A workshop was held on 14 December at Paris UIC headquarters to mark the end of the EU-funded study “Measuring and upgrading the clearance gauge of railway lines”. The workshop was conducted by Systra, project coordinator, and relied on the presence of the Project Officer of the EC and the European Union Agency for Railways.
On the European Railway Network, and especially on freight corridors, insufficient track clearance gauge might on some lines generate bottlenecks and constitute a barrier to a potential increase of traffic, and poor knowledge of the track clearance gauge conditions or inadequate management of the information could even lead to neglect some traffic opportunities that could be physically possible.
This study aims to give freight railway undertakings greater access to railway infrastructure by focusing on track gauge. With rail freight traffic set to increase in the future across European railway networks, it is vital to have an effective management of railway clearance gauge in terms of measurement, line codification, information distribution and procedures for exceptional transport.
The results of the market and feasibility study, carried out by the Consortium in the project, were presented during the meeting. The objective of these activities was to identify the key gauge enlargement links that currently constitute bottlenecks and where enlargement of the clearance gauge would lead to significant development of rail freight traffic. The study showed, on the one hand, that widening certain sections of track could be beneficial for railway infrastructure managers and railway operators as it would lead to increased traffic volumes and therefore a positive return on investment.
The second part of the workshop focused on the sharing of information on track gauge between railway infrastructure managers and operators. Discussions in small groups suggested giving more responsibility to railway undertakings in the computation of the compatibility vehicle/infrastructure for exceptional transport, using agreed conditions of the compatibility computation, while IMs remain responsible for providing the relevant information.
The project has led to the publication of a Best Practice Guide and a set of recommendations to harmonise the methodology for line codification in order to facilitate better communication and provide clearer information among the various rail freight stakeholders. Better cooperation between infrastructure managers and railway operators, as well as easier access to information (such as through web services or geographical information systems) should also facilitate network access. This sharing of information between infrastructure managers and railway operators is expected to be added as a new European regulation.
Within the project, UIC has participated in the work packages related to the Assessment of clearance gauge information and enhancement and the Statement of current rules and procedures to measure and enlarge railway gauge.
