All News articles – Page 138
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NewsHitachi Class 395 EMU arrives in Britain
UK: The first of 29 Hitachi trains ordered for domestic services on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link was unloaded at the Port of Southampton on August 23. The vehicles were shipped from Kobe onboard MV Tarago, a roll-on, roll-off vessel operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, the company responsible for delivering ...
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NewsVoestalpine buys into recycling
ON JUNE 29 Voestalpine Railpro signed an agreement to acquire 49% of René Prinsen Spoorwegmaterialen, with retrospective effect from January 1. A complete take-over of the firm will come into effect in two years. Based at Woudenberg in the Netherlands, René Prinsen Spoorwegmaterialen specialises in the removal and recycling ...
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Finance August 2007
Canada: Under a short line investment programme announced on July 5, the federal government is proving C$30m, the province of Québec C$20m and rail operators C$25m for the renewal of 1 641 km of track on nine short lines, upgrading to Class 1 loading standards and installation of sidings. Finland: ...
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Metros August 2007
Belgium: Work has been completed at Sainte-Catherine under a programme running until 2009 to refurbish 24 stations on the STIB metro and pre-metro networks in Brussels. The €100m programme is being funded by the regional and federal governments. Canada: On June 27 the TransLink board authorised a study for a ...
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Swiss lorry limits to stay
THE SWISS government has confirmed that rail will remain the preferred mode for north-south transit freight, approving in June the allocation of SFr1·6bn to support transit rail freight in 2011-18. The funds are specified in legislation that will replace the current law which expires in 2010 (RG 10.06 p641). The ...
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Trinity announces leasing deal
ON JUNE 28 Trinity Industries Inc announced the sale of $1·4bn of wagons over 24 months as part of a complex deal involving the formation of a new company. Trinity Industries has purchased a 20% equity share in TRIP Rail Holdings LLC, with the remaining equity held by five ...
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Central America going nowhere
THE BRAVE hope that privatisation would lead to a railway revival in Central America appears to be coming to naught. Just three weeks after Railroad Development Corp filed for arbitration in its dispute with the government of Guatemala (RG 7.07 p414), FVG Chairman Henry Posner III wrote to all customers ...
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Study says no to seat belts on trains
A MAJOR report published by Britain's Rail Safety & Standards Board on July 31 draws together the findings of several research programmes extending over five years into the case for using seat belts on ...
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WestNet plans West Australia iron ore network
WHILE NOT on the same scale as iron ore production in the Pilbara, high prices are driving the development of new mines in the Mid West region of Western Australia. WestNet Rail, the Babcock & Brown subsidiary that leases and manages Western Australia's 5 100 km of 1 067 mm ...
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Mine forces Malmbanan move
DEEP-LEVEL mining of iron ore will require the relocation of Sweden's Malmbanan at Kiruna, as the present alignment of the Luleå - Narvik main line will be affected by ground deformation. According to Thomas Nordmark of mining company LKAB, the new line will be around 20 km long and has ...
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National Express wins East Coast
ON AUGUST 14 the UK Department for Transport announced that National Express Group had been selected to operate the InterCity East Coast franchise, which runs to March 31 2015. From December 9 NEG will take over from GNER, which agreed last December to hand back its 10-year franchise after ...
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Zhuzhou to build 5·6 MW freight locos
SIEMENS Transportation Systems announced on August 14 that it had signed a €334m contract to supply CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co with components for the construction of 500 heavy-haul electric locos. Due to enter service with Chinese Railways from early 2009, the 150 tonne, six-axle freight locos will be rated ...
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Taipei orbital nears E & M bidding
TENDERS for electrical and mechanical work on the first phase of the medium-capacity orbital transit line in Taipei are likely to be called in September, according to Chung-Cheng Kao, Chief Engineer of the Department of Rapid Transit Systems. Announcing this at a UK Trade & Investment seminar in London last ...
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Wien U-Bahn to extend north and south
THE Austrian government and the city authorities in Wien have unveiled plans to add 14 km to the Wien U-Bahn network in a €1·85bn expansion programme stretching to 2019. Announcing details of the extensions on July 12, Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer and Deputy Mayor Renate Brauner said that ...
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Off to a fresh Start at MÁV
LAST MONTH Hungarian Railways launched MÁV Start as a subsidiary company to run the passenger business, marking a key step in the government’s plans to reform the state railway. The new company began life on July 1 using a temporary operating licence and start-up capital of 62bn forints. Rolling stock ...
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Up in Algeria and Den Haag
THREE track-mounted mobile lifting jack systems are being supplied to Algeria’s national railway for installation in the depots under construction at Mecheria and Béchar. Each consist of four jacks with individual capacities of 20, 25 and 35 tonnes and a lifting height extending up to 2 000 mm, giving the ...
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ERRAC updates Research Agenda 2020
A DOUBLING of rail traffic in Europe over the next 15 years is anticipated in the updated version of the Strategic Rail Research Agenda drawn up by the European Rail Research Advisory Council. This was formally presented to András Siegler, Director for Transport at the European Commission's Research Directorate-General, by ...
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First train to Modi'in
ISRAEL Railways operated its first trial train on the new line from Ben Gurion Airport to Modi'in on July 2. The IC3 Flexliner DMU carried guests from the local municipalities and selected press representatives, covering the 14 km in around 20 min. Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz had already announced that ...
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SweMaint taken over
WAGON maker Kockums Industrier announced at the end of June that it was paying SKr88·3m to acquire SweMaint, Sweden's largest wagon repair and maintenance company, from state-owned Swedcarrier. Kokums also assumes SKr78·3m of SweMaint debt under the deal, which creates a combined group with around 360 employees and an annual ...
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NewsRailteam bids to relaunch international rail travel
A DRIVE to position rail as the natural mode for international travel across Europe came on July 2, when the Railteam alliance of high speed train operators was launched in Brussels. A year of detailed negotiations has shaped the Railteam concept since a provisional accord was signed last year ...