All News articles – Page 238
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News
SRA flexes its strategic muscle
’WE ARE DOING exactly what we said about strategic planning’, insisted Strategic Rail Authority Chairman Richard Bowker on March 3, unveiling the first of a series of Route Utilisation Strategies to be published over the next year. These are intended to get the maximum use out of the UK rail ...
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Fight for survival
AT THE annual general meeting in May 2003, an attempt by the Paris-based Eurotunnel Shareholders Action Group (Adacte) to seize control of the Channel Tunnel operator failed. Despite the antics of their eccentric leader Nicolas Miguet - who was fined €10000 on February 17 for publishing ’remarks systematically filled with ...
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Virtual reality for the immersive experience
UK INTER-CITY operator First Great Western is using three simulators representing the cabs of its High Speed Train power cars to provide an ’immersive’ training environment for drivers.The simulators were jointly supplied by Primary Image, Bentley Systems and EDM in a contract worth over £1m, and will be used to ...
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ICC rules in favour of Eurotrain
ON MARCH 15 the New York-based International Chamber of Commerce ruled that Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp should pay Eurotrain, a grouping formed by Siemens of Germany and Alstom of France, US$73m in compensation for breach of contract. The dispute arose in December 1999 (RG 3.00 p149) when THSRC ...
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Countdown to the launch of KTX
This month South Korea joins the elite club of railways operating commercial services at 300 km/h when a fleet of 46 TGV trainsets will transform travel on Korail's prime inter-city route between Seoul and Pusan. Reporting from Seoul, Murray Hughes finds that it has not been an easy ride for ...
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Oil control
KEEPING engine crankcase oil at the correct level plays an important part in optimising running costs, and to help achieve this Groeneveld has adapted its Oilmaster oil management system for use on diesel multiple-units.Developed for rail applications from a design which is widely used on road vehicles, Oilmaster monitors the ...
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High speed overhead conductor
INTENSIVE testing of a pilot section of overhead conductor bar installed instead of a conventional contact wire was undertaken in Austria during February. Approval has now been received for ÖBB trains to run under the bar at speeds of up to 200 km/h, and 250 km/h trials are planned for ...
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Croatia completes loco refits
BYLINE: Viko GiljevicProject Manager, Croatian RailwaysHarry AghjayanConsultant, CanarailAT THE START of this year, Croatian Railways accepted the final rebuilt locomotive to be modernised in a two-year programme covering 20 diesel and 15 electric units. The work has been undertaken by two firms in Zagreb, boosting the local economy and increasing ...
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Commission presses on with competition policy
TWO MORE STEPS were taken last month in the European Commission’s drive to introduce more competition on Europe’s national railway networks. On March 3 the Commission published its Third Railway Package, and on March 17 the Council and Parliament reached agreement at a ’conciliation meeting’ (RG 3.04 p121) on the ...
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Combinos withdrawn
URBAN operators in Potsdam and Basel withdrew their fleets of Combino trams on March 12-13, after Siemens Transportation Systems confirmed that bodyshell problems were emerging at high mileages. On March 1 Siemens revealed that high torsion forces in the articulations of cars with longer bogie centres were damaging the bolted ...
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Current collector shoes
ATTIKO Metro is to take delivery of 21 six-car trainsets from the Hanwah-Rotem consortium in Korea. Seven units in the fleet will be fitted with dual-voltage equipment to operate on existing routes electrified at 750 V DC third rail and on the new line being built to Eleftherios Venizelos airport ...
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High-power IGBTs drive Civia EMUs
INTRO: Development of high-power IGBTs able to accept line voltages up to 4 kV has simplified the traction package for Spanish National Railways’ new family of modular suburban trains, cutting weight and improving efficiencyBYLINE: Rafael Fern
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Cisalpino to expand tilt operations
INTERNATIONAL services operated by Cisalpino, which is owned 50:50 by Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia, are to be stepped up. The plan is geared to opening of the L
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Chinese food
SHANGHAI Rail Gourmet Co has been created as a station and on-board catering joint venture of Rail Gourmet and Shanghai Railway Administration. From April 18 it will serve 2500 meals per day on four fast trains linking Shanghai with Beijing. The 15-year agreement provides for expansion to further services and ...
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Lower Inn valley line will increase trans-Alpine capacity
INTRO: Under a €1·35bn project to improve capacity on the Brenner axis by 2010, work has begun on a 40 km second route along the Lower Inn valley in AustriaBYLINE: Martin PellizzariBrenner Eisenbahn GmbHSPEEDING the flow of international traffic across the Alps is one of the greatest challenges facing European ...
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High speed Canaries
LAST MONTH the Spanish Ministry of Development called tenders for two contracts to undertake studies for high speed routes on the Canary Islands, including feasibility, alignment options and traffic forecasts. Each contract has a budget of €601854 and should be completed with a period of 24 months.On Tenerife, an 80 ...
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Passenger News in Brief
This month CityNightLine plans to introduce refurbished double-deck sleeping cars on services to Amsterdam from Zürich and München. Replacing T2S vehicles, the modernised coaches offer single and double cabins in two classes, with and without showers.Suburban rail passengers in Melbourne can now send a text message to Connex Trains requesting ...
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Border rail link
MARKING the start of high speed construction between Barcelona and the French border, Spanish Development Minister Francisco Álvarez-Cascos visited works between Sils and Riudellots on March 9, where Sacyr and Scrinser are executing a €24·1m contract to build 7·3 km of alignment within 19 months.Elsewhere between Barcelona and Girona, contracts ...
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Two bids for Uruguayan upgrade
Director of Railways Juan Echeverz.While the private sector will tackle the core network, Echeverz said that upgrading work would begin within the next few months on a further 500 km, comprising the route ’that connects Salto with Paysandú and Fray Bentos’. This would be undertaken by former AFE personnel transferred ...
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BA bids opened
A CONSORTIUM OF Dycasa and Dragados Obras y Proyectos has presented the lowest bid of 95·2m pesos to undertake civil works for a 2·9 km extension of Line A in Buenos Aires from Primera Junta to Nazca, with intermediate stations at Pu