10 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

RT&S 3/28/20
 

Rail Group News Staff Report: Global railway industry response to the COVID-19 pandemic

 

 

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19, otherwise known as the coronavirus, a pandemic, and the U.S. has declared a National Emergency. The global railway industry has been responding. Following is a staff report from the editors at Railway Age, Railway Track & Structures and International Railway Journal that will be continuously updated with the latest developments, the most significant posted up top.

 

Latest updates posted here.

[CNJRoss]

RailTech.com 4/22/20
 

Digitalisation keeps railways moving during pandemic

 

 

It is not a secret at all that the European passenger railway operators have been affected by the restrictions imposed to tackle the virus spread. Many companies were forced to reduce significantly their train traffic while others stopped it totally. The hardest-hit group of the railway companies is the open-access operators. However, most of the railway companies across Europe still continue their services despite the heavily cut schedule. In this regard, a question arises: how are railways running in these difficult times?

 

Continue for a brief discussion of Digital ticketing; Electronic deals & Digital rail freight

[CNJRoss]

CNN 5/12/20

UK railway ticket office worker dies from Covid-19 after being spat on

 

 

(CNN) A British railway ticket office worker has died from Covid-19 after being spat on while she was working at Victoria station in central London.

 

Belly Mujinga, 47, was working with a colleague when a member of the public assaulted them, spat and coughed over them and said he had the novel coronavirus, said her union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), in a statement Tuesday.

 

Mujinga, who had an underlying health condition, was working for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) on the station concourse at the time of the incident on March 22.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) 5/14/20

Coronavirus concerns raised by Adelaide rail passengers after social distancing breaches revealed

 

 

Passenger Corey Wolf took this photo during a Gawler line rail trip on Tuesday.(Supplied: Corey Wolf)

 

Commuters fear their health is being put at risk on Adelaide's crowded public transport network, prompting a warning from authorities to avoid busy trains, trams and buses.

 

Photos posted on social media in the last few days show passengers on peak-hour services on Adelaide Metro trains in clear breach of social distancing requirements prompted by coronavirus.

 

It comes one week after the South Australian Government took 50 of the network's 70 diesel trains out of operation due to a mechanical fault.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

Intelligent Transport 6/17/20
 

Moscow Metro goes digital to refund journeys lost to COVID-19

 

Moscow Metro customers can now claim refunds for unused journeys they otherwise would have taken during the Russian capital’s COVID-19 enforced lockown.

 

 

Moscow Metro has added new functionality to its app to allow customers a simple and safe way to claim refunds or replacements for trips they’ve lost due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

 

Moscow Metro announced that all trips that remained unused due to Moscow’s two-month long coronavirus outbreak would be refunded.

 

The decision to make the refund/replacement scheme digital is to reduce the number of people queuing to enquire about their lost journeys, as the metro is Moscow’s most popular mode of transport with ridership of up to 9 million passengers per day.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Guardian (U.S. Edition), London, UK 6/19/20

UK rail bosses rejected call to dress staff like face-mask volunteers

 

Request came after Grant Shapps’ ‘army of journey makers’ in purple tabards failed to materialise

 

 

UK transport ministers asked train companies to dress staff in the purple tabards meant for “journey makers”, after the promised “army” of volunteers to remind travellers to wear a face covering failed to materialise this week.

 

The last-minute request to keep up appearances, relayed to train operators by the Rail Delivery Group, was largely rejected by bosses, it has emerged.

 

However, it is understood that some Network Rail staff were sent to locate the magenta Olympic Games Makers vests from London 2012, to coincide with the introduction of mandatory face coverings this week and busier rail services as some lockdown measures were eased.

 

Invoking the spirit of the 2012 London Olympics, Shapps had announced in May that thousands of volunteers would be out to provide “reassurance and advice” to commuters and remind them to wear masks, ...

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

IRJ, 9/21/20
 

New emergency contracts spell the end of Britain’s franchising system

 

 

BRITAIN’s Department for Transport (DfT) has announced the start of new model of taxpayer support for rail operators and the end of the franchising system for train operation after 24 years.

 

Under the Emergency Recovery Management Agreements (ERMA), which are in effect from September 20 the taxpayer will make-up any shortfalls in revenue reported by the sector, which is currently around £500m a month, for up to 18 months until March 2022.

 

Ridership on Britain’s network fell to less than 10% of pre-pandemic levels as the country entered a comprehensive lockdown in March. Patronage has since recovered to around 30%. While demand is stifled, operators are still required to provide an almost full timetable. Capacity remains limited due to social distancing requirements with many trains sold out.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

Progressive Railroading, 11/30/20

 

STM tracks rider capacity levels on Azur trains

STM’s Azur fleet are the only trains with the necessary electrical components to estimate the number of passengers on board. Photo – STM

 

The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) last week began displaying the occupancy levels of its Azur trains on the Orange Line to help riders better plan trips based on social distancing practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

Railway Gazette International, 3/24/21

 

Turkey extends rail subsidies to the end of 2023

 

 

 

 

TURKEY: Parliament has passed legislation extending state support for infrastructure manager TCDD and national train operator TCDD Taşımcılık until at least the end of 2023, with a clause allowing the President to extend subsidies for up to a further 10 years without recourse to parliament.

 

The legislation passed on March 10 will see the state continue to provide direct funding for some of TCDD’s infrastructure investments and to cover any deficit in the operating budget caused by the 2016 transfer of operations to the newly established TCDD Taşımcılık, as well as funding any revenue shortfall at the operator.

 

The subsidies were deemed necessary because of the Covid-19 pandemic, . . .

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

Associated Press  10/1/21
 

Trains packed with commuters as Japan fully ends emergency

 

 

Commuters wearing face masks walk in a passageway during a rush hour at Shinagawa Station Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, in Tokyo. Japan lifted its COVID-19 state of emergency in all of the regions on Oct.1. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

 

OKYO (AP) — Japan fully came out of a coronavirus state of emergency for the first time in more than six months as the country starts to gradually ease virus measures to help rejuvenate the pandemic-hit economy as the infections slowed.

 

At Tokyo’s busy Shinagawa train station, a sea of mask-wearing commuters rushed to their work despite an approaching typhoon, with some returning to their offices after months of remote work.

 

Continue here with photo album.