Winners Announced for the 2014 European Rail Congress Awards

Nov. 12, 2014
The winners of the second annual European Rail Congress Awards were announced in front of 400 European rail officials at last night’s prestigious European Rail Awards Ceremony in London.

The winners of the second annual European Rail Congress Awards were announced in front of 400 European rail officials at last night’s prestigious European Rail Awards Ceremony in London.  The awards were part of the European Rail Congress – an industry rail summit and annual rail awards ceremony. 

The awards were presented by UK journalist and broadcaster the Rt Hon Michael Portillo at the Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel in London.  A total of 19 awards were given out on the night.

Eurostar won the European Cross Border Operator of the Year.  In the last year Eurostar has undertaken a series of initiatives to expand its reach. Initiatives include Route Du Soleil, the London-South of France route, serving the Provence region, Lyon and Marseille. Building on its successful winter services to the French Alps since 1997, Eurostar forged a partnership with TGV Lyria to launch a new service between London and the heart of the Swiss Alps. Since January, in partnership with Deutsche Bahn, travellers have been able to buy through tickets to Aachen, Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich.

European Commuter Operator of the Year went to Abellio Greater Anglia.  Abellio Greater Anglia runs services for London and the East of England, running over 1,900 trains a day, serving 175 stations and carrying over 125 million passengers annually. Over the last year, it has improved services and achieved record-breaking performance. Annual punctuality reached a new high of 92.7 percent in June 2013. A programme of station upgrades has been completed at all 167 stations, with wi-fi now in use at 120 stations.

European Regional Operator of the Year was awarded to Estonian operator Elron.  In 2009 Elron decided to completely replace its 30-year old train fleet, buying 20 diesel and 18 electric Stadler Flirt trains. Each train features free 4G wi-fi and all trains use braking energy to power on-board systems with energy savings reaching 30 percent. Because the trains weigh less, track access charges are lower.  As a result Elron has been able to increase passenger train traffic by 36 percent without an increase in its costs. The improved quality of service has already led to a 49 percent increase in the number of passengers.

London Underground beat off competition from Metro de Madrid for the second year running to win the European Metro Operator of the Year.  In 2013 the world’s oldest metro system celebrated its 150th anniversary. The latest performance figures suggest that the Tube is still at the top of its game. It is on track to carry more passengers than ever before this year. LU carried over 1.2 billion passengers in 2012/13 and demand continues to increase. A record 76 million km were operated last year. Customer satisfaction remains on target at 82 out of 100 for the year to date.

European Freight Operator of the Year went to FuoriMuro – an Italian shunting company established in May, 2010 in maritime terminals. FuoriMuro managed to turn around a fall in traffic in the Port of Genoa since taking over the contract.  It now reaches all logistics and distribution centres in northern Italy which represents a unique model of integration between shunting activities and rail services.

The final operator award of the evening was for European Inter-City Operator of the Year which was awarded to WESTbahn Management GmbH.  The Austrian operator was launched in December 2011 and serves eight stations between Vienna and Salzburg.  It provides an hourly service with a journey time of 2.5 hours. The seven Stadler double-decker trains accommodate 501 and run at up to 200km/h. WESTbahn’s key to success has been focusing on customer service, leading to customer satisfaction and long-term loyalty.

Deutsche Bahn picked up the Excellence in Technology award for its Touch & Travel ticketing system which enables passengers to use transport networks without buying tickets in advance; no knowledge of fare structures is required. Passengers have three ways to check in at the start of a journey.  There is no need to queue at a ticket office, connections between transport modes are strengthened, and operating costs are lower.

HS1 Ltd prevailed in the Excellence in Environmental Sustainability category.  Innovation in design and railway landscape management has enabled High Speed 1 to create a sustainable railway corridor, increasing biodiversity and reducing maintenance costs. This has been done through best practice design, a landscape management plan and a specialist landscape maintenance team. Since opening of the high speed line in 2003, no disruption has been caused by leaf fall or fallen trees.

The award for Excellence in Travel Information & Marketing went to ÖBB-Holding AG for its Cross-border service - BratisLover.  The service between Bratislava and Vienna is an excellent example of cross border operators working together to improve the customer journey. Using a mixture of innovative ticketing, demand led timetabling and publicity campaigns the number of passengers has increased impressively. Growth has been running at 10-30% annually.

UK Rail infrastructure management company Network Rail, British Transport Police, ATOC, and the UK Rail Freight Group took the honours for Excellence in Safety and Security sponsored by Grup Feroviar Roman with their Cable Theft Prevention Strategy Team.  Metal theft on the railways has financial, performance, safety and reputational consequences.  The partnership created a cable theft prevention strategy team who have worked with exceptional collaboration. The team brought about a dramatic decrease in the number of incidents and delay minutes over the last year. Figures for the year ending April 2014 show 179 incidents down from 995 for 2010/11, a reduction of 82%!

The Excellence in Engineering category sponsored by Bombardier Transportation was awarded to SNCF for their Auxonne Viaduct Renewal.  The renewal of the Auxonne Viaduct was complicated with traditional renewal methods being ruled out.  The contractor, with the support of SNCF, proposed an innovative deck launching structure designed specifically for the project. It allowed the lifting of the old bridge deck, the renewal works to be performed on bearing pads and the new deck to be installed from above.

Most Innovative Rail Project of the Year sponsored by HS1 went to Belgian based company Reprocover.  Reprocover has developed a mechanical recycling technique for thermosetting composite and glass fibre waste. The process turns composite waste which is currently incinerated or sent to landfill into products the railway sector can use. Glass reinforced polyester from dismantled trains or production waste from new trains or many other products can be recycled into covers for cable gutters or level crossings or products such as train sleepers.

The award for Best Partnership of the Year sponsored by Thales was awarded to Allianz pro Schiene - for its Pro-Rail Alliance.  The main aim of the alliance is to increase rail’s market share, both for passenger and freight transport. The alliance’s other goals are securing and increasing public funding of the railways, creating a fair competitive environment to enable the railways to compete with other modes, simplifying cross-border rail transport and its integration with other modes, maintaining and improving the railway’s superior environmental record, and improving the image of rail in politics and with the public.

Amadeus picked up the award for Best Integration.  It offers rail operators the opportunity to have their fares displayed on screen, providing an edge over their competitors. It provides a one-stop shop for travel agents to book train travel throughout several rail agencies or companies and provides travellers with a greater selection of travel options.  Clients include SNCF, DB, TGV Lyria, Eurostar and Thalys.

NVV took the award for Excellence in Customer Service.  The NVV five-minute guarantee pledges that passengers get their money back if there is a delay of five minutes or more; if a connection is missed, customers can be reimbursed for the price of their tickets and after 8pm can claim €25 towards taxi costs.  On average, complaints total 50,000-60,000 annually and over 90 percent of complaints concern delays.  

NVV added Small Rail Station of the Year to its collection of awards on the evening for its makeover of Melsungen railway station. The neglected area around Melsungen railway station has been completely redeveloped. The station’s platforms were redeveloped to allow step-free access, the steeply sloping land between the bus station and the railway station was converted into a new ramp to allow buses to serve a new central bus stop at the railway station, and the ground floor became a passenger service area.

Spanish construction company Comsa Emte took home the prize for Medium Rail Station of the Year for its construction of Necatibey Station in Turkey. Necatibey station is part of the €100m Ankara metro lines M2 and M3 project. The new station, on the M2 line close to the Turkish Parliament, is 15m underground.  During the construction of the bored tunnels there was major subsidence. The technical team were forced to switch to cut and cover.  Elsewhere, it built slabs supported on sheet walls to allow excavation work to continue under them.

The Large Rail Station of the Year was won by Network Rail for Glasgow Central Station.  Glasgow Central is the largest and busiest station in the UK outside London, accommodating 120,000 passengers daily.  It was the main transport hub for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.  For the Games comprehensive improvements were carried out. All platforms were rebuilt, as were the passenger toilets and showers. A new mobility access point was created, escalators were upgraded and a new set of entry gates were installed.

The judges awarded FCC Construction Excellence in Infrastructure Award for the construction of the New Europe Bridge in Bulgaria.  This project is the largest-ever construction project in Bulgaria and is the longest structure crossing the Danube.  It is unique in that it combines a four lane road and a railway track.  FCC managed to build the bridge without the 13 million tonnes of annual river traffic being affected in challenging conditions.

Brian Simpson, Chair of the ERC Judging Panel said, “I am delighted to see so many from the sector put themselves forward for these Awards.  With over 250 entries received, it is a measure of the expertise, innovation and success that exists right across the continent.  It is also a reflection of the pride and ambition of those working in the sector, providing safe, green and efficient transport for millions of people while supporting local and national economies.

"I am pleased that countries from right across Europe have participated in these Awards and that evidence of best practice from both small and larger countries from the West of Europe across to the east, receive the opportunity for recognition of their efforts and innovation.”

The full list of winners for the European Rail Congress Awards 2014 is as follows:

1. European Commuter Train Operator of the Year         

  • Abellio Greater Anglia (UK)

2. European Cross Border Operator of the Year

  • Eurostar (Belgium, France, UK)                 

3. European Freight Operator of the Year            

  • FuoriMuro  (France, Italy)                                                           

4. European Inter-City Operator of the Year                                                                                       

  • WESTbahn Management GmbH – WESTbahn & the Human Factor – A Success Story (Austria)

5. European Metro Operator of the Year             

  • London Underground (UK)

6. European Regional Operator of the Year                        

  • Elron (Estonia)

7. Rail Station of the Year: Small              

  • Nordhessischer VerkehrsVerbund - A makeover for Melsungen railway station  (Germany)                                                                        

8. Rail Station of the Year: Medium       

  • Comsa-Emte - Necatibey Station - M2 and M3 Lines Ankara Metro Project (Spain, Turkey)

9. Rail Station of the Year: Large              

  • Network Rail – Glasgow Central Station (UK)

10. Best European Integration                                                                                                  

  • Amadeus s.a.s. - Amadeus Rail Display (Benelux, France, Italy, Spain, UK)

11. Best Partnership of the Year                                                                                                              

  • Allianz pro Schiene e.V. - Pro-Rail Alliance (German: Allianz pro Schiene) (Germany)

12. Customer Service Excellence                                                                                             

  • Nordhessischer Verkehrsverbund - Money-back guarantee spawns greater customer satisfaction - the NW 5-minute guarantee (Germany)   

13. Engineering Excellence                                                                                                        

  • SNCF - Auxonne viaduct renewal (France)

14. Excellence in Environmental Sustainability                                                                 

  • HS1 Limited  - The High Speed Approach to Sustainable Environment Management (UK)

15. Excellence in Safety and Security                                                                                                     

  • Network Rail - Cable Theft Prevention Strategy Team. The fight against metal thieves (UK)

16. Excellence in Technology                                                                                                    

  • DB Mobility Logistics AG – Touch & Travel (Germany)

17. Most Innovative Rail Project of the Year                                                                      

  • Reprocover – Turning thermosetting and fibre glass waste into valuable products for rail (Belgium)

18. Excellence in Travel Information & Marketing                                                           

  • ÖBB-Holding AG - BratisLover - Cross-border transport (Austria, Slovakia)

19. Infrastructure Award

  • FCC Construction - New Europe Bridge (Bulgaria, Romania, Spain)