Such a theme neatly side-stepped the other noun that went largely unspoken in the aisles - “downturn.”

This very British event was still in some awe of Hitachi – part of the Agility Trains consortium announced last month as preferred bidder to supply the UK Government’s Intercity Express Programme needs for vehicles on Britain’s busy East Coast and Great Western main lines. Agility underlined its attractiveness to visitors by announcing during the event that its principal suppliers, Hitachi Europe Rail Group and John Laing, will hold a series of supplier events to meet potential UK and European supply partners. This virtually guaranteed queues of hungry salespeople on the Hitachi stand.

Yet their competitors were not intimidated. Alstom highlighted its high speed (360 kph) AGV and a UK version of its X’trapolis regional train … naturally discussing the “sustainability” of reduced weight, energy consumption and so on.

Bombardier was also at great pains to explain “sustainability”, with emphasis on its ECO4 energy-saving concepts – essentially, a four-pillar vision statement locking in energy, efficiency, ecology and economics. “We believe that sustainability drives excellence.”

However, news broke that First Capital Connect were warning of reduced services on the Thameslink network – which includes London Luton Airport – since Bombardier has been unable to sustain train deliveries, citing component suppliers’ financial difficulties thanks to the downturn … not that The “D” Word was used, of course.

For truly sustained repetition of The ‘S’ Word, the winning stand was The Technical Strategy Advisory Group (TSAG), formed to support the UK’s Rail Technical Strategy. TSAG has established eight themes for change and is creating route maps for strategic planning drawn from these. It recognises the importance of air-rail links not only for environmental reasons but also for the UK economy – effectively, the air-rail sector has a powerful advocate to Government in this Advisory Group.

Another leading think-tank at RailTex, Newcastle University’s Centre for Railway Research - branded “NewRail”, has been less parochial in its approach to inter-modal hubs. Work on projects such as TransSLO, looking at Slovenian transport, has informed the centre’s knowledge base on air rail developments and it has whetted their appetite. Said research associate Phil Mortimer: “We are actively seeking research projects on the subject worldwide.”

As a technical exhibition. RailTex is largely populated by niche suppliers hiding their true role behind the almost universal description: “Rail Solutions.” This proved to mean anything from complex software to a concrete slab. In normal circumstances, most have been aimed at one customer – the UK’s Network Rail infrastructure – but life has changed dramatically.

Under pressure from thousands of small but necessary fixes, Network Rail is turning to train operators for minor infrastructure projects like new station canopies. So the market for many niche suppliers has suddenly become more complex.

On the other hand, this may just be a step away from allowing UK airports to press forward with much-needed but low-priority (from a national viewpoint) enhancements to their rail links, with the bill going to Network Rail.

Would this rail solution improve sustainability in a downturn?

Peter Phillips
airrail NEWS

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