The Railway Restructuring Also Experienced on Other Realms

Czech Republic - a young country with an old infrastructure

- In the capital (Prague) of Czech Republic the NATO members have chosen to reunite in order to invite other seven countries in the North-Atlantic Alliance, among which Romania.
- Czech Republic has a 78,864 km2 surface, a population of 10.3 million inhabitants, it has the borders with Germany and Poland at north and with Austria and Slovakia at south.
- The Czech railway network has 9,365 km of railway lines, it transports on daily basis over half a million passengers and almost a quarter of tone of goods.
- Historical guide marks:
- 1918 - the gaining of the independence of Cehoslovachia
- 1939 - the occupation of the country by the Natzy Germany;
- 1945 - the liberation of the country from the Soviet and American armies;
- 1948 - the communists have taken over the country;
- 1968 - the Spring from Prague - the reformist movement;
- 1989 - the Velvet Revolution - the end of communism;
- 1992 - the division of the Cehoslovachia;
- 1993 - the creation of the independent state Czech Republic;
- 1999 - Czech Republic becomes NATO Member.

On the territory of the present Czech Republic the first pages of the railway history have been written down starting with 1839. On January 1, 1993, the Czech Railways (Ceske Drahy - CD) was being founded, which is presently the biggest railway operator and the only manager of infrastructure, found in state's ownership.
The Czech railway network proportionally covers the territories of the three regions of the country: Boemia, Moravia and Silesia. It has in composition mainly (80%) simple tracks (7,436 km), 20% representing the double lines, (1,887 km) and only 51 km of multiple lines. The gauge of the most part of the network is the European one (1,435 mm), only the Jindoichuv Hradec - Obratao, Jindoichuv Hradec - Nova Bystoice (privatized) and Toemesna ve Slezsku - Osoblaha lines still have 760 mm gauge. From the overall of the network, 2,843 km (almost 30%) is electrified, in continuous and alternative power.
On international plan, CD is a member in the following professional organizations: UIC, European Community of the Railways (CER), the Railway Collaboration Organization (OCCF), the European Institute for Railway Research (ERRI) and the Train Europe Forum.
Czech Republic takes advantage of the fact that on its territory is crossed by the main European transport routes - AGTC, AGC and TER - and the pan-European corridors. This fact forces CD to respect the international requirements in the field: the increase of the traffic speed, of the passengers' comfort and of the safety transport, together with a more rigorous respecting of the environment protection norms.
The liberalization of the access on the national infrastructure has been achieved starting with January 1995, through a document that was defining the new rights and obligations of the railway companies and operators. During this period of time there has been also achieved a progressive adaptation of the Czech railway transport market to the new conditions, reaching up to the present time to 53 operators, besides the state, represented by CD, operators that achieve specialized transports on the following categories: goods and passengers, construction materials, various types of equipment, special units, small objects, historical vehicles and so on.
The passengers transport is divided in three types of services:
- international transport on long routes, with the provision of the links with the other railway networks;
- regional passengers transport, which covers the internal needs, operating based on the regional demands;
- additional services, as well as the transport in sleeping cars, the catering services, the transports of the handicapped persons, luggage, bicycles, cars, boats, messenger services and travels by nostalgia trains.
In Czech Republic the railway transport has succeeded to become a dominant segment in the economical development of the country: presently, 90% of the overall volume of the goods are transported on the railways, reaching to almost 250,000 tones per day. The beneficiaries of the freight transport are also granted a wide range of services: the combined transport in various types of containers, the cargo terminals, the renting of the freight wagons, express trains, logistic services and other supplementary services.
For 2001 -2005 there is in development stage a vast modernization project for the rolling stock fleet dedicated to the passengers transport, as well as for the freight transport. Therefore, on the international routes will be introduced passengers coaches that are endowed with air conditioning and the ones operating on the internal routes will be gradually modernized and there will be placed orders for three train sets that will be equipped with Pendolio type bogies. With regard to the freight wagons, the existing ones will experience a modernization process, which will provide an easier maneuvering of the goods and better protection during the travel. Additionally, there are development projects for the electronic media systems (Internet, teletext, SMS, W@P), of the on-line services, a pilot - project for the implementation of the payment by cards, an automatic selling system for the travelling tickets and so on.
The Czech railway infrastructure also includes 6,700 bridges, built of steel or other materials, with one, or two or three traffic lines. The longest bridge on this network is the one named Negrelli a viaduct built in 1847, which crosses the Vltara river, of almost 1,400 m length and 106 openings (vaults). Due to its complexity, this work of art has been divided in 15 objectives. Another famous bridge, called the Bridge of Intelligence, built on the section called Prague Vrsovice - Prague Radotin, is quite often mentioned on the various works as being the longest Czech bridge, it has a 953 m length. And if we still are at "the most" category, we have found out that the highest bridge is Znojemsky viaduct, located at 48.45 m above the ground. Czech Republic has also 31 tunnels, with total length of 36.5 m, the longest being of 1,750 m, and the shortest of 23 m.
The Czech railways stations and the railway monuments are spread all over the country and they are marking out through a unique architectonic style, which has been developed and has been maturing once the time passed by, marking out the historical, technical and architectonic development of the country. According to the law, 77 buildings belonging to the Czech Railways have been declared cultural monuments and have been included in the Central list of the cultural monuments of Czech Republic. Among the railway objectives included on this list we remind here the first railway line for the tram hauled by horses, between Eeske Budijovice and Linz, located in the neighborhood of the railway station Rybnik, and buildings of the passengers railway stations from the end of the XIXth century, belonging to the Empire style, which impresses through a strict symmetry and monumental sobriety, visible from the railway stations Usti n. Orlici and Prague - Masarykovo.
The efforts of the Infrastructure Department to preserve these monuments are considerable and they join the other modernization works and for the adaptation of the railway stations from Czech Republic to the present requirements.
In the last 10-12 years, the Czech company has experienced a series of changes, starting with the political ones and continuing with the economical ones, and the railway system has evolved under these circumstances, succeeding to become an important lever of the present and future development of the country.

Finland - lakes, forests and railways

- Finland is a republic and has become a member of the European Union in 1995.
- Finland has a population of 5.2 million inhabitants, the capital of the country, the town Helsinki, having over 500,000 inhabitants.
- The neighbors of Finland are: Sweden - at west; Norway - at north; Russia - at east and Estonia - at south.
- The forests cover almost a third part of the surface of the country, the Finnish sight taking advantage of the presence of 190.000 lakes.
- The Finnish people are proud of the fact that they are the "up to date" nation in the world: the number of mobile phones and of the connections to the Internet per head is the most increased in the world…
- Historical guide marks:
- 1155 - the arrival of the first Swedish missionaries; Finland is integrated in the Swedish kingdom;
- 1809 - Sweden gives up Finland to Russia. The czar offers it the status of autonomous ducat, proclaiming itself constitutionally sovereign and being represented by a general government;
- 1917 - Finland proclaims its independence on December 6th;
- 1919 - there is adopted the Constitution, still in force nowadays;
- 1939 - 1940 - the Winter War with the Soviet Union;
- 1941 -1944 - the war goes on, there are given up certain territories to the Soviet Union, but Finland keeps its independence and sovereignty;
- 1955 - Finland adheres to ONU;
- 1995 - Finland adheres to EU;

In Finland the first railway line has been built in year 1862, between Helsinki and Hameenlinna, having the gauge of 1,524 mm. Presently, the total length of the Finnish railway network is of 5, 850 km, among which 5,643 km are of main sections.
There have been built along the time 42 tunnels, among which 38 are located on the main lines and 4 are on the industrial lines, having a total length of 25,284 m.
If we take a while to think about the geography of this country, the number of railway bridges is not quite big: there are only 2,119, to which there are also added 814 that cross the railways.
For the electrification of the railway lines there has been chosen the 25 kV - 50 Hz system, 2,400 km representing the electrified lines.
The Finnish railway system is managed by two institutions: the Finnish Railways (RHK - Ratahallintokeskus), which have in administration the infrastructure of the entire railway network, and VR (VR - Yhtyma Oy) the transport operator.
This country also prides with the fact that the train is the safest mode of locomotion, the majority of the network taking advantage of the services provided by the Automatic Train Protection (ATP).
It is quite natural for a railway system that is willing to be "up to date" than expressing its concern for the permanent increase of the train traffic speed.
That is why, presently, on the main section Helsinki - Turku the traffic is unfolded with 160 - 200 km/h, and on the other main sections, with 140-160 km/h. the turnover of the freight traffic is also in a permanent increase (in year 2001 there have been transported 40.7 million tones), as well as the passengers transport - 55 million travels achieved on the same year.
The current structure of the railway system has been achieved according to the directives of the EU in the field, RHK still remaining in the ownership of the state, while the railway operator (VR) has been transformed in a joint-stock company.
The Finnish Railway Administration (RHK) exists in the current formula since June 1995 and it is subordinated to the Ministry of Transports and Telecommunications having the role to improve the operation conditions on the railway for the railway traffic, to be very efficient and safe and to protect the environment for Finland, as well as for the international side of the railway system.
The main activity objectives of the RHK are:
- the maintenance and the development of the railway; RHK is responsible for the safety traffic and offers to all the operators a competitive transport network;
- the satisfaction of the trade and industry needs, as well as of the public transport needs, in concordance with the economical principles of the country. The network development is also performed according to the deeds of the international traffic, the Finnish railways being an important connection ring between the eastern and the western part of the continent.
RHK has around 85 employees in the Central headquarter of the company and other 40, on the network - for the traffic control.
The VR group includes, besides the passengers and freight transport companies, other railway undertakings for the construction or maintenance of the rolling stock and so on; on overall, VR includes 24 companies with almost 15,000 employees, the majority capital of VR is still hold by the state, the president of the Board of Administration of the Group being presently Henri Kuitunen.
The Finnish railway transport network provides to the passengers the possibility to move easily, rapidly, safely and cheaper. The offer of the trains is wide: from the modern Pendolino, to the Intercity, the express trains and regional trains. The long distance services put daily into operation 260 train sets, offering to the passengers the possibility to connect from every railway station to the other transport types.
The train timetable in force since June 2nd, 2002 has been conceived for the promotion of the routes stipulated to cover the needs of the market.
The train Pendolio network has been extended, during the summer of this year being introduced two new links: Jyvaskyla - Kuopio and Helsink via Seinajoki - Oulu.
The first locomotives and coaches, which have operated on the Finnish railway, are kept in the railway museum. There we can see the first steam locomotive -Vk11, put into operation in 1931, and the last narrow line (closed in 1974) also preserved and maintained in the real estate of the museum.
Presently, the Finnish rolling stock fleet has in composition modern, comfortable coaches with 80 places, non-divided - at the IInd class and Ist class compartments the most trains having in composition restaurant-trains, phones with cards.
The express trains are operating with a 120-140 km/h speed, Intercity - with 160 km/h, and Pendolio - with 200 km/h. for the "country" travels there are still recommended the regional trains, which operate especially during the night, with IInd class coaches and sleeping cars and with one, two or three places in the compartment, and are considered… the cheapest hotels in Finland!
Naturally, VR is in close competition with the other types of transport especially with Finnar and Express bus. In order to be the winner of the railway transport, there has been built a strategy - program up to year 2012, when the Finnish Railways will celebrate the 150 years of existence, strategy where there are stipulated mainly: the significant decrease of the transport times on long distances, the development of the traffic around the capital, Helsinki and the extension and the improvement of the international transport.

Silvia Mirea