All News articles – Page 253
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News
Monopoly falls
FOLLOWING complaints by Germany’s private railways, the Federal Cartel Office has ruled that third parties are free to supply electricity to the 162/3Hz high voltage grid which feeds DB’s traction substations. Until now this has been operated exclusively by DB subsidiary DB Energie GmbH. A report commissioned by 28 of ...
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UK franchises to be extended
ON SEPTEMBER 9 the UK Strategic Rail Authority announced that it was to start formal negotiations to extend four of the remaining first-generation franchises. The Wessex Trains and West Anglia Great Northern franchises currently held by National Express expire on March 31 2004, as does GOVIA’s Thameslink franchise. NEG’s contract ...
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Sharing knowledge is essential to secure the future
INTRO: With international delegates in attendance from all sectors of the railway industry and academia, the World Congress on Railway Research provides an opportunity to network with colleagues and industry peersBYLINE: Len PorterChairman, WCRR 2003 Organising CommitteeTHE ORGANISING Committee is proud to host the 6th World Congress on Railway Research, ...
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Dublin expansion gets underway
LAST MONTH saw the start of work on the €170m first phase of the DART & Suburban Enhancement Project to expand commuter services in the Dublin area. Due to be completed by mid-2005, the project includes platform lengthening to ensure that all 30 stations on the DART network will be ...
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Plug-in doors
TWIN-LEAF passenger doors on a Bombardier LF2000 low-floor tram used in the city of Dessau have been replaced with a new door module from a range developed by Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau AG.The installation of the new doors for a one-year demonstration and testing period did not require changes to the tram’s ...
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Minding the doors
MODERN trains and trams need doors which are intelligent. A passenger caught in a closing door can be injured, and even trapped clothing causes short delays while the doors are released. Systems are available to prevent doors trapping obstructions, but it is vital to reduce the number of false alarms.Siemens ...
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Magnetic detectors
E-AWS has been developed to remove the need for Automatic Warning System receivers to be switched between high and low sensitivity as trains move between areas with differing or no electrification systems. The solid state magnetic detector used by E-AWS covers the full range of receiver-to-magnet sensitivities, eliminating the need ...
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Delhi Metro extends
INDIAN Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is due to inaugurate the second section of the Delhi Metro network on October 2. Running for 4·5 km from Tis Hazari to Tri Nagar, the extension has intermediate stations at Pulbangash, Pratap Nagar and Vivekanandpuri, serving one of the most densely populated parts ...
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NRC is ’dead’, says minister
ON August 7 the Lagos Daily Trust reported that Nigerian Railway Corp had launched ’a massive rail expansion programme throughout the country’, made possible by the arrival of long-awaited consignments of imported track materials that were being distributed to key locations. NRC Assistant Director of Public Relations David Ndakosu was ...
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NSB focuses on customer satisfaction
WITH THE launch of the summer timetable on June 15, NSB abandoned the three marketing brands that it had launched in 1999 - Signatur for long-distance services, Agenda for medium-distance inter-city and Puls for local suburban trains. In future, all operations will revert to the core NSB branding. The change ...
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Monti cracks the whip
AS WE closed for press, the future of ailing industrial titan Alstom was hanging in the balance. Around six weeks had passed since the French government and a group of banks agreed a rescue package on August 5 (RG 9.03 p594), which was to be endorsed by shareholders on September ...
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Compiling the tables
Not all the trains in the tables run every day, but all have been scheduled to run regularly at some time between June and September 2003. Many European countries still schedule additional trains during July and August, and may temporarily suspend others. The schedules in this review represent, as far ...
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Reforms to meet the prospect of competition on the tracks
INTRO: Over the past two years, Norwegian infrastructure authority Jernebaneverket and state railway NSB have been restructuring ready for the advent of competition on the national network. Chris Jackson spoke to the principal players ’I EXPECT to see new operators on the network within the next year.’ As Director General ...
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West Coast light rail grows
CEREMONIES to mark the opening of Sacramento’s 10·1 km South Line light rail extension were to be held on September 26. The $222m line from the city centre to Meadowview Road, with seven stations, has has been completed on time and on budget, according to Regional Transit District General Manager ...
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Canfranc conversion
UNDER ITS PROGRAMME to convert the Huesca - Canfranc route to 1435mm gauge and electrify it at 25 kV AC for international freight traffic, the Spanish Ministry of Development has awarded the Sers consultancy a €508755 contract to design formation enhancement works on the 29·5 km from the end of ...
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DB Cargo broken up
RAILION moved a step closer to becoming a pan-European rail freight operator on September 1, when the operating arm of German Railway’s freight business, DB Cargo, was renamed Railion Deutschland. The move is intended to put the German operations on the same footing as Railion Benelux (formerly NS Cargo) and ...
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Passenger News in Brief
A 6000m2 shopping mall and walkway at Basel SBB station was opened on August 21. Officially inaugurated on September 12, Railcity Basel improves access to the platforms and has a range of retail outlets.India’s Central Railway has introduced automated ticket vending machines at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji station.Implementation of the Lennon ...
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Brake and wheel design can cut train noise
INTRO: Reflecting increased concern over the environmental impact of railway operations, noise limits for new vehicles are being introduced by the European Union. Recent research has focused on wheels and braking systems as well as the trackBYLINE: Dr David Thompson and Dr Chris JonesInstitute of Sound & Vibration Research, University ...
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Wheel and rail roughness both play their part
BYLINE: Ulrik Danneskiold-SamsøeChairmanØdegaard & Danneskiold-Samsøe A/SROUGH wheels rolling on smooth rail or vehicles with reprofiled wheels or new brake blocks running on rough rail give a combined roughness level which has a significant impact on the level of noise produced (Fig 1). Readings taken during the recent commissioning of EMU ...