All News articles – Page 246
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News
ProRail predicts RCF hotspots
INTRO: Analysis of inspection data has enabled ProRail to identify key factors contributing to the development of rolling contact fatigue, and the development of a prediction methodology to help manage the problem more cost-effectivelyBYLINE: Martin Hiensch and Andrew Watson AEA Technology Rail *ROLLING CONTACT FATIGUE is a treacherous phenomenon. It ...
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iQR Hong Kong win
QUEENSLAND Rail launched its international sales and marketing division iQR with the announcement of the railway’s third contract with Hong Kong’s Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp. iQR is a partner in the CHCQ joint venture, which has been awarded an A$36m contract to construct an East Rail branch to Lok Ma Chau ...
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High speed trials and tenders
THE FIRST Class 104 trainsets ordered by Spanish National Railways for high speed regional services (RG 7.03 p415) left the Alstom works at Santa Perpètua de Mogoda near Barcelona at the end of November, bound for La Sagra depot near Toledo and dynamic trials on the Madrid - Sevilla route. ...
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Leader will improve train handling
DRIVERS can be informed of the most efficient train handling techniques to achieve the best fuel economy and fastest journey times using Leader, which is undergoing testing by Norfolk Southern. The Locomotive Engineer Assist/Display & Event Recorder was developed by New York Air Brake Corp, and has been fitted to ...
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Guangzhou stations
A NEW station costing up to 5·1bn yuan is planned for the Panyu district of Guangzhou, to handle trains to Beijing. Expected to open in 2020, it will be one of China’s largest rail hubs alongside Shanghai, Beijing and Wuhan. The existing Guangzhou station in Yuexiu is to be closed, ...
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Interstate lease releases upgrading funds
NEW SOUTH WALES Transport Minister Michael Costa told around 650 delegates to the AusRail Plus 2003 event in Sydney on November 17 that the state’s rail unions were ’95% of the way’ to agreeing to the lease of interstate track in New South Wales to Australia Rail Track Corp. And ...
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ZR upgrade funded
WHAT IS believed to be the first African concession in recent times where the private sector has secured bank finance to upgrade rail infrastructure achieved financial close on December 3. This cleared the way for a joint venture of New Limpopo Project Investments and Spoornet to take over management of ...
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Ferry link launched
CONSTRUCTION work has started for the planned Bohai Sea train ferry linking China’s Shandong and Liaoning provinces (RG 6.02 p285). Being developed at an estimated cost of 2·35bn yuan, the ferry service is expected to start in June 2006.The 147 km sea route between Yantai and Dalian will save up ...
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Sacramento expansion at risk
NEW Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced at the end of November that he planned to cut funding for 140 transport projects across California in a bid to reduce the state’s budget deficit. Among the schemes at risk is the $66m second phase of Sacramento Regional Transit District’s South Corridor light rail ...
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End of the phoney war
QUEENSLAND RAIL’S subsidiary Interail has launched a regular container service between Casino in New South Wales and the Port of Brisbane, QR Chief Executive Bob Scheuber told the AusRail conference on November 17. Referring to the imminent arrival of Pacific National on the QR network, Scheuber emphasised that the ’phoney ...
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Météor and Line E extended
TWO SHORT but significant extensions to the Paris urban rail network were officially inaugurated on December 16.The first sees the automated Météor metro Line 14 opened five years ago extended by 487m from Madeleine to St-Lazare at a cost of €128m. As well as providing interchange with SNCF suburban services, ...
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Java doubling
INDONESIAN President Megawati Soekarnoputri participated in celebrations at Cikampek on December 4 to inaugurate double track on a key section of the Javan north coast main line running east from Jakarta. According to Communications Minister Agum Gumelar, doubling the 135 km from Cikampek to Cirebon will raise capacity from 145 ...
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Rotterdam depot to serve international operators
NedTrain Cargo Support is to build maintenance facilities at Rotterdam Maasvlakte to serve the growing number of open access rail operators working out of the port. The first workshop will offer light wagon maintenance and running repair services, including lubrication and wheelset changes, and will be followed by a locomotive ...
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Debts but no trams
ALMOST EXACTLY 26 years ago, a decision was taken to build a light rail network in Lagos (RG 2.78 p47). Fast forward 25 years to December 2003, when a function was held to launch the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, and State Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced that a US$135m ...
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Relentless progress to meet the deadlines
BYLINE: Ad van den DoolStrukton Railinfra bvStrukton Railinfra faces the challenge of laying 140 km of track and installing 220 km of overhead wires on the Betuwe Route in one year. After a selection process involving nine prequalified contracting consortia from various European countries, the contract for the trackwork and ...
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Pre-assembled turnouts cut installation times
BYLINE: Dr Peter Schulz and Chris van Dranen*INTRO: TURNOUTSfor the Betuwe Route are being supplied by BWG of Germany, working with its Dutch sister company WBN Wisselbouw. In 2000 WBN Wisselbouw supplied the turnouts used below the hump to the sorting sidings in the marshalling yard at Kijfhoek south of ...
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Coupling up tram-trains
AVANTO tram-trains being built by Siemens for operation on SNCF’s Aulnay-sous-Bois - Bondy line in Paris will be fitted with automatically retractable couplers from Voith Turbo Scharfenberg.The couplers and covers will provide automatic mechanical and electrical connections between the 15 vehicles, which are expected to enter service on the converted ...
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Exposing the real infrastructure cost drivers
INTRO: Why are life-cycle infrastructure costs five times lower in the USA than in the Netherlands, but are 50% to 200% higher in Japan and Hong Kong? Jan Swier* shows how these huge cost differences can be explained, allowing them to be predicted more accuratelyOVER THE LAST 10 years, Netherlands ...
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Controversy dogs freight corridor
INTRO: Cost over-runs and political problems have conspired to delay the completion of the Betuwe Route, and questions are being asked about its viabilitysupply network. ProRail also awarded a €75m contract to Holland Railconsult and Alstom in the same month for the ETCS Level 2 train control system. Also in ...
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Nordharz contract
ON DECEMBER 9 Sachsen-Anhalt Transport Minister Karl-Heinz Daehre announced that the Land subsidiary Nahverkehrsservice Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH had selected Connex Regiobahn GmbH for a 12-year concession to operate regional services on the Nordharz network. The company will take over from DB Regio’s Südost business unit in December 2005. The Nordharz concession ...