Before you step foot off the plane, you should already have your activities planned out. When you arrive in a new location without knowing exactly what it is you will do, you will mostly likely spend a lot of time wandering about the city and fighting with yourself over which things you want to accomplish. So do a little bit of research on the location before you travel and figure out which activities you want to do upon arrival.

If you’re a diabetic, need pain medication, or have any other issue that will require you to take medication, it’s important that you pack enough for the trip. Not only do you want to ensure that you have enough medication for your time traveling, but you should also bring more just in case you run out or lose some of your medication. It may be hard if not impossible to get a refill in a foreign location. This could leave you at the mercy of a foreign hospital.

For safety reasons, many travelers today are taking bank cards, like ATM and debit cards, instead of travelers checks and cash when they travel. This is a great way to prevent theft, but it can also be a real hassle if you’re in a location that doesn’t accept your cards. So before you head out on your journey, make sure the location you’re visiting has ATM machines, a local branch of your bank, or another way to use a card on your vacation.

There’s really nothing worse than taking a vacation and getting lost. For example, if you’re traveling to Rome, Italy and are looking for certain locations, you might not be able to find them from the ground, especially with all the foot traffic. You could ask others, but sometimes the language barrier could be an obstacle. Just nip this issue in the bud by always making sure that you have a local map of the area.

Another big issue you might run into is the weather at your location. If you’ve planned a trip to the beach and end up sitting out in a few days of rain, this certainly isn’t anyone’s idea of a great vacation. And in some areas, rains and storms mean really bad news, especially in coastal areas. Just be sure that you check out the weather for the location you’re about to visit. If it’s going to be rough, you can always reschedule.

Since there are so many potentially negative issues that could end up ruining a vacation, it’s always smart to use some tips to preempt them. Try implementing these tips before your next vacation to ensure you have a great time.

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In today’s world, if you want to travel anywhere outside of the United States you need a passport. A passport is a special government ID that allows you to pass international borders. You can obtain your passport by filling out an application, which are available at most US post offices. You can check on the Internet to find the closest destination to where you live. They will take a photograph of you and send that with your application for processing. This can take up to a few months, so make sure that you apply for your passport well in advance of your travel date. You will need your passport number to book an international flight as well.

When you are visiting a country that is not your own, you must abide by their laws. These laws can be very different from those in the US, and the penalties for criminal acts can be much more severe. It is a good idea to check into the laws at your travel destination to ensure that you do not unknowingly break any. What might be okay in the United States could be illegal in another country so make sure that you keep that in mind.

Before you leave for your trip, check with your health insurance company to see what their policy is for international travel. You never know what will happen while you are away on vacation. If you become sick or injured and need medical care, your insurance might not cover it. This means that you will be expected to pay for services before you can leave the hospital. There are companies that offer health insurance specifically for international travel. If your own insurance will not cover you, it is a smart idea to purchase your own insurance. This way you can have peace of mind if something unfortunately goes wrong.

Traveling to an international destination is exciting and an experience you will remember for the rest of your life. You want that memory to be a good one by being prepared, because this can make all of the difference in the world. By following the advice from this article, you will be making sure that you are prepared for your vacation. This will help ensure that you have the best time possible. If you have been thinking about booking that international vacation for too long now, what are you waiting for? Book that trip and creating life long lasting memories.

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ERIM network – major freight traffic routes in Europe

The European freight traffic is deeply concentrated and carried out on a few selected corridors as shown by the map:

The overall demand for rail freight traffic is expected to grow at a yearly average rate of approximately 3% to 2015. Concretely this means that, between 2002 and 2015, the rail network is to expect a 25% increase in terms of train numbers for the conventional traffic and a 86% increase in the number of combined transport trains (Source: Capacity Study 2004 and DIOMIS 2007).

The railways’ aim is to ensure that the forecast growth is absorbed by the infrastructure network. Yet we know already that even if all planned investments in infrastructure take place, there will be bottlenecks of part of the network (Source: Diomis 2007). It is thus absolutely important that all actors involved in rail transport take the necessary steps to ensure modal shift is realized. Measures to ensure this happens are explained in DIOMIS as well as in ERIM.

ERIM (European Rail Infrastructure Masterplan) is a high-level infrastructure supply side overview of major international rail corridors and the ERIM network covers 50 000 route-km of railway within and between 32 countries as illustrated in the map above. In order to analyse whether the additional 2020 infrastructure provision (planned by each Railway) is sufficient to carry the future traffic growth of about 3%, ERIM has estimated the capacity utilisation, section by section and has assessed that about one third of the ERIM network may face capacity constraints to meet the foreseeable business needs in 2020.

More details

The infrastructure planning, to improve e.g. the operational / infrastructural interoperability and capacity provision, can be done according to network- or corridor approach.

Network approach

A number of lines (routes) serving a defined space which are interconnected to enable traffic to be routed to various destinations from various points of origin.

Corridor approach

A selected segment of a network (generally linear in character) connecting nominated origin, destination and intermediate points which exhibit strong traffic inter-relationships. Rail routes can be divided into three categories according to their use:

• Conventional line: Shared line between passenger and freight operators
• Freight dedicated line: exclusively reserved for freight-only traffic (rarely exists)
• Freight oriented line: Passenger and freight traffic carried but planning increasingly oriented towards accommodating freight needs.

Recommended reports:

• DIOMIS
• Study on capacity reserve
• ERIM (on request, only for UIC members)

Original article can be read here.

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Three projects to improve vital freight and passenger links on the railway network are to receive €14M (£11M) from the European Commission.

A successful bid to the TEN-T Agency has secured funding for the following projects:

£4M towards the work to electrify the line between Liverpool and Manchester
£4M to increase capacity and train lengths on the Southampton to West Coast main line route, and investing in new cranes at the port.
£3M to build freight loops near Ely, as part of the Felixstowe to Nuneaton freight route
The TEN-T Agency works to improve transport links across Europe, to increase economic and social growth. The Department for Transport applies to the Agency each year for funding to improve the rail network, supported by Network Rail.

The North West electrification project will see 25kv overhead power delivered to the routes between Liverpool and Manchester, Huyton to Wigan, Preston to Blackpool and Manchester to Preston via Bolton. The work complements the lines that are already electrified in the region – notably the key freight route of the West Coast Main Line, the busiest mixed use railway in Europe.

The route from Southampton to the West Coast main line is being improved to offer gauge clearance for large 9ft 6 containers, longer loops to allow longer trains, and new cranes. The TEN-T money has been invested to increase train lengths.

Felixstowe to Nuneaton is one of the UK’s busiest freight routes and the area around Ely is recognised as one of the major pinch-points. Installing the 775 metre freight loops will increase capacity, improve reliability and allow longer trains to be run.

Original article here.

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The Huelin Renouf Dispatch hit rocks off the coast of Alderney
A cargo ship has run aground on its maiden voyage from Southampton to the Channel Islands.

The £8.8m Huelin Renouf Dispatch hit a rock off the coast of Alderney at around 19:00 BST on Friday.

The captain of the new 90m (295ft) vessel issued a distress call after running aground on an isolated rock one and a half miles south-west of Alderney.

The lifeboat Roy Barker One was on the scene within 15 minutes.

Damage to the Dispatch was assessed and it was found that water was coming in at the stern of the stricken vessel, which had a crew of eight.

The leak was contained and the 2,500-ton ship was floated off the rock just before 20:00 BST before heading to Falmouth at half-speed, where it is now in dry dock.

The ship was on a round trip from Southampton to Jersey then to Guernsey, Alderney and back to Southampton.

Richard Evans, chief executive of Huelin Renouf Shipping, said the crew and cargo were safe.

He said: “We have initiated the most appropriate contingency plan to ensure that we continue to deliver to our customers.

“There is a specific challenge with the Alderney cargo which we are managing, otherwise our service continues to run as normal.”

Original story on the BBC here.

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