All aboard for the Great British Polish Rail journey

There’s one thing you can say about the railways since I’ve been living in Poland – they’ve got slower. There still on time but you need a lot of it plus a big dose of patience to travel around the country. Well that’s about to change. We’re getting stuck in to help to modernise one of Europe’s biggest networks. On Thursday and Friday we’re off to the UK with a big delegation of important people to have a look at what the UK has done to create one of the bet railways in Europe. We’re going to focus on safety – extremely important; rolling stock – lot’s of potential; and financing – without that we’d be back to square one. So what have we got to say about that then?

UK RAIL SAFETY – Priority number 1

Poland’s rail safety record is the worst in Europe: 1 in 6 European rail crashes occur here. The UK’s is Europe’s safest network.

We are a world-leader in improving safety standards without incurring prohibitive costs. We have some of the world’s best safety management systems, through new technologies, solutions and products that minimise risk. In addition our expertise in rolling stock fatigue, infrastructure maintenance processes is unrivalled. The Train Protection and Warning System is a good example and has significant reduced the number of signals passed at danger. In addition the UK has dramatically improved over recent years as the industry has introduced the Secure Stations Scheme and improved lighting, CCTV use, crowd monitoring capabilities and better passenger modelling systems. All Aboard – We’re off to see Network Rail, Cross Rail and the Railway Industry Association

LEASING ROLLING STOCK – Priority number 2

Poland spends a significant amount on purchasing of new rolling stock and we are looking to better understand the UK’s experience in this area.

Since privatisation, all trains on the British mainline are leased and are either ex British Rail stock or come from more than £5bn of investment seen since then. This has seen significant improvements in the UK’s fleet. A reduced age profile ensures benefits in safety and comfort, improves energy efficiency and ensures greater stock longevity. It also ensures companies are able to continue to respond to rising demand.

UK leasing companies such as HSBC Rail (UK), Porterbrook and Angel Trains are all world-leaders in this area.

PPP IN RAIL PROJECTS

There’s huge modernisation developments in Poland. How are we going to finance all that?

The UK has extensive PPP experience. High Speed 1 is an excellent example of this. It was designed and project managed by rail-link Engineering, a consortium of world-leading UK engineering companies including Arup and Halcrow. There are a number of excellent examples where PPP is being used to deliver cross rail projects, for example the Crossrail station box being built by Canary Wharf Ltd.

RAIL BALTIC – EU CONNECTIONS

The concept of Rail Baltic, a high speed rail connection (up to 240 km/h), linking the three Baltic states with Poland in the south, and possibly Finland to the north, has been discussed by politicians in the region since the early 1990s.

According to a feasibility study carried out by British company AECOM, the total cost of the project is EUR 3.7 billion from Tallinn to the Polish border. The Baltic leg would require entirely replacing the current Soviet tracks with new European gauge railways.

Rail Baltic received a major boost in 2011, with the proposal of possible 85% EU co-financing, and strong political support from the three Baltic and Polish governments. If they can cooperate successfully – and if the practical obstacles can be overcome – this will be a project of strategic significance for the region and present a major High Value Opportunity for UK business.

UK COMPETENCY IN RAIL ENGINEERING – WE’RE GREAT AT RAIL! THE UK AND POLAND – WORKING TOGETHER FOR SAFE, MODERN WELL-FINANCED RAILWAYS

Martin