Railway infrastructure, transport and safety (3. strana)

8 rail transport l interview l Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic the market, or prepare new stops. Our largest carrier, České dráhy, a.s., aims to continue modernising their rolling stock; all these aspects should make train travel more attractive. We also support technological progress on the railways, both in the area of further increasing the safety of rail transport by installing a unified European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), and in the area of new line electrification, which complies with the State Energy Concept. p What are the most important international projects in railway transport for you? line through the Vysočina region more attractive, which can ease the corridor of the Kolín - Brno section. This line was used primarily by freight trains from the 1950s until recently. Then, once the modernization of the transit corridor was completed, freight carriers moved most of the trains to the route via Česká Třebová due to lower transport costs. However, this route is heavily taken up by long-distance passenger transport. We do not want to disadvantage freight carriers by limiting their traffic in the corridor – actually we would like to motivate them towards using the parallel route. If a bank engine was provided to all carriers, it would not be necessary to use the congested corridor route with heavier trains and the capacity could then be used to increase the reliability of transport in the corridor, or for other trains that cannot currently be run with the required parameters. Only practice will show if this assumption is true. However, in order to introduce a bank engine service, it was necessary to measure the effects of a more modern electric locomotive train on infrastructure elements. These tests are currently being evaluated. The introduction of the service is expected in the next year. p The budget for Správa železnic (Railway Administration) for this year has risen to 47 billion, where will it be seen? It will be seen in the commencement of new sections, such as the Pardubice railway junction or phase 4 of the Plzeň railway junction. It is obvious that substantial funds are allocated to the continuation of large construction projects such as Prague-Smíchov – Radotín; Prague Main Station – Hostivař, phase 2; the Sudoměřice Votice construction project containing tunnels; or the Soběslav – Doubí section near Tábor. In Moravia, for example, the Olomouc – Uničov section electrification project is ongoing, and there is the Přerov special 2020 T+T Technika a trh railway station refurbishment project, phase 2. In addition, a number of smaller projects are taking place on regional lines, and repairs financed from the CEF Blending call on the 1st or 2nd transit railway corridor. p What are the key steps leading to the start of high-speed line construction? Several feasibility studies are ongoing and intensive communication and coordination with neighbouring countries is also under way. High-speed line construction, as well as other parts of the conventional infrastructure, then begin with fundamental steps including permission processes, i.e. EIA, land planning procedures and building permits. Without these, no construction project can be implemented. In 2020, for example, the contractor for EIA and documentation for land planning decisions for the Prague – Běchovice – Poříčany construction project should be known based on a tendering process. p What is the national rail transport strategy? The main document is the Transport Policy for the 2014–2020 period with a view to 2050. This is currently being updated. This is followed by other sub-strategies. In the area of freight transport, there is the Concept of Freight Transport, which includes railway transport. The Ministry of Transport is also focusing on the development of a sustainable railway system that will include European elements in terms of interoperability. Our aim is to shorten travel times for passenger transport, increase the capacity of line sections or stations due to freight transport, increase the occupancy of trains, make maximum use of track capacity where there will be no improvement through construction in the near future, and offer passengers a simpler form of check-in where we have more carriers on The new Prague – Dresden high-speed rail link is intensively under way, which includes the construction of a new tunnel under the Krušné Hory mountains. Now there are ongoing discussions of working groups at ministry level and infrastructure managerial level. This connection is perceived as an integral part of the HSL between Berlin – Prague and Vienna, and between Prague and Frankfurt. Priority is also being given to the modernisation and electrification of the Pilsen Domažlice – Česká Kubice – border station – Munich/Nuremberg line as a future long-distance passenger and high capacity freight railway connection from the Czech Republic to Bavaria and related directions. Recently, discussions with BMVI have intensified in order to coordinate on the preparation of the modernisation of the German section. Last but not least, discussions are under way within the framework of V4 cooperation, which includes the preparation of a high-speed link between Warsaw, Prague, Brno, Bratislava, and Budapest. p There have been a number of level crossing accidents in the recent past. Are you working on higher safety at level crossings? (e.g. adding warning lights, installing barriers, and new technologies for composite barriers with LED diodes) Currently, work is under way to increase the safety of crossings and these intents will continue to be monitored as part of project preparation. It must be said that in the vast majority of cases accidents are caused by a lack of discipline of road users, rather than by rail traffic. Within the activities of BESIP, attention to this is also being directed to the general public. p www.mdcr.cz Thank you for the interview magazine editorial staff