EUROPE | Eurostar and Inter-country Railways

[arriaca]

El ministro de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperación, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, anunció que España y Marruecos trabajarán para asegurar la creación de “un enlace fijo de infraestructura y comunicación entre el continente europeo y el continente africano” a través del Estrecho de Gibraltar que estará operativo “no más tarde de 2025″, gracias a un proyecto que se presentará a finales de diciembre en la Cumbre UE-África.

http://quiron.wordpress.com/2007/08/...-de-gibraltar/

...before 2025

we can construct it. But Morocco do not have money and the Moroccan railroads are bad and slow. Its network is not connected with other countries.

[Songoten2554]

it can under a new plan i mean you might never know look at dubai i mean it was like a small city back then and quickly grew to a megoplois getaway city and a major city in just a decade or two

so you might never know what monorco might became i mean they could built new railways and such

plus it said it has been planned since the 1980's

[Songoten2554]

and what do you mean it doesn't make profit

then Eurostar uses it and euroshuttle uses and also frieght and night trains use it and its not in profit that is odd?

[RawLee]

Originally Posted by Songoten2554

and what do you mean it doesn't make profit

then Eurostar uses it and euroshuttle uses and also frieght and night trains use it and its not in profit that is odd?

the Channel tunnel doesnt bring in profit. It is "maintained" by a company,which fails do produce more money than it uses.
Wiki says:
"At completion, it was estimated that the whole project cost around £10 billion, including a cost overrun of 80 percent. The tunnel has been operating at a significant loss, and shares of the stock that funded the project lost 90% of their value between 1989 and 1998. The company announced a loss of £1.33 billion in 2003 and £570 million in 2004, and has been in constant negotiations with its creditors. In its defence, Eurotunnel cites a lack of use of the infrastructure, an inability to attract business because of high access charges, too much debt which causes a heavy interest payment burden, and a low volume of both passenger and freight traffic 38% and 24%, respectively, of that which was forecast."

[keber]

Originally Posted by Songoten2554

it can under a new plan i mean you might never know look at dubai i mean it was like a small city back then and quickly grew to a megoplois getaway city and a major city in just a decade or two

so you might never know what monorco might became i mean they could built new railways and such

plus it said it has been planned since the 1980's

Something is, if it is "planned" in heads of politicians and similar, other if it is on paper. And I'm sure, that this paper may be rather empty.

[RawLee]

Originally Posted by Songoten2554

it can under a new plan i mean you might never know look at dubai i mean it was like a small city back then and quickly grew to a megoplois getaway city and a major city in just a decade or two

so you might never know what monorco might became i mean they could built new railways and such

plus it said it has been planned since the 1980's

The UAE grew out of nothing,because of its monopole position as the only western-friendly oil supplier. Not even Libya is able to do such development,let alone Morocco,which doesnt have oil(at least,not at that scale). Our M4 and M5 metro line,the beltway around Budapest dates back to 1890-1900-ish years. Still,none of these exist. A plan is nothing. thats just an idea. Napoleon planned a tunnel under the Channel(so he could invade Britain),but it was only realized in the 80's.

[Coccodrillo]

Originally Posted by RawLee

Until Africa is not a huge trading partner,this project has no meaning. For such an investment,extensive highway and HSR network is needed on both sides,and not just in Morocco and Spain,but on the whole northwestern part of Africa.

Originally Posted by arriaca

we can construct it. But Morocco do not have money and the Moroccan railroads are bad and slow. Its network is not connected with other countries.

Morocco rail network is or may be connecetd easily with Algeria and Tunisia.

The problem is the rest of Africa with its dozens of unconnected railways, built mainly with 3 different gauges (1000-1067-1435):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...auge_world.png

[RawLee]

Looking at that map,the future of Africa is either a narrow-gauge network,or a northern normal-gauge,and a southern narrow-gauge. Either case,Africa needs to achieve at least the South-African level of development,before anything of such volume could be constructed,which would bring in money.

[jkjkjk]

Just to make it clear, Eurotunnel itself is in profit (526 £ millions in 2006 revenue and 233 £ millions operating costs), just these profits are not enough to cover construction debts.

[Bart_LCY]

Well, the Eurotunnel Group has never brought a profit. It's been always in huge debt, mostly because of underestimated coast of construction of the Channel Tunnel. Another factor is much smaller than expected volume of traffic. Since May 2007 the debt was around £6 billion. There were many ideas introduced to cut the debt, for example the number of shuttle trains per hour is 2 comparing to original 4; 1/3 of the staff has been laid off. Not long ago the company went under bankruptcy protection. And it's all happening between really well developed countries and their economies, on a heavily used cargo and passenger trail.

[Bart_LCY]

Originally Posted by jkjkjk

Just to make it clear, Eurotunnel itself is in profit (526 £ millions in 2006 revenue and 233 £ millions operating costs), just these profits are not enough to cover construction debts.

Isn't it called creative accounting?

[hkskyline]

Eurostar picks up speed as Britain joins high-speed rail club
4 September 2007

LONDON (AP) - A new high-speed train link on Tuesday brought Paris and London closer than ever before, making the 345-kilometer (215-mile) journey in just over two hours.

For the first time the 18-coach Eurostar train did not have to hit the brakes until it reached its destination, thanks to the completion of Britain's first 5.8 billion-pound (US$11.7 billion, euro8.6 billion) high-speed route, which runs for 68 miles (109 kilometers) from the Channel Tunnel near the coastal city of Folkestone to central London.

"We have a new record," claimed Eurostar CEO Richard Brown as the train sped into the newly refurbished St. Pancras train station in central London, two hours, three minutes and 39 seconds after leaving Paris' Gare du Nord.

The train traveled at speeds of more than 320 kilometers per hour (200 miles per hour) in France and reached the maximum of 299 kph (186 mph) on the British section.

That's slightly faster than the train will go when the new track enters regular service Nov. 14. Then it will make the Paris-to-London journey -- slightly longer than the distance from New York to Washington, D.C. -- in two hours and 15 minutes, shaving 20 minutes off current travel times.

Arriving in London Tuesday, passengers were met with a very French travel problem: Subway workers were on strike, much to the amusement of French people traveling aboard.

Strikes aside, Eurostar forecasts a 25 percent rise in traffic by 2010 as the faster service attracts day trippers and travelers from the north of England.

The current route into London's Waterloo International will close in November when services switch to St. Pancras.

"I'll be saving time so of course it's a good thing," said Antoine Pascal, a busy equities derivative broker for TFS Brokers in London, who commutes to Paris at least once every 10 days.

"It's better than the plane because airports make for a complicated journey. An extra 20 minutes is important for business people."

The new St. Pancras International terminal is better connected both with the rest of London -- via six underground lines -- and to the rest of Britain with rail links to the north.

"A big thumbs up from us," said Neil Rami, chief executive of Marketing Birmingham, an agency that promotes the central English city. The new Eurostar link, he said, "will make it even easier for business and leisure tourists to access the heart of the UK."

The Victorian glory of the St. Pancras station has been restored with a 400 million-pound (US$800 million, euro600 million) makeover. For tourists, a computer booking system will be available from November offering through fares to destinations such as Cambridge and Bordeaux. Eventually, Eurostar hopes to run services such as London-Amsterdam.

By March, Eurostar will be running 18 daily return journeys, up from the current 16.

Brown said he hopes the success of the service will persuade the British government to invest in other high-speed rail links.

Ian Gardner, vice chairman of the Scottish Tourism Forum in Edinburgh urged similar speeded-up lines within Britain as well. Still, he added, "Anything that makes Britain a more accessible and attractive destination has got to be welcomed."

Though Eurostar will pay more for using the new track, it has pledged to keep fares level at euro77 (US$104) or 59 pounds for an economy return ticket. The shortfall will be made up by an increase in passenger traffic, Brown said.

As an added benefit for French passengers, the new London destination no longer invokes painful memories of Napoleon's defeat to the British at Waterloo, the battlefield that lent its name to the current terminal.

Eurostar's French president, Guillaume Pepy, said the theme of the French publicity campaign will be: "Forget Waterloo."

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Associated Press writers Thomas Wagner in London and Antonio Oliveira in Paris contributed to this report.

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[hkskyline]

We are left lagging behind the south again
6 September 2007
The Herald

CONGRATULATIONS to Eurostar on the record high-speed run from to London, aided by the new purposebuilt railway from the tunnel to St Pancras. We've waited long enough for it.

Zero marks, though, to successive British governments for their shortsightedness and lack of transport planning vision which ensures that really high-speed train travel stops at London.

The European high-speed rail network has been advancing steadily in France, Belgium and Germany during the past few decades, and state-of-the-art railway technology is regarded as an essential part of their transport infrastructure. It's not something special.

Meanwhile, in the UK, we continue to tinker around with improvements on railways following routes designed and built in the nineteenth century. Scotland, the Midlands and the north of England are served by trains travelling at around 125mph while passengers hurtle through the continent at speeds approaching 200mph.

Despite the environmental concern about the huge growth in low-cost airline flights, the UK government seems to be making no moves to catch up with the rest of Europe. I see no technical reason why I should not expect to board a train at Glasgow Central and arrive in Frankfurt about six hours later, comforted by the knowledge that my carbon footprint would be considerably less than f lying.

Perhaps it's time that business leaders and individuals in the "regions" reminded our London political masters that we are not happy about this obvious neglect and will bear this in mind at the next General Election.

Dave Stewart, 129 Novar Drive, Glasgow, SCOTLAND rejoice! You can now save 20 minutes on a train journey from the newly refurbished St Pancras station in London to Paris in two hours, three minutes and 39 seconds. The refurbishment of St Pancras station cost GBP800m and the associated rail costs are so far unknown, but the 20-minute benefit cannot truly be measured in real terms for anyone living and working in Scotland. This has to be another crucial example of the much-vaunted Union dividend, of course.

[hkskyline]

EU To Open Intl Passenger Rail Svcs To Competition By 2010
25 September 2007



STRASBOURG, France (AP)--International passenger rail services in the European Union will open to cross-border competition by 2010, giving passengers more choice and railways new ways to fight stiff competition from airlines.

New guidelines approved by the European Parliament on Tuesday will be reviewed in 2012 to see if domestic train lines should also be liberalized, the E.U. assembly said.

A proposal to open those lines to foreign competition by 2017 has been rejected by countries where state companies dominate the market, such as France, Belgium or Austria.

Smaller E.U. states, such as Luxembourg and some Central European nations, also fear their national providers could fold if a giant company, such as Germany's Deutsche Bahn AG, entered their domestic market.

But competition will increase on international lines, where any company from any of the E.U.'s 27 member states will be able to run services.

In a package of rules governing the E.U. railway sector, lawmakers also voted in favor of setting minimum standards on compensation for delays on domestic and international routes, and of certifying train crews to show they meet professional, medical and linguistic standards.

Under the rules, which will enter into force in 2009, passengers could be compensated 25% for an hour's delay, if the operator is responsible, or 50% for a delay of two hours or more.

Also, operators must allow folding bikes on trains but may ban other bicycles if there is no space for them in the cars as most European trains are not yet designed to carry a large number of bikes.

The rules have already been backed by E.U. member states.

[keber]

Was about time.

[Momo1435]

Good we need some competition on the Amsterdam - Brussel - Paris route!

[Bitxofo]

Good news finally!

[an-148]

testing of line Liège-Aachen:
http://www.rtc.be/content/view/2952/166/

[Fugit]

Thank you for info!

[hkskyline]

New high-speed train puts eastern France's wine and Champagne country on daytrippers' map
17 October 2007

REIMS, France (AP) - After a Paris breakfast of cafe and croissant, how about lunch and a glass of bubbly in France's Champagne region?

Thanks to a new high-speed train line, Reims, the ancient heart of Champagne country, is now just 45 minutes from Paris -- less time than it takes to cross the French capital during rush hour.

Running at up to 320 kph (200 mph), France's network of bullet trains -- known as the TGV, or Train a Grande Vitesse (high-speed train) -- is shrinking the country. Its newest line, the TGV Est, puts eastern France on the daytrippers' map, slashing travel times to the line's 30-plus destinations in eastern France and Germany.

The previous 90-minute trip to Reims has been cut by half. Colmar, a picture postcard town in another famed French wine region -- Alsace, on the German border -- is now three hours from Paris, down from nearly five hours before.

Shiny and sleek with their pointed, aerodynamic noses, the TGV lives up to its name. As it leaves Paris, the train picks up speed and landscapes dissolve into blurry, impressionistic patches of color. Gliding silently along, you almost feel like you're flying, soaring low over the plains that give way, eastward, to gently rolling hills.

Though you can't see the Champagne region's famous vineyards from the train as you arrive in Reims, the drink's enormous influence on the city is immediately palpable: More than an occasional, celebratory beverage, here bubbly is a way of life.

Decorative bunches of stone grapes adorn the stately bourgeois mansions in the historic center, and architectural details on City Hall and even the famous cathedral of Reims -- where generations of French monarchs were anointed -- pay homage to the sparkling wine.

Reims is the headquarters for many of France's main Champagne houses, including luxury labels Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart and Pommery. Most labels offer tours of their cellars with English-speaking guides several times a day.

Clustered in the residential neighborhoods south of the city center -- a good 45-minute walk from the train station -- the best way to get to the cellars is by taxi.

I visited Taittinger, founded in 1930 by entrepreneur Pierre-Charles Taittinger. Among the youngest of the major labels, the Taittinger cellar is built on the meandering corridors of a Roman chalk mine and dates from the 4th century. Vestiges of the mine -- and an abbey built in the 13th century by Champagne-making monks -- can be seen in Taittinger's 20-meter-deep (66-foot-deep) cellar, which holds some 3 million bottles of bubbly.

While in the cellar-filled southern part of town, be sure to swing by Saint Remi Basilica, an 11th century church that holds the remains of the city's most celebrated native son, Remi of Reims, a 5th century archbishop credited with converting France to Catholicism.

It was Remi who baptized the barbarian Clovis, the Franks' first king, around A.D. 498 in Notre Dame de Reims cathedral. For a millennium, nearly all French monarchs followed in Clovis' footsteps, holding their coronation ceremonies in the cathedral.

Rebuilt in the 12th century after a devastating fire, the cathedral represents French Gothic architecture at its riotous, exuberant best, with intricately carved sculptures that cover the inside and out, bursting from the limestone surfaces.

The Germans heavily bombed the cathedral during World War I, knocking hundreds of sculptures off the walls and destroying many of the arched stained-glass windows.

Russian-born French artist Marc Chagall designed replacement panels, depicting Old Testament scenes and the coronation of several French kings in light, bright stained glass. Installed in 1971, Chagall's hallmark dreamy, curling figures never looked so ethereal as in this holy site.

Another panel pays homage to Champagne, depicting workers making the drink, step by laborious step.

Many of the sculptures damaged during WWI found their way to the Palais du Tau, a former archbishop's residence next door that has been converted into a museum. As well as giving a unique, close-up view of the sculptures, it also houses a rich collection of paraphernalia used in regal coronations.

A host of restaurants around the cathedral serve up delectable local dishes like "pied de porc," or pig's foot, a traditional specialty that washes down well with -- surprise, surprise -- a glass of Champagne.

France's TGV network dates back more than 20 years. The first line, connecting Paris with Lyon, was inaugurated in 1981. The addition of each of the network's now six main lines has shrunk France, putting destinations like the Mediterranean port city of Marseille and Bordeaux, on the Atlantic coast, nearly in Paris' backyard.

And they keep getting faster. A special train with a 25,000-horsepower engine and special wheels broke the world speed record for conventional rail trains, reaching 574.8 kph (357.2 mph) on a stretch of the TGV Est's track.

Stay on the TVG Est beyond Reims and you leave Champagne country and head into sweet white wine territory -- Alsace.

Just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the German border, the town of Colmar is a picture-perfect hybrid of French and German culture, with typical German half-timbered houses and broad French promenades and parks.

It's about a 20-minute walk from the station into the historic city center. A small tourist bus that stops in front of the station will get you there as well -- with running commentary in English, French and German detailing the history of local landmarks.

Better yet, rent a bike at a stand in the Champ de Mars park, a 10-minute walk from the station. The bikes -- which come with baskets perfect for stashing bread, cheese, sausage and other picnic essentials -- cost euro5 (US$7) for half a day and euro6 (US$8.50) for the entire day.

With its light traffic, Colmar is ideal for cyclists, though the old town's cobbled streets make riding here a bumpy affair. Navigation is a cinch: Just head for the towering spires of the Collegiale Saint Martin. The luminous 13th century monument marks the heart of the old city.

Moderately priced cafes radiating out from the cathedral are great stops for invigorating midmorning shots of espresso.

Hop back on your bike for a quick visit to the Unterlinden Museum, housed in a 13th century Dominican monastery. The jewel of the museum's collection is the Issenheim Altarpiece, a triptych with layers of panels depicting the lives of Christ and several saints that unfold like a massive book. The paintings, by 15th century German artist Matthias Grunewald, look like Technicolor dreamscapes: haunting, expressive, disturbing.

Another nearby museum, the Musee Bartholdi, pays homage to sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi -- a Colmar native and the designer of the Statue of Liberty. Sketches and clay mock-ups of Lady Liberty make up the core of the collection.

If you're museumed out, head for the Petite Venise, or Little Venice neighborhood -- a canal flanked by charming German-style buildings with exposed crossbeams and flower baskets overflowing with geraniums. You can even take a ride in little wooden boats that look like truncated gondolas.

But don't expect to be serenaded.

"We don't do that kind of thing," one boatman told me.

Restaurants serving local specialties like a beef, potato and white wine stew called baeckeofe and saumagen, or stuffed pork stomach, line the canal.

Colmar's twice-weekly farmers' market is also a showcase for the region's culinary traditions.

Local vintners hawking crisp local white wines rub shoulders with organic farmers offering homemade sausages, hand-picked berries, yogurts and cheeses. Bakers, drawing from the best of the French and German traditions, sell both crusty baguettes and oversized, doughy pretzels.

Most of the region's vintners are based outside Colmar, amid the endless rows of vineyards that surround the city, but a handful of wine makers do their production in Colmar.

Domaine Karcher is one of them. In a small compound tucked into a side street in old Colmar, Georges Karcher and his family turn chardonnay and pinot noir grapes into seven varieties of wine.

Karcher offers daily tours of his wine cellar, with new stainless steel vats and century-old oak barrels. No visit would be complete, of course, without a tasting. Karcher's fruity Riesling and his sweet Gewurtztraminer -- which both run for about euro7 (US$10) a bottle -- are not to be missed.

And after sampling half a dozen varieties of Karcher's wines, the high-speed train ride back to Paris ought to go even faster.

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If You Go...

REIMS: http://www.reims-tourisme.com

COLMAR: http://www.ot-colmar.fr

GETTING THERE: From Paris' Gare de l'Est station, there are eight round-trip high-speed trains to Reims daily and three to Colmar. Ticket prices vary by season and time; round-trip to Reims currently runs about euro45 (US$63), to Colmar about euro130 (US$183). Buy tickets in person at one of the SNCF railway company's Paris boutiques, not online. You need a European credit card in order to pick up tickets purchased on the Web site.

IN REIMS: Reserve visits to Champagne cellars at least 24 hours in advance. Most cellars offer at least three English tours daily. Tickets cost about euro10 (US$14) per person and generally include a glass of Champagne.

WHAT TO EAT: Try a "biscuit rose de Reims," a light, crunchy delicately rose-flavored cookie that puts the perfect finishing touch on a hearty Champagne-country lunch.

IN COLMAR: The farmer's market is held Thursday morning around the Koifhus and on Saturday mornings at the Place St. Joseph. Domaine Karcher wine cellar: 11, rue de l'Ours in Colmar; http://www.vins-karcher.com . Open Monday-Saturday on demand during business hours and Sunday morning.