2/2004

Recent months brought number of news from the field of high speed traffic worldwide - Cisalpino, a joint venture between Trenitalia and SBB, chose ALSTOM to build 14 Pendolinos; ALSTOM was then awarded a new contract for 12 more Pendolino trains by Trenitalia; RENFE awarded a consortium of ALSTOM and CAF a contract to supply and maintain thirty 1,435 mm gauge high-speed trains and 45 high-speed trains of variable gauge; on 1 April the first Korean high speed line, the Korea Train Express (KTX), commenced operation between Seoul and Daegu, and so on. Collection of brief reports on all these as well as couple of another events can be found in the issue.

Two of the features of OSE rolling stock renewal programme are orders for Stadler-built GTW DMUs, comprising 17 Class 560 standard-gauge units and 12 Class 4501 metre-gauge units. The deliveries of Class 560 started in September 2003 and by March 2004, units 560 101, 108 - 115 were present in Greece. Completion of the final unit is expected by mid-May 2004. Deliveries of the narow-gauge trains started in early February 2004, while the last unit should be completed in May and shipped in June 2004.

Following more than a year and a half of drawn-out preparations, the 2004 timetable features Slovakian Class 140 locomotives (nicknamed „Bobina“) working through to Katowice in Poland on the „Goral“ express (trains 332 and 333), which originates in Bratislava. The 140s haul these workings north of Žilina. Although both ŽSR and PKP networks are electrified at 3,000 V DC, a host of problems had to be surmounted before through international operation of these locomotives could become a reality.

Just at this time, one of the saddest chapters in the recent history of PKP draws to a close with the departure for Italy of the final three Class EU11 locomotives from the Bombardier Transportation factory at Wroclaw. Following certain necessary modifications and repainting, they will follow the rest of the batch southwards to be incorporated in the Trenitalia fleet as members of Class E 405. The saga of the EU11/EU43s, which were to have revolutionised the PKP locomotive fleet, commenced in December 1996, when the company placed an order with Adtranz for Eight dual-voltage (3 kV DC/15 kV 16.7 Hz) type 112E locomotives, which would be known as Class EU43, and 42 single-voltage 3 kV DC type 113E locomotives, designated Class EU1.

The winter of 2003/4 provided a tough test for CargoNet’s new fleet of Class 66 locomotives, leased through HSBC Rail since early 2003 for service on the Nordlandsbane, the 729 km line which connects Trondheim with Bodö. With 149.6 km of its route lying north of the Arctic Circle, this must undoubtfully be one of the most difficult railways in Europe as far as wintertime operation is concerned.

On 28 September 2003 Union Railways inaugurated the first 73.8 km of the first main line railway built in the UK since the Great Central Railway completed its London - Nottingham - Sheffield/Manchester route in the early 20th century. Section 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), between the Channel Tunnel terminal at Cheriton Junction and Southfleet, in the southeastern suburbs of London, has a line speed of 300 km/h and is electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz, thus being compatible with the evolving European high speed network.