Latest news – Page 1371
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Integrating ETCS Level 2 with TVM430 on TGV Est
The Paris - Strasbourg TGV line is the first in France to be equipped with ETCS Level 2 for trains running through to Germany, but will also have the domestic TVM430 train control. Richard Hope explains how some complex system interface issues are being resolvedJUNE 2007 has been set for ...
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Broad gauge west
PROPOSALS to study the feasibility of a 1 520?mm gauge line to Bratislava were agreed last month by Slovakian Transport Minister Lubom?r Vazny and Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin, during a state visit to Moscow by Slovakian President Robert Fico.It is not clear whether the line would be a 300?km ...
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Charges to rise
WE WERE NOT surprised last month to hear that Estonia’s Ministry of Economy & Communications had started consultations on a new methodology for calculating EVR’s rail infrastructure usage fees.Minister Juhan Parts said higher fees would shorten the average payback period for ’certain investments’ such as capacity improvements at the Koidula ...
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DB listing in doubt
PLANS to privatise all or part of Deutsche Bahn AG are once again in disarray as politicians argue over the formula for introducing the railway to the market.The difficulty of agreeing a compromise over state ownership of the 34?211 km network appears to be the main reason why Transport Secretary ...
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Polish sell-off plans revived
PROSPECTS for the sale of PKP Cargo SA improved last month when reports surfaced that shares in the state-owned freight operator would go on sale in 2010. Rail freight in Poland is big business, with PKP Cargo handling around 150 million tonnes a year, much of it coal that moves ...
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Carrot or stick?
IN THIS ERA of growing awareness of energy use and the quality of urban life, many cities are looking to shift the balance between private and public transport. In our January issue (RG 1.07 p31), UITP Secretary-General Hans Rat argued that there is a direct relationship between the economic success ...
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Barcelona LRT expansion
SPAIN: MAY 6 saw the opening of the latest phase of the Trambesòs light rail network in eastern Barcelona, a 2·2 km extension of Line T5 from Besòs to Sant Joan Baptista. With three intermediate stops, the route has cost €25m to build. Comprising routes T4 and T5, the Trambesòs ...
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Trams arrive in Parla
SPAIN: The initial 8·25 km of a light rail route under construction in the town of Parla, 20 km south of the Spanish capital (RG 8.05 p464), was opened on May 6. Mayor Tomás Gómez was accompanied by the President of the Madrid regional government, Esperanza Aguirre. Due to be ...
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Abuja metro launched
NIGERIAN President Olusegun Obasanjo participated in a ceremony on May 7 to launch the construction of a metro network in the capital Abuja, which he expects will be completed in 15 years. Emphasising that ’no modern city can develop without a modern transport system’, Obasanjo said the three-phase project would ...
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Underground in Alacant
ON MAY 10 the lastest section of the light rail network serving the Spanish city of Alacant opened. Branching off the existing El Campello - Porta del Mar route at L’Illot, it serves new undergound stations at MARQ and Mercat, the latter having platforms 20?m below ground. The k110m city-centre ...
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Amman contract
Transport Minister Soud Nseirat announced on May 8 that a consortium of Jordanian, Pakistani and Chinese firms has been awarded a contract worth between 170 and 180m dinars to build the Amman - Zarqa light rail line (RG 1.07 p9).The contract was expected to be signed during the World Economic ...
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Shanghai and Nanjing order cars
BOMBARDIER is to supply 32 six-car Movia trainsets for Shanghai Metro Line 7 under a contract worth approximately €150m. The vehicles will be built in conjunction with Bombardier's Chinese joint-venture partner Changchun Bombardier Railway Vehicles Co Ltd. Assembly will take place at CBRC's facility in Changchun while traction equipment will ...
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FGC expanding
TUNNELLING is now underway for a 4?5?km extension of the FGC commuter network in Barcelona from Terrassa-Rambla to Can Roca, expected to be completed in 2010 at a cost of k321m. The extension will have two intermediate stations, one at UPC-Vallparadis serving the town centre and the second providing interchange ...
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Seattle breakthrough
The first 1?3?km Central Link light rail tunnel through Beacon Hill in Seattle was completed on May 8, coming within 5?mm of engineers’ plans. A Japanese-built, laser-guided tunnel boring machine that started work in January 2006 broke through the east side of the hill as a crowd watched. Contractor Obayashi ...
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Train crews are the new battleground
EUROPEAN railways are starting to face up to the detailed fall-out from the ongoing programme to liberalise rail operations. As new open-access operators enter the market, there are suggestions that some may be ’poaching’ experienced staff from their rivals.With seven competing freight operators now active in France (p361), SNCF ...
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US safety in the spotlight
PROPOSALS for a radical reform of railway safety legislation were introduced into the US Congress on May 1 by James Oberstar, Chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. The Railroad Safety Improvement Act envisages redesignating the FRA as the Federal Railroad Safety Adminstration, with a specific objective to reduce ...
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Green risk to residual value?
THIS MONTH German organisation Allianz Pro Schiene will unveil a project to develop a tool which will assist banks and other financial institutions in analysing the long-term risks associated with changing environmental rules governing rail vehicles.The project is being funded by the German Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation & Nuclear ...
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Industry News in Brief
Minsk Railway Carriage Repair Works has formed a new production unit with the capacity to assemble up to 60 coaches a year. The plant is currently completing work on its first accessible coach with an electric wheelchair lift for Belarusian Railway, as well as a prototype air-conditioned vehicle.As part of ...
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Profits growing
MOVARES has reported consolidated operating revenue of k142m for 2006, slightly up on the 2005 figure of k140?8m. Pre-tax profit totalled k6?8m, up from k6?2m and demonstrating that new business is being found to replace the work on the Betuwe Route and HSL-Zuid which is now coming to an end. ...
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Serco supports lease fleet data
ROLLING stock leasing firms HSBC Rail and Angel Trains have awarded Serco Assurance two data management contracts totalling ?250 000.Under the first contract Serco will manage asset data and documents supporting the overhaul and maintenance of HSBC Rail’s UK leasing fleets. In the second contract, Angel Trains has appointed Serco ...
