All News articles – Page 239
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News
Bombardier to axe seven plants
PRESIDENT & Chief Executive Officer Paul Tellier announced a reduction of 6600 jobs in rail manufacturing on March 17 after Bombardier Transportation recorded ’disappointing financial results’ in the last quarter of the year to January 31 2004. The cuts will be achieved by closing seven production sites in five countries ...
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Operators respond to bomb attacks
ON MARCH 4 French National Railways ordered 10000 staff out on to the tracks to look for bombs following threats from an unknown group called AZF. Letters to the Interior Ministry last December were followed by a ransom demand in February. AZF alerted the authorities to a bomb in the ...
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A marriage is arranged
ON FEBRUARY 24 the Hong Kong government instructed Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway Corp and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp to start negotiations for a merger. The government said that the talks should be completed by August 31 and specified a number of key objectives.’To ensure that the public can benefit from ...
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FSCargo to stand alone
ITALIAN Railways has decided to restructure its freight operation as a stand-alone company later this year. After discussing the proposal with the Director of the Treasury at the Ministry of Finance Domenico Siniscalco, FS President & Administrator-General Giancarlo Cimoli informed the FS and Trenitalia boards on March 3 that the ...
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Off-centre load alarm
MOVING trains can be automatically weighed by SilverPoint+, which will warn operators of overweight or incorrectly loaded vehicles and send text alerts to the train crew’s mobile telephones.Installed without needing to modify the rails, SilverPoint+ reports axle, bogie and total weights, and compares front and rear weight readings. An option ...
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New airport branch
THE SPANISH Ministry of Development has begun public consultation on a new 4·9 km branch taking 1668mm gauge trains to Barcelona Airport, which is expected to cost €139·8m to build. As well as suburban services running through to destinations northeast of the city centre, the route would also be used ...
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AMEC adapts to handover
ENGINEERING contractor AMEC Spie is reorganising its rail business in advance of the handover of its UK rail maintenance work to Network Rail on July 24 (RG 12.03 p770).Maintenance currently accounts for one-third of AMEC Spie Rail’s £350m turnover, and according to Business Development Manager Barry Atkinson the company hopes ...
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Funding package will improve access to high speed networks
SWITZERLAND’S Ministry of Transport is drawing up legislation that will authorise expenditure of up to SFr1·3bn on a series of projects to improve access to and from high speed networks in neighbouring countries. Unusually, this will see Swiss funds used as contributions towards major schemes in other countries. Because of ...
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Deal defers access charge hike
control period. The rest will be added to the company’s Regulatory Asset Base for CP4 starting on April 1 2009, and repaid out of future access charges. Winsor emphasised on March 10 that the reprofiling was conditional on the first issue of bonds under NR’s securitisation programme being completed by ...
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NewsEurostar abandons Project Jupiter
Plans to form a single company tentatively called Eurostar International that would have managed the train service between London, Paris and Brussels as a unified operation were formally abandoned by the Boards of SNCF, SNCB and London & Continental Railways on March 12. Originally SNCB had intended to take a ...
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Renfe’s i4bn train bonanza
MEETING on March 3, the board of Spanish National Railways approved what the company describes as its largest-ever rolling stock order, a fleet of 40 high speed trains that is costing a total of €1·6bn. Talgo and Bombardier are to supply 30 high speed trains for €1·17bn, including maintenance over ...
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IE plans €3bn Dublin upgrade
PLANS TO UPGRADE and integrate rail services in the greater Dublin area were presented to Ireland's Parliamentary Transport Committee by Iarnród Éireann Managing Director Joe Meagher at the end of February. The €3bn package envisages development of frequent commuter services to nearly all towns within 100 km of the ...
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North American Freight Car Market - 2004
David Burns and Toby KolstadThe two principals of Rail Theory Forecasts have compiled a 280-page book intended as a comprehensive source of information for investors contemplating the freight rolling stock market in North America. This market study assesses historical production of all products and commodities shipped by rail and also ...
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Record number of exhibitors expected at 2004 event
Even though the opening of the fair is still a good six months away, the InnoTrans 2004 railway technology fair in Berlin is already breaking virtually every record. The net display space of around 29500 m2 booked for InnoTrans 2002 has already been matched. InnoTrans spokesman Wolfgang Wagner says "two ...
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ÖBB adopts ETCS Level 1
INTRO: Following completion of a 65 km pilot scheme between Wien and Nickelsdorf, Austrian Federal Railways has decided to install ETCS Level 1 train control across its 2500 route-km trunk network over the next decadeAugust Zierl and Friedrich CernyÖBB Signal- und SystemtechnikWITHIN THE next couple of months, trains using the ...
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Korail picks Level 1
SOUTH Korea’s two conventional main lines from Seoul to Pusan and Taejon to Mokpo are to be equipped with ETCS Level 1 automatic train protection and cab signalling by the end of 2006, under a contract announced on March 9.Korail has selected a consortium led by Taejung Electric Construction Co ...
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TTC promised C$1bn
AS PART of the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Toronto’s first subway line on March 30, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty were due to announce a C$1bn package to fund renovation of the network over the next five years. The province’s share was approved ...
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Delhi Metro extends Line 1
MARCH 31 is due to see the start of revenue service on the third section of Delhi Metro Line 1, following energisation of the overhead line for test running on March 8. At the same time, the number of trains in operation will be increased from seven to 16, allowing ...
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Talking underground
KYIV metro passengers will be able to use mobile telephones at 38 below-ground stations following an agreement for the deployment of GSM-over-IP equipment.Proximus LLC has signed a contract with Kyiv Metro to lease the communications infrastructure and space to install the equipment, which will be subleased to mobile network operators ...
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Tenerife starts work
ON FEBRUARY 12 Metropolitano de Tenerife SA announced the award of civil works contracts for the 12·3 km light rail route that will connect Santa Cruz with La Laguna (RG 1.03 p10). MTSA Vice-President Víctor Pérez said that the project was entering ’a decisive phase’, with €91·8m of contracts awarded ...