Latest news – Page 1319
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NewsLong-term TGV plans
FRANCE: Legislation being drawn up following the national environmental summit at the end of 2007 (RG 12.07 p743) confirms that another 2 000 km of high speed lines will be launched by 2020. New lines listed in the first of three draft laws unveiled on April 30 by Jean-Louis Borloo, ...
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Eddy-current braking: a long road to success
BRAKING: Eddy-current technology offers the potential for frictionless braking at high speeds, but despite successful experience in Germany, concerns over interference and electromagnetic compatibility have discouraged other railways from adopting the concept. Jennifer Schykowski investigates
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Multipurpose wagon rolls out
WAGON: Kockums Industrier's Malmö plant has begun deliveries of 70 twin-section wagons ordered by Norwegian factory-to-showroom car transport company Autolink. Each wagon can carry 12 cars within its weld-free aluminium body. To maximise utilisation the upper deck can be lowered to enable the wagon to carry palletised cargo on ...
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Woolly policy
GERMANY: Our editorial office recently received an e-mail highlighting a special menu available in Deutsche Bahn dining cars. All dishes featured fresh mutton, and at the bottom of the page customers were invited to take advantage of a special offer for a limited number of woolly jumpers. For those ...
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NewsNew Zealand nationalises
NEW ZEALAND: The government is to buy the New Zealand rail and ferry business of Toll Holdings, Prime Minister Helen Clark and Finance Minister Michael Cullen confirmed on May 5. The price had been a sticking point in negotiations (RG 4.08 p222), but has been agreed at NZ$665m to be ...
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Turnout acquisitions
VOESTALPINE: Two acquistions have been announced by Voestalpine, strengthening its poistion in the turnout market. The Austrian company has acquired a majority holding in Mexican turnout and specialist track component maker DAMY Cambios de Vía, which has 120 employees and annual revenues of about €5m. The 51% majority interest in ...
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Leasing firm sells European arm
ALLCO: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ company BTMU Capital Corp has paid US$112m to acquire the European rail leasing business of Allco Finance Group, the companies announced on May 1. The London-based European arm of Australian asset leasing firm Allco has 12 Bombardier Traxx F140 AC locos on order which will ...
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Washington's rubbish idea
DEBRIS: Collectors have been installed to keep the rails at two stations on Washington's Red Line free from litter and newspapers. Air flow from train movements blows the discarded papers into the collectors, from where staff can remove rubbish before it is blown into the tunnels. 'These debris collectors will ...
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Million tonnes of mud
USA: Freight and passenger traffic began flowing along Union Pacific's main line through Oregon on May 6 after basic repairs were completed to three sections of track wiped out by a massive mudslide near Oakridge in the Cascade mountains. Fine silt obliterated 915 m of right-of-way in difficult terrain on ...
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NewsCommission clarifies rules on state aid
EUROPE: The European Commission adopted guidelines clarifying the rules on state aid for railways on April 30. Drawn up to replace inconsistent national 'custom and practice', the guidelines set out how the particular requirements of the rail sector, especially in the most recent EU members, mean that state aid can ...
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NewsPolish regions to own local services
POLAND: Ownership of the state railway's regional passenger business PKP PR is to be transferred from the national to provincial governments under a restructuring programme which was approved by parliament on May 15. Railway holding company PKP SA is to be paid 2·16bn zloty from the state budget to ...
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Hyundai Rotem hands over Turkish DMU
TURKEY: The first of 12 diesel multiple-units ordered from South Korean rolling stock manufacturer Hyundai Rotem was formally handed to Turkish state railway Director General Süleyman Karaman at a ceremony in Seoul on May 22. The €42m order for the 140 km/h two-car air-conditioned DMUs for inter-regional services was ...
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Banverket places ERTMS contract
SWEDEN: Infrastructure manager Banverket has awarded a consortium of Bombardier and Balfour Beatty Rail a further contract for the rollout of ERTMS. The contract announced on May 29 covers a pilot installation of Bombardier's Interflo 450 ERTMS Level 2 trackside equipment on the Ådalsbanan line, and is expected ...
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NewsIs it mission impossible?
Bangladesh is really a large city, and rail-based mass transport will be a necessity. But how should the railway develop its role when it has lost almost all its traffic to road?
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São Paulo black boxes
EVENT RECORDERS: Finnish firm EKE-Electronics is supply 'black box' event recorders for installation on Alstom metro trains on Line 2 in São Paulo. The EKE-Trainnet event recorder meets European and IEEE crashworthiness requirements for use on trains worldwide. It provides 16 GB of memory for storing train control, diagnostic, video ...
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Intelligent wagons will build on consignment tracking
TELEMATICS Advances in IT and communications technology are opening up opportunities for real-time monitoring of freight movements across Europe and beyond. Dr-Ing Thomas Rieckenberg reports from the EurailTelematics conference in Berlin.
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Modular EMUs extend an adaptable family
GERMANY: Developed from a design for Sweden, the Coradia Lirex Continental EMU is designed for adaptability in terms of floor height, extra doors and energy absorption. Harry Hondius rides the first four-car set.
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Improved information in Delhi
INDIA: Passenger information systems supplied by Thales have gone live at three stations under the second phase of the Delhi Metro, and a further 71 stations are to be equipped by the time the city hosts the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Thales is responsible for the supply and installation of public ...
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NewsFunding debate rolls on
USA: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has reached agreement with local Democratic party leaders over private-sector participation in the state's proposed 1 287 km high speed rail network (RG 3.08 p151). This is reflected in a bill introduced to the Sacramento legislature at the end of March, which would make ...
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World rail market
Australia: Babcock & Brown Infrastructure purchased a further 25% of WestNet Rail at the end of March, giving it a 76% stake in the Western Australia infrastructure operator. Egypt: Next month staff from Italian state railway FS will began a five-year project to advise ENR on restructuring and staff training. ...