All News articles – Page 193
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Jerusalem concession signed
A SIGNING ceremony was held at the offices of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on July 17 to mark financial close for the 28-year concession to build the Jerusalem light rail network. Transport Minister Meir Shitrit and the then Finance Minister Benyamin Netanyahu participated in the event, along with Jerusalem's ...
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Tubular Track offers continuous rail support at a competitive price
INTRO: Inventor Peter Küsel wanted to ’fix the vertical stability of track’; his technique has been chosen for a 25 km section of main line being relaid in NamibiaBYLINE: Braam Le Roux*BYLINE: * Braam Le Roux is President of Dynamic Rail Services in South Africa. He was previously Chief Executive ...
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Specialised sleepers combat sand
INTRO: Trials in Namibia have proved that using specialised sleepers to elevate the rail foot above the ballast bed can keep the rail head free of wind-blown sandBYLINE: Prof Dipl-Ing Dr techn Klaus RießbergerGraz University of Technology, AustriaWessel SwanepoelChief Engineer, TransNamibTRADITIONAL ballasted track was not designed for use in the ...
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In and out of China
BEIJING ECI International will be exhibiting at Infrarail for the first time. The Chinese firm will be highlighting the range of products it is able to supply to export customers, and explaining how it can help provide access to the expanding Chinese market.Products on offer run from castings and forgings ...
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Scanners to check freight trains
THE US Department for Homeland Security is to spend $10m on a pilot project designed to prevent terrorists from bringing bombs or chemical weapons within a few hundred metres of the Capitol, where the US Congress meets.To be completed in 18 months, the project is driven by a desire to ...
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Smart card hold-up
ALLISNOT well, it seems, with the smart card intended for use on most public transport across the Netherlands. The OV-Chipkaart project is being led by the Trans Link Systems consortium grouping Netherlands Railways, the transport operators in Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Den Haag and regional bus operator Connexxion. A contract worth ...
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Vossloh buys track
BY THE END of this month Pfleiderer AG expects to complete the sale of its Track Systems division to Vossloh AG. The companies have not disclosed financial details of the August 2 transaction.The sale of its concrete sleeper and slab track business completes a strategic realignment at Pfleiderer, which is ...
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Botswana signs resignalling deal
CONTRACTS were signed in Gabarone on August 3 for resignalling of the Botswana Railways network.Ansaldo Signal subsidiary Union Switch & Signal has been selected to provide computer-based Direct Traffic Control to replace the now-obsolete British Radio Electronic Token Block equipment installed in 1989-90. As part of the programme, the number ...
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CSX budget boost
ON AUGUST 11 CSX unveiled plans to expand capacity on its main lines between Chicago and Florida and between Albany and New York City.Rising demand has prompted CSX to increase its investment programme, and capital expenditure in each of the next two years is expected to total between $1·3bn and ...
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BLS saves with holistic plan
SWITZERLAND’SSüdostbahn has adopted RailOpt resource planning software from Qnamic. It is already in use with BLS L
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Bidding battle in Budapest
ON AUGUST 15 Stadler signed a SFr225m contract with Hungarian State Railways for 30 four-section Flirt EMUs to operate services on lines electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz from Budapest to Tatab
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SBB bought by Balfour Beatty
BALFOUR Beatty announced on August 10 that it has agreed to acquire German signalling contractor SBB for €14m, once clearance has been received from the competition authorities. The majority of SBB's work is signalling installation and renewal under framework contracts with German Railway. Based at Stassfurt near Leipzig, the company ...
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High speed contracts awarded
CONTRACTS WORTH a total of €232·9m have been awarded for civil works on four sections of the Madrid - Valencia high speed line between Motilla del Palancar and Valencia, involving the construction of 46·3 km of new infrastructure. Bids have been invited for a further five sections totalling 37·3 km ...
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Shell assembly
SIEMENS Transportation Systems is to take back construction of steel shells for its SD series of light rail vehicles from contractor Bozankaya. Siemens’ Sacramento plant will be remodelled at a cost of $6·5m to undertake construction of 33 SD160 vehicles for Calgary and 34 for Denver. In May Siemens had ...
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Ascom sells fares division
AFFILIATED Computer Services Inc announced the acquisition of Ascom’s Transport Revenue division for SFr130m on August 3. With offices in Switzerland, Italy, Britain, Spain, Hong Kong, the USA, Mexico and Chile, the division had revenue of SFr241m in 2004. The North and South American part of the Toll business unit ...
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Articulated Sprinters to take over Randstad stopping services
INTRO: Harry Hondius MSc reports on the Dutch order for 18 four-car and 17 six-car trainsets destined to replace the dog-nosed T and V EMUs dating from the 1960sJULY 21 saw NS Reizigers place a €248m order with Bombardier Transportation for 18 four-car and 17 six-car EMUs to operate on ...
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Sibelit enters rail freight arena
PLANS to launch an international joint venture to improve the competitiveness of rail freight in the Antwerpen - Basel - Milano corridor were unveiled by four European national railways in August.Fret SNCF, B-Cargo, CFL and SBB Cargo agreed in Paris on August 8 that forming a new company would be ...
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No away games if you always win at home
COMPANIES enjoying a monopoly of local public transport in their home markets should not be allowed to operate services elsewhere. Such is the latest transport policy suggestion from the European Commission, which put forward the idea on July 20. Essentially, the concept is for local authorities responsible for organising public ...
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Albuquerque and Nashville set to join US commuter club
INTRO: Commuter rail expansion continues in the USA, with trains due to begin serving the cities of Albuquerque and Nashville within the next few months. Julian Wolinsky reportsAlthough no starting date has been officially announced for two new commuter rail projects taking shape in the USA, Rail Runner Express in ...
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Vnukovo airport branch opens
RUSSIA’s first underground airport station was officially opened on August 7, when trains began running into Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.RZD has been running a shuttle service from the capital’s Kievskaya station since August 2004, using 33 km of upgraded freight railway. Pending completion of the 1·5 km tunnel into the airport ...