BRANCH LINE NEWS INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL SUPPLEMENT TO BLN 1448 18 MAY 2024 This newsletter covers the world outside the British Isles from information supplied by members. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the compilers or of the Society. International Editor: Pete Skelton, 1 rue Traversière, 16450 BEAULIEU SUR SONNETTE, France to whom all email contributions should be sent. Email: [email protected] Postal Contributions should be sent to: Paul Stewart, 4 Clarence Close, MALVERN, WR14 3HX Deputy International Editor: Mark Jones, 19 School Lane, Brinscall, Chorley, PR6 8QS Email: [email protected] EUROPE [207] Belgium/France/Germany/The Netherlands/United Kingdom – Eurostar Launches New Tickets Eurostar has unveiled three new classes of fares across all of its trains in the UK, France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany after its merger with Thalys. The new fares will begin in November 2024. The three new classes are: Eurostar Standard – The most basic fare does not include any food or drink, but passengers will have access to refreshments from the on-board café. Eurostar Plus – This includes a workspace and more comfortable seating, as well as a meal and drinks on cross-channel journeys. This service will replace the current Standard Premier class on cross-channel journeys and the Comfort class ticket on continental routes. Eurostar Premier – This ticket includes more flexibility, with an all-day boarding guarantee, lounge access, a meal service and a priority lane. This service will replace the current Business Premier class on routes between the UK and France and the Premium class on European routes. Premier ticket holders can exchange their ticket or get a refund with no fee up to two days after their scheduled departure date. However, all three new classes offer more flexibility than the old fares. Passengers with Standard and Plus fares can also exchange tickets for free up to one hour before departure - a service that costs up to €50 under the current system. Thalys – The brand name which will disappear in favour of Eurostar The new ticket types opened for booking on 23 April 23 for journeys from 04 November. [208] Czech Republic – Re-Gauged Inter-Urban Tram Line Reopens Revenue services on the full length of inter-urban tram Route 11 between Liberec and Jablonec nad Nisou have restarted following a two-year rebuilding which included conversion from metre to 1435 mm gauge.
The reopening on 01 May completed a 30-year programme to rebuild the tram network operated by DPMLJ. All regular services are now operated on 1435 mm tracks, although there is a section of dual gauge in the centre of Liberec for heritage services. The 12 km inter-urban route opened in 1955 and carries around one million passengers per year. The rebuilding included partial rerouting and segregation from road traffic, resignalling, drainage works and construction of two bridges. Revenue services on the full length of inter-urban tram Route 11 between Liberec and Jablonec nad Nisou have restarted following a two-year rebuilding which included conversion from metre to 1435 mm gauge. The work was undertaken in four contractual packages. Work on the section between Vratislavice and Jablonec began in April 2022 and had been scheduled for completion in summer 2023, but was delayed by legal issues around land acquisition and the impact of the pandemic. The cost came in at Kč893mn (€35.7mn). Future plans include an 800 m extension to ul Kamenná in Jablonec. [209] France – Cannes - Menton PACA and SNCF Sud-Azur will introduce a 15-minute interval service between Cannes, Nice and Menton from 15 December. The new offer builds on work since 2021 to improve the line’s poor reliability and punctuality, including resignalling and changes to maintenance procedures. Passenger journeys along the Côte d’Azur increased 23% in 2022-23. [Courtesy of French Railways Society] [210] France – Limoges - Angoulême Supporters of reopening pressed their case in March by walking the 72 km section from SaillatChassenon to Angoulême, closed in 2018 due to the poor state of the track. Rebuilding has been costed at €242mn, a project which is included in Nouvelle-Aquitaine’s current State/Région Contract Plan, for completion by 2030. [Courtesy of French Railways Society] [211] France – Montréjeau - Luchon Delay Reopening of the Montréjeau – Luchon line has been deferred until May 2025. Closed since 2014, it had been planned to reopen the line in December 2024. DMUs will initially operate in 2025, with hydrogen-powered units expected to take over later that year. [Courtesy of French Railways Society]
[212] France – Nice - Tende Line Preliminary work started in March on an upgrade that will see the Nice – Tende line shut for 16 months from 04 September whilst track is replaced at several locations. The Braus (5938m) and MontGrazian (3882m) tunnels require reinforcement as do earthworks at 12 sites, and the Pont de Calvaire lattice-girder bridge over the River Paillon at Drap-Cantaron is to be rebuilt. Total cost is €78mn, including a €27mn contribution from Italy. [Courtesy of French Railways Society] [213] France – Noirétable Pressure group LeTrain634269 held another protest here on 06 April against the continued closure of the Saint-Étienne – Clermont-Ferrand direct line, severed between Thiers and Boën/Montbrison in 2016. Would-be passengers attempted to board one of the replacement buses with cycles, strollers and wheelchairs. SNCF Réseau estimates the cost of reinstating the 50 km closed section is €102mn. [Courtesy of French Railways Society] [214] France – Olympics Countdown In an interview on 25 March, ÎdF Mobilités president Valérie Pécresse gave an upbeat assessment of transport preparedness for the Olympic Games in the face of widespread scepticism of the gulf between what had been promised in 2017 and the current situation. There was concern over the very short time available for proving Line 14, ‘ the backbone of Games transport’, with its extension to Aéroport d’Orly scheduled to open ‘sometime in June’, and also for the poor reliability of RER Line C (644 trains cancelled in January). But “Thanks to the Games” she said, “many projects delayed by covid and other factors have been accelerated to meet the non-negotiable deadline” of 26 July. She praised the contractors and personnel involved for working so hard in recent months; in particular, Alstom had stepped-up production of MP14 trains at Valenciennes to ensure sufficient would be available for the Line 14 and Line 11 extensions to open in time. Regarding Line 14, the new southern terminal at Orly had received its safety certificate the day before, with approval for the other stations rapidly following. After several periods of closure of the existing section, including from 07 to 14 April, for harmonisation with the new automation system, one month of full-scale trial operation on the Orly extension was expected to take place prior to opening on 24 June, leaving little more than four weeks available for public service to settle down before 26 July. The line serves the Stade de France and the Olympic village; daily patronage is expected to be 700,000 over the summer.
Metro capacity generally will be increased by about 15%, up to 23% on lines serving Games venues, and at peak times by as much as 70% on Line 9 and RER Lines A and C. Great effort has been put into improving Line C reliability, with recruitment to address the driver shortage and temporary drafting-in of 300 train crew. SNCF has stepped up predictive maintenance and diagnostics, as well as tweaking safety regulations so that, for example, trains can keep moving at low speed when trespassers are reported, rather than the whole service coming to a standstill. RATP has taken on around 5,500 additional personnel including 1,000 short-term English-speaking ‘meeters and greeters’ to guide and assist visitors at the busiest stations. Overall, an additional 1 million passengers are expected daily. Line 14’s Morangis Depot was inaugurated on 27 March by RATP president Jean Castex. Located 300m south of the Aéroport d’Orly terminal, the 6ha site will maintain 60% of the fleet that will total 72 eight-car MP14 trains once delivery of the additional 39 sets is completed. It has facilities for daily throughput and cleaning of 24 trains, plus storage sidings for 19 in addition to the 20 available close by at Orly. A staff of 20 has been working to commission the new trains as they are delivered from Alstom; 52 sets should be operational in time for the Games. When the depot is fully functional there will be a staff complement of 70. Together with a similar site opened in 2020 at Saint-Ouen close to the northern terminal, the new depots replace facilities at Tolbiac. Opening Dates: Provisional opening dates for the new sections being made ready for Olympic service were announced on 11 April. RER Line E’s western extension from Haussmann-Saint-Lazare to Nanterre-La-Folie opened on 06 May, metro Line 11 from Mairie-des-Lilas to Rosny-Bois-Perrier expected to open on 13 June and Line 14 to Aéroport d’Orly on 24 June. Don’t Buy This Ticket: Mme Pécresse referred to the original proposal for public transport to be free during the Games, later rescinded. ÎdF Mobilités’ decision to temporarily double the price of a single metro journey to €4 has been widely criticised. She explained that the price rise was to encourage visitors to buy Paris2024 tickets online (available at pass.paris2024.iledefrance-mobilites.fr) to avoid congestion at ticket machines. These are priced from €16 and include airport travel. Regular tickets such as the Navigo pass will be withdrawn from sale during the Games period. It is hoped that many visitors will walk short distances rather than taking the metro or bus. [Courtesy of French Railways Society]
[215] France – PassRail Following abandonment of the national PassRail, agreement was reached between the transport ministry and régions on 03 April for the experimental summer pass for under-27s. The State will cover 80% of the cost. At €49 per month, the pass will be available for July and August only, on sale at SNCF Connect from 15 June. It will be valid on TER and Intercités trains in all regions, except for local trips within Île-de-France. [Courtesy of French Railways Society] [216] France – Rhône West Bank Diversions Another raft of diversions is in place for weekend of 25 and 26 May, with all Saturday trains and those on Sunday until approximately 15:30 diverted north of Saint Rambert D'Albon. Services involved are too numerous to list here but full information can be found on the Auvergne TER website. [217] France – Savoie The département is to create a syndicat mixte de transports for Grand Chambéry, Grand Lac and Cœur de Savoie, aimed at offering better co-ordination between public and private modes and paving the way for development of Chambéry’s SERM. Initially, the SMT will improve access to trains and buses for pedestrians and cyclists, extend car-sharing, and implement a multimodal fares system. Later, plans will be drawn up for 15-minute interval service on the TER routes serving Chambéry, where an additional platform and track costed at €200mn will be needed. [Courtesy of French Railways Society] [218] France – Work Finally Starts on New High-Speed Line from Bordeaux to Toulouse Work has finally begun on a new high-speed line that will cut journey times from Bordeaux to Toulouse to just 1 hour 5 minutes and Paris-Toulouse to three hours 10 minutes by 2032. Current journey times can be around double this. The €14 billion project - dubbed the Grand Project Sud-Ouest (GPSO) - began on 07 May after years of planning, in a ceremony attended by local officials from Occitanie and Toulouse - and the prefect on behalf of the state. The team, wearing hard hats, helped to symbolically install the line’s first overhead mast.
The new ligne à grande vitesse (LGV) is the first step in a project that will include 220 km of track, two new stations (in Agen and Montauban), intervening stops, and connections between the train and local metro, bus, and bike systems. The line is set to enter service in 2032. The project - which will cost €8bn for the Bordeaux – Toulouse section alone - will also see a €4bn line between Bordeaux and Dax. On 07 May, construction began specifically on a new €1bn junction. It will double the number of tracks over 19 km at the northern entrance to Toulouse. With four tracks instead of two, the goal is to eliminate the current bottlenecks that stop the station from operating more trains at the same time. The project will notably allow for more TER regional services, which are designed to enable more workers to commute from the surrounding areas into Toulouse city centre more easily. This will include more services from the future Service Express Régional Métropolitain (SERM), which is aiming to run services from 05:00 to 23:00 and trains every 10 minutes at rush hours. A funding application for this part of the Toulouse RER was made in January by the region, Toulouse Métropole and HauteGaronne departmental council. This SERM will not be the only such service in France; President Macron has said that he is aiming to roll out 10 SERMs nationwide. The government will provide €700mn worth of funding for them, with extra investment coming from local authorities. A survey in April found that almost 76% of people in France support the construction of the new line, despite considerable opposition in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie from critics. Overall, the plans are intended to work together to reduce individual journeys between Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Paris, and discourage people from taking cars or planes (although critics of the new A69 motorway, which also connects to Toulouse, have disputed this overall goal). Toulouse Metro – which is currently being extended
For example, in Toulouse, local transport network Tisséo is currently building 27 km of new metro track, including a new east-west, north-south line across 21 new stations, which will help to improve connections to the new LGV line. This €3.1bn Metro project is set to open in 2028. The Occitanie region has also voted in favour of a new €4bn investment agreement with SNCF over the next 10 years, for 110 extra regional trains per day (a 24% increase compared to the current offer). The aim is that - working with the LGV project - these additional train and metro services (along with new car sharing lanes and express bike routes) will reduce the number of cars on the road in the Toulouse area by 90,000 per day, significantly reducing carbon emissions and road pollution. [219] Germany – DB Begins €1.6bn Expansion of Hanau-Gelnhausen Line In a bid to fortify the rail system in Hesse, Deutsche Bahn (DB) has embarked on a €1.6bn project to expand the 23-km-long Hanau – Gelnhausen line to four tracks. The initiative, aimed at enhancing both passenger and freight transportation, received its official commencement during an on-site gathering in Gelnhausen on 30 April. The expansion, a critical component of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan’s urgent requirements, is set to provide separate lines for passenger and freight trains, ensuring more reliable services in the future. Indeed, “There are currently only two tracks in Kinzigtal, which in the long term will no longer be able to accommodate the ever-increasing demand for rail transport,” states Michael Theurer, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport and Federal Government Commissioner for Rail Transport. The federal government is financing the project, which is expected to significantly alleviate existing bottlenecks in the rail network. Berthold Huber, DB Infrastructure Director commented “With the four-track expansion of the line between Hanau and Gelnhausen, we are resolving a bottleneck in the
rail network that has existed for many years.” As part of the expansion, all six stations along the route will undergo modernisation to enhance comfort and accessibility for travellers. Additionally, measures are being implemented to create over 30 km of new noise protection barriers, benefiting residents along the route. Upon completion, the expanded line will see long-distance and freight trains utilising the inner tracks, while local transport will operate on the outer tracks. The project is scheduled for full commissioning in 2036. The initiative has been marked by constructive dialogue with the region since its inception, with stakeholders collaborating to address various concerns and optimise the project’s design. Additionally, parallel efforts are underway to expand the route from Gelnhausen to Fulda, further enhancing the region’s rail infrastructure. The four-track expansion of the Hanau – Gelnhausen line is part of the Frankfurt-Rhein-Main-Plus infrastructure development programme, aimed at bolstering capacity and quality in rail transport and facilitating the transition to climate-friendly transportation.
[220] Germany – Various Possible Re-Openings Homburg – Einöd – Zweibrücken - The route between Homburg and Einöd closed in stages between 1989 and 1996 leaving a stub at the Homburg end. There has been talk of a reopening to passengers between Homburg and Zweibrücken for some time. One stumbling block has been the fact that Homburg is in Saarland and Zweibrücken in Rheinland Pfalz, leading to arguments between states as to who should bear the costs. The line between Homburg and Einöd, both in Saarland, is now to be re-opened as a single track with a maximum line speed of 100 km/h and electrified. There will be intermediate stations at Beeden and Schwarzenacker. Einöd, currently a halt on the Rohrbach – Pirmasens line will be upgraded to a station and there will be cross platform interchange between services on a new island platform. Costs have risen sharply since the scheme was first mooted. Reopening for May 2025 is mentioned, but that seems optimistic. Passau – Freyung & Passau – Erlau - According to the timetable, some trains on the Freyung line will be extended to /start from Passau Lindau east of Passau on the Obernzell branch. There is one train in each direction shown as running in the afternoons on Sundays and public Holidays. Work continues east of Passau Lindau to clear the line of vegetation with a view to reopening towards Erlau and then Obernzell. Langenlohnsheim – Büchenbeuren - Money has been found to fettle up the track on the remains of the Hunsrückbahn with a view to re-opening for freight in 2025. Local councils and politicians are interested in running excursions with a railbus and long term in re-opening for regular passenger services. This is the line which is close to Hahn Airport at Büchenbeuren. Derneburg – Bornum - This branch has been kept open by a factory in Bornum operated by anti-corrosion firm HAW Linings GmbH. However this company started an insolvency process earlier in the year. Locals are hopeful that the factory can be taken over, but that is not a certainty. If the factory closes then the long-term future of the line is in doubt as are the museum trains - See Museums Kursbuch NI 21. May be worth a visit sooner rather than later. The location of the line means it is not on any list for a full re-opening to passengers.
Rheinkamp – Kamp Lintfort - Kamp Lintfort has the misfortune to be twinned with Chester le Street! Progress is being made on the opening/re-opening of the line from Rheinkamp. 1.3 km of track still needs to be laid towards the new terminus at Kamp-Lintfort-Mitte, bridges have to be rebuilt and the curve avoiding Rheinkamp re-instated. The re/opening planned for timetable change 2026 is dependent also on resignalling of the main line through Rheinkamp. Wölfersheim – Södel – Hungen - Tracks now cleared of vegetation - passenger trains said to be restarting in December 2025. Lollar – Londorf - Hessische Landesbahn has taken over this line with a view to it re-opening for passengers. There has been a test trip with a LINT 41. Short term aim is to restart freight trains to the Didierwerke at the intermediate town of Mainzlar. There may also be traffic from Austria to a plant in Mainzlar too. Scheuerfeld – Bindweide - Local government money has been found to fettle up this goods only line. There was a brief passenger service on part of the line recently due to roadworks. Ehrang – Trier West – Igel - A new passenger subway under the line and new stations are to be completed by the end of 2024 – Trier-Hafenstraße, Trier-Pallien, Trier-West, Trier-Euren and Trier-Zewen. Wolkenstein – Jöhstadt - There is a long term aim to extend this narrow gauge line from Steinbach to Wolkenstein. This has been helped by agreements signed by local authorities to secure the trackbed. The station at Oberschmiederberg has been rebuilt and track laid but it is currently isolated from the rest of the line. Wuppertal-Beyenburg – Wuppertal-Oberbarmen - There are plans for a tourist service which will run not only on the preserved line from Wuppertal-Beyenburg to Wuppertal-Öhde but beyond onto DB. Although some work has been done on signalling, a full agreement has not yet been sorted. Permission from local NRW government was expected in early 2024. Trips are planned to operate on two days per month with 2-3 return workings each day. [221] Switzerland – New Albula Tunnel Slightly Delayed The new tunnel under construction
The tunnel will now open to service trains on 12 June. On 09 June there is an open day with free shuttles through the tunnel: Preda depart: 08:45, 09:45, 10:45, 11:45, 13:24, 14:24, 15:25 and 16:25 Spinas depart: 09:20, 10:20, 11:20, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, and 16:00 [222] Switzerland – Summer 2024 Engineering Closures The following lines will be closed for engineering works as detailed below: Andelfingen to Dachsen from start of traffic on 08 July to end of traffic on 11 August Glovelier to Porrentruy from start of traffic on 06 July to end of traffic on 03 August Zürich Altstetten to Birmensdorf from start of traffic on 12 July to end of traffic on 02 August [223] Switzerland – Tourist Rail Line Makes First Move in Driverless Direction A rack railway in the St Gallen canton has tested a collision warning system, which is the first stage of its planned change to driverless functionality. The 1.96 km route between Rheineck and Walzenhausen is a tourist rail service near the Bodensee (Lake Constance) operated by local rail provider Appenzeller Bahnen (AB). Along with rail and rolling stock manufacturer Stadler, AB has begun testing the “NOVA Smartsense” collision warning system using the current rolling stock. In the snow at Rheineck station This system is designed to detect obstacles in the track area at an early stage and automatically initiate train braking to avoid collisions. The next two years will be used to collect extensive data and experience with the collision warning system. The aim is to identify disruptive factors and processes on the line at an early stage and to gain experience in dealing with this technology. These long-term tests are crucial to ensure the safety and efficiency of future driverless operations. Although the current train, a single BDeh1/2 electric railcar has been in service for 66 years since 1958, it’s not quite the original. The line first opened as a funicular in 1896 but was changed to a rack system in the middle of the 20th century, when the new car was bought. But its long service life is coming to an end, with a Stadler driverless locomotive due to replace the ageing railcar in 2027.
REST OF THE WORLD [224] China –青島 (Qīngdǎo) Opens Automated Metro Line 6 The city of Qīngdǎo opened the first phase of metro Line 6 on 26 April. This is the first metro line in China to deploy the domestically-developed TACS train control system, which enables full automation at Grade of Automation 4 (GoA4). The 30.8 km line has 21 stations, running from Shèngtàiyuán in the north to Xīntún Road in the south. High-speed train passengers are able to transfer to the new line at Qīngdǎo West station as well as from six other metro lines. The line carried more than 50,000 passengers on its first day of operation and offers an end-to-end journey time of 50 minutes. A scene from the opening ceremony [Photo: Qīngdǎo Metro] Construction of the second phase of Line 6 is underway. This will add another 13.9 km and 10 stations, running west from Xīntún Road to Qīngxī. CRRC also developed TACS, which it says incorporates the interlocking and zone control functions of conventional lineside CBTC equipment in an on-board distributed control system, transforming the train into the controlling entity. This has the potential to shorten headways between trains and also minimise construction costs due to a reduction in lineside equipment. Timetables for automatic train operation (ATO) are downloaded to each train, which can automatically select the optimal route. Trains in adjacent moving block sections share their position while trains send instructions directly to point machines to activate turnouts. The movement authority and automatic train protection (ATP) functions of TACS are based on the position and speed of the train in front. Artificial intelligence (AI) is used to identify the optimal speed profile. Fault information is transmitted between the brake control unit and the ATO system, meaning that any adjustments required to the speed curve in case of delay or system malfunction are made autonomously and communicated to all trains. Trackmounted balises enable trains to identify the precise location where they must come to stand in stations and depots. In another innovation for the project, six of the stations have been constructed using prefabricated concrete sections weighing a total of 120,000 tonnes. Jiǔdǐngshān Road uses a 220m prefabricated section on the 268m station, consisting of 590 separate components and weighing 24,800 tonnes. It is described as the largest such station structure in China. Prefabrication has also been used in the
construction of platforms, stairs, and substations. The line is equipped with devices to store energy produced during regenerative braking, which are estimated to save around 6 million kWh of electricity annually. Solar panels have been installed at Héngyúnshān Road station and the Jùmǎshān depot. Prefabricated slab track and a multi-level absorbing track bed are also helping to significantly reduce noise emissions from the line while AI and visual recognition technologies are helping to quickly identify faults and inform maintenance practices. [225] Guinea – Ground-Breaking Ceremony for Trans-Guinean Railway The first sleeper has been laid during a ground-breaking ceremony for the Trans-Guinean Railway. The 670 km line will run from Beyla to Forécariah and a deep-water port at Moribayah. The new line is being built by Rio Tinto Simfer and Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) in co-operation with the Guinean government to develop the Simandou iron ore deposit, which is expected to yield over two billion tonnes of high-grade ore. The ground-breaking ceremony took place in the presence of the President of Guinea, General Mamadi Doumbouya. Construction is being undertaken by Winning Consortium Simandou Railway (WCSR), a joint venture established last year by the government, Rio Tinto Simfer and the TransGuinean Company (CTG), who will collectively manage the railway and port infrastructure built for the Simandou project. According to local media, the new double-track line will have 12 stations, 213 bridges and four tunnels. It has been designed for freight trains weighing up to 10,000 tonnes. [226] Morocco/Spain – The €8bn Tunnel that Could Link Europe to Africa by 2030 A new underwater tunnel could link Spain to Morocco by the end of the decade, in time for the 2030 World Cup. The Moroccan National Company for Strait Studies (SNED) said that work was underway to explore the financing and strategic elements of the project. In March, the Moroccan minister of water and equipment, Nizar Baraka, met the Spanish transport minister, Oscar Puente, to discuss the matter.
The underwater section of the tunnel would span 28 km at a maximum depth of 475m, connecting Punta Paloma, west of Tarifa, with Malabata in northern Morocco, just east of Tangier. It is unknown how much the construction of two tunnels (plus a third service tunnel) would cost, although some estimates put the project at €8bn. The Spanish Society for Fixed Communication Studies across the Strait of Gibraltar (SECEGSA) has predicted that the tunnel, which would link the railway networks of Spain and Morocco, could carry 12.8 million passengers per year. It would also be an important trade crossing, with the potential to transport 13 million tonnes of cargo between Africa and Europe, according to SECEGSA. It would reduce travel times between Madrid and Casablanca to just 5½ hours. Currently, flights take around two hours, and driving – including a ferry crossing – eats up about 12 hours. Plans have ramped up since FIFA announced that the 2030 World Cup would be held mainly in Portugal, Spain and Morocco. The idea of a Strait of Gibraltar tunnel was first proposed by the Spanish government in 1930. However, the project was put on hold after engineers discovered that the seabed material was made up of extremely hard rock, making tunnelling impossible with the technology available at the time. Even with engineering developments, the tunnel is still held up as one of the most ambitious undersea projects in the world, far more complex than the Channel Tunnel between England and France, which opened in 1994. The Azores–Gibraltar geologic fault sits nearby and a number of earthquakes have occurred in the region. An additional logistical challenge is that the shortest distance between the two continents is where the deepest section of the strait is, with depths of up to 900m. Plans for the tunnel resurfaced in 1979, when the governments of Spain and Morocco appointed a joint committee to analyse the feasibility of the project, although the tunnel never came to fruition. The project has recently gained fresh traction after the opening of Morocco’s Al Boraq high-speed railway line connecting Casablanca with Tangier, the first of its kind in Africa. There have been plenty of other ambitious engineering proposals in the past, including a bridge from Dover to Calais, one connecting Africa with Asia over the Red Sea between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and – perhaps the most outlandish of them all – a vacuum tunnel connecting London to New York. [227] Tanzania – Successful First Trial Run for Standard Gauge Railway Tanzania’s Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa, flagged away the first trial run of a passenger train on the newly-completed Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) on 21 April. The train from Dar Es Salaam to the capital Dodoma was carrying invited government officials and dignitaries, ahead of the official opening of Tanzania Railway Corporation’s (TRC) €9.29bn, 627 km line to the public later this year.
"Today is a historic day that celebrates the culmination of 60 years of the Union of the United Republic of Tanzania,” said Majaliwa. “The launch of the railway line from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma shows that there are still a few steps left for us to take.” Tanzania’s deputy minister of transport, David Kihenzile, says that the railway will conduct further trials with both locomotives and rolling stock before regular passenger services on the line start in July. To date nine of 19 locomotives, one of 10 EMUs built by Hyundai Rotem and 65 of 89 coaches supplied by fellow Korean manufacturer Sung Shin Rolling Stock Technology for the new line have arrived in Tanzania. Standard Gauge Railway under construction in Tanzania