Our data center infrastructure helps to streamline operations with increased uptime to achieve critical business goals Your gateway to your sustainability and business goals Digital solutions that improve energy efficiency optimize space use and equipment performance and ensure health and wellbeing of occupants Applying data from both inside buildings and beyond our customers can now manage operations systemically Achieve decarbonization and renewable energy targets and optimize building performance Indoor air quality is essential for the well-being and productivity of the people inside every building Visionary leaders taking the smart leap in digital transformation Flexible services that scale to your building Optimize the performance of your building with OpenBlue a complete ecosystem of connected technologies Unlock the performance of your building and provide real-time data visibility across assets and processes with OpenBlue Enterprise Manager Funding more than $6B in customer projects worldwide we partner with you to determine the best way to make your project happen we partner with you to determine the best way to make your project happen.  Our company has been the innovation leader transforming and shaping the industry for 140 years we remain focused on what's ahead -- driving the next era of transforming industries and powering our customers' missions  First of its kind solution in Germany contributes to a sustainable energy transition is supplying the municipality of Neustadt in Holstein with a state-of-the-art heat pump that will use water from the Baltic Sea to generate green energy The system will provide part of the heat supply to a new district in the city's harbor via its own heating network This seawater solution is the first of its kind in Germany on this scale and represents a future model for the transformation of heat supply “Heat pumps are a crucial technology in the energy transition and provide an efficient and sustainable alternative to gas and oil heating,” said David Emin “Our cooperation with the Neustadt in Holstein municipality shows we can use the technology to harness one of the world’s most abundant and natural resources We are proud to bring our expertise to this innovative project that is setting an example for carbon neutrality in Europe and beyond.” Johnson Controls is providing its SABROE DualPAC heat pump — a two-stage heat pump that features a modular system to enable high temperature lifts — ideal for use in district heating applications It uses sea water to generate a heating output of up to 700 kW During the winter months when the water is colder it will extract around 500 kW of heat from the water which is raised to a higher temperature using electrical energy and then fed into the new district heating network it will be supplemented by heat from a nearby waste incineration plant and a heat storage facility manufactured at Johnson Controls’ plant in Denmark is at the heart of a pioneering project by the Neustadt municipality and is being funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection "The seawater heat pump is the essential element of our climate-friendly heat supply concept," said Thomas Anthoni project manager for heating at the Neustadt in Holstein municipal utility company we are implementing a flagship project for the energy transition." Most of the world’s heating needs today are met with direct fossil fuel combustion To decarbonize buildings and maintain a reliable grid electrifying these systems with heat pumps is key They use one third of the energy of conventional heating systems and can generate three to eight times as much energy as they consume Johnson Controls was among the first providers of environmentally friendly heat pumps over 50 years ago and today offers one of the world’s most comprehensive range of heat pumps designed for a range of commercial The company provides solutions that lever-age a range of natural energy sources such as sea Building on a proud history of nearly 140 years of innovation we deliver the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare with a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries Johnson Controls offers the world`s largest portfolio of building technology and software as well as service solutions from some of the most trusted names in the industry Visit www.johnsoncontrols.com for more information and follow @Johnson Controls on social platforms Industry news and insights from Europe and around the World Keep up-to-date with the latest new products and technology GERMANY: Johnson Controls is providing its Sabroe DualPAC ammonia heat pump to a project using water from the Baltic Sea to generate green energy The two-stage heat pump system will provide part of the heat supply to a new heating network in the municipality of Neustadt in Holstein The Sabroe DualPAC was manufactured at Johnson Controls’ plant in Denmark The heat pump features a modular system to enable high temperature lifts It will use the sea water to generate a heating output of up to 700kW it will extract around 500kW of heat from the water which is raised to a higher temperature then fed into the new district heating network This seawater solution is said to be the first of its kind in Germany on this scale and represents a model for the transformation of heat supply.  Cooling Post is the leading online resource covering latest news and developments in the cooling industry air conditioning news and the latest heat pump developments Privacy & Cookie Policy © Copyright 2025, Cooling Post Ltd - All Rights Reserved | Website by Capital Web This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Much of what Rose Maklan Ross knew about her parents’ experiences during World War II came out during trips to the movies “It was the one place she felt safe,” Maklan Ross said Maklans survived the Auschwitz and Stutthof concentration camps Her brother and mother were sent immediately to the gas chambers and she and her sister were sent to live in the camp at the Neustadt/Holstein displaced persons camp in Germany also survived time in Stutthof and the Kaiserwald concentration camp was one of the first children born in Neustadt Maklan Ross packed up her mother’s South Florida apartment fraying photo albums with black pages and little tabs anchoring the pictures to the page documents identifying her parents as camp survivors records of their medical exams – from their time in Neustadt She put them all in a box that she looked through every year on her mother’s birthday and took out for her children’s school projects on their family tree or World War II “All of a sudden I got this sense of urgency that if something happened to me and they put that box on another shelf,” she said “And I just couldn’t let it sit there and just disappear.” At around the same time, Maklan Ross read an article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel about South Florida residents donating artifacts to the U.S here’s the answer to my problem,’” she said Maklan Ross reached out to Aimee Rubensteen, the acquisitions curator for the museum based in South Florida Rubensteen researched Maklan Ross’s parents then met with Maklan Ross herself to see the artifacts and talk about her family She said she was struck by how Maklan Ross had not just photographs or just documents from overlapping time periods – which allowed Rubensteen to piece together a fuller picture of the Maklans’ life in the Neustadt displaced persons camp “It’s an amazing thing to be able to look at the family photos of Rose’s parents getting married “And alongside these photographs we have all these documents of what they were doing – they weren’t just getting married and having a kid they were trying to immigrate as soon as possible.” The immunization records and camp documents Maklan Ross kept in a box showed that her parents were building a paper trail that would allow them to leave Neustadt for their eventual home in New York Maklan Ross said she carried the weight of her family’s experiences in the Holocaust even as many of the details remained a mystery to her She longed to know more about her mother’s life before the war “Those were the things that mattered to me was to know that at one time she could have been happy.” She said her mother grew up in an observant Jewish family but rarely went to temple after the war – so rarely that Maklan Ross vividly remembers a trip to a Bronx synagogue for High Holidays when she was 10 or 11 Her father dressed in a suit and she and her mother put on silk dresses and when they got to the door of the synagogue a man asked for their tickets – $75 for the whole family Maklan Ross’s parents hadn’t purchased tickets “And my mother just looked at him and said ‘I will pay you nothing Her mother took Maklan Ross and her father by the hand and marched them into the synagogue it was like Moses in that famous scene when the waters parted,” she said the rich context provided by Maklan Ross’s collection will become especially important as the number of eyewitnesses to the Holocaust are dwindling “The stories that are told around the objects don’t just provide context,” Rubensteen said when we don’t have firsthand accounts anymore.” In addition to Maklan Ross’s own recollection of her parents’ story – much of it gleaned from her mother 20 minutes at a time in darkened movie theaters – Maklan Ross donated a taped interview she did with her mother the year before her death Maklan Ross said when friends heard she had given all her family’s wartime photos and documents to the museum some were shocked that she’d handed over the records of her family’s history were inspired by Maklan Ross’s donation to look through their own family documents and photos and to call other family members to track down records from the years during and after the war Rubensteen said she’s already talked to one woman who was prompted by Maklan Ross’s donation to inquire about donating her own materials Maklan Ross has no doubts about her own decision to give up her family’s photos and documents, which the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has already digitized and made available on its website “It makes me feel as if I’ve put my parents in a place where they can have some respect,” she said .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By The Associated PressGerman U-Boat Crews of U-Boats train aboard their ship at the German submarine school (AP) -- In the aptly named Graveyard of the Atlantic off the North Carolina coast researchers have found the wrecks of a Nazi U-boat and the ship it sank during a World War II convoy "That whole battlefield scene is there," said Joe Hoyt of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration "Both sides of the story are represented as a memorial to history." A research team using sonar found the wrecks of U-boat 576 and the freighter Bluefields on Aug which was operating under the flag of Nicaragua and was part of a convoy of 19 merchant ships Navy and Coast Guard were escorting the ships from Norfolk sinking the Bluefields and damaging two other ships aircraft bombed the U-boat and a merchant ship attacked with a deck gun All 45 men aboard the U-boat died and are believed entombed in the shipwreck; no one on the Bluefields was killed NOAA delayed releasing information about the discovery until Tuesday to give the German time to track down and notify any survivors of the 45 men The German Foreign Office told NOAA that it's not interested in recovering the remains but asked the U.S they are under special protection and should remain at their site and location to allow the dead to rest in peace," the foreign office said in a statement provided by NOAA that it's unlikely divers would be able to reach the site The wrecks are protected by international law The shipwrecks show how close the Battle of the Atlantic came to the United States even though many people think of it as a "North Sea-type story." Dixie Burrus Browning of Buxton on Hatteras Island knows better wasn't quite a teenager when World War II was being fought close to her home "I remember waking up in the middle of night in our flimsy wooden house hearing the rattle of dishes" when ships attacked each other Wrecks of U-boats are unusual because most were scuttled as WWII was ending the wrecks of three other U-boats sit in more shallow waters off the North Carolina coast and have been used for fishing and diving even though they're also considered war graves But what's most interesting about this new site is that two shipwrecks sit there "That is much more unique and more interesting than just a single vessel," Hoyt said NOAA and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management began working together in 2008 to find vessels lost off the North Carolina coast during World War II Researchers used archival information for an initial survey earlier this year then used sonar on a research vessel to confirm the shipwrecks Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices Traditional skippers and sportsmen are on the waterThe major German sailing event is known all over the world and is a firm fixture in the local regatta calendar: Kiel Week takes place at the end of June Athletes from countless nations meet in the north of Schleswig-Holstein's state capital The area around the Olympic harbour in Schilksee is transformed into a lively epicentre where sailors of all classes prepare their boats and themselves for the races The "Kiwo" is also one of the most traditional regatta weeks It has been organised since the end of the 19th century The folk festival along Kiel's quay walls was added later and has continued to develop over the last few decades but also experience a day trip on one of the many traditional ships or set off on a multi-day cruise The maritime highlight is the windjammer parade on the second Saturday of the festival week in which dozens of tall ships and traditional sailing ships historic steamships and hundreds of sailing yachts take part Kiel Week traditionally ends with a fireworks display - another goosebump moment for Kiel Week fans 23456to the website2nd Hamburg Ancora Yacht Festival Neustadt- Trade fair with a sea breezePhoto: YACHT/B ScheurerThe next festival will take place from 12 to 14 May 2023 Information on the programme and how to get there on the trade fair websiteIn mid-May when the winter storerooms are empty and the Baltic Sea shows its friendly face the Ancora Marina is in a state of emergency for three days Under new management and undoubtedly favoured by the Corona-related lack of boat shows in previous years the event has developed into a premiere festival More and more boatyards and dealers are coming to Neustadt in Holstein to present their new products this will also be the case in 2023 and will keep the appeal of Germany's largest in-water boat show high there is always a certain dependency on the weather outdoors there is no better place to experience yachts than in their element This and the favourable stand prices for exhibitors have made the Hamburg Ancora Yacht Festival extremely popular Linjett from Sweden and Aira from Holland - to name just a few examples - brands that have never been represented here before came for the first time in 2022 The list ranges from the entry-level to the luxury segment And the newcomers all want to be back in 2023 without exception really: it is the only boat show that offers a sea breeze and a view of the Baltic Sea Anyone who wants to sail their own boat into Neustadt Bay to experience the fair should therefore book a berth early The Ancora Marina itself does not have any free berths and the neighbouring harbours are also full because many of the Ancora's permanent berth holders have to relocate for short periods The majority of visitors therefore come by car and park in specially designated areas just a few minutes' walk away Almost all equipment brands and dealers will be present in tents around the harbour area There are also informative specialist lectures and workshops in Hall H1 to the west of the jetties through which the exhibition centre can be reached To the east of the "Arborea" hotel the festival offers taster sails and live demonstrations on the water on the event area next to the show stage YACHT and Delius Klasing Verlag will of course also be there live to report on the events AndrewsUseful information on sailing in Sweden is available from the cruiser section thereOn Utö off the coast of Stockholm you can experience the many facets of the Midsummer Festival - even if it is more crowded than you might expect The island is easy to reach by ferry from Stockholm making it popular with day trippers and short holidaymakers They flock to the island in droves and party hard The classic midsummer dance around the tree does not take place at the harbour but further inland on the island: Women and girls wear wreaths of flowers and everyone sings together Families meet on picnic blankets and in small restaurants the harbour is a place for real party fans: people party around the clock There are moorings to the east and west of the city Photo: Wolf Hansen/sailingpix.deThe 22-sqm warping cruiser "Finikette" from Schlank-&-Rank initiator Georg Milz off LemkenhafenFehmarn has become home to many classic archipelago cruisers whose owners have been inviting all kindred spirits to meet here every two years since 2009 In addition to classic wooden stern cruisers such as the 15s all equally slim and slender boats are welcome: the three-man keelboat Drachen Sailing takes place between the Orther Reede the Fehmarnsund Bridge and Heiligenhafen according to different handicaps Classic wooden boats are rated according to the classic race rating system The event came about after the centenary of the archipelago cruisers was celebrated in Sweden in summer 2007 The Lemkenhafen owner of the 40 square metre skerry cruiser "Aurora" had visited the festival with his boat and put the idea into practice to organise something similar at home The first meeting was a complete success and the participants partied well into the night and the people of Lemkenhafen now call the event their summer party medieval markets: at the beginning of August the Hanseatic town of Visby on Gotland is turned upside down largely preserved city walls and defence towers it is the ideal backdrop for one of the largest medieval spectacles in Europe A good 40,000 visitors come to the Gothic capital during which yacht crews can moor right in the centre of the action Photo: Jens Köhler/Störtebeker Festspiele GmbHThe backdrop also includes a fleet of ships floating on the Bodden which reaches right up to the open-air stage Störtebeker also has to fight battles hereEven the most hardened theatre fanatics will love this: when it's playtime on Rügen there's no way around the Great Jasmund Bodden dozens of actors and horses bring the Middle Ages to life at dusk a different adventure of the legendary pirate Klaus Störtebeker is presented to the audience on the natural stage near Ralswiek But one thing is always certain: pirate Störtebeker also known as the "Robin Hood of the seas" An entire village in the centre of Rügen serves as the festival location The performances are elaborately staged spectacles Pyrotechnics provide explosions and fireworks the heroes clash in jousting matches and sword duels But gentle ballads and love scenes are also offered to audiences travelling from all over Germany the open-air theatre in Ralswiek is one of the largest in Europe millions of spectators have enjoyed the magic of open-air seafaring cinema is therefore worth a diversion on the summer cruise Advance sales start in autumn of the previous year Tickets for the front rows currently cost 40 euros while tickets for the back rows and the dress rehearsal cost around 15 euros The play will be performed in 2023 from 24 June to 9 September KraussThe supporting programme with Open Ship as well as information and photos of the ships can be found on the website of the Flensburg Museum HarbourOfficially the regatta is an "International Meeting of Historic Sailing Vessels" The crews of the 100 to 120 ships have no serious regatta ambitions: in the end but the runner-up who gets a bottle of rum One of the most traditional jazz festivals on the Baltic coast takes place on the island north of Lolland towards the end of July and beginning of August big names on the scene from home and abroad have been playing at "Femø Jazz" In addition to the concerts on the festival grounds the programme includes a street parade and a masterclass where up-and-coming musicians can showcase their talent Photo: Rick TomlinsonTjörn Runt's regatta field squeezes through the Kyrkesund on land there is a festival atmosphereAt its peak around 1,000 yachts squeezed across the regatta course which is reminiscent of an obstacle course Tjörn Runt's starting field has shrunk to around 200 boats It is sailed on the third Saturday in August in a clockwise direction around the island The course sometimes leads through very narrow passages such as Kyrkesund These not only ensure extreme concentration in the field the racing action in Kyrkesund is commented on by a presenter The Klädesholmen section of the course is also exciting where the sea is more open and there are many rocks and shallows lurking Pyrotechnic shows will soon be offered in every major town on the Baltic Sea during the season But probably no fireworks display is as enchanting as the spectacle that Grömitz puts on at the end of August on its almost 400 metre long pier "Baltic Sea in Flames" is the name of the event which attracts thousands from far and wide to the beach and the small hill above the harbour from where you can watch the 20-minute show accompanied by music If you are travelling by car rather than your own boat you should set off early - the crowds are now so big there are hardly any seats left in the beach bars and restaurants even though the rockets only light up the sky over Grömitz shortly before 11 pm Some pyro fans therefore bring their own drinks and snacks - and secure the best seats 300 to 500 metres north and south of the pier well in advance you can hardly take in the full dimensions of the fireworks which are fired sideways over the Baltic Sea You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience The largest circulation farm newspaper in Ontario - Eastern Ontario & Western Ontario Editions - NEUSTADT — After freezing rain shut down school buses in parts of Grey County on Jan Kevin Klages spent the morning in the barn with his four-year-old son Mitchell “It was a whirlwind of a day,” said Klages who runs Woodbridge Holsteins at Neustadt in Grey County “I’m glad I did so much work in the morning because I got nothing done after they announced the winners (of Master Breeder Shields) I got text messages from people and I have no idea who they are from.” Holstein Canada de­termines Master breeder shields based on points for high production outstand­ing conformation and high proficiency in reproduc­tion The fifth-generation farmer wanted the shield to be a surprise for his school teacher wife Natalie who had joked for a few years that it would be nice to receive the shield if the ceremony were ever held in Prince Edward Island This year’s ceremony is scheduled for PEI on April 24-27 When she called at the end of the school day Klages nonchalantly told her that not much was new “I have a text message here from so and so and it says congratulations “She knew when she phoned me,” laughed Klages “She had a pretty good idea of what was going on.” took over the family farm in 2008 and it wasn’t long before he made changes that would lead to the shield he moved the cows into a new 40-stall tie-stall barn in March he’s doubled the herd in the last five years brighter and better ventilated than the old barn when it was 30 C outside in the summer months they would immediately go to the trees and the bush to get shade and stay cool and they stood in the yard and bawled,” he said The new barn has really paid dividends in terms of getting potential out of the cows Production went up 20 per cent in a matter of a week.” He gives credit to other farmers for teaching him some of the ins and outs of the dairy industry His farm is the third on his road to receive a shield The other two are Bevan and Heather Weber of Elandee Holsteins and Cameron Hickling of Hicklee Farms There are only five dairy farms on the road When he was doing relief milking for other farms he would see good cows and think “You know we don’t have anything at home that looks like this.” That gave him a bit of drive to improve the herd “I got exposed to a lot of good cattle and smart cow men that way He pays close attention to the blood crosses between bull and cow “I spent a lot of time on Holstein Canada’s web site looking at excellent cows and saw what breeding was behind them and what blood crosses worked,” he said I like a bull that is 30 per cent very good before I’ll use him.” long way in 30 years when the cows weren’t on milk tests and the cows were classified “You could count the number of Very Good cows on one hand,” Klages said “Now I can’t count the Excellents on one hand.” © 2015 Farmers Forum Newspaper, serving Eastern Ontario and Western Ontario. Website maintained by Theresa Rudge It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Dieter Jeebe on May 20 his sons Dirk (Shirley) and Andre and his grandchildren He was also cherished by extended family and friends A memorial service will be held for family and friends on June 8th 1:00 PM 2024 at Voyage Funeral Home Weekend fiestas were being enjoyed with family and friends at camp Neustadt starting first with a tent and ultimately building a cottage in Heideland Many fond memories were created and shared there He loved it so much and joyfully shared his new passion with others and giving his recommendations of places to see and stay This is where he earned a nickname “Mr Dad you will live on within our hearts and minds until we meet again in heaven If friends so desire donations in Memory of Dieter can be made to Deer Lodge Centre 2109 Portage Ave To Jutta and family our sincere condolences Diese wunderschönen Erinnerungen an eine unbeschwerte Zeit an deine ruhige und humorvolle Art werden nie verblassen Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Email UsMap & Directions Email UsMap & Directions Email UsMap & Directions Email UsMap & Directions Email UsMap & Directions Made with ❤ by Ashlean Dr Stephan Brand has been working at KfW since 2015 As a senior adviser in the Economics Department he works for KfW Research on the topics of municipalities and infrastructure How would you assess the current financial situation of the municipalities That still portrays a fairly positive mood in most municipalities So why is there such a high backlog of investments we are referring to a development that began many years ago A few good years like the ones we are experiencing are not enough to solve this problem It is true that we have been seeing an increase in investment for several years now are the administrative staff that are necessary to invest the money that is available Municipalities have laid off many workers in the past decade and are now facing organisational challenges Municipalities were surveyed by the German Institute for Urban Affairs on behalf of KfW for the first time in 2009 to gain an overview of their financial position investment activities and financing conditions The KfW Municipal Panel has since been published annually and established itself as a source of reference in economic-policy debate Does that also explain why it is now taking so long to clear the backlog of investments and many factors influence municipal budgets Some municipalities benefit from their location What is also important is how the states support their municipalities We have 13 large states and each of them handles this slightly differently the municipalities themselves also need to operate efficiently The many factors which municipalities can only partly influence lead to strong regional differences which remain even in good economic times Can you estimate how the figures will develop in the coming years by the following photographers/photo agencies are used: The Isar 2 nuclear power plant (left) near Landshut Winter is coming and Klaus Zilian is worried He lives with his wife and two children in Neustadt in the northwestern German state of Schleswig-Holstein in the single-family home the couple bought 14 years ago – 160 square meters (1,500 square feet) seven rooms and insulating plaster the color of champagne The electricity comes from the municipal utility company the house is heated with gas and the Baltic Sea is only a five-minute walk away The article you are reading originally appeared in German in issue 32/2022 (August 6th The family will be able to handle the fact that the energy prices are going up due to the Russian reduction of the flows of natural gas into Germany But what if the house suddenly gets cold because there's just not enough gas "I can already see us cuddling under blankets," says Zilian He has backed away from a formerly held conviction "I was always in favor of the plan to phase out nuclear power," the 54-year-old says of Germany's plan to take all of its atomic energy plants offline by the end of this year He says the situation changed because of the crisis with Russia He says he supports keeping nuclear power plants online to prevent having to use natural gas to generate electricity "We should use the existing nuclear power plants for as long as the crisis lasts," he says The Zillian family in Neustadt in the state of Schleswig-Holstein A poll commissioned by DER SPIEGEL has revealed some rather shocking numbers According to the survey carried out by the online polling firm Civey only 22 percent of those surveyed are in favor of shutting down the three nuclear plants that are still in operation in Germany – Isar 2 Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland – as planned at the end of the year Seventy-eight percent of those surveyed are in favor of continuing to operate the plants until the summer of 2023 a variant that is being discussed in the political sphere as a "stretch operation" – in other words continuing to keep them online for a few months but without the acquisition of new fuel rods Is it a pragmatic view centered on the idea that it's just a few months and they won't change anything about the planned phaseout of nuclear power The answers suggest that the attitude of Germans toward nuclear power has changed significantly Sixty-seven percent are in favor of continuing to operate the nuclear plants for the next five years The only group without a clear majority in favor of running the plants for the next five years are the supporters of the Green Party Backers of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) as well as those supporting the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) are over 80 percent in favor of having the nuclear plants running for that long On the question of whether Germany should build new nuclear power plants because of the energy crisis 41 percent of respondents answered "yes," meaning they favor an approach that isn't even up for debate in Germany a polling institute asked a similar question on behalf of DER SPIEGEL only a miniscule 3 percent of respondents thought Germany should build new plants German is supposed to be transitioning to green energies but these polling figures suggest that people may be interested in returning to the old energy status quo It had already become clear in recent years that support for the nuclear phaseout was already slowly crumbling The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has now accelerated this shift calling into question many old certainties Formerly staunch pacifists now support weapons deliveries A Green Party economics minister is going on a gas-shopping spree to Qatar The energy security that people took for granted for decades in Germany has been shaken ever since Russia cut gas deliveries and costs rose The result being that an old German dogma now seems to be crumbling: the rejection of nuclear energy Concerns are either being put on the backburner or are evaporating Those are things you worry about when you have working heat some people believe nuclear power is both ecologically and morally sound – Ulrike von Waitz The 53-year-old's thinking on the issue began shifting a few years ago after she witnessed a tree lose its leaves The entrepreneur lives with her family in Kahl am Main the hottest year since the beginning of weather records in Germany Waitz saw trees losing their foliage in the middle of the summer drought "That's the first time I saw that the climate catastrophe is a real threat," she says Pro-nuclear power activist Ulrike von Waitz at the former research reactor in Kahl She campaigned on behalf of Human Rights Watch and she and her husband recently set up a shelter for 20 Ukrainian children When von Waitz noticed the signs of climate change in her environment She had done a lot of reading and was convinced by the arguments of those who say that nuclear power can protect the climate is a technology we need," she says on the phone She then joined a group called Mothers for Nuclear all concerned about their children's future but they feel like they've got some momentum The mothers want to draw attention to how much CO2 they believe the technology could save How should politicians respond to the resurrection of an issue that had long been consigned to the dustbin of history Driven by the fear of angry voters unsure about their energy supply more and more decision-makers are showing themselves to be willing to make concessions Even Chancellor Olaf Scholz said a few days ago that an extension of the lifespan of nuclear plants could "make sense" when he visited a Gazprom turbine intended for the Nord Stream I gas pipeline from Russia for a bizarre photo op and press event a man who once wore a "no thanks" to nuclear power button on his lapel at demonstrations can also imagine a "possible time-limited extension." The heads of the CDU and the CSU were just photographed together in a joint visit to the Isar 2 power plant which they would like to see continue operating until 2024 the nuclear debate is causing intrigue and increasing nervousness Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck had a fairly relaxed approach to the nuclear question The speed of the change is making some Greens dizzy – and they are already worried that their own people might change their minds A majority in favor of a limited extension of the operating span of nuclear power plants both among the party's base and the public more broadly has been pushing for extending the plants' operations FDP leader and Finance Minister Christian Lindner and FDP Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai have been poking at their Green Party government coalition partner Lindner proposed allowing the three remaining German nuclear power plants to keep operating until 2024 "if necessary." For Lindner it's not only a question of providing a steady energy supply for Germans but also about keeping his own party's ratings stable in the polls FDP politician Bijan Djir-Sarai: "Stretching the operations doesn't solve any problem "The FDP must be the voice of reason in the coalition," says Djir-Sarai who seems to consider nuclear power and reason as congruent Lindner and his allies are not calling for a broad renaissance of nuclear power or an about-face on the exit from nuclear power in the long term – a position which they know would spell the end of their governing coalition with the Social Democrats and the Greens Stretching operations could be the compromise approach – but how long can things be stretched before it gets painful Leading Greens unanimously reject an extension that would require the acquisition of new fuel rods saying that this would be a red line they are unwilling to cross "Stretching the operations doesn't solve any problem When Florian Ruckeisen drives to Grevenbroich from the south he can see the steam billowing from the cooling towers of the Neurath lignite-fired power plant he drives past the open pit mine in Garzweiler his home in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia used to proudly call itself the "city of energy." Ruckeisen basically lives in the middle of Germany's fossil fuel landscape "we have to exit coal-fired power generation as quickly as possible." Ruckeisen is an engineer who sees himself as being on the political left and who is worried about climate change he is neither a member of the anti-nuclear 1968 generation nor of the young generation of climate activists He was five years old at the time of the Chernobyl nuclear accident he could be seen as a representative of the large open-minded middle group that was "somehow against" nuclear energy for a long time but without any strong passion or idea of why they adopted that position The engineer says that his opinion is based on a general mood in the country When former Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to phase out nuclear power in 2011 Ruckeisen started looking into the pros and cons of nuclear energy "I wanted arguments for my position against it," he says Since the Fukushima disaster in Japan and the 2011 decision to phase out nuclear power as much a part of German identity as Oktoberfest Gone were the days when hundreds of police officers had to drag protesters from the train tracks so that the "Castor transports" of nuclear waste could pass And few still take notice of the tractor protests in Gorleben it's the climate activists who are gluing themselves to the streets and embracing civil disobedience blocking highways and lignite excavators and other symbols of the fossil fuel age It's their actions that are getting media attention But the fight against nuclear power isn't that central to Fridays for Future Extinction Rebellion and the other climate protection movements "Anti-nuclear activists are very emotionally moved when it comes to the phaseout of nuclear energy That's not the case for me and many others in the climate movement," says Helena Marschall an activist with Fridays for Future Germany She says it's a "done deal." Or so people thought Many are irritated by the renewed debate about nuclear power a shifting of the discourse away from the real problems "A lot of time is being wasted here that we don't have in the climate crisis," says Marschall Fridays for Future is focused on resisting the new fossil fuel infrastructure being created in the form of liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals off the German coasts and the new gas fields being developed in countries like Senegal to keep Germans warm They are worried about Germany potentially missing its climate targets in the coming years and tend to view the debate about nuclear power from the sidelines How do the old enemies of nuclear power and the associated waste see their fellow Germans' new fondness for nuclear power The Hahlbohm family in the Wendland region: three generations of resistance to nuclear power from Lemgow in the northwestern German state of Lower Saxony who lives in a house with three generations of opponents of nuclear power their potato and grain fields need to be harvested Their farm is located in the Wendland region which has been the focus of the anti-nuclear movement for decades a salt dome that was intended as a repository for nuclear waste and where 113 containers are currently stored The protests against the Castor transports have left their mark on the family Hannover and Berlin with our tractor," says Marika Hahlbohm of course." Hahlbohm says she experienced her first protests over 40 years ago Her son-in-law Jörg Buttnop has been taking part since the 1980s "They beat me up and put me in jail," he says "I'm absolutely against questioning the phaseout." Her daughter Marlitt and granddaughter Carlotta see it the same way she can understand "that people in the city are afraid they will have to freeze in the winter." The family has wood gasification heating and a solar panel on the roof Then a discussion unfolds around the multigenerational family table that may be symptomatic of a country in a time of shifting worldviews "I'm not so sure about that," says the son-in-law "If the fuel rods of the Isar 2 power plant in Bavaria can actually produce electricity at full load for another 150 days then we should consider whether that makes sense." He says he could imagine letting the reactors continue running another year or two I'm even asking myself if that for which we fought for the last 30 years was all correct." joins in and pleads for the continued operation of the power plants and then it will continue like that forever," counters the grandmother Are extended operating spans or the recommissioning of nuclear reactors and the other scenarios even technically feasible Can the phaseout even still be stopped at this point Anyone who operates a nuclear power plant after Jan because that's when the "operational authorization" for the last three German nuclear power plants will expire Emsland and Isar 2 will have to be taken off the grid regardless of the fact that each of them could produce up to 11 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year in a pinch Uwe Stoll is the CEO of the German Corporation for Reactor Safety (GRS) a man with 35 years of experience in the nuclear sector He doesn't believe that the end of nuclear power in Germany is upon us the number of operating nuclear plants in the country will be "greater than zero." Stoll believes that the German government will change the nuclear law to allow the continued availability of nuclear power He says it would technically not be problematic to continue operating the three facilities over a long period in part because of the state's precarious energy situation as the state doesn't have any wind power or power lines from the north Isar 2 is actually intended to be run at full power until the last day after which the fuel rods will be exhausted CDU leader Friedrich Merz (left) and CSU leader Markus Söder on a visit to the Isar 2 nuclear power plant But those fuel rods won't be gone – a nuclear plant can produce electricity even with old elements Although the output then decreases by up to 0.5 percent a day If Berlin does decide to keep the nuclear power plants online a second question will arise that is likely to hit the Greens especially hard: From the technical perspective it would be hard to argue against putting the three power plants shut down in 2021 back online Although some power lines have been cut at Brokdorf the actual dismantling process hasn't properly begun The spent fuel elements need to stay in the plants' decay pools for at least five years to lose enough radioactivity and heat radiation Even a decommissioned power plant needs to remain largely intact during this period to ensure key functions Stoll believes that each of these old nuclear power plants could be refurbished within six months The pressure to keep or reopen German nuclear plants isn't just coming from within Germany the European Union partners with whom Germany will have to jointly overcome the energy and Ukraine crises Many EU member states have not forgotten that the German government pushed through the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the face of fierce opposition It's not only the Eastern Europeans who are irritated that Berlin is now calling for solidarity from all EU member states even as it refuses to compromise on nuclear energy Germany is now dependent on the support of its partners Germany consumes more gas than any other EU country Slovakian Economics Minister Richard Sulík said that if Germany wants to save gas it should "first keep three of its nuclear power plants running." The extension of the operations is becoming a symbol of German solidarity the German government can ill afford to shut them all down at the end of the year In the small town of Ahaus in North Rhine-Westphalia 71-year-old Felix Ruwe is sitting in his backyard Ruwe is a pensioner and deputy chairman of the No Nuclear Waste in Ahaus citizens' initiative which was founded 45 years ago and reached its heyday around 1998 and 2005 when the Castor transports with spent fuel rods arrived in Ahaus Ruwe has a degree in electrical engineering and talks like someone who does moderator rods and the differences between MTR2 and MTR3 castors He knows what is stored in Ahaus (enriched uranium) the number of castor containers there (329) and how long the interim storage facility's license will last (until 2036) which can pose a burden to future generations for thousands of years When asked who is still involved in the citizens' initiative these days "We have to admit that we're all old farts now." He says there's no young new blood coming to continue the fight Communities throughout midwestern Ontario will hold Santa Claus parades in the coming weeks Is your parade in Bruce, Grey, Huron, Perth or Wellington counties not listed? Send parade info to news.wingham@blackburnmedia.ca and local governments and health officials are urging residents to get prepped The Meaford Scarecrow Invasion will return in 2025 The Maple Leafs built a big lead early and Toronto hung on to defeat Florida 5-4 in game one of the second round NHL playoff series Thousands of dollars have recently been lost in Wellington County due to crypto scams and Wellington County OPP are warning residents to be aware Soybeans and Wheat all finished lower to begin the week thousands of students in grades 5 to 8 from across the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) will gather for an unforgettable day of motivation and excitement at this year’s Empowerment Day Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time people's advocate 1-8-1915 – 30-12-2014 who earned the MC crossing the Rhine in 1945 with No.1 Commando His funeral was attended by members of the Australian Commando Association and many friends who had been among the prisoners of war and concentration camp interns Ted liberated in Neustadt in Schleswig Holstein at the end of the war Ted met Saba Feniger by chance after he and his wife Cathy left the UK in 1994 for Australia in order to be closer to members of their family in Melbourne The meeting began a tradition – their two families met for lunch every year Edward Walter Ruston was born at Chatteris in Cambridgeshire and the Great Depression dominated his early years the education he received at King Edward School gave him an enduring sense of justice Ted excelled in the handling of radios when they were introduced in 1937 and his ideas for using radio became part of Royal Artillery procedures The "Victor Target" became the term to call "all guns in range" Ted was to call one of these when crossing the Rhine at Wesel with No.1 Commando he was withdrawn from his unit in France for officer training at Woolwich By 1942 he was a major in the 1st Mountain Regiment practising with mules and pack howitzers for mountain warfare Ted and Cathy married in August 1944 and remained together until Cathy's death in 2001 In 1944 the regiment was mechanised and given a new role to fight in the Low Countries It was immediately sent to Belgium for the Walcheren operation to open up Antwerp artillery support for No.1 Commando and No.4 Commando For Ted this meant going forward with the spearhead of the attacks and calling artillery on to enemy targets they faced Ted earned his green beret from No.1 Commando at the Rhine crossing at Wesel and stayed with them through their victories at Osnabruck By that time the German resistance and its government were collapsing chaos was everywhere and new horrors were being uncovered by the hour Ted was ordered to take charge of the liberation and repatriation of the people interned at the Neustadt Kaserne on the Baltic coast He and his men confronted the full horror of Nazi persecution and genocide The Nazis had been herding concentration camp inmates into boats and sinking them in the Baltic as well as machine-gunning them as they came ashore This camp in all its disorder and horror became "his" camp as he directed the restoration of order and humane conditions and started to organise the repatriation of displaced persons At war's end the lights of justice had long been out in Germany and Ted had to improvise to bring order to the chaos of Neustadt 1st Mountain Regiment was to remain at Neustadt right through to the end of 1945 this was by far his biggest test and one that profoundly affected him for years afterwards His testimony about his experiences in Neustadt in 1945 was recorded by Stephen Speilberg's Shoah Foundation and can be seen at youtube.com/watch?v=eUacHv1RLMQ with service in many postings including Hong Kong and Cyprus Later Ted worked at the civil engineering company John Laing until he retired in the late 1970s During this period he won a seat on Bournemouth Council as a Conservative councillor and served on the councils at Bournemouth and Christchurch for 28 years he left the Conservative Party and stood as an independent including a Polish paratrooper denied a pension because there was no record of wounds he claimed to have suffered As a result of Ted's tenacity the first-aid worker who had treated the man on the banks of the Rhine in 1944 came forward to testify to the authenticity of his case Ted always strove to bring about change for the better guided by the immensely resilient sense of justice learned in a poor fenland school and community He is survived by his son John in Northern Ireland three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren David Fothergill is Ted Ruston's son-in-law people's advocate 1-8-1915 \\u2013 30-12-2014 The meeting began a tradition \\u2013 their two families met for lunch every year The \\\"Victor Target\\\" became the term to call \\\"all guns in range\\\" Ted and Cathy married in August 1944 and remained together until Cathy's death in 2001 This camp in all its disorder and horror became \\\"his\\\" camp as he directed the restoration of order and humane conditions and started to organise the repatriation of displaced persons At war's end the lights of justice had long been out in Germany and Ted had to improvise to bring order to the chaos of Neustadt His testimony about his experiences in Neustadt in 1945 was recorded by Stephen Speilberg's Shoah Foundation and can be seen at youtube.com/watch?v=eUacHv1RLMQ As a result of Ted's tenacity the first-aid worker who had treated the man on the banks of the Rhine in 1944 came forward to testify to the authenticity of his case David Fothergill is Ted Ruston's son-in-law From the December 2019 timetable change direct Eurocity services between Copenhagen and Hamburg will be diverted to run via the Danish mainland route (via Jutland) using the Padborg / Flensburg border crossing instead of the Femer Bælt / Fehmarnbelt ferry thus ending 147 years of Danish train ferry operations Three or four trains a day will operate in each direction taking just over 4.5 hours The trains will continue to be DSB IC3 DMUs for the foreseeable future although replacement by dual-voltage (15kV / 25kV AC) EMUs may occur before the opening of the new Fehmarnbelt tunnel Due to engineering work on the Danish side of the crossing this summer the only remaining operating period for through trains via the train ferry is 1 October to 14 December the only remaining daily passenger train ferries in Europe will be between Villa San Giovanni and Messina on Sicily The Trelleborg (Sweden) to Sassnitz-Mukran (Germany) route has seasonal trains running from Malmö to Berlin The change was expected at some point in the next decade as the new 18.2km under-sea Fehmarnbelt (Femer Bælt) submerged tunnel link is designed to replace the Puttgarden (Germany) to Rødby (Denmark) train ferry But the end of train ferry operation has been brought forward due to long-term engineering work in Germany preparing for the new tunnel route Approvals for the Fehmarnbelt tunnel have been granted in Germany for the work there to complement those already granted in Denmark Preliminary construction work is now underway in Denmark to build the factory that will produce the 89 concrete ‘elements’ which will form the new tunnel in a trench excavated on the sea bed In Germany the existing non-electrified line north of Neustadt (Holstein) will be shut from December for several years for rebuilding and electrification for 200km/h operation This work will include 55km of new alignments and electrification of the Burg Fehmarn branch No exact date for completion of the electrification and rebuilding work has been given but local media reports suggest no earlier than 2025 Once the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel has opened it is expected that 80 freight and 20 ICE (or equivalent) trains will use the rebuilt electrified line daily by the early 2030s A local rail service connecting Germany with Denmark via the tunnel is also under discussion The recently awarded ‘Elektronetz Ost’ contract for the regional network in eastern Schleswig-Holstein includes high quality double deck buses offering wheelchair access power sockets and bicycle racks to operate from Puttgarden to Lübeck via Neustadt (Holstein) in place of both regional and seasonal inter-city trains during the multi-year closure In Denmark the newly opened Copenhagen to Ringsted high-speed line (p72 plus electrification and rebuilding south of Ringsted will enable 200-250km/h operation between Copenhagen and the new tunnel In early May it was announced Czech company EP Logistics (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prague-based energy company Energeticky a Prumyslovy Holding EPH) has agreed to buy German Rail freight company Locon Logistik und Consulting was founded in 2002 and expanded from initial contracts operating civil engineering trains for several major German rail infrastructure projects In 2010 Locon established a Benelux operating subsidiary but this ceased trading following insolvency in 2017 In addition to continuing to support major civil engineering projects Locon now operates intermodal services linking the main German North Sea ports with Austria EPH already owns or is majority owner of several German companies including brown coal mining and power station operators in Sachsen (MIBRAG) and Brandenburg (LEAG formerly Vattenfall) in eastern Germany both of which operate their own electrified industrial railways Locon has a fleet of 30 mostly diesel locomotives but owns two Class 189 Siemens-built Eurosprinter multi-system locos and also leases Traxx electric locos plus over 250 wagons used for intermodal services German Railways (DB) has announced that from 9 November it will no longer be able to sell its popular ‘London Spezial/Special’ through fares from London to and from German destinations following a change of booking computer systems by Eurostar offer fares starting from €49 from London to almost all German stations using Eurostar services from London to Brussels and DB’s own ICE services via Cologne from Brussels DB told Modern Railways the change was ‘due to a system change-over at Eurostar resulting in a missing interface meaning we will not be able to sell through tickets from 9 November’ The company added: ‘We are currently working together with Eurostar to reinstall a customer-friendly solution’ DB was however unable to say when this might happen DB will continue to offer both Eurostar and DB tickets together on its website – although the fares will be separate (plus in most cases more expensive) and thus passengers will not have the convenience with a through ticket (for example changes to reservations due to delays overnight accommodation if connections in Brussels are missed etc) It appears the removal of the through tickets with their sometimes short 20-minute connections in Brussels will lead to longer overall journeys as passengers heading to the UK will need to allow 45 minutes for check-in procedures in Brussels Modern Railways understands that when introduced the DB ‘London Spezial’ ticket was initially expected to be a low-volume product as it was only sold in Germany (where you can currently get them from on-platform ticket machines as well as the remaining staffed ticket offices) But the switch to internet sales – of which DB was an early adopter – made the ticket much more accessible and popular When originally conceived fares as low as €39 were available and once the fixed per-passenger toll paid by Eurostar to Eurotunnel was taken out it left little in the way of contribution for either DB or Eurostar for DB it helped create a customer base for UK to Germany journeys using ICE services from Brussels and for Eurostar it helped fill seats some of which might otherwise have been empty on Brussels trains Eurostar is now filling more of those seats with through passengers between London and Amsterdam/ Rotterdam – with the operator announcing over 250,000 passengers in the first year of operation in April and starting a third daily train on 11 June HS1 concessionaire HS1 Ltd published its draft five-year asset management statement in May setting out its plans for investment and renewals in the period 2020-24 plus the longer-term view of renewals and maintenance needs HS1 has conducted a detailed analysis of future track and infrastructure renewals for the period to 2060 (although the current concession contract expires in 2040) and has concluded these will cost £1.54 billion at current prices To fund renewals planned in the line’s CP3 (2020-24) HS1 is proposing substantial increases in track access charges: 43% for international passenger services (in practice only Eurostar) and 25% for domestic passenger services (South Eastern) heavier and faster international trains are responsible for more track wear than the Class 395 fleet HS1 is also proposing huge increases in freight train access charges Eurostar and freight operators have objected to the proposed increases Eurostar has highlighted that the proposed charges are more than double the cost per train kilometre between Lille and Paris and four times those between Lille and Brussels It appears the increase in charges as currently proposed would make it highly unlikely that new services such as London to Bordeaux would be viable – notwithstanding the fact that HS1 itself is promoting such services Previously (as long ago as 2010) senior managers from DB told Modern Railways that high access charges for HS1 were one of the barriers to introducing regular ICE services to London; increasing already high charges by over 40% is unlikely to attract new operators to the line The proposed freight charges seem likely to reduce scope for additional freight at a time when post-Brexit demand for inland customs clearance of imported goods is likely to grow Using HS1 would provide the opportunity for European loading gauge intermodal traffic to access the London area by rail avoiding potentially-congested ports and motorways in Kent – but this could be scuppered by high access charges on the route The Graz Köflacher Bahn (GKB) regional network south west of Graz is to be electrified will be electrified at 15kV AC at a cost of €120 million by 2025 which is the end of GKB’s current operating contract plus on weekdays double-deck push-pull peak hour trains operated by unique Jenbacher Werke-built B-B GKB Class DH1500 (numbered as Austrian Class 2015) diesel-hydraulic locos dating from 1975 From 2025 services will be doubled in frequency across the network with the aim of doubling the six million passengers currently carried annually Kempten to Garmisch-Partenkirchen line that runs partly through Austria is also to be electrified at 15kV AC this year enabling replacement of diesel trains on the Austrian part of the route The 14·4km section of line between Reutte and Schönbichl in Austria plus (in 2020) the short 1.8km section to the German border station of Pfronten-Steinach will be electrified; this is the only section of non-electrified standard gauge railway in the Austrian state of Tyrol The section from Reutte to Garmisch-Partenkirchen is already electrified hourly electric trains are planned between Pfronten-Steinach and Garmisch-Partenkirchen doubling the service frequency on the Austrian section DB (German Rail) withdrew all the Pesa-built three-car Class 633 ‘Link’ DMUs based in Dortmund for ‘Sauerlandnetze’ services east of Dortmund (routes RE17 Hagen – Kassel and RE57 Dortmund – Brilon Wald / Winterberg) Despite having only entered service (over two years late) in early 2019 by March the trains had suffered so many failures in service that DB decided they were not sufficiently reliable for continued use The problems appear to be software driven and in particular affect the units’ auto couplers DB has given Pesa until September to resolve all the problems and the affected trains have been moved back to Poland DB Regio has replaced the new trains in the interim with a mixture of older DMUs DB has ordered 18x4-car double deck ‘Kiss’ EMUs from Stadler in a contract worth €220 million which will be assembled in Stadler’s Berlin area factories will be used to operate the ‘Elektronetz Ost’ network in eastern Schleswig-Holstein in the north of Germany The new trains replace air-conditioned double-deck push-pull trains powered mainly by early 1990s-vintage Class 112 electric locos operated by DB Regio DB Regio was awarded the contract by regional transport authority nah.sh in late March It was later revealed that DB had in the end been the only bidder although four operators had initially expressed interest DB will operate the following routes from December 2022 to December 2035: • RB85 Lübeck Hbf – Puttgarden/Burg (Fehmarn) Due to the closure of the Neustadt (Holstein) to Puttgarden / Burg (Fehmarn) line for rebuilding from December (see ‘Europe’ above) the contract requires 1.4 million of the total 4.2 million ‘train’ kilometres to be operated by high-specification buses until the rebuilt line reopens The fleet of 18 Kiss EMUs will be equipped with Stadler’s new ‘Gaurdia’ version of the European Rail Traffic Management System ready for operation on the route connecting to the new Fehmarnbelt Tunnel in the late 2020s This is the first time Gaurdia has been sold in Germany Go-Ahead began services on schedule in Baden-Württemberg on 9 June 2019 The operator has received all the initial 28 Flirt EMUs ordered from Stadler needed to start services Safety case approval for the new trains was received in late May In total 45 trains are being supplied (11x3-car The new Go-Ahead Flirts have replaced DB Regio loco-hauled push-pull trains on the routes from Stuttgart to Crailsheim / Ulm / Aalen In December the Stuttgart to Nürnberg Regional Express services will switch to Go-Ahead 27 Alstom-built ‘iLint’ hydrogen fuel cell powered trains have been ordered for services north of Frankfurt am Main The leasing company subsidiary of area regional transport authority RMV Class 654 iLint hydrogen fuel cell powered multiple units to replace a mixture of DMUs operating routes from December 2022: • RB15: Frankfurt Hbf – Bad Homburg – Brandoberndorf • RB16: Friedrichsdorf – Friedberg (Hessen) The contract is worth around €360 million to Alstom The German federal government is funding 40% of the cost A further contract worth €140 million will cover maintenance and the supply of hydrogen for 25 years Alstom is offering this in co-operation with Infraserv GmbH & Co Höchst which operates the Industriepark Höchst chemical industrial estate in the western suburbs of Frankfurt where a hydrogen train refuelling depot will be built The first of Iarnród Éireann/Irish Rail’s InterCity Railcar (ICR) DMUs returned to service on 24 April following an extensive interior refurbishment The 234 vehicles manufactured by Hyundai Rotem were delivered between 2007 and 2011 and are currently formed into 28x3-car 25x4-car and 10x5-car sets; they work on both inter-city and commuter services across the Irish network The refurbishment project involves the replacement of 15,500 seat covers along with new double and single arm rests replacement of 8,379m of catering and carriage area lower panel material with a durable hard plastic covering and the fitment of 7,750 USB power sockets.The work is being carried out in-house at Connolly depot with the eight-strong refurbishment team expecting to complete each unit in two weeks Government approval is expected shortly for an order of 41 additional ICR vehicles which will be used to lengthen the existing fleet to create 22x6-car An option for up to 60 additional vehicles is expected to be included in the deal Irish Rail will not be proceeding with a project to repower the Class 201 locomotives as the bids received were all non-compliant ‘The quotes that came in were almost the same cost as a new locomotive’ the company said The project had asked bidders to propose the use of two or more smaller engines in order to reduce fuel consumption Instead IÉ is proposing an in-house solution involving a new control system Class 201s are used on the ‘Enterprise’ service between Dublin and Belfast and the project will be carried out in conjunction with Northern Ireland Railways IÉ has also formally abandoned plans to reinstate most of the Class 2700 DMUs which were stored in 2012 due to poor reliability It is understood that tenders for the work to reinstate 10x2-car sets were in the region of €33 million – too high compared with the cost of new trains In April Spanish national infrastructure manager ADIF announced plans to offer packages of high-speed train paths to existing and potential new operators from December 2020 Currently Spanish national rail operator RENFE is the only domestic high-speed train operator; RENFE also operates the international services to France in conjunction with French state operator SNCF The announcement from ADIF makes packages of paths available on three routes south and east of Madrid (routes north of Madrid are excluded): • Madrid – Barcelona – French Border plus Valencia – Barcelona; ADIF has given potential operators until late July to bid for the paths they want The package contracts planned by ADIF will give 10-year access rights and cover 70% of the possible paths on the high-speed network; the remaining 30% will be awarded annually SNCF has been planning to enter the Spanish domestic high-speed market for some time (p68 In February it was reported that SNCF has established a Spanish operating entity named Rielsfera registering the name and applying for safety / operator certificates RENFE had proposed the creation of a low-cost high-speed operator to be called ‘Eva’ operating initially on the Madrid to Barcelona route and reports in 2018 suggested SNCF might even be involved as the project is clearly based on the French ‘Ouigo’ low-cost high-speed offer it appears SNCF intends to enter the market with other Spanish partners and compete with RENFE discussions between SNCF and ILSA (owned by civil engineering firm Acciona and Air Nostrum) have been underway for months has applied to operate Montpellier (France) to Madrid via Barcelona services and originally announced an October 2019 start – this has been pushed back to 2020 due to delays in obtaining suitable rolling stock plus slow progress in obtaining operating rights Local media report other groups looking to enter the domestic rail market include the Globalia holding company that owns airline Air Europa plus hotel and travel businesses which has also reportedly been talking with SNCF UK-based National Express group could take an interest via its Spanish ALSA bus and rail business Basque operator Euskotren has previously said it will run regional high-speed services connecting Madrid to northern Spain while DB subsidiary Arriva is planning open access services from La Coruña in northern Spain serving Porto in neighbouring Portugal Unco-operative tactics on the part of RENFE may have delayed ILSA in particular from starting operation in 2019 RENFE moved all the suitable ex-RENFE Class 100 TGV clones out of the state-owned rolling stock leasing company RENFE Alquiler that was established to supply trains to new entrants In the longer term the delaying tactics may backfire badly Initially ILSA was seeking a fleet of just three trains and whilst RENFE is the only Spanish operator with them SNCF has a fleet of 10 TGV Euroduplex 500+ seat trains equipped for use in Spain and used there daily Some of the trains in this sub-fleet are currently used for services that don’t serve Spain and in addition there are continuing deliveries of new TGV Euroduplex for domestic French use thus SNCF has a ready-made fleet of TGVs that could be used by ILSA ILSA had created its business plan using the pre-existing open access rights that exist across the European Union for international services Whilst it had to demonstrate it would not prejudice the economics of publicly-funded services its services can compete with RENFE’s high-speed services run on a commercial basis ILSA obtained approval for its planned Madrid – Montpellier route from the Spanish national competition authority in September 2018 Subscribe to Key Modern Railways now to access the wealth of information on offer completely ad free Subscribe now Key Publishing Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with Company Number 2713662 Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.