Latest news – Page 1289
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NewsEMU redesigned for airport traffic
UK: As part of a shake-up of London - Brighton services which saw the Gatwick Express dedicated airport service absorbed by commuter operator Southern in June, on December 9 Southern began returning to traffic 17 third-rail EMUs which have been refurbished after having being withdrawn by South West Trains in ...
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NewsTrack geometry car
CANADA: A self-propelled track geometry vehicle formed by installing state-of-the-art electronic inspection equipment in a Budd RDC has been delivered to Canadian National. This car was rebuilt for CN by US firm Gateway Rail Services, and now contains equipment produced by Ensco for the monitoring of curvature, alignment and ...
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NewsNew York Air Brake acquires Anchor Brake Shoe Co
KNORR-BREMSE: Anchor Brake Shoe Company, a US manufacturer of high and low friction composition brake shoes and tread conditioning shoes for locomotive and freight wagons, has been acquired by New York Air Brake Corp, part of the Knorr-bremse Group. Anchor Brake Shoe was previously part of Standard Car Truck. ...
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NewsWabtec completes SCT purchase
USA: On December 8 Wabtec Corp said it had completed the $300m acquisition of Standard Car Truck announced on September 15. SCT expects to report sales of $225m in 2008, and Wabtec said it expects the transaction to be accretive in the first year, although the recognition of non-cash, purchase ...
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NewsDB Netz uses satellites to locate track in three dimensions
GEOMETRY: Satellite surveying enhanced by reference points on the ground is now so accurate that it can be used to define the absolute position of track to± 10 mm accuracy, allowing contractors’ tamping and lining machines to produce track geometry within ±1 mm of optimised calculated values.
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NewsTMH-Alstom chosen for double-deck contract
RUSSIA: State railway RZD announced on December 8 that it had selected the TMH-Alstom joint venture of Alstom and Transmash Holding as its strategic partner for the supply of double-deck passenger carriages. Tenders had been called in March for the supply of 1 210 double-deck 'hotel train' vehicles, which ...
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NewsFirst Gautrain cars arrive
SOUTH AFRICA: The ship carrying the second pair of Bombardier EMU cars for Gautrain is expected to dock in Durban on December 8, following the arrival of the initial pair on December 1. The first 15 vehicles are being built at Bombardier's Derby plant in the UK. The 46 ...
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NewsGetting to the point
RENEWALS: Faced with poor asset condition, cramped working conditions and limited access time, Tube Lines has adopted a new strategy for maintaining and upgrading turnouts on three of London Underground’s busiest lines.
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NewsNews in Brief
A final rule on electronically controlled pneumatic brakes was issued by the Federal Railroad Administration on October 15, allowing US railways to begin installing a standardised system. FRA requires ECP brake systems to comply with existing industry standards, and certain operating rules and training programmes should be modified to enable ...
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NewsIndustry News in Brief
Last month RZD and Finmeccanica signed a co-operation agreement for the development of Itarus signalling, telecoms and satellite technology for the rail sector. RZD subsidiary Niias and Ansaldo STS will establish an Itarus-ATS signalling test site in 2009, and trials on major routes will begin the following year before the ...
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NewsLux launches Luxembourg lines
LUXEMBOURG: Plans for the construction of two new lines serving the southern part of the Grand Duchy were officially announced by Transport Minister Lucien Lux on October 15. The ministry has launched public consultation over alignment options for the two routes, which together with the reconstruction of three stations are ...
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Security in Brief
Philadelphia’s Port Authority Transit Corp has awarded a US$3·8m contract to building services group TAC to install an integrated IP-based video monitoring and emergency communications system on the 22·5 km Patco metro line between Philadelphia and Lindenwold, NJ, under a programme funded by the Department of Homeland Security. ...
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NewsBiometric security tested
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration’s Office of Research & Development announced in October that it has developed a biometric Locomotive Security System to prevent the unauthorised operation of locomotives. According to FRA, ‘LSS integrates available off-the-shelf fingerprint and ID card reader technologies into a rugged enclosure for application in the ...
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Intelligent surveillance trial concludes
UK: Atos Origin has completed its trial of ‘intelligent’ CCTV at Sheffield station (RG 11.07 p730). Working in association with station operator East Midlands Trains and its predecessor Midland Main Line, the company provided an integrated CCTV network capable of offering more functionality than conventional systems. One of the system’s ...
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NewsShareholding changes
FAIVELEY: An Extraordinary General Meeting has been arranged for December 23 to approve a restructuring of the shareholdings in Faiveley Group, the manufacturer of brakes, air-conditioning, screen doors and other subsystems. It follows the signing of an agreement with fund manager Sagard and other direct and indirect shareholders on October ...
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Perpignan - Figueres makes progress
EUROPE: Tracklaying is well advanced on the 44·4 km standard -gauge cross-border line linking Perpignan in France with Figueres in Spain. Intended to link the French and Spanish high speed networks, the line includes an 8·2 km twin-bore tunnel under the Pyrenees at Le Perthus. The line is being developed ...
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NewsSNCF places Traxx order
FRANCE: On December 5 Bombardier announced a €160m firm order to supply SNCF with 45 Traxx F140 DE diesel-electric locomotives. The first delivery is scheduled for May 2010, and orders for a further 35 locomotives could follow. Bombardier has now sold more than 1 300 locomotives from the Traxx ...
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NewsTEN-T rail funding signed
EUROPE: Major rail projects in Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Slovenia and Hungary are to receive a total of €1·7bn under 11 Trans-European Transport Networks financing decisions signed by European Commissioner for Transport Antonio Tajani on December 5. The money is being allocated under the TEN-T programme for 2007-13. ...
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NewsSwiss national timetable on a single page
SWITZERLAND: Subscribers to Railway Gazette International will have received a copy of Netgraph with the December 2008 issue. Devised by Zürich-based transport planning consultancy SMA & Partner, the visual representation of the 2009 Swiss timetable represents the network as the relationships between routes. The introduction of nationwide co-ordinated timetables ...
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NewsMaking every second count
SWITZERLAND: SBB is focusing on making better use of reserves in train scheduling to add greater robustness to its integrated national timetable. Real-time management of train services to maintain connections and more detailed passenger information provision are at the heart of the ‘Co-Production’ concept.