About. Railways. March 2011

Transcription

1 14 About Railways March 2011

2 Contents 04 From Toulouse to Chittaranjan 26 High-speed lines at a snail s pace Work to be done for Rolling Stock. The Swedish government puts the construction of 05 The steep climb to the top Norway prepares for a top sport event: 29 high-speed lines off to the future. Strength through unity Oslo upgrades its oldest metro line for the occasion. Strukton Rail and Balfour Beatty join forces in Sweden on a 06 Work aplenty and more to come Lasse Fjell about a rich country with a poor railway network. 30 project basis, together winning a major maintenance contract. The tram is on its way! Colophon About Railways is a Strukton Rail publication which Leo Koster (p. 4) 09 Invariably in cooperation with the client About the almost countless possibilities and one crucial limitation of POSS. 32 From car, car, car to tram, tram, tram - about a tram work in Kassel. Simply trying things out; it s a trait I already had as a child appears once a year David Larsson (p. 29) Mario van Maaren (p. 17) 12 A difficult chore Highly praised, recipient of numerous accolades, Jo Derie developed software for the railways. Concept/editor Martin Uitvlugt, Den Haag Carry van der Maas (p. 9, 10, 40, 43) Eva-Lotta Pettersson (p. 24) Dominique Vleminckx describes the scope of her work, a project named Diabolo. 34 Hunting for bigger game Production/coordination Göran Prage (p. 28) Vincenzo Rotolo (p. 34) 14 The Hanze Line, a status report Strukton Rail s Italian subsidiary Clf joined in a powerful trio and secured a first tender. Irene van Dam-Aaldijk Ronald Tilleman (p. 36) Martin Uitvlugt (cover, p. 12, 15, 19, 20, 23, 30, 39, 44) A big work in progress as experienced by a bicycling reporter. 36 All electricity under the same roof Editorial consultants Aike Schoots, Jacob Zeeman Layout/post production 17 Milestone Strukton Systems reorganised. A vision and an overview of the business operations. Editorial contributions Øystein Hagen, Oslo (p. 5) Göran Prage, Stockholm (p. 26) The Public, Rotterdam Printing Quadraat, Oud-Beijerland 18 Eurailscout makes its debut in Norway. Breakthrough in the world of measurement 38 Rock-solid reliability About a 24/7 core business of keeping things running, at railway stations and on and around waterways. Paul Vreuls, Amsterdam (p. 14, 32) Contributors Eurailscout is marketing SIM, a locomotive-driven measurement system that records the geometry of points. 40 A bitter seed bears sweet fruit Translations Accuwrite English Language Services, Kevin N. Martley, Pumerend Antoinette de Bes, Bart Beuving (HanzaRailTeam), Roland Bongenaar (Eurailscout), Silvia Borghi, Vanessa Cannemeijer, Ann Claes, Jens Otto Daugaard, Joost den Decker, Jo Derie, Pierre Emans, Lasse Fjell, Oskar Fröidh (TU Stockholm), Anders Gustafsson, Jan Lucas van Koppenhagen, Leo Koster, Sven Kristiansen, Gert Kwikkers, 20 Getting the job done together, that s the best part of it. Pierre Emans, a railway man in heart and soul, about the 44 Off to a bumpy start! Léon Linders (Alstom Transport) about how ERTMS kicked off on Dutch soil. Green and Wireless Photography Léon Linders (Alstom), Mario van Maaren (Eurailscout), Jochen Meister, Werner Naar, turning points in his career. Battery-powered trams and diesel trains. Tracks with no Bombardier Transportation (p. 27) Anna Groot (p. 33) Gerrit Nieuwenhuis, Rob Redeker, Aike Schoots, Erik Schutte, Klaas Toet, Dennis Tuls, Ron Velthuis, Patrick Vanhie, Truus van der Vegt, Harold Verbruggen, 24 The finishing touches catenary system. Strukton Rolling Stock has embarked on a long-term campaign. Øystein Hagen (p. 5, 6) Dominique Vleminckx, Ingmar Wijnoogst, Aad van der Zouwen (Eurailscout) In three short summer seasons Strukton Rail built 100 km Jeroen Lange (p. 4) of the Bothnia Line. About Railways 14, March 2011 Strukton Rail bv

3 The steep climb to the top Norway prepares for Nordic World Ski Championships Oslo upgrades its oldest metro line for the occasion. From Toulouse to Chittaranjan There s work to be done in France, and still more in India French transport company Tisséo commissioned Strukton Rolling Stock to deliver a new traction system within the scope of upgrading 28 VAL trains belonging to Toulouse Metro. These automated light vehicles that run on rubber wheels will be equipped with new drive systems and electronic controls based on IGBT chopper technology. This assignment is the second of its type. Rolling Stock previously equipped the unmanned shuttles at O Hare airport in Chicago with similar life-extending technology. Somewhat further afield, in Chittaranjan, India, a 6000HP electric locomotive with flowers on its sides left the Indian Railways engine plant in October As the first in a series of 115 locomotives up for revision, it was equipped with a new drive system and on-board electricity supply system developed by order of industrial giant BHEL and manufactured by Rolling Stock in Alblasserdam. Following its festive send-off, the locomotive headed for Hyderabad, where it will undergo three months of final testing at top speeds, carrying a full load. supplying complete sets. After this, it will then switch to ready-to-use, tested modules and a limited number of ready-to-build sets. In the last phase, these sets will be complemented, assembled and tested at BHEL s establishment in Bangalore. New prospects are arising in the worldwide refurbishment market. The position of Rolling Stock - that of an emerging niche soloist - appears to be growing into that of a prominent ensemble player in an international orchestra. Gert Kwikkers, Managing Director of Strukton Rolling Stock: Major train Winning the assignment from Toulouse was a major achievement, as it was plucked from the lion s den. The VAL system is based on French designs, was developed in practice by French engineers and - with the exception of foreign cities including Turin, Taipei and Chicago - is applied mainly in French cities. Rolling Stock s greatest rival was French, and far bigger too. Favourable references from across the Atlantic count for a lot, it appears. It s far from simple, but France is opening up, explains Werner Naar, member of the sales team. A new generation of managers is on the rise with an eye for price and quality beyond the country s national borders. Conversion of the first VAL train will be completed in 2011, the last in At the same time, BHEL also placed two supplementary orders with Rolling Stock for drive, on-board electricity supply and control systems - 30 sets for locomotives and 40 for electric trains - in line with premises established in earlier framework agreements, where the gradual transfer of knowledge plays a key role. Initially, Rolling Stock will be manufacturers now see us as a highly skilled, professional subcontractor; as a potential preferred technology partner within the scope of refurbishment projects. We have come to understand that serving key players as a preferred subcontractor greatly enhances our effectiveness in the market. We are forcing ahead with structural alliances. 4 About Railways 14 I March 2011 Norway, winner of fourth place in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, has something to look forward to - the Nordic World Ski Championships in February and March The location is legendary: Holmenkollen. The world famous ski jumping hill, located west of Oslo, has hosted no less than nine world championships as well as the Olympic Winter Games in Throughout the world, events of this scale provide good cause to upgrade local infrastructure. And Oslo is no exception; the Holmenkoll Line underwent a complete upgrade - including rolling stock - in the run-up to this prestigious event. The Holmenkoll Line is the oldest and steepest light rail connection in the Oslo network. It opened in 1898 as a tramline and has, since 1916, been carrying passengers along the 14 kilometre stretch from Central Station through more sparsely though luxuriously populated areas to the Frognerseteren end station at an altitude of 478 metres. The upgrade was extensive, switching from overhead lines to a third-rail system and increasing the standard platform length to 120 metres. The old red metro carriages will be fading into the mists of time, too, making way for new, non-pantograph Siemens MX3000 electric trains. Once ready, the line will be able to carry up to 9,000 passengers an hour. Strukton Rail was one of a handful of specialised contractors involved in the upgrade. The company carried responsibility for building the new superstructure and third rail, as well as the rectifier stations, cable ducts and power supply system. The level crossings along the way were quite a challenge. Strukton Rail had to ensure pedestrian safety, given the ground-level power supply system. The solution: no continuous power supply at level crossings. The trains, themselves longer than the width of a level crossing, were equipped with front and back contact shoes to enable them to travel through the gap unhindered. In February and March 2011, the Holmenkoll Line will ensure easy access to a sports extravaganza of international allure. After the world championships, the metro line will continue to be the quietest connection on the metropolitan network, and the only stretch that remains largely above ground. Local city dwellers and tourists will definitely continue to use the line all year round as well. Travelling the line for the fun of it has always been a tourist attraction in itself, offering outings at the Holmenkoll stop and unrivalled views of Oslo and the Oslofjord. Even in summer, the new ski jump is an architectural marvel, and the nearby museum outlines thousands of years of skiing history. Facilities for dining, drinking, overnight stays and conferences are also available. And, from this point, you can head off into the woods, cross-country skiing or Nordic walking - originally known as ski walking, this involves walking with specially designed poles - keeping you fit year-round, sunshine or snow. About Railways 14 I March

4 Lasse K. Fjell began at the other side of the table. As a management consultant and information manager for Gjermund Sogn, he was around when Sogn hived off his railway company Jernbaneservice to Strukton Rail in It came as a surprise when Strukton Rail asked him if he would become CEO of the newly established Strukton Rail AS following a second takeover in He had become more acquainted with the world of rail by then. I found it an interesting world. How did you begin? Strukton Rail began by purchasing Jernbaneservice, a small-scale rail contractor and then took over Betonmast Bane, a railway company comprising two businesses with supplementary expertise in energy, signalling and telecom. As such, Strukton acquired three companies, merging them at a time when the market became flooded with work. From then, Strukton began to grow explosively. Work aplenty and more to come Norway is a rich country, but its railway network is sorely in need of repair - the perfect setting for Strukton Rail to achieve explosive growth. Lasse Fjell is the man at the helm. This is his vision: past, present and future. What strikes him most as someone who had little to do with rail prior to becoming CEO of Norwegian Strukton Rail AS at the beginning of 2009? The enthusiasm of the people. Their passion for their work, says Lasse Fjell without hesitation. Rail work appears to be infectious. It either grabs you or it doesn t. If it does, there s no remedy. That was his reply to the last question; the first was how he came to join Strukton. 6 About Railways 14 I March 2011 What makes it interesting? In Norway, Jernbaneverket acts as the rail infrastructure management body. It did all the work; private enterprise didn t exist. When Gjermund Sogn started his railway company in 2003, a mere 12.5 million euros was put out to public tender. In 2005, the conservative government in power at the time decided privatisation was the way forward. Jernbaneverket had to be reduced in size; the rail market expanded. National elections were held in that same year and the red-green coalition took over in government. Although they wanted to reverse the move towards privatisation, they failed. Many people had already left Jernbaneverket; it no longer had the capacity to do all the work itself. The market for rail contractors subsequently sprang to life and growth was incredible. This dynamism makes it interesting. As a rail country, how would you describe Norway - largely a country of long roads? It s a country of trains and aircraft. The roads are poor across large sections of the country. We have airfields all over. And, supplementary to that, we have more than 4,000 km of track, thousands of bridges and hundreds of tunnels. Goods transport dominates the scene. Strukton Rail grew up in this world, boosting turnover from 6 million euros at the start to 50 million within four years. How was this possible? Minimal maintenance had been carried out on the infrastructure for decades. We were working with systems from before the Second World War. Enjoying a monopoly as Jernbaneverket had done, you become sloppy and lazy sooner or later. Disruptions and delays were mounting. The public became increasingly irritated. Politicians squabbled. This started seriously in 2004 and grew worse by the year. Problems became more pressing by the day. The political parties agreed that something had to be done about the railways. And from one year to the next, the funds for track maintenance doubled. Then, in the wake of the 2009 crisis, an additional injection of 125 million euros a year followed on the basis of the National Transport Plan. In a single blow, growth in the market for maintenance and modernisation had skyrocketed by a factor of 2.5. This is an interesting situation for several reasons. There is a market, beyond. There are too few hands to get the job done. We re emerging from a situation void of private enterprise. We needed to build an industry from practically nothing. And that s exactly what we re doing. And what about the competition? In house Jernbaneverket - the rail infrastructure management body - remained the biggest. The second, Baneservice, was a new company established by Jernbaneverket and the third biggest, also a new company, Norsk Jernbanedrift, was established by people who left Jernbaneverket. It is now half our size. All the big companies from abroad are represented as well. Balfour Beatty is doing everything to stay in the Norwegian market. And then there are the German companies with their big machines. What you see is explosively growing competition in an explosively growing market. But there s still more work in the market than the competition and our own company can cope with. Although I m not afraid of the competition in terms of turnover, I am a little concerned about the competition in terms of high-output equipment. The battle is fierce in this respect. How would you describe today s market? Work aplenty and more to come. We re a rich country. And all the politicians - left and right - have since agreed that we need to modernise our rail infrastructure. The remarkable thing now is that the conservative parties are pushing even harder for this than Red and Green. They re very busy with HSL routes from Oslo to Trondheim, Bergen and Stockholm. Environmental awareness also plays a role. Norway is still far too dependent on air transport. What kind of vision exists in the political arena, say for the next ten years? Punctuality is a big point. People have to regain confidence in the railways. Especially in and around the cities, people must switch from their cars to the train and tram. What s more, train frequencies must be raised along with the number of stations. In order to achieve this, we will need to lay new tracks, especially for passenger services, because many of the existing structures are single track. Also, the relatively high number of bends in our tracks needs to be reduced as far as possible. But there is an absence of structural input in relation to the Norwegian maintenance market. As far as possible, Jernbaneverket carries out the maintenance work itself. We need to define the border between modernisation and maintenance. It is shifting ever more towards maintenance. We now carry out maintenance work within the scope of renewal contracts. About Railways 14 I March

5 At present, there are no tenders assigning responsibility for track maintenance to any given party. This is not Jernbaneverket s policy, not yet. But if you look at signalling systems, a maintenance contract could appear in the market again. We have a one-year contract to maintain the safety system on one stretch of track. Things are beginning to take shape, and the politicians can see that this leads to greater efficiency. The main argument for Jernbaneverket to hang on to much of the work itself, is to retain crucial knowledge. And yes, that s quite valid. But it s not only about what knowledge you possess. More importantly, it s about what you do with this knowledge. There is good cause for optimism: to the left or to the right, a structural maintenance market will take shape. Odd Erik Berg, head of maintenance at Jernbaneverket, said last year in an interview in this magazine that all the players in the rail market need a certain measure of predictability. I m sure you must agree with him. Yes, of course. That s what we all want. If you enter each year together as things are now, with an option for the next year at most, 8 About Railways 14 I March 2011 it s difficult to look ahead. If you have big projects one year, it s hard to say whether the next year will bring the same. What does this mean for Strukton Rail? Good prospects in a blossoming yet unstable market? That it s difficult to consolidate, that is if you don t want to take risks. You need to keep your core competencies up to scratch while hiring in extra manpower during the busy months. Flexibility is the watchword. The contracts will keep coming, but it remains a question of when and in what form. I also think we can carry out a lot more work in the winter period than we do at present. We have more than 700 tunnels. It s possible to work in them comfortably most winters, which would bring some stability to the market. But that will only be possible if Jernbaneverket succeeds in putting the contracts on the market in time. What are your plans for the coming years? When we were growing at that pace, we probably engaged more people than strictly necessary to make sure we deliver in time. In the past and still today, our central staff units suffer from understaffing, and scheduling and logistics need to be improved. We are critically evaluating our procedures. We are taking a step back to have a good look at ourselves. I m sure that our 200-strong workforce is capable of taking on even more work. Our equipment could also be used more effectively than now. And we must invest in what I call a sense of business urgency : it s great to achieve explosive growth in turnover, but this must bring increased profitability. Strukton Rail in Norway: what will it look like in five years time? I hope that we ve hammered out long-term maintenance contracts by then. I also hope that we will be making better use of modern technologies such as POSS. In terms of size, we will have cornered somewhere between a third and a quarter of the market, generating a turnover of 100 million euros, which is roughly twice today s figure. We have become an efficient company. We do the job properly the first time round. The relationship with Jernbaneverket could tip the scales in this story. I hope that it develops into a good buyer of services and products. That it preserves its knowledge by utilising ours. That fair competition rules apply and that soft issues are considered in tendering along with the price - as in Sweden. One thing s for sure: money will not be the problem. No. And the Icelandic ash clouds gave us an unintended boost. This again served to demonstrate just how good it is to be in the railway business. Not a single train stood still during that period, while on some days not a single aircraft took to the skies from Norway, not even an air ambulance. There was only one correct answer: the train. Invariably in cooperation with the client Gerrit Nieuwenhuis, project manager Monitoring & Travel Systems, speaks about the almost countless possibilities and one crucial limitation of a successful monitoring system developed in-house: POSS The contractor was keen to move towards more efficient, and preferably also preventive maintenance - that was how it all started. For instance, it urgently wanted to know how it might prevent faults in points. In 1999, Strukton Rail first published news of a system it had developed itself, known as POSS, which is a Dutch acronym for Strukton preventive maintenance & fault diagnosis system. It turned out that points need close monitoring - albeit remotely, if at all possible - as they were, after all, responsible for over half of all units of operational disruption ; breakdowns in other words. The newly developed POSS - basically no more than a simple multimeter - was About Railways 14 I March

6 Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Hungary and within our knowledge domain. Points monitoring nevertheless continues to The passage back and forth of currents Australia. In the Netherlands, it has become One. We were talking to railway manager account for 90% of the market. However, the involves entirely different dynamics. And you the standard applied by the infrastructure ProRail about points, when the topic of other applications will undoubtedly also need to be able to monitor them accurately in manager and process contractors throughout conversation suddenly turned to level become commonplace; we increasingly order to settle accounts with one another. the rail sector. In the UK, Network Rail has crossings. ProRail was keen to carry out trials receive enquiries about them. This just goes However, there is also a particular need to connected the 600 crucial sets of points on with timetableless service on the Amsterdam- to show that we have so far been able to gain a clear impression of the status of the the West Coast Main Line to the system, Eindhoven route, comprising six intercity and come up with an answer to every additional infrastructure, the circuit elements, as these while the Stockholm Metro is also benefiting six slow trains an hour. It was keen to question that the rail market has posed, in are also subject to the key issue of our from its implementation. Use of the system in establish that this increased train frequency both technical and commercial areas. operations: enabling preventive maintenance. other countries is currently more modest, and would not lead to unacceptably long closure And that calls for a smart grid monitoring it is basically still being tried out on vital points periods for road traffic on the various level Gerrit Nieuwenhuis also has great system. This future development is just concentrations. One of the most noticeable crossings along the route. We concluded that expectations in terms of the possible around the corner. side effects of the development of POSS, is it should be possible to measure these applications for POSS in a second, hitherto Are there limits to what POSS can actually that it has proven much more widely closure periods using POSS. And it did unexplored, field of knowledge. Strukton do? Yes, Gerrit Nieuwenhuis admits. It is applicable than originally envisaged. indeed prove successful. Systems has always had a sound not without good reason that I continue to Two. Swedish regional Metro manager, understanding of electricity, particularly in the raise the issue of maintenance. Technically Technology and domain knowledge Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL), uses POSS to medium-voltage segment. We build speaking, the imaginable possibilities of Gerrit Nieuwenhuis, project manager at monitor 150 vital sets of points. The people substations. This is a highly dynamic market. POSS as an ICT application are almost Strukton Systems, PMC Monitoring & Travel we spoke to there were particularly interested There are currently only a few suppliers, endless. However, POSS is becoming Systems, can explain the success of the in the possibilities of also using POSS for the namely the major power stations. However, increasingly successful because it is based system: It s simplicity! We like to describe measurement of rail temperature and train this model is about to change. We are already on domain knowledge. And this is also where POSS in the simplest possible terms, by detection using axle resistance. Our simplified talking about solar panels on your roof, a its limitations lie. After all, if something is so explaining that it is no more than a multimeter explanation of the multimeter had inspired windmill in your meadow. A major shift is widely applicable, it generally never excels fitted with pins, from which we have removed them to make their own associations. And about to take place in the distinction between in any one particular area. the display and put it on the Internet instead. that s the way things are developed; invariably producers and consumers. We have installed a database in between, in cooperation with the customer. and an application that converts the data into Three. During the course of talks between our information. And people can access this colleagues at Strukton Rolling Stock and POSS in 2010 information, be it current or in an historical representatives of the maintenance firm Railway manager ProRail switched to POSSonline. Its own system, ProPOSS, in fact the context, wherever they happen to be at the NedTrain and Lloyds Register, the question first version of POSS produced exclusively for ProRail, was phased out gradually. designed to monitor the moving parts of sense of self-interest. These were new points, time. That s the concept in a nutshell. was raised whether POSS might possibly Using POSSonline, ProRail and the maintenance contractors are monitoring more than points, and to plot the readings on a graph. which were technically not yet entirely in However, if that was all that it was - simply an measure the electrical performance of a train. 1,300 points at more than 110 locations. The idea was that if significant numbers of order. Their lengthy switch movements had ICT gadget -it would still be pretty Surely if it were possible on the track, then it these reports were recorded, then one could been continually causing problems. Strukton insignificant. The added value of the system is should also be possible from inside the train? As in 2009, POSS was utilised in the timetableless pilot project on the Utrecht - Eindhoven route. compile historic records which would was doing its utmost to make them operate that we also provide knowledge that is vital in The issue in question related to the status of Commissioned by ProRail, POSS monitored closure periods at 25 level crossings; approach eventually enable the prediction of future properly, without actually allocating further the railway domain. That is also actually very train systems, and was once again aimed at times were monitored especially closely at six level crossings. POSS was successfully deployed points behaviour. And if POSS did live up to budget. The infrastructure operator first simple, but it literally took us years to simplify preventive maintenance. And that was how during the test and the system remained operational. these expectations, one would actually be wanted to be assured of the nature and it to such an extent. POSS came to be introduced as an energy able to prevent a points failure. And this might scope of the problem. POSS was designed to meter in trains. POSS served as an analytical instrument. For several years now, a number of high-speed points help to considerably increase the availability yield clarification. This combination of simple technology and in the vicinity of Amsterdam had been causing problems because a point-operating unit regularly of the line. That would yield incredible highly extensive domain knowledge proved In search of energy skipped inspection. POSS was put to use to more accurately identify which of the seven or nine benefits. And POSS did indeed provide clarity. In crucial to the further development of POSS in POSS has therefore been allocated an point-operating units was causing problems for the points. practical use in the Netherlands, it proved that a broader sense. Each new application was impressive list of monitoring functions during So, Strukton conceived the idea and put it one could avoid between 50% and 70% of basically developed in response to existing the past few years: points, train detection, On the Harka - Szentgotthard line in Hungary, POSS was connected to 46 points to increase into practice. A pilot project was launched points failures. And now - 11 years after the market demand, on the part of operators, axle resistance, interfering currents, axle load, track availability. The line forms part of the Raaberbahn, an international connection for goods later that year whereby 22 sets of points in conception of the technical device - managers and contractors, both on the tracks wheel quality, train passage, self- and passenger traffic. The Austrian-Hungarian firm Gysev operates the line. various areas of the Netherlands were put into POSSonline 6.0 is the trade name for an and in the trains. Gerrit Nieuwenhuis: You are measurement, rail temperature, energy intensive care, as it were, for a period of 18 online monitoring system that is used constantly involved in discussion with one consumption, camera surveillance, axle POSS was connected to six points on a mine railway track at Port Hedland in northwest Australia. months. And Strukton almost simultaneously worldwide. POSS currently monitors literally another. Let me give you three examples, counter, return current, bridge vibration and The points are located in such remote areas that maintenance staff have to fly there to sort out connected 14 sets of high-speed points thousands of rail objects in the Netherlands, which were developed almost simultaneously, construction site security. Gerrit Nieuwenhuis any malfunctions. POSS must help to prevent malfunctions and therefore save costs resulting 1:34.7 to POSS, purely out of an urgent the UK, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, though independently of one another and is the first to put this series into perspective. from interruptions in regular traffic. The connections will be taken into operation in About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

7 A difficult chore consideration. However, events occurred contrary to expectations. It was not the car, but the train and tram, which proved more promising anchoring in the new tunnels. We are to start work on the latter at Zaventem, in a tunnel containing two tracks, which splits after 400 the completion of the civil engineering works that precede us, while we ourselves are closely followed by the overhead lines and cabling in terms of sustainable mobility. And this metres into two single-line tubes, which are operations. A lot of work has to be performed explains why the aforementioned central the branch lines to Brussels and Mechelen. within short periods of time. And we were The aim of the Diabolo Plan launched by the Belgian Once upon a time, when the car still appeared reservation has not been asphalted over, but currently contains a ballast bedding, sleepers Laying the ballast lines would be pretty much already delayed in getting started on Stage 1; we effectively commenced work three months network infrastructure manager, Infrabel, is to improve to be the answer to almost all of our mobility desires, a section of the four-lane highway and the first of the rails, which have already been neatly riveted to form a track several a routine job, were it not for the fact that it is subject to stringent quality standards, comparable later than initially envisaged. Furthermore, we were recently informed that Stage 4 is to be put the accessibility of its national airport. Strukton Rail is between Brussels and Antwerp comprised a central reservation a mile wide. Broad enough kilometres long. And it will not be long before trains start running here, as Strukton Rail is to those applicable on the high-speed rail link between Rotterdam and Antwerp. Although the back two weeks. And this is not in line with the schedule of work in progress. However, we will involved in the construction project. Project manager, - was the idea - to convert the road into a six-lane highway, should the need arise. hard at work to make that possible. specifications are based on a speed limit of 160 kph, this is to be eventually raised to 220. simply have to reshuffle things, re-plan operations, and reschedule the deployment of Dominique Vleminckx, describes the scope of the work. At the time, this appeared to be a prudent move on the part of the authorities, which had The master plan is better known as Diabolo, which was conceived by the rail infrastructure The tolerance margins are therefore very tight. As soon as the track is laid, it has to be within our machinery. We are supposed to complete this work by October Delays are therefore obviously taken future developments into manager, Infrabel. Brussels and the national two centimetres of true direction, before the simply not an option to us. If the civil airport located nearby were suffering from tamping machine has even touched it. engineering works suffer delays, however, then chronic road traffic congestion. Zaventem, Then we will proceed to do around four to five we are expected to make up for lost time. which is basically Brussels Airport, therefore tamping runs and two or three runs with the had to be rendered more accessible. And the stabiliser to ensure that dimensions are to within Standards and circumstances plan was to do so by means of new rail links, a millimetre. The concrete line in the tunnels is A difficult chore, is the way Dominique with connections to through trains, and tunnels new to us. Grooves have to be cut in the Vleminckx sums it all up in her remarkably beneath the airport itself. Once Diabolo has concrete, in which the rails are then laid. cheerful manner. Under the pressures of both been completed, in fact, the airline authorities Our greatest challenge is to maintain the time and quality, at a site enclosed by will be able to justifiably claim that they are highest possible levels of accuracy in terms of motorways, dependent on other people s directly connected to the Paris-Brussels- the gauge, direction and height. A surveyor will scheduling, the friction between tight planning Antwerp-Amsterdam and Paris-Brussels- therefore be present every minute of the day and flexibility, while late completion is hardly an Liege-Frankfurt axes. And when it becomes during these operations, until they are finally option - and facing these aspects in a vast fully operational, furthermore, Diabolo should completed. range of combinations. If anyone knows, then considerably reduce congestion on the it s Dominique, given her eight years in the rail labyrinth of motorways in and around Brussels. The logistics are pretty complicated. The construction industry, throughout the length and The improved international connections, physical distances can be significant. This is a breadth of Belgium, and in the Netherlands, too timesavings at a national level, and regional highly extended site, with very, very few access - on the Betuwe Route. Having completed her air-quality improvements that this will bring points. People sometimes have to walk long general studies in Industrial Architecture, she about are all sorely needed. distances to reach the workplace. And this also entered the rail industry. She might just as easily applies to the supply of materials. There is only have ended up building factories or offices, or Dominique Vleminckx is Strukton Rail s project one access route in the zone comprising almost laying roads, or bridges or even canals. She manager. Armed with eight years of experience, 14 kilometres of classic line. You can t simply ultimately opted for railways: I was absolutely she proceeds to a steel site hut, hidden away in lay an access road, as you are flanked by captivated by the industry during my first ever the shrubbery between the motorway access motorway on either side. Furthermore, materials job interview, and I still am basically. and exit lanes just south of the city of Mechelen. and equipment can only be delivered to the This raises the question of what is so In a swift businesslike manner, she briefly tunnels during the night, via the Zaventem captivating about doing a difficult job. She leaps describes the extent of the work to be entrance. This calls for particularly tight to her feet in response: Exactly that. The performed, layer upon layer. scheduling. And there is very little opportunity to simple fact that it is so complicated is what also depart from schedule, either in terms of time or makes it exciting. The combination of standards Ballast and concrete place. and circumstances makes it difficult alright, but We are building a 14-kilometre stretch of that is also the challenge. Driving yourself on all classic dual track laid on a ballast bedding We are therefore working in stages, 16 in all, the time, continually endeavouring to do things along the central reservation of the E19 and not always consecutive. Certain zones only even better. Architects often view the field of motorway, which is the connection to are made available during the course of time. railway works with a look of pity; rumour has it Mechelen. In addition, we are to lay some Towards the close of 2010, we were working at that it is all pretty simple stuff. Well I ll tell you, six kilometres of concrete line with chemical four sites consecutively. We are dependent on nothing could be further from the truth. 12 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

8 The Hanze Line, a status report The Hanze Line is designed to bring the north of the Netherlands and the Randstad conurbation closer to one another. The laying process is in full You simply cannot deny the man a little pride. According to schedule, the B and C layers of the track bed for the Hanze Line were to be completed by 15 September We did indeed empty the final shipload of rail ballast just the day before, as Operational Manager, Harold Verbruggen, puts it himself. The work is being executed as part of a four-party consortium - HanzaRailTeam - which, apart from Strukton Rail itself, comprises VolkerRail, Alstom and Arcadis. One cannot help but feel respect for the fact that this mega-project is to be concluded - the ink on the contract was still wet in May This also reflects the considerable pressure on those involved to perform: while HanzaRailTeam proceeds with the superstructure, other parties are still in the design phase. swing. About Railways got on its bike in September 2010, cycled as close as possible alongside the route, and spoke to people it encountered along the way. If one follows the route of the Hanze Line from Lelystad towards Zwolle, it gradually becomes clear just how tightly scheduled the construction process is. While the cables have already been laid and the overhead lines erected in the west, the rails have yet to be laid in the east, near Zwolle. However, there is not even a hint of chaos present, which is quite miraculous when one considers that a completely new, fifty-kilometre-long railway line is being built, featuring a total of 88 engineering structures along the way. Total cost: one billion euros. The fact that HanzaRailTeam managed to secure the contract for the superstructure, was largely due to the combination of its keen price and a range of measures designed to promote sustainability, both during the construction and operational phases. Examples of such can be found spread along the length of the line, like the first railway yard close to Lelystad, which serves as both a pre-construction site and the logistics centre for the entire superstructure. For instance, we have set up a workshop there which makes glued insulated rail joints for electric welding, Mr Verbruggen explains. We used to purchase these from a manufacturer, but now we make them ourselves. First of all, we avoid lengthy and unnecessary road haulage journeys, namely from the rail joint supplier s workshops to the site. And secondly, eight-metre lengths of rail which were previously sawn out and disposed of as scrap, are now recycled in the manufacture of the same glued insulated rail joints. A sketch on the horizon The presence of mechanical excavators bears witness to the fact that cable and pipe laying operations are already in full swing. And although the majority have already been laid and the trenches backfilled, the job cannot be completed a moment too soon in the eyes of Bart Beuving, the site safety officer. I don t pause to take a deep breath until everything s safely buried beneath sixty centimetres of soil. As one cycles towards Dronten, the Hanze Line seems to evaporate into the background of the landscape. Just like everything else here, it appears very distant, nothing more than a pen sketch on the horizon. This is the stretch where the trains will be able to accelerate to around two hundred kilometres an hour, thanks to the ERTMS system provided by Strukton s partner, Alstom. What do the area s residents think of the arrival of this railway line, though? A resident of a village near Lelystad considers it a favourable development in terms of the accessibility of the province. Children in particular are bound to benefit from its construction. They are more or less all obliged to travel to a secondary school in Zwolle. It s just a pity that we re not getting a station in our village itself. A little further on, stands a dairy farm that had to give up two (of their total eighty) hectares of land. The farmer s wife: It s quite a pity really, because the land in question is part of the plot on which our house is built. We can appreciate why we were forced to sell, but would much rather have surrendered land a bit further away from the farmhouse. 14 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

9 I suppose we mustn t really grumble though, as our neighbours were obliged to sell seven hectares. The polder can only benefit from the construction of the Hanze Line, in terms of the economy. However, a farmer doesn t relinquish lightly all that he has worked hard for to acquire. And the compensation is never quite as much as one would like to receive. We ll just have to wait and see how things turn out. The trains will pass just half a kilometre from our home. What sorts of noise will we hear, and will it also continue at night? How frequently are the trains going to run? And how might the wind affect the noise level? One of the places that will certainly benefit from the Hanze Line is Dronten. Fifty years after being founded, it is finally being connected to the rail network, which should put an end to its relative isolation. Although the station has yet to be built, the residents are already looking forward to it. Lettie Schimmel, who just happens to be walking her dog, expects that young people will now more readily opt to set up home in Dronten, given that they will be able to travel to work in Lelystad or Kampen by train within the foreseeable future. A lady neighbour explains that the Hanze Line is ideal even for her. I will shortly be able to reach Amsterdam by train in a jiffy and finally be released from the monotony of traffic jams. In a smooth line Halfway between Dronten and Kampen, no overhead power lines or gantries at all have been built yet. Harold Verbruggen nevertheless has every faith in the team s ability to achieve the delivery date of Summer Construction will be complete by then. Absolutely! This does not imply that the line will immediately become operational. That will take another eighteen months, up to around December That much time will be needed to test all the systems, which will take place in three phases. Firstly, we will test everything that we built ourselves. Then, we will proceed to carry out tests with the other parties involved. And finally, it will be ProRail s turn to perform test runs. Close to substation five - substations transform the high-voltage current from the power stations into a compatible voltage to power the trains - a security officer suddenly appears from nowhere. An alarm has gone off in the control centre in Diemen, and given that substations and their equipment need to be closely monitored, he has come to check things out. There are some thirty security containers situated along the entire Hanze Line, the man explains, which are fully equipped with cameras and PA systems. If we had to, we could therefore basically order the man there in the red shirt to leave the site immediately. On approaching Kampen, the Hanze Line makes a ninety-degree bend in a smooth line to the southeast, bound for Hattem. There, another ninety-degree bend awaits, curving to the northeast this time, over the river IJssel towards Zwolle. Although we have now returned to traditional terra firma - recognisable from its crooked dykes and T-shaped farmhouses on ancient dwelling mounds - the Hanze Line continues through the great outdoors featuring the same sort of scenery as that of Flevoland. Slap bang in the middle of all this open space lies Kampen-Zuid railway station, perched high on the railway embankment created here. And here we also encounter enthusiastic residents, pleased with the construction of the Hanze Line. Ton Kruithof, a former photographer, is already eagerly looking forward to taking the train via Lelystad to Schiphol airport. I will then no longer run the risk of missing a flight, due to problems on the line at Amersfoort for instance. And I have no fear whatsoever of the pack of thieves that some people suggest the train will convey to our fair city of Kampen to burgle our homes. This fear really exists, as does the fear that hoards of westerners are champing at the bit to buy up our homes, as soon as Kampen becomes more accessible. Along the steel motorway The closer we get to Zwolle, the barer the line becomes. While previously only the overhead power lines and gantries appeared to have run out, this also seems to be the case with the rails as we approach our destination - first on the one side, and later on both tracks. The sleepers have been laid, however, as have the bases for the catenary system. How did they get here? These bases are normally not installed until the rails have been laid. The answer looms large before us as we ride along the access road. The road is suddenly blocked by a low-loader truck, which is in the process of lifting steel plates. When asked to explain, Harold Verbruggen says the following: That is what is known as the steel motorway, an innovation that we also used when laying the Betuwe Route. It enables heavy plant to access the track embankment, so that one does not have to transfer freight to dumpers. This was one of the principles that we applied for the entire logistics process. We were keen to ensure that materials were only handled once or twice at most; literally ex works, straight to the site. The steel motorway also enabled us to install the bases for the catenary system in advance. This offers the added advantage of not having to excavate in a ballast bed that has just been laid, which would only disturb its settlement. Furthermore, use of the steel motorway considerably reduces fuel consumption, as vehicles no longer have to plough through loose sand. Not a single one of the four young fellows with whom the cyclist strikes up a conversation at his final destination, Zwolle station, has ever heard of the Hanze Line. Nor are they really interested. However, their attitude suddenly changes on learning that they should be able to travel to Amsterdam 15 minutes quicker by the close of It turns out that they re football fans, not of the local first division team, but of the pride of the nation s capital, Ajax. This Hanze thingy is cool then, innit? The sooner I arrive at the Arena, the better. Milestone It seems no other monumental place in Europe could move Mario van Maaren to ask: Could we stop for a moment? I d like to take a photo. No problem, said the Norwegian pilot. And the train drew to a halt, times as big. The Dutch railway network has 2,000 km of dual track; stationary against the bleak landscape upon a somewhat uneven Norway only has 200 km. Both countries have tunnels - Norway 700, plateau, not exactly welcoming. Out the train, up the hill, took the the Netherlands 13. Single track followed by more single track, sharp shot. The image of a milestone, literally and figuratively. On the left bends and an endless series of long tunnels to challenge you. the milestone itself; on the right, Eurailscout s ultrasonic UST 02 That s where it started. inspection train passing the polar circle for the first time in its working life. Mario van Maaren was the measurement campaign manager on the UST 02. More than half way through the project, just back in Oslo from Norway. In November 2009, Eurailscout Inspection & Analysis was another day of measuring in the field: You get to deal with stretches of commissioned by rail infrastructure operator Jernbaneverket to single track between stations that could be dozens of kilometres away measure the national rail network, both ultrasonically to detect internal from each other, with absolutely no signs. Consequently, you have defects and using eddy-current technology to identify surface flaws. to wait at stations until a train has passed in the opposite direction. This involved some 4,000 km of track. Things got off the ground in This could take up to two hours. And the risks are only compounded June and July A thirty-day stretch followed from the south in by the combination of worn single track with sharp bends. You need Kristiansand to the north in Bodø. It took some getting used to. to move slowly to take accurate measurements while adhering to the Norway is not like Switzerland, Germany or the Netherlands, familiar permissible line speed - and, yes, you may be set aside at the next ground for the ultrasonic inspection train. Norway only resembles station. Tunnels have no impact on the measurements, but do affect Norway. location since the GPS signal dies. It s then down to the kilometre markings. At yards, you still see rails dating back to the 1930s - A landscape of steep mountains and deep valleys dictates the I ve even seen some from Their profiles are foreign to us now. character of the infrastructure and that, in turn, would determine the Then, mostly en route, you have to reset your profiles. And if you direction of the work. Like Norway, Switzerland may be made largely come across a twisted rail with a half worn head, it s practically of rock, but it doesn t have loads of fjords around which the rails impossible to continue measuring. have to wind in tight bends. Norway s rail network is close to 40% shorter than in the Netherlands, despite the country being nine That s why it took some getting used to. 16 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

10 Breakthrough in the world of measurement The ultimate design and content of the system originally developed by the Italians were then established in cooperation with employees of DB and Eurailscout, who possess a great deal of experience in the field. In order to measure the geometry, you It offers greater accuracy, further availability and improved safety. Until now, the only means of accurately establishing the position of a set of points was to take measurements using manual equipment. Every single measurement called for the presence of Eurailscout envisages leaving the actual measurement operations to the customer, should it so request. Roland Bongenaar: We intend to supply the system on the basis of a lease or licensing construction, where the infrastructure manager retains responsibility require an extremely high level of knowledge people on the track, which is hazardous, for all the operational aspects. We will in the area of systems integration, Roland and therefore led to reduced availability of naturally remain responsible for all matters The invention originated in For many years, the best worldwide efforts on the scientific sidelines to resolve the issue Bongenaar explains. You have to connect personal computers to a series of tracks. From now on, however, it will be sufficient to simply include the points relating to the actual measurement technology, including data computing, a cooperation programme invariably drew a blank. However, the puzzle has finally been solved. A measurement system has been developed which can accurately record the geometry of points to within a margin measurement instruments in such a manner as to ensure that they continue to operate in measurement system and its locomotive in the train timetable, to acquire data on the organisation and analysis, and the attendant quality control. In this respect, our core between Deutsche Bahn of half a millimetre, at speeds of up to 40 kilometres per hour. It has been dubbed SIM, which stands for Switch Inspection and Measurement. Thanks to a group of Italian engineers, unison, despite the difficult conditions that may be encountered. Test beds are therefore geometry of the points of a level of precision that exceeds that of manual measurement, business will shift from the field of operations to consultancy. This might entail our setting Systemtechnik (DB) and Eurailscout Inspection & Analysis was able to introduce the system at the InnoTrans in Berlin, in September This truly is a breakthrough; manual measurement and inspection train simply not sufficient. You have to be able to perform practical tests, while not only without having to put people on the line. This should provide the maintenance up and manning data processing centres for customers in other countries, for example. DMA. Eurailscout is video footage of points at stations and railway yards were previously the most one might expect. establishing that the system works properly, but also that it will continue to do so. managers with the best possible arguments in favour of efficient preventive management. In the meantime, however, we will naturally also continue to provide our services in old marketing it: a locomotive- The points measurement system comprises a measurement setup mounted on a flat bogie - What s more, you have to be fully acquainted with the concept of rail geometry, and how it And this is expected to bring about a further reduction in the incidence of points failures. school fashion: the customer calls us, and we do the rest. driven measurement driven by a light locomotive - a measurement method and a management & analysis system that is compatible with the generic management systems. The measurement method was relates to the measurement data you produce. This calls for a rather unique combination of Eurailscout proposes to adopt a different The first order based on the lease concept system that records the developed by the Turin engineering firm DMA. The Italians had already acquired a reputation for precision and reliability by cooperating with Deutsche Bahn (DB) in the development of a disciplines. market position with the measurement system than has so far been customary. In stark has already been secured. In December, the SIM 09 embarked on a fourteen-week-long geometry of points. system for the measurement of the equivalent conicity and all related wheel-rail contact parameters. This led to the execution of another joint project - in partnership with DB once From operations to consultancy The introduction of this measurement system contrast to the large internationally operating measurement trains and the video inspection measurement campaign commissioned by the Italian rail infrastructure manager, RFI, The benefits are evident. again - aimed at developing a points measurement system, suitable for use at high speeds. Eurailscout, which was primarily interested in application of the measurement system at is highly significant for a number of reasons. trains currently run in Dutch railway yards, commencing with four Turin railway yards. Fewer line closures and speeds below 80 kilometres per hour, was the third partner in the project. This enabled DMA to test and perfect its invention in two markets, which were entirely distinct from one another in improved track safety, as terms of speed. well as the provision of precise information to the maintenance managers. It is exactly what rail infrastructure managers have been looking forward to for years. New technology What made the development of a points measurement system such a difficult issue? Roland Bongenaar, project leader at Eurailscout, puts it as follows: It was a combination of factors. The main issue was that the UFM (Universal Rail Geometry Measurement Train) simply wasn t suitable to perform measurements on those stretches of line containing the most sets of points. This is due to the fact that the UFM was designed to operate at high speeds. A new technology therefore had yet to be developed to enable the measurement of points geometry at low speeds. The theory had been around for years already. In order to measure profiles and geometry without making contact, one has to establish exactly the spatial trajectory of the measurement system above the line. Furthermore, you need to establish the distance between this spatial curve and the inner edges of the two rails, as this provides the relative position of the track. In order to achieve this, however, one required both a sufficiently rapid measurement system and a high frequency profile meter that was capable of doing two things. Not only did it have to take measurements every two centimetres, but it also had to have a broader measurement range than was customary, in order to measure not only the rail, but also measure guard rails and common crossings alongside it. Only when you have solved these problems - which DMA has now succeeded in doing - can you actually proceed to build a measurement system that operates on the basis of accurate positioning. 18 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

11 ready laugh. From pretty much the outset, he up by mechanical innovation. Prefabricating was the sort of bloke who wanted things done sections and loading them aboard the train, quickly, but correctly, so that one did not have embedding and positioning rails alongside the to return to carry out repairs. It was your duty track, then renewing some 25 to 30-metre to work hard to earn a living; not just for sections at the weekend, using Donelli gantry yourself, but for the boss too - that was just cranes. Whether manual or mechanical, the way he d been brought up to think. however, it remained a race to see which site And the characteristics he had in those days manager s crew could lay the most sections. are present to this very day. I have to keep They pitted their wits against one another; no myself busy all the time. There needs to be a time for idle chatter, but get laying as though certain sense of tension. My target has to lie your life depended on it. just one step beyond what might reasonably be expected. The site manager spotted him Pierre had worked his way up to foreman by as one to hold on to. this time. Everyone viewed him as site manager, but he wasn t. He opted for security. A brief excursion With sadness weighing heavily on his heart, he If you were to take someone back in time, embarked on a brief excursion that would tracing your footsteps through the world of ultimately last three years. He became the the railways, where would you pause? overseer of a 16-man crew working on DSM s Pierre Emans prefers not to speak in terms industrial lines. And although Strukton of footsteps, but rather turning points. continued to appeal to him, he simply isn t the Getting the job done together, that s the best part of it. From manhandling sleepers to operating major machines, from backache to headaches, from doing what you are told to devising one s own solutions. Mr Strukton? Don t be silly; there are plenty of others. But it isn t far short of the mark. A Struktonite in heart and soul; After all, you never know what sort of lasting impression a footstep will make. The arrival of young people and the launch of mechanical innovation were the first really important issues. That must have been back in 1986, or The change came along with the lads who d sort of man who comes crawling back at the first time of asking. DSM was an entirely different world. The things that I learned there, I guess, enabled me to become the man I am today. Discussing the job extensively with one another in advance. Invariably pausing for a he certainly is. been trained, and therefore had a different moment to reflect whether you are working as Pierre Emans and Strukton Rail have in a way grown In Pierre Emans opinion, there are certain I was assigned to a local crew. My first job perspective of the labour process. A truly new generation took charge of matters. safely as possible. Weighing up all the factors involved in relation to one another. Operating together, the one from a rail layer to production dates one should remember. And if those dates commemorate an event you are still was the preparatory work for the construction of a set of points. I was told to bring along the And suddenly everyone had a greater say in the way things were done. You were accepted as partners, rather than bosses and workers. manager, the other from a local supplier of manpower proud of, then they are certainly worth a mention. Other dates, however, mark events rail spikes. And that very first day, I learned the hard way that there were three or four different more for what you were. However, there was no question of working less hard. Productivity Time for a short break, during which Pierre Emans very calmly pours glasses of milk for a to a full service provider throughout Europe. one should learn from, and then forget. I started working for Strukton on types, and that I just seemed to have brought the wrong ones every single time. It was simply nevertheless remained key. Although one did have more of a sense of belonging to a team. group of toddlers, lovingly extracts a splinter from a child s hand, and ushers two little mites A railway man in heart and soul tells us about the 29 June a matter of pestering the new boy, trying me out. As were the cases of the square Up until then, the foreman had kept the measuring tape. No one else even dared towards the playground. He is beaming, just as much in his element here as on a railway line. turning points in his career. Rail layer, foreman, site manager, contract manager, production manager - step by step, screwdriver and the long stand. Until I informed them that I lived just round the corner, and glance at it, as there was only one person who knew what it read. Things were changing It won t be long before he starts waxing lyrical about Italy, the biggest turning point of all. The during a period spanning thirty years, Pierre could easily go home if they would continue though; you now had the option of going to story of Italy and his introduction to the renewal Emans has developed in the footsteps of a like that. The world was still a small place in headquarters for training. train, the epitome of mechanisation. It appears firm that expanded from a humble supplier those days, while the site manager was God that we re about to get two turning points for of the brute force and calloused hands of a himself, to put it plainly. A peacock screeches, then a donkey brays, the price of one this time. About Strukton s couple of hundred men, into an ambitious A farmer s son with a clear tenor voice; softly but Mr Emans doesn t appear to register their audacity in marching straight into Italy and European full service provider with a workforce spoken from close by, but extending over cries, despite the fact that they are quite close: proceeding to secure the contract for a highly of over 3,000. considerably large construction sites, with a The traditional manual actions were followed substantial four-part renewal project, which 20 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

12 included the Porrettana. How he had just a quick-dying cement. A tunnel, which it Having experienced an adventure he still fondly The company has outgrown me. I was able to is real rail work. I ve actually got too much on heartily as Pierre Emans himself. week to decide whether he wanted to be transpires needs to be extended a further reflects on, Pierre Emans returned from the keep pace with developments until a couple of my plate again now. However, that s just the Pierre, would you go to work on the railways the site manager on that particular series 20 centimetres during the process; some 350 Apennines with a love and understanding of its years ago. A whole range of reorganisations way I like it. You need a little enjoyment now again? Would you do it all again, given the of projects. Ah, the Porrettana a grand cubic metres of concrete, rock and cement people, as well as a thorough knowledge of and job changes meant that I increasingly had and then. chance? I would never have been more busy, old lady who had fallen on hard times; were ultimately excavated. The forks operating High Output machinery. Strukton Rail to spend my time indoors. Performing other The inner ring of land, just behind the house and perhaps I d never have got around to who dated from 1862, and wound her weary of conversion trains bending when they collide got the job done, acquired a long-term interest duties, taking care of different matters. Initially, I itself, features a sprawling lawn with an renovating furniture. I would certainly have way through the middle of the Apennine with rocks and concrete cement situated just in Italy s leading rail construction firm, Clf, and was supposed to focus on acquisitions and artificial cow, next to the day nursery run by started earlier, that s for sure. If I were 18 or 19 range, from Bologna to Pistoia. It was almost a few centimetres beneath the sleepers. introduced the first ever track renewal train to pricing only, but then I got involved in his wife, Riet. You would be pleased to send again, and they were to ask: Pierre, what shall 100 kilometres long, comprising 73 viaducts, Water cunettes in tunnels, which turn out to the Dutch network. The arrival of that train, specification supervision, from calculation to your kids there. There s a playground next to we do? Then my reply would be: I ll start work 45 tunnels measuring over 18 kilometres in be porous. Water that sometimes rises as high he admits, was the major turning point in the execution. Although it s a good job, it is carried the nursery, and a tree house just behind it. for Strukton tomorrow, just tell me where! total, and one of the Italian rail network s most as the top of the sleepers, and continues to company s history. He insists that it was out very much on the sidelines. Before you On his days off from work, Pierre Emans plays However, he s not quite sure when he wants to stunning and daring construction projects. pursue you as you work moving downhill. destined to be that way. If you really wanted to know it, you ve become old school. And that s grandfather to all of them. The little people retire at the time of the interview. Then, a few Pierre Emans, proudly relates: I worked in Italy Old water pipes, which sometimes run on stand up and be counted among the world s not so much fun anymore. I am the sort of really do live at the end of the garden in this months later, when another season has slipped from 25 February till 19 November the left of the track, then on the right, and major contractors, and there was nothing you person who has been forced indoors, but case. There are pathways on either side, in by unnoticed, he knows for sure. I have sometimes right underneath it. Sleepers so wanted more than to become Europe s largest cannot really hack a sedentary job. The latest the shade of the tree house, where they ve decided to take early retirement; 31 January An adventure rotten that they fall to pieces when lifted by and most highly skilled contractor, then you reshuffle enabled me to get out and about arranged their little birch chairs. And while the 2011 will therefore be my last day at work. Suddenly, it s the summer of 1996 once again: the renewal train, only to turn sideways and simply had to own such a train. However, again, thankfully. Supervising projects enabled children doze, they discuss what needs to be become jammed in the machinery. These often the way you actually use such a piece of me to get involved in calculation again, which done next, while laughing just as often and (1) Snippet from Railwork 2, February 1998 I thought: We ll go to Italy, establish a prove to be in such a state of decomposition, equipment can often prove an entirely different schedule and set to work according to that that they simply turn to dust if left outside the story. We in the Netherlands do things schedule. And that was the general line of tunnel in the sunlight for a few days. differently to the Italians and Germans. While thought. The idea was: the Italians are hard Diagnosis on a 132-year-old: hardening of the this sort of machinery is kept continually busy workers; they re good with machinery and arteries, incontinence; both of which she had there; I sometimes got the impression that we can improvise at the drop of a hat. All we adeptly kept concealed. Pierre Emans: were doing our best to keep ours looking clean have to do is carry out the preparatory work, The Italians wouldn t have dared tackle this and new. It s one of those typical throwbacks planning and monitoring, while making the project without our assistance, although we of the former Dutch Railways culture. necessary adjustments now and then. At that ourselves would never have completed the point we had no insight whatsoever into the job without the Italians. A stroll problems we would later encounter. And I ll ( ) A stroll across the chunk of land that he owns tell you straight, they were worse than The schedules simply became a bit less follows. Little paradises still exist it appears; anything we could have previously imagined ambitious, while consultations were held more just past the city of Weert, straight on for a in our wildest dreams. readily; that s what it basically came down to.(1) good while, then turn left. The final turning ( ) point: The business has outgrown me. It is However, the horrors that lurked in the Back in the here and now, in the garden of his no more than a dry remark in passing. Three darkest depths of those tunnels, which were home. It was fire and brimstone at the start. hectares of land surround his home like a shell. absent from the twelve-metre-long plans You met with opposition everywhere. Until I He points out the tall lime trees, which he dating from 1892, which were not visible reverted to screaming at one subcontractor in planted himself as a young man. The outer ring to the naked eye, and which Ferrovie dello my own dialect, to such effect that he caught is for the animals; the ram, the donkeys, the Stato s infrastructure management team my drift exactly. We finally ended up piglets, the peacocks, the chickens, the either couldn t or wouldn t tell us even if cooperating almost like siblings. Basically, cockerel. The middle one comprises the we asked a hundred times, remained a anyone who dared drag their heels the one vegetable garden, pond, English country harrowing secret which was only gradually day, needn t bother coming back the next. garden, arbour, tool shed, and a warm porch uncovered day by day. Getting the job done together, that s always for the grapevines. All of them are neatly the best bit of it. Oh yes, and that wagon demarcated with fences and hedges, Graders breaking when they hit the rock just wheel pasta at lunchtime, of course. I left organised according to a certain autonomy, an beneath the track bedding. The 475-metre home weighing 82 kilos, and returned a indubitable logic. And everything reflects care, section of track in the Galleria Pisanacco that proud 93. And I ve never been able to lose dedication and pleasure. rises due to the effects of the injection of the weight again since. 22 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

13 The finishing touches The Bothnia Line is ready. Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf took the new rail connection into operation at the end of August The passenger and goods line skirts the eastern coastline from Nyland to Umeå, and the trains can travel at speeds of up to 250 kph. In just three brief summer seasons, Strukton Rail built 100 km of the 190-km stretch. Here, at the bridge over the river Umeälven, Strukton Rail makes the finishing touches to the tracks. 24 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

14 High-speed lines at a snail s pace Nice words from a departing authority, the Swedish national rail infrastructure operator, recorded in its closing annual report and signed by its last managing director Minoo Akhterzand: Sweden s fastest: a modified Regina train of Bombardier - designed for 200 km/hour in daily use - set up the new national speed record on 303 km/h in 2008 Banverket has now completed its task and operations will be shut at sea and in the air. The level of optimism expressed by Minoo closer together: 500 km in two hours. Europabanan branches Too little, believes supporter and scientist Oskar Fröidh, a Swede who down on 31 March Banverket s responsibilities will be Akhterzand in terms of the benefits of Trafikverket above those of the southwards from Jönköping to Copenhagen - the potential starting saw that things could be done differently elsewhere in Scandinavia. assumed by the Transport Administration from 1 April 2010 onwards; departing sector-based management bodies is not shared by everyone. point for a high-speed connection with Northwest Europe. Even before He is a member of an international group of experts commissioned it is a transport authority created to initiate a new era in Swedish Political rhetoric certainly leans towards combining concepts such as the parliamentary elections last year, the left and centre-right rivals by Norwegian rail infrastructure management body Jernbaneverket transport policy and ensure a coordinated and comprehensive broad, cohesive and long term, inviting a diverse response. Some expressed their views on the future. The Red-Green alliance earmarked to investigate possible ways of expanding the network, including the approach to traffic and traffic infrastructure. It is my belief that there recognise balance and due care, while others wander off track in more than 12 billion euro to invest in the lines and had calculated option of high-speed lines. The study presents the alternatives along are great benefits to be gained from the implementation of an search of honey. that annual CO2 emissions would be reduced by 100,000 kg. with their associated costs. He points out that the Norwegians are integrated traffic authority with a faster and more integrated planning Construction was set to commence as early as in More asphalt- perhaps more ambitious than the Swedes, because of the possibility process. The overall approach to all modes of transport will afford Left and right oriented critics argued that a reduction of this magnitude could also be of big time savings. Oskar Fröidh is a researcher at the Transport and greater benefits to customers, and the railways will have a key role in For example, the rail arena faces the dilemma of whether to embark achieved on the basis of cheaper investments in road traffic. The Logistics faculty of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. resolving future key transport issues. The Transportation on laying high-speed lines in earnest, or to calmly postpone such former centre-right cabinet minister responsible for infrastructure, Asa In 2005, he published the findings of a study into the market effects Administration will certainly become a model for many countries and endeavours. In Sweden, numerous stretches of track are already Torstensson, said that as long as her party was in power, laying the of regional high-speed trains on the Svealand line, a 115-km stretch put Sweden on the map in the area of infrastructure and transport. built for speeds of 200 to 250 kph. This raises doubt about whether high-speed lines would not get off the ground before 2021, only between Stockholm and Eskilstuna. From it, he drew the general the timesavings are worth the investment. What s more, service is opening up for operation in Centre-right won the elections and conclusion that high-speed trains have a big impact on the transport From sector-based to holistic; the whole being more than the sum of unreasonably expensive in a network characterised primarily by its therefore remained in power. And thus the focal points remained: market and on traveller behaviour. Prospects for high-speed trains in its parts - Trafikverket shapes shifting political and administrative limited size in relation to the country, while being too large for its improving metropolitan networks, upgrading existing rail connections, the domestic Swedish transport market followed in In this study perceptions. After several years of preparation, Trafikverket will be population. electrification of diesel lines and improving port connections. HSL? he asserts, amongst other things, that the high-speed trains on key replacing the four existing authorities for road, rail, water and air We ll see at a later date. Layout studies were conducted by Götabanan Scandinavian routes such as Stockholm-Copenhagen, Stockholm-Oslo transportation. They need to develop broader, more cohesive, long- There are two HSL candidates: Götabanan and Europabanan. to appease proponents. and Oslo-Copenhagen would have to travel at speeds of between term transport plans while simultaneously carrying out the daily tasks: Götabanan would bring Sweden s two biggest cities of Stockholm 350 and 400 kph in order to compete successfully against air traffic. the construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure on land, and Göteborg, one to the east and the other on the west coast But his initial conclusion, expressed during the UIC World Congress in 26 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

15 Strength through unity Strukton Rail and Balfour Beatty join forces in Sweden on a project basis, together winning a major maintenance contract in the north of the country Strukton Rail and Balfour Beatty will jointly maintain 726 km of track on the location. Typically, cooperation such as this presents everyone in the north of Sweden. To this end, both parties signed a contract with with a win-win situation. infrastructure manager Trafikverket in November The maintenance area lies in the extension of the new Bothnia Line, embracing the Strukton Rail and Balfour Beatty have been active for many years in connection between Holmsund and Boden with two branches to the the Swedish maintenance market. Strukton Rail is the bigger of the ports of Skellefteå and Piteå on the Gulf of Bothnia and one towards the two, carrying responsibility for more than 1,800 km of train, light-rail Norwegian border to Storuman. The contract is valid for a five-year term, and underground tracks. Over the past year, both parties have had with an option for two years more. Trafikverket expressed admiration for to contend with newborn giant Infranord, the maintenance division of the cost-effective approach adopted by both companies and how they the former Banverket, which inherited around 65% of the maintenance responded to the call for maintenance. market on its foundation at the start of Previously in June 2010, Strukton Rail and Balfour Beatty spoke out For Strukton Rail, the new contract also brings a continuation of its in favour of practical forms of cooperation on a project or contract existing order book. For seven years, the organisation independently basis in order to curb operational costs for both parties. Magnus maintained the Boden-Holmsun route; effective May 2011, this will be Jonasson, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty, said the following: done together with Balfour Beatty. As such, employment opportunities Amsterdam in 2008 was: Foresighted Oskar Fröidh asserts that high-speed lines Oskar Fröidh argues that the major I believe cooperation of this nature offers great potential. will be safeguarded in the region for the coming five-year period. planning is essential to achieve future-proof generally present economic incentives: You investments needed for high-speed lines do We will mainly use each other s equipment, where this is readily Strukton Rail s Regional Director Anders Gustafsson: By cooperating infrastructure. Oskar Fröidh examined the could say that the high-speed lines increase not fit within the current spatial planning available. It s extremely costly to move equipment around in Sweden. with Balfour Beatty within the scope of this contract, we can offer our different approaches adopted by the passenger range. After all, you can travel models: It s difficult to accurately estimate the We re becoming more efficient in this respect. At the same time, skilled personnel a level of continuity that comes with working for an Norwegians and Swedes, and wanted greater distances than by car or on a slower dynamic effects of high-speed lines based on this will serve to reduce our CO2 emissions. And, in a similar manner, employer they know well. This brings security and stability and puts both seriously to activate his fellow countrymen train. The economic value of shorter travel current economic models. For example, how we intend to engage the services of each other s people - depending our companies in a position to achieve further development locally. and women to invest in the future of high- times and increased accessibility are reflected much the business community will develop speed trains. in higher community earnings, greater or how operating the new areas will boost business development potential and lower industrial and residential development I want Trafikverket to look into the option of public sector costs. He refers to a study into throughout the region. But it s up to us to more tracks along existing main lines - entirely the effects of a high-speed link between make sure that Sweden does not fall behind new tracks for high-speed trains. What s Stockholm and Eskilstuna: The number of in terms of developing its transport system. more, account must be taken of being able to train passengers increased sevenfold and the We cannot view high-speed lines solely within combine fast goods transport and passenger share of the market held by rail transportation a Swedish context; a Scandinavian perspective transport on these high-speed lines. If you grew from 6% to 30%. Before the Svealand is needed to chart all the potential benefits. want to create space for lots of trains, they all line was built, the population in Eskilstuna was need to travel at around the same speed. We declining. Now, better accessibility has fuelled Supporters of stepping up the pace of will not achieve this on the main lines as long an increase in the number of businesses and construction, like Oskar Fröidh, will have to as commuter, regional, goods and express service providers, including Energymyndigheten, be patient for the time being, however, until trains continue to use the same tracks. We the Swedish Energy Agency. The number of the winds of politics stop blowing from the must find cost effective, safe solutions to residents has also risen. The Eskilstuna centre-right. Until then, the development of create infrastructure corridors alongside the training institute serves as another example, high-speed lines in Sweden will progress existing network. In a nutshell, highways for as it succeeded in attracting highly-qualified at a snail s pace. trains without any intersections. teachers from Stockholm. Boden-Holmsund: a wood transport passes the railway bridge near Vindeln 28 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

16 The tram is on its way! Jochen Meister stands by a crossroads on the northern periphery of the city, which is a prime example of the history of sixty years of public transport philosophy 30 About Railways 14 I March 2011 Jochen Meister was born and bred in Kassel, and is currently project leader at the rail construction firm of Georg Reisse GmbH & Co KG. The firm, which has been associated with the city since 1913, was renamed Strukton Rail GmbH & Co KG in January Turning his gaze towards the city centre, he sees a terminal loop - that s as far as the tram goes. Turning his back on the city again, his eye falls upon the four-lane provincial highway, with its service road and central reservation and, there on the asphalt, a tram line in the making. It won t be long before the swift connection is completed, comprising eight stops on a line connecting the big city of Kassel to the much smaller town of Vellmar, four kilometres away. Along this short stretch, the tramlines will nevertheless cross the road twice. First, from the left-hand lanes to the central reservation: traffic lights. Then again, from the central reservation across the right-hand lanes: another set of traffic lights. The cars once had right of way here, and could proceed at full speed to Vellmar. Shortly they will have to stop twice for the tram. From 1950 to 2010, and from car, car, car to tram, tram, tram. Nowadays, Kassel is blessed with a highly enviable public transport system, which comprises urban trams, regional trams and buses. It conveys some 50 millions passengers a year from the depths of the region to the heart of the city and back. However, the city had only very narrowly missed going down the same road as many other European cities, which dug up their tramways during the first few decades following the Second World War. They did away with them in an endeavour to create a sumptuous, open city, which was light and airy, as well as being prepared for considerable motor traffic flows; that was the dominant ideal during the post-war period of reconstruction. The ultimate in mobility was viewed as a system that travelled on pneumatic tyres. In the former West Germany alone, the tram disappeared entirely from the streetscape of some 50 cities during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Kassel itself had a narrow escape. Kassel had always been a tram town, as well as a cultural city and home to heavy industries, including the firm known as Henschel - currently called Bombardier. Firms like Henschel prompted a night visit by a squadron of British bombers in 1943: Resulting in the devastation of the city and ten thousand fatalities. The war was then followed by the political aftershock: Kassel was no longer a prominent city in the centre of an undivided nation, but rather a concrete jungle just thirty kilometres from the Ostzone, surrounded by American garrisons - not really a cosy spot. The reconstruction of Kassel therefore commenced much later than that of many other German cities further to the west. And it began with broad streets and sumptuous squares there, too. All the stops had to be pulled out just to render a minor portion of the tram network operational. And it was to remain a matter of simply making do for quite some time to come. In fact, when Jochen Meister took the tram to school as a ten-year-old boy, in 1965, he still passed through streets lined with ruined buildings on either side. The actual switch from the car to the tram came much later, in It followed two years of heated debate, both within and without pressure groups. Yes, it was time to finally call a halt to all that tram expansion nonsense, or better still, do away with the existing infrastructure, in the interests of making further progress. And no, the same interests would actually be better served if the tram system were finally comprehensively extended. The proponents of public transport ultimately won the battle. The municipal council opted for the plans put forward by the Kasseler Verkehrs Gesellschaft (KVG). This largely comprised the replacement of the old-fashioned urban trams, the mayor at the time admitted. It would take over a decade longer before the first of the new lines were actually commissioned. Slowly but surely, they made inroads into the depths of the region, with the Kassel-Vellmar connection forming the final piece in the puzzle for the time being. However, Kassel was also to become worthy of a sightseeing visit for other reasons. It was to re-establish itself as a city of culture, albeit in a different form. The 5-yearly Documenta was held there for the first time in 1955, making the city an internationally renowned place of pilgrimage for visual arts enthusiasts. These visitors had the added benefit of being able to travel everywhere they wished by tram. And the chances were that they would also encounter an equally varied group of city councillors, urban planners and developers in the process. In the meantime, Kassel s regional network had begun to serve as an example to other European cities. As a city of some 190,000 inhabitants, it boasted 9 tram and 28 bus routes. This included dual use of railway lines by both ordinary trains and a sort of hybrid, halfway between a train and a tram. Direct connections were also made to the urban network, as the vehicles changed from direct to alternating current to convey passengers right into the city centre. This coherence, the smooth interconnection of urban and rural areas, could hardly fail to make the city a force to be reckoned with. Kassel had it all, and one simply had to witness it personally. Dutch urban planner Rob van der Bijl, who is internationally renowned as an expert in the field of light rail, described the approach adopted by Kassel as follows: As a regional tram, this network represents a new icon in the world of rail. The Head of the District Authority, Udo Schlitzberger, was also particularly pleased with this investment in the future: Wherever the regional tram goes, new houses are being built. Back at the crossroads on the periphery of the city, however, the infrastructure bound for Vellmar is being constructed by a cooperative comprising three civil engineering companies and two rail construction firms, one of which is Georg Reisse. This particular firm already had ties with the local rail and public transport organisations back in the days when the rail company still had the designation Kaiserlich or Imperial, and Kassel was still spelt with a C. During the past two decades of growth in particular, Georg Reisse was regularly involved in various aspects of the network s construction. Wilhelmshöher Allee, Holländischer Platz, Wilhelmshöhe ICE station, Baunatal and Lossetalbahn, among numerous others, are examples of projects in its own city, in which the firm is proud to have participated. One of the queries the interviewer posed Jochen Meister, while they stood there at the crossroads, was whether the Kassel-Vellmar connection had also been readily accepted by the inhabitants from the very outset. It proved to be a naive question. After all, even Kassel is not that ideal. Jochen Meister reflects with a wry smile: Although basically everyone here wants to travel either by tram or train, none of them want a stop outside their front door. Nor do they want to live alongside the line, or with a view of a terminal loop. Georg Reisse becomes Strukton Rail As of 1 January 2011, the firm of Georg Reisse Bauunternehmung GmbH & Co KG has changed its name to Strukton Rail GmbH & Co KG. This should make the firm a more prominent subsidiary of Strukton Rail in the German market, too. This German subsidiary of Strukton Rail was originally founded in 1913, as the family business known as Georg Reisse GmbH & Co KG. Three generations of Georg Reisses actually managed the business, until it was acquired by Strukton Rail in About Railways 14 I March

17 Simply trying things out; it s a trait I already had as a child Highly praised, recipient Great ideas should really be announced with eureka - which is ancient Greek for I have found of numerous accolades, it. So, when did Jo Derie think Eureka!? When did the project manager at the Survey department of Strukton Rail s Belgian division come up with the idea of making a software Jo Derie developed toolkit that would render the railways both more readily and accurately measurable and checkable? software for the railways After all, the idea was not only good for a check to the tune of 11,000 euros from the boss, but also a bronze medal in the Dutch Creativity Prize 2009, and the Innovation Award at the Belgian Building Awards. Can he still recall when he conceived the idea? Sitting on the couch at home, or driving the car perhaps, or even when awakening one morning? bring the world of land surveying closer to that the use of precisely this new form of of track. What s more, it makes things less Unfortunately, his ideas do not come to him as a sudden brainwave. As the healthy looking of the machinery used to build and maintain measurement technique. That was my dangerous, as the inspection teams spend less forty-something-year-old gazes out of the window at the trees, he admits: That s not the way the railways respectively. Surveyors used to chance! than half the time that they used to on the line. it works at all. It s more of a process that continues to grow and grow, on the basis of the go out in the field to take two-dimensional Jo Derie adds: Much of the work that used to problems that you encounter. And if I could attribute any reason at all to making this particular measurements manually, on the basis of which Jo Derie s system has since been developed be performed in the field, is now carried out by discovery, then it would have to be the fact that I can readily envisage the solutions that the machinery was put to work. When that into a platform which enables measurement software which provides a digital solution. software offers to problems encountered on the railways. And writing software is one of my was done, they simply moved on to the next equipment on the one hand, and tamping hobbies. section. However, one could never be machines, track work machines and levellers Jo Derie claims that the fact he was able to completely sure that it had been surveyed on the other, to exchange data, for the develop software on his own, while entire What Jo Derie fails to mention and what only transpires towards the close of the interview, using the same method as the previous purposes of either laying or checking track. office blocks full of IT experts were left however, is perhaps far more significant. And this is the fact that his hobby arose as part of section. One never had a complete picture of Smart software is the key to this whole scratching their heads, is due to the a sort of philosophy, which very much typifies Jo Derie and which he himself describes as the entire - say, thirty-kilometre - stretch of line process, and while many are still very cautious coincidence that I encounter problems in a simply trying things out, or exploration in the broadest sense of the term. to be laid, but just a little piece at a time. in this regard, Jo Derie insists that software is professional capacity, which my hobby - simply a modern-day equivalent of the writing software - enables me to resolve. Jo Derie originally trained as a land surveyor. Having spent some twelve years producing highly The first thing that Jo Derie envisaged making hammer and pliers. This is perhaps also the At the age of 45, however, he is not a child specialised topographical maps at Eurosense, however, he considered it time for a move to was an inspection wagon capable of recording reason that he prefers to refer to his award- of the computer era. So, how did he manage something different. I was keen to witness the more tangible effects of my work. And I fancied three-dimensional data. That is much quicker winning invention as a toolkit. In the old days, to make this world his own? When the the challenge of major infrastructure works. And because the Dutch have made a name as a and more reliable than sending surveyors into people opted to buy a new hammer, or a evolution occurred, I had a clear sense of nation of major infrastructure works, I applied for a job at Strukton. They were looking for the field with a measuring tape. And it was better screwdriver. Nowadays, we re talking wanting to learn what it was all about. I wanted someone for their Survey department at the time. It ultimately proved quite a confrontation indeed an excellent idea, were it not for the software. My toolkit therefore contains all to know how it actually worked. It s a trait that I as Jo Derie describes it. I had been accustomed to applying the most highly advanced fact that the Swiss firm Amberg Technologies sorts of software tools and accessories. already had as a child. Making things up, trying technologies at Eurosense. What I encountered here in terms of surveying was archaic to say and its partner Leica Geosystems were just These enable measurement equipment and things out: exploration in the broadest sense of the least. It was as though time had stood still. At the same time, however, I also cherished the one step ahead of him, which prompted two machinery to operate in one and the same the term. huge challenge I was posed to raise the department to a higher plane. responses from Jo Derie: That we were on world, as they all speak the same language. the right track, but still just a little too sluggish! Incidentally, how did he spend the eleven Never sit still His next concern was how to bring about the The benefits of software thousand euros? On reflection, he admits that it certainly wasn t water off a duck s back. Even to this day, I still launch of the inspection wagon in such a His concept offers a number of major benefits. Bought new running gear - as I always come encounter a certain reluctance to innovate; and certainly among surveyors we engage through traditional market. The strange thing about For instance, it generates cost savings because up with my best ideas when jogging. And I a third party. Change is always difficult for people to accept. However, my motto is: Never sit the matter is the following: within the year, the machinery that carries out the work is more intend to invest the remainder in solar panels. still. Dare to innovate. Just look at the company itself. What is it doing in the tunnelling & road specifications were drawn up for the high- accurately controlled, and therefore needs to be However, that project is still very much in the building sector? And what about the field of hydraulic engineering? There are always overlaps, speed rail link from Antwerp to the Dutch deployed less often. This also helps reduce the exploratory stages. And we all know what always aspects you can use to your own benefit. He was determined from the very outset to border, and said specifications prescribed costs of failures caused by the poor operation that means in Jo Derie s case. 32 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

18 Hunting for bigger game Strukton Rail s Italian subsidiary Clf joined partner Unieco and construction giant CMB in a powerful trio and secured their first tender Genoa, Sampierdarena station, May There can be no misunderstanding about Bulldozers set off with several symbolic Eureca s ambitions. We re taking our first digging gestures on a project set to last steps in a complex market offering enormous seven years, completely replacing the potential, within and outside of Italy, says railway yard in Italy s biggest port. The aim is Eureca s Chairman of the Board Aldo Tognetti. twofold. The need to untangle international, Companies of our scale are compelled to go transit, regional and urban traffic is urgent; international; take North Africa, the Gulf States each of these arteries requires its own and even Eastern Europe. Vice-President tracks. At the same time, the city is set to Stefano Immovilli adds: We intend to play a become the efficient start and finish of the leading role in both the public and private envisaged corridor of two seas - the sectors. We need to put forward our own European Genoa-Rotterdam transport plans, including financing models. The three Unieco, is roughly half the size of CMB, and systems. Clf became the Clf Group and went with a 160-kph speed limit. Barely on Chairman of Strukton Rail s Board and Vice- connection with the Betuwe Route at the of us will be able to compete on levels neither was founded in 1904 as Cooperativa Muratori on to renew its machine park. completion of the work in Bulgaria, Clf plans Chairman of Clf s Supervisory Board, Aike other end. of us could individually. From one day to the di Campagnola - a cooperative of bricklayers Today, employing a 500-strong workforce, to start laying Algeria s first-ever high-speed Schoots: Our investment in Clf in 1998 next, Eureca became the third largest only. The third in the group, Costruzione Linee Clf is the biggest railway construction company line. Measuring in at 132 km of double track, appears to have been a good move, not only The work involves renewing the lines construction conglomeration in Italy. In June Ferroviarie or simply Clf, was once called in the country, with its head office in Bologna this line will run from Qued Tlélat, just below on financial grounds. Our joint strategy - between Genoa Voltri and Genoa Brignole, 2010, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Cooperativa Lavori Ferroviarie, and has for and establishments in the vicinity of Alessandria. Oran, to the Moroccan border. This project is Strukton Rail concentrates on Central and expanding the four lines between Genoa Transport awarded its General Contractor many years operated as one of Italy s leading Clf has always acted on its international set for delivery in The government in Northern Europe and Clf on the south and Voltri and Genoa Sampierdarena, increasing Qualification - Grade III certificate, making it railway contractors. It certainly holds the lead aspirations, too. In the former communist era, Algeria has great plans. Within an undisclosed east, and on North Africa - appears to be six-fold the lines between Genoa Principe possible for the organisation to vie for work in in terms of how many kilometres of high- the Italians helped to build tracks in Poland number of years, the country will boast 1,200 bearing fruit. Clf offers us in-house technology and Genoa Brignole, renewing the systems excess of EUR 700 million. Without this speed track can be attributed to its name. and former Yugoslavia. In recent years, Clf km of high-speed line, stretching from for high-speed lines. Additionally, we have at the various stations, and installing new certificate, the individual parties would only Together, the trio possesses experience in has competed systematically for tenders in Morocco to Tunisia and back, passing huge potential for further development through safety and security systems. The actual have been able to take on work representing practically all fields of construction. the Balkans and in North Africa, often in the through stations in Algeria s major cities. the mutual utilisation of our combined work on the tracks began in February lower values. wake of civil engineering giants such as machine park and in-house development of The Eureca consortium won the EUR 363 Strukton Rail has held a participating interest Astaldi (11,000 employees in 21 countries) A good move new machine technology. Clf has also million tender. The total investment amounts A cooperative tradition in Clf since In that year, the Dutch and Condotte. This secured new projects on On presentation of Clf s annual figures for acquired a 50% stake in the shares of Italian to more than EUR 600 million. The three parties that make up Eureca company acquired 40% of the shares in what foreign shores. 2009, Growth featured as the obvious machine manufacturer Sorema. Jointly, they originate from a cooperative tradition in the would then have been considered a medium- theme. Expectations are that turnover will recently developed a ballast-profiling machine Consortio Stabile Eureca? It appeared that environments of Bologna and Modena. CMB sized railway company - by Italian standards - In Bulgaria, Clf will be busy with the renewal increase further in 2012 to a figure of around capable of doing the job at a better price and three already weighty construction parties Società Cooperativi Muratori e Braccianti - a with a workforce of 120 employees and an and electrification of the Plovdiv-Slivengrad EUR 140 million. At that time, too, more than higher quality than those of the established had pooled their resources like genuine cooperative of bricklayers and workers - was annual turnover of EUR 8 million. Unieco line until the end of This 120-km 30% of the company s turnover will be contractors. And that s not all, because we musketeers in hunting for bigger game. And established in Carpi in 1908, and today retained ownership of the remaining 60%. Clf stretch is one of the historic Orient Express generated offshore, against a figure of only will be in a stronger position up north as a that was indeed the case. Their first venture counts among Italy s Top 10 construction then invested in Arfer - also rail works - and connections, changing from single, non- 4% in The workforce will also have result: offering a great product at a met with success: Genoa was the first companies, generating an annual turnover of in taking over Sifel, in complementary rail electrified track with a maximum permissible increased to around 600 employees. competitive price. tender for which Eureca competed. more than EUR 600 million. The second party, disciplines including signalling and catenary speed of 80 kph into electrified, double track 34 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

19 All electricity under the same roof Strukton Rail has reorganised its division known as Strukton Systems. Firstly, the Deputy Director of Strukton Systems, Joost den Decker, explains why. This is followed by an overview of the reorganised business operations. Basically, the whole idea was to pool our resources. And we therefore now have eight trump cards in the same hand, which we can play in any combination required. Joost den Decker, Deputy Director of Strukton Systems, requires few words to explain why his business - one of the pillars of Strukton Rail s operations as a full service provider - has been reorganised. Some of the electrical engineering operations were already carried out under the Systems banner, while others had developed as autonomous businesses under that of Strukton Rail. It was a rather fragmented affair, which had grown that way during the course of time, and quite understandably so. However, just where the individual businesses operations began, ended and merged with one another, was sometimes rather unclear to customers and staff alike. So, there was room for improvement and greater efficiency above all, which was achieved internally by merging staff departments wherever possible. The reorganisation took place during the course of The outlines were drawn up in a jiffy; the details took a little longer to gradually sink in. Joost den Decker: We have become a lot better prepared. Primarily because we now have more direct access to one another s knowledge and skills in the field of electrical engineering. We can also put together logical combinations more readily. After all, Systems invariably gathers together under the same banner all the electrical engineering aspects that one finds in rail specifications, while it can take charge of them with one hand. Consider, for instance, the new construction of the Hanze Line, where four of our eight new product/market combinations are cooperating in a single project: Cable Solutions, Electric, Signalling & Power Supply and Installation Services. Moreover, this rearrangement of competences enables us to operate further up the production and marketing chain. Product and market in eight combinations Strukton Systems has rearranged its commercial operations into eight product/market combinations, or PMCs. The Safety & Measurement Services PMC relates to matters of rail safety, occupational health & safety, electrical engineering safety and technical measurements. It also bears responsibility for safety within all the other PMCs, while supplying services to the other divisions of Strukton Rail. Safety & Measurement Services (S&MS) deploys engineers with a broad background, well versed in both electrical engineering and safety. They indicate whether a system is compliant or not. The PMC also provides external services, for instance as the party responsible for systems at Keyrail, the operator of the Betuwe Line. No work can be performed on the line s systems without Strukton Systems explicit prior permission and subsequent approval. S&MS is highly adept in the measurement of cabling routes, which it also carries out in sectors far beyond the range of rail-related structures only. For instance, it assists in municipalities including Rotterdam and The Hague, which regularly face street lighting failures. Energy Solutions daily duties comprise the transformation of high to low voltage current. It is involved in the entire process, from design to the laying of distribution grids that supply users. It also carries out complete project management, as a constructor of substations and switching stations. Its highly internationally oriented approach has previously led Energy Solutions to execute projects in Africa, while it is currently involved in large-scale operations in Surinam. Furthermore, it is branching out in the direction of wind and solar energy farms, primarily in Belgium and Germany. The Cable Solutions PMC was founded three years ago. It performs every imaginable sort of cabling in and around the railway environment, as well as jacking and drilling, largely in the field of new construction. Its operations are largely focused on the Dutch market, in which field it is also responsible for laying a large part of ProRail s fibre optic network. Electric is the new name of the catenary systems division. It currently performs new construction, renovations and maintenance of the power supply systems for trains, trams and metro. This ranges from carrying cables, contact wires and connections, to the erection of portal structures and catenary supports and laying foundations. Electric operates both in the Netherlands and abroad, often in combination with Strukton Rail and other parties, too. It performs the engineering for general specifications in partnership with Strukton Rail Consult. Its operations often involve the use of a considerable fleet of machinery, from both road and rail-operating hydraulic platform vehicles to the catenary renewal train known as Gemma. The installation and maintenance of information systems is the field of operations of Monitoring & Travel Systems. Its operations revolve around two particular system types. The installation of travel information systems for trains, trams and metro is a largely domestic operation. That of the online monitoring system known as POSS (1) on the other hand, is of a highly international nature. Telecom & Technical Installations assumes responsibility for the new construction and renovation of data structures in the railway environment, usually at the request of ProRail. This may involve anything from public address systems to the control systems for power supply. In addition, it carries out maintenance of the control systems for tunnels and bridges. The design, installation, commissioning, functional testing and corrective maintenance of both classic relay interlocking systems and electronic control systems that link signals, points and train detection to one another, comprise the field of operations of the Signalling & Power Supply PMC. Signalling established itself as a specialist in installing the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) within the space of just a few years. It operates primarily in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Turkey. Power Supply is involved in the design and construction of electricity substations and switching stations, while in rail circles, this entails connecting the power company s supply cable to the rail operator s overhead line. PMC number eight is known as Installation Services. It performs a great deal of work in railway station environments. Installation Services carries out the day-to-day maintenance of lifts, escalators and automatic doors. It also performs the installation and maintenance of points heating, climate control and other low voltage systems at railway stations and yards. During the past few years, external customers have increasingly engaged its services. For instance, the Netherlands Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (RWS) awarded Installation Services the contract for preventive and corrective maintenance of all beacon structures along the Dutch coastline. (2) (1) also consult page 9-11 (2) also consult page About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March

20 Rock-solid reliability Installation Services is Today, it s time to put IJmuiden s lighthouses in the limelight. Ingmar Wijnoogst lets himself one of Strukton Systems into the taller of the two, wielding a bunch of keys that would put a prison warder to shame. Ingmar is a service engineer at Installation Services, one of Strukton Systems product/market eight product/market combinations (PMCs). He has another two such bunches of keys in his van. This lighthouse is one of the works of classic beauty amongst around 1,500 beacon structures situated along combinations. Its core the Dutch coastline, for which RWS awarded Strukton Systems the maintenance contract in September business is keeping things Ingmar checks the electrical system, establishes which lights are working and which not, running. At railway replaces a 2000 Watt lamp, and tests the system. He works his way through the maintenance checklist, point for point: switchgear, wiring, the motor control, the gearboxes, the emergency stations and on and power generator, the lens aperture, the fall protection, cracks in lenses and windows. The hours slip by. He pauses for a moment to enjoy the view. Yes, this job certainly gets you As the market became more privatised, it A few doors along from Mr Velthuis, is Erik platform, a boat or occasionally even, around waterways. out and about. There s the sea; and the steelworks chimneys; and that s Amsterdam; and over there, amid the greenery, is Haarlem, his hometown. He makes a mental note of the points for offered us scope for expansion. The care we were already providing in railway station Schutte s office, which has a poster on the wall depicting all the lighthouses throughout a helicopter. Erik Schutte weighs up the results of his work. You have to keep a really attention he came across during the course of his inspection. environments, proved to be just as needed at the Netherlands. Erik Schutte is a planner. close check on everything, not just rectifying police stations and regional hospitals. The step So, once Installation Services had actually faults, but also improving the systems in such A lighthouse is something out of the ordinary. What Ingmar Wijnoogst and his colleagues from these sorts of institutions to RWS was been awarded the RWS contract, Erik had a manner as to ensure that you only need to mainly do, is to keep things running at 90% of all railway stations in the Netherlands, round the therefore not a particularly large one. Ron the entire maintenance management system perform scheduled maintenance in future. clock, seven days a week. The things in question comprise hundreds and hundreds of lifts, Velthuis explains: In 2009, the Maintenance set up in no time. And although that was Proper maintenance implies that the fault escalators and automatic doors at traffic junctions, as well as the lighting there, and the of RWS fixed signage was put out to tender. more than a year ago, his pride remains report light out is more or less a thing of the systems at traffic control centres. Strukton Systems PMC Installation Services does what its It comprised 1,500 beacon structures along undiminished. He mapped out all the beacon past. When we first started, in September name suggests: It is a 24-hour service organisation that carries out systematic maintenance the Dutch coastline, from lighthouses to structures digitally, each linked to its own 2009, we received anything from four to ten on the electrical, mechanical and gas systems which vouch for the daily mobility and safety of beacons and navigation lights along canals particular characteristics, colour, frequency and fault reports a day. It is currently down to several hundred thousand travellers. and river estuaries - basically the entire range geo coordinates, the last of which were also around three or four a week. of shipping safety & traffic regulation systems. converted into Google Earth and TomTom Ron Velthuis is the manager there. He defines it as follows: We are a true service organisation. However, it also comprised a contract for 24/7 files for the service engineers. Before the day is over, Erik will receive Ingmar We adopt a preventive approach, by inspecting and keeping the properties in question clean fault-clearing service. We therefore submitted Wijnoogst s report on the work performed at according to an established plan. If a fault occurs, then we re on the spot within two hours. a tender, as we were well established in the Improving the systems the tall lighthouse earlier, including points for You encounter all manners of faults in this business: from a loose screw, to a crowd of football field of maintaining mechanical and electrical Ingmar and his colleagues receive monthly future attention that Ingmar came across hooligans shoving a steel refuse container down an escalator. We also perform major engineering systems. Furthermore, we already schedules from Erik. Those who are to perform during the course of his duties. The lock on renovations; so new construction is the only segment in which we are not involved. had almost complete national coverage and work for RWS know well in advance that they the main door should be replaced as it sticks The number of faults we handle amounts to around 3,000 annually. I personally consider that a fault-clearing coordination centre, which have to carefully study the characteristics of a little. There are a few weak spots in the a pretty low figure, particularly if you bear in mind that there are a few sets of automatic doors takes care of the management, registration the properties and their locations on the map. wiring for the backup light. Although that s at the rear of Amsterdam Central Station through which some 200,000 people pass back and and accounting aspects. In fact, the contract In stark contrast to railway stations, beacon not urgently in need of attention, it is worth forth on a daily basis. The complicated part of our job is not purely a technical matter, but also requirements were entirely in line with our structures tend to be less readily accessible mentioning. The property s cooling unit also relates to the control process, the logistics, the coordination and the handling. Although it s competencies; we therefore ticked all the by road, and one therefore sometimes has to needs servicing. Otherwise, the place not exactly rocket science, our reliability is as solid as a rock. boxes. make arrangements in advance for an aerial appeared to be in pretty good shape. 38 About Railways 14 I March 2011 About Railways 14 I March