All News articles – Page 244
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News
Samjhauta Express reinstated
THE CHAIRMAN of Pakistan’s Railway Board Kurshid Ahmad Khan joined ceremonies at Lahore station on January 15 to dispatch the first cross-border train to India for more than two years. The Samjhauta Express between Lahore and Delhi had been discontinued in 2001.A three-year agreement to restore freight and passenger services ...
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Waterfall exposes safety management failings
TWO senior managers in RailCorp have been sacked and others faced the prospect of disciplinary action following publication on January 15 of Commissioner Peter McInerney’s interim report into a derailment at Waterfall in New South Wales on January 31 2003. Seven died and 42 were injured (RG 3.03 p122). He ...
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Sounder expands
US URBAN rail operator Sound Transit ran its first commuter rail service between Everett and Seattle on December 21 carrying spectators to a Seattle Seahawks game. A regular daily train in each direction began the following day. The launch followed lengthy negotiations between ST and BNSF. On December 17 ST ...
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Powerpacks expand the range of hydraulic transmissions
INTRO: As builders move towards subcontracting larger modules as complete units, Voith Turbo has launched a range of complete power packs and uprated its hydraulic transmissions for higher performance. Harry Hondius MSc reports from HeidenheimWITH A turnover of €3·3bn in 2003, Voith AG employs 24000 staff around the world. It ...
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IR electrification to be tendered
ISRAEL Railways confirmed on January 14 that it expected to call tenders in April for electrification at 25 kV 50Hz of 300 route-km. Expected to cost around US$270m, the work will take 4½ years. IR had originally envisaged wiring its entire passenger network, which is expected to grow from 450 ...
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Recording geometry effectively
THE Technology Research & Development Department at JR Central has developed a small and lightweight device to give high precision measurements of rail geometry.LightRec is manually pushed along the rails on conventional and Shinkansen lines, and calculates in real time the track gauge, level, alignment and twist.At less than US$34500, ...
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Duplex deal
FRENCH National Railways decided last month to exercise a further option for TGV Duplex double-deck trainsets, in addition to the 82 already built or on order for delivery by 2005.The latest €305m order covers seven complete trainsets with two power cars and eight intermediate vehicles, plus another 15 sets of ...
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Scientific ways to cut noise
TWO wagons which have been modified to reduce emitted noise were officially launched by Jacqueline Tammenons-Bakker, Director General, Freight Transport, at the Dutch Ministry of Transport & Public Works’ in a ceremony held in Den Haag on November 25.Noise pollution is of particular concern in the highly urbanised and densely ...
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Crossing and signal lights with LEDs
THE LIFE of level crossing warning lights can be extended, and the need for maintenance reduced, by using light emitting diodes in place of conventional bulbs. The 433 Series module from Dialight has been designed for use with existing crossing equipment as well as fitting to new installations. The red-tinted ...
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Information and control
TWO contracts have been awarded for station management and passenger information computer systems for use in London.Transmitton is to supply a real-time passenger information system for the interim London St Pancras station, which will be used by Midland Main Line trains during the refurbishment and major redesign of the historic ...
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Modi’in contracts let
WORK began last month on two new stations in Modi’in, which will be served by a line branching at Daniel Junction from Israel Railways’ planned fast line from Ben-Gurion Airport to Jerusalem. The US$26m contract for Modi’in Central was awarded to Shafir Engineering. The four-platform station will be built underground ...
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Regional contracts
SWISS FEDERAL Railway’s subsidiary EuroThurbo GmbH has been selected to operate the Seehas line in Germany, linking Konstanz to Engen via Singen. However, German Railway has retained control of the Schwarzwaldbahn between Karlsruhe and Konstanz against a wide range of rival bidders including Connex.International tenders for operation of the two ...
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Madrid metro expansion continues
THE NEWLY-ELECTED President of the Madrid regional government, Esperanza Aguirre, has unveiled a €3·7bn programme to add another 72·7 km to the city’s metro network by the time her term of office comes to an end in 2007. The programme comprises 15 individual projects, combining 42·1 km of extensions to ...
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Wiring completed
ELECTRIFICATION of the northernmost connection between Russia’s Northern and October railways was completed on December 25, boosting capacity for freight services from the Urals and Siberia to the White Sea port of Murmansk. Russian Railways’ Vice-President Valentin Gapanovich, October Railway President Gennadi Komarov and Northern Railway President Vasiliy Bilokha joined ...
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Civia debuts
ON JANUARY 20 Renfe President Miguel Corsini joined Development Minister Francisco Álvarez-Cascos, President of the Madrid Regional Government Esperanza Aguirre and Mayor of Madrid Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón to mark the start of passenger service with the Civia commuter EMU. Six of the initial 14 trains ordered from Alstom, Bombardier, CAF and ...
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Darling says fragmentedUK structure must change
EVER since Alistair Darling became Secretary of State for Transport in May 2002 he has firmly ruled out fundamental restructuring as a cure for the two dominant problems facing Britain’s railways: a huge rise in infrastructure costs, and poor performance that sees one in five passenger trains late or cancelled. ...
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Budget shortfall hits DB plans
THE PRESIDENT of the Association of German Transport Undertakings Dipl-Kfm Günter Elste warned on January 13 that the political objective of switching traffic from road to rail was in jeopardy. This, he suggested, was directly attributable to cuts in government funding for expansion and development of the national rail network, ...
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Brussels car order
ON DECEMBER 12 the board of Brussels public transport operator STIB selected CAF as general contractor for the supply of 15 six-car metro trainsets, at a cost of €121·6m. The contract was due to be signed in January, after the regional government had approved the funding, and will include options ...
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Broadband sound
A TRAIN horn producing closely-confined broadband sound has been developed by Brigade Electronics. It is currently on test fitted to an Electrostar EMU based at South Central’s Brighton depot, where local residents have complained about frequent disturbance from horns.Based on the firm’s bbs-tek reversing alarm, the broadband horn meets UK ...
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Passenger News in Brief
On December 15 French Transport Minister Gilles de Robien, SNCF President Louis Gallois and RFF President Jean-Pierre Duport signed an agreement to make rail travel easier for disabled people. By 2007 access is to be improved at 70% of stations in France, and accommodation for wheelchair travellers on trains is ...