All News articles – Page 226
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MTU expands
DIESEL engine builder MTU Friedrichshafen has taken over Dordrecht-based distributor MDB-Roodenburg from its former sole-shareholder J Roodenburg. The DaimlerChrysler Off-Highway distributor has been renamed MTU Detroit Diesel Benelux, and will supply the rail sector in the Benelux countries.MTUopened a €7m electronics centre (above) in Friedrichshafen on June 15, integrating its ...
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EWS spin-offs
UK FREIGHT operator EWS has launched two independent subsidiaries to provide vehicle acceptance and engineering consultancy in Europe.Engineering Support Group Ltd has offices in Crewe, Derby and Nottingham, which provide consultancy services including design, modification and reliability improvements, project management and auditing. Derby-based Railway Approvals Ltd specialises in the approval ...
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Elevated launch
VIETNAM’s Ministry of Transport announced last month that it expected to start work next year on two elevated railways through the centre of Hanoi.The bigger project is reconstruction of a 24·6 km section of DSVN’s main line between Yen Vien and Ngoc Hoi (RG 3.04 p124). By 2010 this will ...
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Inter-city DMUs
IARNRÓD Éireann announced on July 9 that it will place a record order for new inter-city vehicles later this year. IE plans to buy a fleet of 120 'high-specification' diesel multiple-unit cars suitable for 160 km/h operation. Expected to cost over €300m, they will be funded under the Irish ...
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Serco takes Northern as DB pulls out of ICEC
A PARTNERSHIP of Serco Group and NedRailways BV has been selected as preferred bidder to operate the UK's Northern rail franchise, the Strategic Rail Authority announced on July 1. Northern will take over from First North Western and Arriva Trains Northern in October, employing 4000 staff and 265 trainsets to ...
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New ERA dawns
THE FORMATION of the European Rail Agency reached a milestone on July 15 when the first meeting of the board of directors was held in Valenciennes.Based in Valenciennes and Lille, ERA has been set up ’to contribute technically to the implementation of community legislation aimed at ameliorating the competitive position ...
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Data processing holds the key to high speed monitoring
THE PROSPECT of rail flaw detection at line speed was one of several innovations in condition monitoring and infrastructure assessment held out to delegates at this year’s Railway Engineering conference in London on July 6-7, sponsored by Railway Gazette International.Rachel Edwards and Steve Dixon of Warwick University have been looking ...
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Darling tightens grip on spending
ANOTHER restructuring of Britain’s privatised rail network, announced by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling on July 15, will see the Strategic Rail Authority abolished next year. Responsibility for letting franchises and managing the passenger train operators will pass to civil servants at the Department for Transport.Legislation likely to be introduced this ...
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High speed timetable confirmed
SPANISH Development Minister Magdalena Álvarez announced on July 4 that the Córdoba - M
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Country comeback
PASSENGER trains returned on July 10 to Ararat in Victoria’s Wimmera region. Earlier, on May 2, they had returned to Bairnsdale in the state’s Gippsland Lakes tourist region.Victorian Premier Steve Bracks said at a ceremony that ’when the trains were stopped in August 1993, it almost ripped the heart out ...
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Chinese expansion strategy
CHINESE Railways expects to start work later this year on a 1500 km rail link between Shanghai and Hong Kong, as part of the government's next five-year plan. Vice-Minister of Railways Hu Yadong announced on July 1 that by 2020 the government expected to build 12000 km of dedicated passenger ...
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Meeting the commuter challenge
INTRO: As the passenger market has opened up to competition, Connex has become one of the world’s major private-sector rail operators. The company operates over 6700 km in Europe, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, and provides commuter train service on 1120 km of routesBYLINE: Michel QuidortDirector of Corporate Communications, ...
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RZD faces funding challenge
INTRO: Improving the profitability of passenger services is one of the major challenges facing Russian Railways, which has set itself the ambitious target of ensuring that the cost of commuter operations is fully covered by fares and subsidy by 2010BYLINE: Dipl-Ing Boris E LukovFirst Deputy General Secretary,International Co-ordinating Council for ...
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CD tastes the fruits of independence
Operating as a joint stock company since January 2003, Czech Railways is learning to cope with the challenges of independence and competition. Chairman & Director General Petr Kousal talked to Murray Hughes in Praha
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International sleeping car enters service
THIS MONTH Polish rolling stock builder Fabryka Pojazdów Szynowych will complete the last of a batch of 10 Type 305Ad sleeping cars ordered by PKP, the first six of which entered service in June on the Jan Kiepura Brussels - Warszawa service.Built to UIC 505-1 clearances, the carriages are designed ...
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Five go in search of capacity
THE STB IS WORRIED. The shippers are worried, and the railroads are worried. Capacity is the word on everyone's lips, as a buoyant US economy is driving up business faster than the rail industry can handle it. On June 10 Surface Transportation Board Chairman Roger Nober wrote to ...
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Infrastructure capacity study
THE Infrastructure Commission of the International Union of Railways has published the final report of the Eurailinfra project, a study evaluating the capacity of major rail corridors in Europe. The study’s methodology will be used by the UIC to draw up a European Railway Infrastructure Master Plan.Eurailinfra looked at market ...
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Long Island Rail Road builds for the future
INTRO: As North America’s busiest passenger railway plans its investment strategy for the next four years, work is underway on the mammoth East Side Access project that from 2012 will bring LIRR services to Grand Central Terminal. William D Middleton reportsNOW CARRYING an average of 274000 passengers per weekday and ...
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No go in Bordeaux
READERS may recall that parts of the tram network in the French city of Bordeaux have a novel surface-contact power supply system known as Innorail, chosen to avoid littering the city centre with overhead wires and masts (RG 2.04 p89).There was trouble even when President Chirac inaugurated the first section ...
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Crowds flock to Blue line
HUGE CROWDS jostled to sample Bangkok’s first underground metro line on July 4, taking advantage of cheap introductory fares on the 22 km Blue Line. This links Hualampong and Bang Sue, serving 18 stations.Promoted by the Mass Rapid Transit Authority, the Blue Line is operated under a concession by Bangkok ...