THE FUTURE OF RAIL TRANSPORTATION

(1) Had it been possible for the opponents of early railways to live till now, they should have admitted that G.Stephenson was eventually right about the bright future for railways. Steel wheels running on steel rails have stood the test of time¹ and do face a bright future². Indeed, railways are the only means of transport with a considerable potential for growth and improvement through perfecting standard rail methods and combining them with new technologies. There has been major technical progress during the last 200 years, although the rate of progress has been the greatest during the last few decades. But man never stops at what he has reached, and what seems fantastic today turns out to be quite common tomorrow.

(2) Rail networks worldwide have to cope with similar challenges: adapting their infrastructure to the demands of global transportation market; introducing promising rail technologies and more efficient management practices. Many countries including Ukraine will have to fulfil radical reforms. These are the crucial directions of rail transport development for the coming decades:

super high-speed trains and routes;

global transport corridors designed for transit hauls;

interoperability ensuring end-to-end international transport services without local boundaries;

innovative electronics and software for intelligent railroading.

(3) High speed is the priority task and the decisive factor in the competition with air and road transport. High-speed traffic is growing strongly on world railways. A total of 6000km of purpose-built high-speed track is expected to be in use in Europe by 2010. And what is most important, the world’s largest high-speed development projects promise benefits for the growth of national economies.

The strategic development of railway includes renovation and technical re-equipment of the rolling stock. Tomorrow’s trains will be of a new design, using air or magnetic cushions³ and having new types of traction. Viewed from a distance, the train of the future looks like an overgrown bobsled on stilts⁴. As it approaches on its track, 2-3ft. above the ground, it fails almost all the tests of recognition⁵: there are no engines, no wheels, and no rails. Most astonishing of all, there is no clatter⁶, no rumble⁷, no screech⁸. As the train hurtles⁹ by, there is only the sound of air being parted by a vehicle travelling at 500mph. Do you think it is a fantasy of a science fiction writer? Nothing of the kind. It is a new high-speed train Maglev that actually flies in the air instead of rolling on rails. Indeed, in search of higher speeds, trains more and more resemble jet planes both in design and speed.

(4) Another crucial direction of railway development is setting up international transport corridors designed for transit hauls and able to link not only neighbouring countries but the whole continents with transport arteries. A good illustration of this trend of globalization is international corridor for rail freight, such as the North/East America-Europe-China route developed under UIC. Another example of the kind is upgrading nine major pan-European rail corridors which enable trains to run more efficiently over longer distances and to open up Euro-Asian markets. Ukraine as a transit country occupies an advantageous position on the cross-roads between Europe and Asia. The Ukrainian section of 627km from Lviv to Kiev belongs to Corridor 3, starting from Berlin via Poland. It will be reconstructed and modernized to international standards under the Ukraine Railway Development Project. The cost of the project is expected to exceed Euros 90 million. A loan has been offered by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD).

The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) including 30 priority axes and projects is a key element in securing the free movement of passengers and goods in the European Union. By 2020, TEN-T will comprise 89,500km of roads and 94,000km of railways, including approximately 20,000km of high-speed rail lines suitable for the speeds of at least 200km per hour.

(5)Modern world is often called a global village. In the era of global trade and industry conducted by multi-national companies, it is impossible for rail systems to remain barricaded within the borders of a single country or even continent. Railways are already an integral part of a global transport system linking rail, road, air, sea, and waterways. International transport corridors open up unprecedented forms of cooperation between the railways of North America, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.

(6)These developments raise the question of international rail systeminteroperability. Tomorrow’s railways will be more interoperable and intermodal. For the railways this means ensuring the technical compatibility of equipment and management systems, standardizing rules and operating procedures at the administrative, commercial and technical level. In short, rail requires a common language. This is particularly true for Europe, where rail practices and systems differ widely between countries. The expansion of the European Union to 25 members due to the opening of its eastern borders also demands from railways to europeanise their national signalling systems. Differences in track gauges, for instance, can now be overcome through gauge conversion projects or gauge-adjustable wheelsets¹⁰ pioneered in Spain.

(7) So one of the most important tasks for the railway transport is to bring it into line with unified European and world standards and practices to compete effectively in the new global economy. Making interoperability into reality is a growing priority for all concerned¹¹: equipment manufacturers, railways, and international railway associations such as International Union of Railways (UIC), Community of European railways (CER), and some others.

(8) What is the vision of European rail for the decades to come? The European programme on sustainable transport development till 2020 – Towards a Single European Railway System – sets five long-term objectives:

* developing environmentally-friendly, safe and competitive passenger and freight transport with high-speed trains as the preferred intercity mode of transport and railfreight services as part of intermodal chains providing door-to-door delivery of goods;

* advanced technologies for surface transport such as novel propulsion systems¹², innovative materials and fuel cells for transport leading to improved quality, comfort, cost-effectiveness and the ability to recycle;

* ensuring interoperability of transport modes by including new mobility management and transport logistics systems;

* a high degree of integration with the other forms of public transport in urban areas to create seamless services and to provide a real alternative to automobiles; and

* innovative electronics and software solutions for intelligent railroading using advanced satellite navigation systems and telematics (like global systems for mobile communication).

(9) The demand for efficient rail transport systems will continue to grow over the years to come and will require still higher levels of security and quality. The future belongs to the railways. This holds true whether it involves moving people between countries or on their daily journeys to business centres, as well as for the transport of railfreight nationally and internationally.

¹ stood the test of time – витримали випробування часом

² do face a bright future – сміливо дивляться у майбутнє

³ magnetic cushion - магнітні подушки

⁴ bobsled on stilts – бобслей на полозах

⁵ it fails almost all the tests of recognition – він зовсім не схожий на звичайний потяг

⁶ clatter – стук, гуркотіння

⁷ rumble – гуркіт, шум

⁸ screech – вереск, скрип

⁹ hurtles – гримотіти, гуркотіти

¹⁰ gauge-adjustable wheelsets – колісні пари, що регулюються відповідно до ширини колії

¹¹ for all concerned – для усіх зацікавлених

¹² propulsion system – система тяги