All News articles – Page 229
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News
DSVN to be split
VIETNAM RAILWAYS is to be split into separate infrastructure management and train operating companies under legislation which was introduced to the country’s National Assembly last month.Transport Minister Dao Dinh Binh said on June 8 that the move was ’aimed at ensuring equal treatment for all economic sectors’. The Railways Bill ...
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Double-deck prototype
FINNISH rolling stock builder Talgo Oy has decided to build a four-car prototype to demonstrate its innovative Talgo 22 double-deck EMU design. The move increases the total investment in the development project to around €8m, partially funded by the Finnish National Technology Agency (Teknes).Proposed two years ago for the Zürich ...
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OSE receives new diesel locos
NEXT MONTH is due to see the delivery of the final four of 10 additional Class 220 main line diesel locos which OSE has ordered from Bombardier. The first three arrived at the Rentis depot in Athens on November 24 last year, and three more during January.Rated at 2000 kW, ...
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Invitation to an international debate
INTRO: Two-day Dialogue-Forum at the InnoTrans Convention 2004 One of the major factors behind the success of InnoTrans in Berlin is the way it combines a trade fair with a high-quality supporting programme and product presentation in the static track displays.The InnoTrans Convention will once again group a number of ...
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Tracklaying deal
CONSTRUCTION of the rail link from Tsumeb to the Namibia/Angola border at Oshikango reached another milestone on June 10, when President Sam Nujoma and Works, Transport & Communications Minister Moses Amweelo laid the first rails in a ceremony at Tsumeb.The ceremony followed the awarding of a N$92m contract by TransNamib ...
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‘Wise men’ recommend DB listing
FOLLOWING the submission of a report from investment bank Morgan Stanley (RG 11.03 p708), a committee of ’wise men’ forming Germany’s Railway Advisory Council decided on June 15 to recommend the listing of DBAG ’as an integrated business’ on the German stock market in 2006.Made up of leading industrialists, academics ...
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Custom-designed rail loaders
UNLIKE most similar machines, the T10000FS and T4300FS rail loaders from Colmar are specially designed for railway maintenance, rather than converted from vehicles designed for other applications. In particular, they are suitable for use while trains are passing on adjacent tracks, and they can operate in tunnels and other restricted ...
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Curiosity value
REPORTS reaching us from Shanghai suggest that the world’s sole commercial high speed magnetic levitation route is short of customers. Not only that, it could soon be facing competition from a slower form of transport on steel wheels.The city authorities are reported to be considering proposals to extend the rapidly-growing ...
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Cork suburban go-ahead
IRISH Transport Minister Séamus Brennan has approved the development of a three-line suburban rail network in Cork, at an estimated cost of €90m. Visiting the city on May 21 to open a new park and ride site, he said the network should be operational by 2007. The biggest element is ...
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Remote control is safer
A PRELIMINARY report by the US Federal Railroad Administration shows that remote control of locomotives in marshalling yards reduces accidents and employee injuries. The study covering May 1 to November 30 2003 found that the accident rate was 13·5% lower than with conventional shunting, while the injury rate was down ...
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Tempi valley cut-off completed
JANUARY 28 marked the completion of a further section of Hellenic Railways’ ongoing upgrading of its Athens - Thessaloniki main line, with the opening of a 38·8 km double-track cut-off between Evangelismos and Leptokaria, replacing the attractive but sinuous route alongside the Pineios River through the Tempi gorge.Construction of the ...
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In from the cold
EVIDENCE is growing that the market for railway equipment in Russia is taking on real significance. With Russian Railways established as a state-owned company last October and embryonic private-sector operators emerging, the urgent need for investment in the 86660 km network is clearly being taken seriously.Freight tonnage in the CIS ...
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Policy divide clouds the future of European freight
POLICYMAKERS, operators and shippers met in Ljubljana at the end of May to debate the future of rail freight in Europe. The occasion was a seminar organised by the International Railway Congress Association entitled Rail Freight Business in a New Century (p399). The event saw important policy differences emerge in ...
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Five cities dedicate light rail lines
A SERIES of service inaugurations saw five North American cities open new or rebuilt light rail lines last month.Pittsburgh kicked off on June 2 by restoring service on the Overbrook line after a major rebuild costing $386m (MR04 p36). The whole route is now double-track with many curves eased, and ...
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Cutting rail wear on the Circle Line
INTRO: A London Underground project team examined ways of improving rail lubrication on the Circle Line. Metronet Rail has adopted a focused approach as part of its preventative maintenance regime, delivering a major improvement in rail replacement ratesATTHE BEGINNING of May, work began on a major programme to relay the ...
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China chokes up
THE EFFECTS of the booming economy in China have ricocheted around the world, inflating demand for iron, steel and raw materials. Ships are queuing to unload at Chinese ports, but it seems that the busy railway network is not keeping pace.Goods and containers awaiting rail transit to inland destinations are ...
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Ljubljana seminar examines the challenge of cost-effective freight
INTRO: Murray Hughes reports from the rail freight seminar organised by the International Railway Congress Association in the Slovenian capital on May 27-29Strategic Plan promises a high returnSLOVENIAN Railways announced at the IRCA seminar details of its long-term strategic plan that runs to 2010. This envisages that freight traffic volume ...
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Capacity warning
SURFACE Transportation Board Chairman Roger Nober sent a letter on June 10 to each US Class I railway asking for a report on its plans to handle the expected increase in traffic in the autumn. Nober said he recognised that railways were already carrying an extraordinary volume of freight while ...
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Making the business case to cut rolling contact fatigue
INTRO: The cost to Britain’s national railway of damage from rolling contact fatigue has been conservatively estimated at £250m a year, and measures to limit RCF crack formation could cut that by 55%. Andy Doherty, who chairs the newly-established Vehicle/Track System Interface Committee, explains how co-operation between rail industry players ...