Green light for adaptation of Simplon railway

Lötschberg tunnel, Source: Pixabay

After the agreements signed at the end of 2020, the Swiss Federal Office of Transport and the manager of the Italian network RFI put on paper, on February 2022, the commitments and a precise timetable for the works to be carried out in order to adapt the Lötschberg-Simplon railway axis. This second phase of interventions completes what is called the “four-meter corridor”, which allows road semi-trailers to be transported by rail with a height of four meters at the corners and a width up to 2.60 meters. This will be possible from Basel to Chiasso and Luino, without interruption to the transhipment terminals in northern Italy, in the foreground Novara and the Milan area in Busto Arsizio-Gallarate. After having already adapted the historic Simplon tunnel in the early 2000s, the works between the south portal and Domodossola were only completed on one of the two running tracks. Now the adaptation will take place on further segments in order to allow the transit of intermodal freight trains without limits of shape and standard length.

Italy committed to adapt the routes in its territory by 2028. The most demanding works concern the line between Domodossola and Arona which in the South splits in the two itineraries of Sesto Calende and Novara. Here, in addition to eliminating obstacles for the shape on the open sections, such as signals, shelters and contact lines, it is necessary to intervene on twelve tunnels which together reach a length of almost six kilometers and which must all be brought to the maximum profile P / C 80. Interventions are also planned in stations to facilitate the crossing of freight trains.

See full press article (in Italian) here: https://www.trasportoeuropa.it/notizie/ferrovia/via-libera-per-ladeguamento-della-ferrovia-del-sempione/

Call for Evidence: “International freight and passenger transport – increasing the share of rail traffic”

Source: Pixabay

Rail has a key role to play in making EU transport more efficient and sustainable, in line with the goals of the EU’s sustainable and smart mobility strategy. Increasing the share of rail requires better access to rail infrastructure, especially for international freight. The European Commission has launched a call for evidence for an impact assessment to further develop and fine-tune a legislative proposal. This initiative will propose measures to better manage, coordinate and thereby increase the capacity of railways. All relevant stakeholders at all levels (SMEs, large and multinational companies) shall be consulted. Feedback period runs from 08 March 2022 – 05 April 2022. The consultation is accessible via the Commission’s central public consultations page here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13134-International-freight-and-passenger-transport-increasing-the-share-of-rail-traffic_en Results will be summarised in a report that will be made available on the Commission’s website.

The revision of the TEN-T Regulation: Information session for the CNC Forum, MoS and ERTMS stakeholders

CNCs, MoS and ERTMS, Source: EC

On 15 March 2022, the European Commission organized a seminar to present the new TEN-T guidelines to the Forum stakeholders of the nine Core Network Corridors and the two horizontal priorities, Motorways of the Sea and the European Rail Traffic Management System. The Commission presented its legislative proposal and the European Coordinators shared their thoughts based upon their experience in steering the TEN-T implementation. More than 400 participants joined the seminar according to the organisers. The TEN-T legislative proposal is now being negotiated with the Council and the Parliament. The new TEN-T regulation shall be adopted not later than mid-2023. The EGTC has submitted a list of questions from its members concerning general scope of the regulation, standards and requirements, governance aspects and questions on the network / map itself.