All Railway Gazette International articles in June 2004 – Page 2

  • News

    Russia invests in passenger stock

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    DURING the current year Russian Railways is to invest 12·7bn roubles in its passenger services, including 4·1bn roubles for improvements to stations and 1·7bn on capital repairs of buildings. In the first quarter, 1·7bn roubles has been spent on purchasing carriages, and 433m roubles on the refurbishment of existing stock.Figures ...

  • News

    Intelligent metro

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    METRO line controllers may be able to respond more efficiently to operating disruptions using real-time decision support software which is being demonstrated by Cambridge Consultants Ltd.The software can automatically balance any performance penalty payments applicable at the current time of day with crewing requirements, infrastructure limitations and the ease of ...

  • News

    Intelligence

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    Canada:The federal and Manitoba province governments have agreed to assist funding the continuation until December of two VIA Rail passenger services and one Hudson Bay Railway freight train per week between The Pas and Pukatawagan. Three First Nation communities plan to purchase the line.Czech Republic:On April 26 work was launched ...

  • News

    Integrated in Interfleet

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    ROLLING stock consultancy TrainTech Engineering AB has been relaunched as Interfleet Technology AB, following its acquisition by Interfleet Group last October. TrainTech was formerly part of rolling stock maintenance provider EuroMaint AB in Sweden, and has around 100 consultants and a turnover of SKr90m. According to Regional Director Sven Ödeen, ...

  • News

    Impact-resistant insulators

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    PORCELAIN insulators used to support conductor rails are heavy and suffer from chipping and cracking, but these problems can be avoided by using glass-reinforced plastic insulators developed by Rehau. Assembled from three adjustable and replaceable GRP parts, the insulators are comparable in cost to porcelain. Two versions are available to ...

  • News

    Tunis needs a heavy metro

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    CONTRACTS are due to be awarded shortly for the construction of a light rail line in Tunis, linking the central station with the southwestern suburb of El Mourouj. Expected to be completed next year, the line is the first of two 7 km extensions to the city's five-line light ...

  • News

    QR heads south

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    APRIL 28 saw the arrival of Queensland Rail’s maiden Brisbane - Melbourne open-access interstate train at CRT Group’s Altona terminal in the Victoria state capital. The East Coast Intermodal Service is run by QR’s standard-gauge subsidiary Interail in conjunction with CRT.On hand to greet the train were CRT Group Executive ...

  • News

    Gold Line to grow

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    PUBLIC consultation began last month on plans to extend the Los Angeles Gold Line east from Pasadena to Montclair. This would follow the 9·6 km extension from Union Station to East Los Angeles, on which work is expected to begin this year. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Foothill ...

  • News

    Transandine funding

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    THE ARGENTINIAN province of Neuquén is seeking legislation that will allow it to raise up to US$48·9m in loans to fund construction of the first section of a new rail crossing of the Andes from Zapala to Lonquimay in Chile. The initial Zapala - Las Lajas section would cost between ...

  • News

    French freight plan is ’on target’

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    FRENCH National Railways announced on April 28 that the plan to rescue its rail freight business is showing early results.Deputy Managing Director, Freight, Marc Véron said the objective was to achieve 3% annual growth from 2007 onwards. Since the start of implementation at the end of last year, the main ...

  • News

    Finance

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    Canada: The federal, provincial and city governments have announced funding commitments totalling C$660m to extend Ottawa’s O-Train DMU-operated line from Lebreton to Limebank, and to develop plans to run to Barrhaven and the city centre.Europe: Eurotunnel has appointed Lazard and Lehman Brothers as banking advisors. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein will continue ...

  • News

    E-ticketing trials in Finland

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    FINNISH national operator VR began trials with e-ticketing on May 11. Customers can make a booking on the internet and then print off a ticket, or alternatively they can opt to receive an e-mail or text message confirming the booking. Tickets can be purchased between eight weeks and one hour ...

  • News

    TGV Est will be ERTMS testbed

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    INTERNATIONAL trials of the European Rail Traffic Management System are to be undertaken on the Paris - Frankfurt corridor, and are due to start in 2007.Meeting in Paris on May 14, Hartmut Mehdorn of DB AG, RFF President Jean-Pierre Dupont and Louis Gallois of SNCF signed a ’common declaration’ launching ...

  • News

    Greener tram lines in Erfurt

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    THIS month Erfurter Gleisbau GmbH will begin installing grassed track using clip-together sleeper and rail fastening protectors developed by Regum GmbH. Made from bonded recycled rubber, the components will be used on reserved track sections of the 3·7 km extension of Erfurt’s tram network from the cemetery to the airport ...

  • News

    Flash-butt welder enters service

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    COSTFER’s Plasser & Theurer APT600 which entered service during April represents the state of the art in mobile flash-butt rail welding technology.Flash-butt welding permits the precise alignment of rails and a consistently reproducible join quality, as well as permitting a high level of automation. In contrast to aluminothermic techniques, it ...

  • News

    Security tops enlargement issues

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    ON APRIL 22 the European Parliament approved the proposals in the so-called Second Railway Package (RG 3.04 p121) for further liberalisation of the rail businesses. The legislation also paves the way for establishment of the European Railway Agency in Valenciennes, for which a board will be appointed this summer.All this ...

  • News

    Double-deck DMU

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    SOUTH Florida Regional Transportation Authority has ordered a two-car double-deck diesel multiple-unit from Colorado Railcar for $6·9m.The move follows trials on Tri-Rail’s Miami - Fort Lauderdale - West Palm Beach service using Colorado Railcar’s prototype single-deck DMU car, as part of a demonstration tour of the USA. The authority has ...

  • News

    Danes in Sweden

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    MALMÖ-based DSB subsidiary Tågvärdsbolag AB has been awarded a contract to provide ticket checking and onboard services on regional and Øresund trains in Skåne from November 1 this year until June 2007.DSB already provides staff for trains running across the Øresund as far as Malm

  • News

    Cross-river study

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    THE GOVERNMENT of West Bengal has commissioned Delhi Metro Rail Corp to develop proposals for an east-west metro line in Kolkata, linking IR’s principal stations at Sealdah and Howrah.The 22 km line would start from Rajarhat in the east and run through Kankurgachi, Sealdah and Mankharan before tunnelling under the ...

  • News

    Spotlight on cross-border traffic

    2004-06-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: Third East European & Asian Rail Summit at InnoTrans 2004 As part of the InnoTrans Convention, the third East European & Asian Rail Summit will be held on September 20-22. EEARS is specifically tailored towards the interests of railways in Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia. Alongside the ...