All News articles – Page 206
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News
Cutting fuel costs
FUEL Optimizer is a recently launched software package from FC Technologies which models the fuel consumption of trains to help minimise energy costs.Accessed by the internet, installed on an intranet or supplied on CD, Fuel Optimizer identifies optimal schedules and refuelling locations. It uses detailed route maps, and takes into ...
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Danes consider hydrogen power
THE establishment of the Hydrogen Innovation & Research Centre in western Jutland has prompted the towns of Vemb, Lemvig, and Thyborøn to consider development of fuel-cell powered trains. A co-operation agreement was signed on April 7, and the first step is to estimate start-up capital and operating costs. This month ...
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More competition on the German network
INTRO: Axel Dumann* reports on German legal changes that include transfer of responsibility for path allocation from EBA to the telecommunications regulatorON MARCH 16 the Bundestag passed extensive changes to Germany’s railway legislation, transposing three EU directives dating from 2001 into national law.The Third Law for the Amendment of Rail ...
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Coal line PPP
EIGHT public and private-sector organisations in China signed an agreement on April 6 to build a 200 km coal railway.The 4·1bn yuan scheme is one of the first to make use of provisions agreed in 2004 to accelerate investment in the 70000 km rail network as a means of raising ...
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Technology to China
VOSSLOH Information Technologies GmbH opened an office at Hangzhou in China’s Zhejian province on March 1.The Kiel-based railway technology supplier sees China as ’the biggest growth market for this company at the present time’. It says that by 2010 ’the Zhejiang provincial government alone will, with the support of the ...
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Chennai launches metro plan
PLANS to develop a three-line metro network in the Indian city of Chennai were unveiled on April 12 by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Ms J Jayalalithaa.She told the state assembly that Delhi Metro Rail Corp had completed an initial feasibility study, and has now been asked to prepare ...
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MGV will check high speed network
SNCF is developing a 320 km/h test and measurement train to replace the Mélusine test car currently used to inspect France’s TGV lines. Due to be completed later this year, the train will be known as the MGV.The MGV will consist of a TGV Réseau set now being converted for ...
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Global changes at YSD and Rafna
REVENUE at Global Railway Industries Ltd for the year to December 31 2004 was C$34·7m, up 34% from 2003. This includes C$4·8m from Youngtown, Ohio, based YSD Industries Inc, which was purchased in April 2004. Restructuring of YSD continued into the first quarter of 2005, with an anticipated loss of ...
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Record breakers recall the heady days
ON MARCH 24 SNCF President Louis Gallois opened an exhibition of its record-breaking trains at Bordeaux Saint-Jean station (right). Among the vehicles on display were locos CC7107 and BB9004 that respectively achieved 326 and 331 km/h in 1955 - although the plaques on each loco affirm that both reached 331 ...
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Record braking orders from China
KNORR-BREMSE Systeme für Schienenfahrzeuge has secured orders worth over €40m to supply braking equipment for metro cars in Guangzhou and Beijing.In February the München-based firm was awarded a contract worth over €20m to supply brake equipment for the rolling stock being built for Guangzhou Metro Lines 4 and 5. This ...
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Vacuum brakes
MALAYSIAN national railway KTMB has ordered 20 locomotives from Dalian Loco in China which are to be fitted with air and vacuum brakes. Production of the complex integrated braking racks was subcontracted to Wabtec International.’This braking system was very unusual and needed to be custom designed’, said Wabtec International Vice-President ...
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Brakes set and tested
DESIGNED for use on new-build and refurbished locomotives, the SafeSet Wheel Style parking brake from Graham-White uses an electric motor to automate the operation of brakes. The SafeSet Wheel Style brake incorporates the same interface as the company’s lever-style handbrake, which is in service on around 250 locomotives. The brakes ...
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Heavy haul brake
NEWYORK Air Brake Corp has received conditional approval from the Association of American Railroads for its EP-60 electronically-controlled pneumatic brake.The EP-60 is already in service in Canada, where it is used on heavy haul iron ore trains operated by Cartier Railway Co, a subsidiary of Québec Cartier Mining Co. In ...
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Transport improves at Bombardier
ON MARCH 31 Bombardier announced its results for the year ended January 31 2005. Higher revenues at Bombardier Transportation were partially offset by lower revenues in Aerospace, with consolidated revenue across the company totalling US$15·8bn, up from $15·5bn in the previous year.Consolidated earnings before income taxes and special items were ...
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Bombardier targets China with Zagato 'wow factor'
HIGH SPEED: On April 13 Bombardier unveiled a portfolio of design concepts for a future generation of high speed trains from Italian industrial stylist Zagato. Speaking at a launch event staged with Wallpaper magazine at the Salone del Mobile design fair in Milano, Bombardier Transportation President André Navarri said that ...
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Bill blizzard sends mixed signals
THREE SEPARATE bills were introduced into the US Congress on April 14, offering widely-different prospects for the future of the US passenger rail network.The government’s Passenger Rail Investment Reform Act proposes to hand responsibility for various routes to individual states while converting Amtrak into a private-sector train operator. `This legislation ...
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Signalling in the best locations
BOMBARDIER has enhanced the capabilities of the Computer Aided Rail Design software which it uses to identify the most cost-effective way of planning signalling infrastructure on light rail and metro projects.CARD is widely used when preparing the company’s bids for urban rail projects, and has been used in the development ...
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Beijing starts metro upgrading
BEIJING METRO Corp announced in March that it was starting work on a network-wide upgrading and renovation programme ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games.Costed at 4·3bn yuan, the package includes replacement of track, trains, signalling and communications equipment on Lines 1 and 2, parts of which are now approaching 30 ...
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Barajas Express
SPAIN’S Ministry of Development published plans on March 18 for construction of a fast suburban link to Madrid Barajas airport that would allow airline passengers to reach the city centre in just 11min.The project requires additional tracks to be laid alongside the existing 4 km line from Chamartín to Hortaleza. ...
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Balfour Beatty rail profits rise
RAIL Engineering & Services at Balfour Beatty saw a 5% rise in operating profits to £43m in the year to December 31 2004, on turnover of £803m.The company’s UK projects, plant and track systems businesses ’performed well’, and Balfour Beatty said that the infrastructure maintenance contracts taken in-house by Network ...