All News articles – Page 144
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News
News in Brief
Central Japan Railway President Masayuki Matsumoto confirmed on April 27 that the company hopes to launch revenue services on the first phase of the Chuo maglev line between Tokyo and Nagoya by 2025, with the planned Nagoya - Osaka section to follow. JR Central has allocated ¥6bn in its 2007 ...
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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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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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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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National resignalling
ISRAEL Railways suspended all train services on May 11-12 to permit the commissioning of a new national signalling and train control system.ISR has adopted the Command 900 Safe Desk technology supplied by Thales from Germany. Formerly marketed by Alcatel as NetTrac 6653, this is a vital remote control system for ...
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Victorian lines
Sir - A small correction is needed to the report on the vertical separation and renationalisation of track in Victoria (RG 5.07 p260). The Melbourne - Adelaide route and the lines in western Victoria were converted from 1 600?mm to standard gauge in 1995. This interstate line and the standard ...
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Philippine Main Line South upgrade
WORK IS expected to start this month on upgrading of a 60?km section of Philippine National Railways’ Main Line South, permitting the expansion of suburban services to the south of Manila.PNR General Manager Jose Maria Sarasola announced on May 2 that track strengthening, bridge reconstruction, station works and the installation ...
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New line for Tenerife
PLANS TO BUILD an 80?km railway from Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Torvisca near Adeje were unanimously approved by a plenary session of the Tenerife island council on April 27. It is hoped that construction can begin in the second half of 2008 for completion in 2014-15.With 10% of the ...
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Inspecting the Subway
PLASSER & Theurer has developed a multi-purpose track inspection vehicle for use by MTA New York City Transit on the 371 km of subway route that it operates. The TGC-3 unit is tailored to NYCT's specific operating needs, with video inspection and lighting equipment designed to operate in the subway's ...
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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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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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Northeast France joins the high speed network
STRIDING ACROSS the hills and valleys of northeast France for 300?km between Vaires and Baudrecourt, the Ligne ? Grande Vitesse Est Europ?en is a very visible commitment to the future prosperity of the region it serves. Representing an investment of k5?5bn by the national and local governments, RFF and SNCF, ...
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Signal failures in hand
A hand-held current analyser has been introduced by Tube Lines in an effort to reduce signal failures on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines of London Underground.The device was developed by one of the infrastructure manager’s engineers to counter the effect of failed block joints. These insulating joints separate track ...
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Intermodal expansion
SWISS intermodal group Hupac has launched a thrice-weekly rail service between Antwerpen and Perpignan, in partnership with Fret SNCF. Linking the port with the Novatrans terminal at Perpignan, the 1 200?km route is intended to be extended into Spain at a later date.Although Fret SNCF already operates into Belgium, its ...
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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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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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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 ...
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NewsRadar offers safer crossings
Level crossings in Israel are to benefit from radar protection under a US$12m contract awarded by Israel Railways to Scheidt & Bachmann. The contract will see 18 crossings on the network equipped with radar scanning devices to detect objects on the track between the barriers. If an obstruction is detected, ...
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Freight competition
Sir - I am pleased that my modest observations (RG 1.07 p13) prompted such a lively response from Philip N Mortimer (RG 4.07 p196).A direct comparison of North American and European railway practices is pointless - the political, structural, geographical and historic differences are all too obvious. My observations stem ...