and Italy poses daily challenges for the many operators that use the route. Erwin Reidinger looks at how significant investment in additional capacity will bring a step-change in performance on this vital transalpine artery.
REPRESENTATIVES of 10 European companies and research institutions came together in Hannover on September 10 to launch a three-year research and development project that aims to improve the performance of single-wagonload railfreight operations.
THE European Commission (EC) has authorised an Austrian government scheme to subsidise railfreight operations for five years from December.
THE EUROPEAN Parliament has today given its final vote of approval to the recast of the First Railway Package, which will include provisions for strengthening national regulators, improving the framework for infrastructure investment, and ensuring fair access to the network.
AFTER a three-year absence, passenger services between Villach, Austria, and Udine, Italy, were reinstated on June 10, thanks to a joint venture between the European Union and Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
DRIVER familiarisation has begun on the extension of Warsaw's SKM suburban rail network to Frédéric Chopin Airport.
Liberalisation of Polish railfreight has arguably been a great success, with open-access operators now controlling almost half of the market. But with high fixed costs and static volumes, the industry still faces fundamental challenges, as Keith Barrow discovers.
Hungary's new transport act, which was approved in April, is resulting in a huge shake-up of passenger services designed to improve efficiency and introduce minimum service levels, as Ferenc Joo reports.
A GROUNDBREAKING ceremony was held near Dornstadt in the German state of Baden-Württemberg on Monday to mark the start of construction on the 59.6km Wendlingen – Ulm high-speed line.