Flatvision Industry News

More reliable trains and improved infrastructure were amongst the plans outlined for the future of Scottish rail services yesterday. Transport minister Keith Brown announced £5bn investment ahead of the expiry of ScotRail’s contract in 2014.

Brown called for the new franchisee to improve services between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and pledged 100km a year of new electrification between 2014 and 2019.

£60m has been earmarked for improving journey times, and planned infrastructure projects such as the Borders Railway will also be expanded.

Operators will be expected to link trains with other forms of transport and deliver wi-fi across the network.

The next franchise will be extended to run for ten years, with a potential ‘break point’ after five. The franchise to operate the Caledonian sleeper service is expected to run for 15 years.

Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said: “The sooner money is spent onScotland’s railways, the sooner passengers will feel the benefits. 

(For full article please see: http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com)

Babcock is undertaking a programme of work to the Royal Navy’s largest ship, HMS Ocean, to prepare the amphibious assault ship for her military support role to the London Olympics. HMS Ocean will be moored at Greenwich and will act as a maritime hub in support of police-led maritime security operations during the Olympic Games. The 21,500 tonne warship can house 1,100 people, and will operate a number of Royal Navy and Army helicopters.

Part of the work being undertaken by Babcock to prepare Ocean for her London role is the installation of a ‘London berthing arrangement’ to allow the ship to berth in the Thames and accept the ‘London Brow’ (a large pontoon moored alongside the ship with gangways providing access to the ship). This includes installing pontoon mooring eye plates and access platforms in the landing craft bays.

Other work being undertaken includes upgrades to fuel stowages, improvements to flight deck communication to support flying operations, an extensive habitability package (including installation of over 2,000 items) to accommodate additional personnel during the Olympics, a galley and laundry package, painting of the weatherdecks and superstructure, and maintenance to critical systems including aircraft lifts and the chilled water and salt water systems.

(To see full article please see: http://www.asdnews.com)

Boeing recently completed wind tunnel tests on the Silent Eagle Conformal Weapons Bay (CWB). The tests, conducted at the company’s St. Louis facility, validated the aerodynamics of the CWB design. CWBs are integral to the adaptable configuration and balanced survivability of the Silent Eagle.

“Boeing and its partners have advanced to the next phase in the development of the Silent Eagle, an evolved derivative of the combat-proven F-15 family of aircraft,” said Roger Besancenez, F-15 Program vice president for Boeing.

The MoD has awarded Rolls Royce a £1.1 billion contract to produce new reactor cores for the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines and upgrade the plant where they will be built.

The nuclear reactor cores will be used to power the seventh and final Astute Class submarine and the first of the Royal Navy’s next generation of nuclear deterrent submarines, known as the Successor Class.

The investment – which secures 300 jobs at Rolls Royce – will also fund an eleven-year refurbishment of Rolls Royce’s plant at Raynesway in Derby, extending its operating lifetime by more than 40 years.

The contract will see construction of new buildings that will replace existing facilities that have reached the end of their useful life.

Replacing the existing infrastructure with state of the art nuclear reactor core production facilities will cost around £500m. A further £600m will be spent on producing new reactor cores for the Astute and Successor Class submarines.

The U.S. remains the biggest market for digital out-of-home media, but China is closing on it rapidly – and American growth is largely driven by digital billboards, rather than place-based digital signage networks, according to latest reports.

Although the U.S. accounts for about $2bn of the worldwide total of $7bn in DOOH advertising revenue, it lags behind the global 15 percent growth rate. An increase in American operator revenue of around 11 percent in 2011 was due in large part to 20 percent growth in revenue from digital billboards, while revenue from place-based networks rose by only 7.5 percent, thanks in part to “substantial slowdown in the cinema category”.

By contrast, China is the fastest-growing market, with total DOOH revenues jumping nearly 40 percent in 2011 to $1.44bn. China and Japan are also the next biggest after the U.S. in terms of current size, while Britain leads the European market and Brazil in Latin America. Thailand and Brazil have the highest penetration of DOOH into the overall out-of-home market, with digital accounting for half of all out-of-home revenues in the former and a third in the latter.

(To see full article: http://www.screenmediamag.com)

Close Air Support 2012 will be held in London on 25th-28th September 2012

Building on the previous success of the Close Air Support series, the 2012 programme has been extended to provide unparalleled topic coverage. As well as the main two day conference, 2012 will see the addition of both a pre- and post-conference focus day. The pre-conference focus day will provide an opportunity to discuss “precision weaponry for the future threat environment” and the post conference focus day will explore how to “maximise simulation and training integrity”.

(For further details please see: www.asdevents.com)