Analysis of Mediarail.be - Signalling technician and railways observer
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08/02/2016
To be proven that there are no good train services without good infrastructure, we can just read below the renovation program concocted by the big German company. Figures are astronomical considering the period of only five years, but are amply justified by the alarming degradation of hundreds of sensitive points on the railway network.
After long negotiations, the largest infrastructure modernization program in the history of the "Bahn" has been established for the next five years. The complete track rehabilitation and equipment is part of a basic agreement and a financing (named LUFV II) concluded between the rail and the state. From 2015 to 2019, approximately 28 billion euros will be available for the existing network, with 12 billion euros for the only civil engineering. The agreement excluded the new lines. € 16.6 billion will come from the federal state and € 11.4 billion from own resources "Bahn". The Federal Minister of Transport, Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), expressed the hope « that our resources quickly go towards targeted investments in the existing network and the degraded points, to absorb in particular the backlog of rehabilitation of bridges ».
A crucial point is actually the modernization of dilapidated bridges that are considered as vulnerable points on the network. Nearly 9,000 of the 25,000 buildings are over 100 years old and 1,200 require urgent renovation. 2016 will further one year "customer-focused" about 5.5 billion euros will be invested for reliability and high quality in line with the corporate program "Zukunft Bahn" (Railway to the Future) . The "Bahn" has thus nearly 875 construction sites to be undertaken, otherwise there would be a risk of penalties. The agreement indeed plans penalties which can reach up to 400 million per year for failure to upgrade.
Dr. Roland Bosch, head of Production at DB Netz: « We have started the largest modernization program for rail with success, and we can assume that in 2016, about 200 million more compared to last year will be at our disposal to modernize our rail infrastructure. The goal is to increase significantly the availability ». In 2016, the Bahn provides for the renovation and maintenance of 3,200 kilometers of track, 2000 turnouts, 2.9 million ties and about 4 million tonnes of ballast and 150 bridges. For such a series of measures, it is important to provide a coordination calendar with all stakeholders.
Dr. Thomas Schaffer, Director Sales and Planning at DB Netz: « We want for our passengers and cargo customers, as few restrictions as possible. In the past, we had already made big renovation projects on major corridors. Now we focus on small construction sites. With this, we can reduce the number and duration of continuous closures related to renovations, with an increased volume of work. Moreover, thanks to new digital solutions, we can plan construction projects in the short term, more flexible and faster to minimize additional restrictions on rail traffic. ».
After about 80 lines and around 500 individual measures in 2015, more than 76 lines are planned in 2016, with nearly 850 individual measures. To be able to check and to be quickly informed about the changes due to works and on which date, customers have access to a web site at www.bahn.de/ Bauarbeiten and a free telephone line. Furthermore, the site of the Ambassador of the DB, "Max Maulwurf" will inform via posters, brochures and billboards in stations.
Some examples: the ICE line Hamburg-Hanover-Göttingen must be renewed from May to September in two steps for turnouts and tracks. 100 long-distance trains will be diverted daily from mid-July, meaning longer travel times of 40 minutes. The line Münster - Bremen will also be renovated by improvement of the signaling and safety.
The line Frankfurt-Mannheim will be practicable by single track from mid-July until late August. Again, part of the long-distance traffic will be diverted. For transport, it means a longer journey time of 10 minutes, even partial cancellations on the Mannheim - Biblis section. In addition DB adjusts the high-speed line Mannheim - Karlsruhe / Stuttgart with the new ETCS signaling. In phases planned in late April to early September and mid-November to December, the travel time will be extended about 5 minutes.
Further east, the commissioning of the new Erfurt - Nuremberg line in December, allows the complete closure during 34 weeks of the classic line between Hallstadt and Bad Staffelstein. From mid-January to early September important works of bridges and platforms will take place, followed by the renewal of the tracks. This demonstrates that an existing classic line is not abandoned despite the construction of a new section.
Everything south, in Bavaria, the line Munich - Austria will also be rehabilitated, Munich - Rosenheim - Salzburg (from mid-February to early August) and Rosenheim - Kufstein (early August to late October). In addition, works on the turnouts and the renewal of the catenary on the section Munich - Rosenheim require a total closure between late April and early May, a rare moment on this busy line that goes both on Austria, but also toward the Brenner and Italy (via Kustein).
This non-exhaustive set of measures highlights the need to maintain a culture of maintenance of infrastructure, a sector often called upon to bear the weight of austerity measures when they become necessary. Many companies prefer to run a train, because the priority is to carry the customers to his destination, and too bad for the tracks. Until the arrival of the critical point...
After long negotiations, the largest infrastructure modernization program in the history of the "Bahn" has been established for the next five years. The complete track rehabilitation and equipment is part of a basic agreement and a financing (named LUFV II) concluded between the rail and the state. From 2015 to 2019, approximately 28 billion euros will be available for the existing network, with 12 billion euros for the only civil engineering. The agreement excluded the new lines. € 16.6 billion will come from the federal state and € 11.4 billion from own resources "Bahn". The Federal Minister of Transport, Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), expressed the hope « that our resources quickly go towards targeted investments in the existing network and the degraded points, to absorb in particular the backlog of rehabilitation of bridges ».
A crucial point is actually the modernization of dilapidated bridges that are considered as vulnerable points on the network. Nearly 9,000 of the 25,000 buildings are over 100 years old and 1,200 require urgent renovation. 2016 will further one year "customer-focused" about 5.5 billion euros will be invested for reliability and high quality in line with the corporate program "Zukunft Bahn" (Railway to the Future) . The "Bahn" has thus nearly 875 construction sites to be undertaken, otherwise there would be a risk of penalties. The agreement indeed plans penalties which can reach up to 400 million per year for failure to upgrade.
Dr. Roland Bosch, head of Production at DB Netz: « We have started the largest modernization program for rail with success, and we can assume that in 2016, about 200 million more compared to last year will be at our disposal to modernize our rail infrastructure. The goal is to increase significantly the availability ». In 2016, the Bahn provides for the renovation and maintenance of 3,200 kilometers of track, 2000 turnouts, 2.9 million ties and about 4 million tonnes of ballast and 150 bridges. For such a series of measures, it is important to provide a coordination calendar with all stakeholders.
Dr. Thomas Schaffer, Director Sales and Planning at DB Netz: « We want for our passengers and cargo customers, as few restrictions as possible. In the past, we had already made big renovation projects on major corridors. Now we focus on small construction sites. With this, we can reduce the number and duration of continuous closures related to renovations, with an increased volume of work. Moreover, thanks to new digital solutions, we can plan construction projects in the short term, more flexible and faster to minimize additional restrictions on rail traffic. ».
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| Leipzig (photo Tilman Scheinpflug via flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) |
After about 80 lines and around 500 individual measures in 2015, more than 76 lines are planned in 2016, with nearly 850 individual measures. To be able to check and to be quickly informed about the changes due to works and on which date, customers have access to a web site at www.bahn.de/ Bauarbeiten and a free telephone line. Furthermore, the site of the Ambassador of the DB, "Max Maulwurf" will inform via posters, brochures and billboards in stations.
Some examples: the ICE line Hamburg-Hanover-Göttingen must be renewed from May to September in two steps for turnouts and tracks. 100 long-distance trains will be diverted daily from mid-July, meaning longer travel times of 40 minutes. The line Münster - Bremen will also be renovated by improvement of the signaling and safety.
The line Frankfurt-Mannheim will be practicable by single track from mid-July until late August. Again, part of the long-distance traffic will be diverted. For transport, it means a longer journey time of 10 minutes, even partial cancellations on the Mannheim - Biblis section. In addition DB adjusts the high-speed line Mannheim - Karlsruhe / Stuttgart with the new ETCS signaling. In phases planned in late April to early September and mid-November to December, the travel time will be extended about 5 minutes.
Further east, the commissioning of the new Erfurt - Nuremberg line in December, allows the complete closure during 34 weeks of the classic line between Hallstadt and Bad Staffelstein. From mid-January to early September important works of bridges and platforms will take place, followed by the renewal of the tracks. This demonstrates that an existing classic line is not abandoned despite the construction of a new section.
Everything south, in Bavaria, the line Munich - Austria will also be rehabilitated, Munich - Rosenheim - Salzburg (from mid-February to early August) and Rosenheim - Kufstein (early August to late October). In addition, works on the turnouts and the renewal of the catenary on the section Munich - Rosenheim require a total closure between late April and early May, a rare moment on this busy line that goes both on Austria, but also toward the Brenner and Italy (via Kustein).
This non-exhaustive set of measures highlights the need to maintain a culture of maintenance of infrastructure, a sector often called upon to bear the weight of austerity measures when they become necessary. Many companies prefer to run a train, because the priority is to carry the customers to his destination, and too bad for the tracks. Until the arrival of the critical point...
