All News articles – Page 262
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News
Cantabrian studies
GIF HAS AWARDED three contacts worth a total of €5m to undertake studies for a proposed 450 km high speed line along the northern coast of Spain between Ferrol and Bilbao (RG 4.03 p180). The section from Ferrol to the boundary between the Galicia and Asturias regions has been awarded ...
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Privatisation called off
CANADIAN National has terminated negotiations to acquire Ontario Northland Railway, blaming the provincial government’s demands for seven-year job guarantees. Ontario had hoped to privatise ONRail, which serves Northern Ontario and northwest Québec, but wanted to ensure staff received employment assurances similar to those enjoyed by civil servants. Last October CN ...
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Bulgaria upgrades
INVITATIONS to tender are expected to be issued in September for upgrading the first 38 km of Bulgarian State Railway’s main line from Plovdiv to Svilengrad and the frontier crossings into Turkey and eastern Greece. Tendering for the remainder of the line will follow in December. Phase 1 between Plovdiv ...
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Building DMUs for extreme conditions
INTRO: Developed to provide a high quality passenger environment on very long journeys through harsh climates, DH4-1 diesel multiple-units are expected to enter service on the Tehran - Mashhad route in summer 2004BYLINE: Dr Gerhard SchmidtGeneral Project Manager, Siemens Transportation Systems Michail Voigt Sales Manager, Commuter Trains,Siemens Transportation Systems Robert ...
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Passenger News in Brief
The Victoria state budget includes A$7·2m for rehabilitation of the concourse of Melbourne’s Flinders Street station, A$1·3m to upgrade Jolimont station for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and A$5m for a new station at Grovedale, west of Geelong.A ceremony on May 6 marked the completion of refurbishment at Finlyandski station in ...
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Industry in Brief
The Board of Ferrovial Servicios has announced that all conditions relating to its offer for Amey plc (RG 5.03 p324) have been satisfied or waived, and the offer has been declared unconditional. Amey has applied for the cancellation of its share listing on the UK Listing Authority’s Official List with ...
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Jamuna bridge opens
BANGLADESH Railway was expecting to link its West and East zones with the introduction of a Rajshahi - Joydepur through service via the Jamuna bridge from June 25 (RG 6.02 p326). East of the bridge the broad gauge trains will use dual-gauge track which has been installed as far as ...
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Chinese boost
CHINESE Railways has started double-tracking work on the 224 km Xuangcheng - Hangzhou line linking Zhejiang and Anhui provinces southwest of Shanghai. Work began in May, and is due for completion in 2005.Meanwhile, neighbouring Jiangsu province has confirmed plans for a 220 km local railway along the south bank of ...
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Luas lags behind
DUBLIN'S Luas light rail network is running seriously behind schedule, and the cost is spiralling out of control. When preliminary design began in 1994, the project was to have been completed in 2001 at a cost of €279m. The bill is now put at €800m, and there are suggestions that ...
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Bearing services
SKF has acquired Rolling Stock Supply & Service Pty Ltd, supplier of new and reconditioned wheelset bearings and axle boxes in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.Established in 1988, RSSS has workshops in Western Australia and Victoria, with annual sales of around £4·5m. Mobile on-site technical services include bearing removals, staff ...
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Tranz Rail battle rages on
SINCE we reported last month (RG 6.03 p343) that Toll Holdings had bought a 6·1% stake in New Zealand’s Tranz Rail, the bidding battle has been fought fast and furiously. On May 23 RailAmerica withdrew its bid for Tranz Rail following due diligence investigations, at which point Toll decided to ...
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Optimising Banestyrelsen’s renewals and maintenance strategy
A consortium led by Atkins Rail has completed a strategic review for the Danish national railway infrastructure agency Banestyrelsen, setting the forecast investment budget for 2003-15. A more proactive approach to managing railway assets should make a real difference to the bottom line
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Government backs integrated DB
GERMAN Railway has won its battle to keep vertical integration of train operations and management of the infrastructure, at least under the umbrella of the holding company. The need to retain a structure like that introduced in 1999 - which sees five subsidiaries responsible for long-distance passengers, regional and local ...
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Rail ’buoyant’ at troubled Alstom
ALSTOM’S full-year results showed orders received for the year to March 31 2003 as €19·1bn, down 4% from the previous fiscal year. Sales totalled €21·4bn, up 1% on a comparable basis. Operating margin before exceptional items was 4·1%, up from 4·0%.According to Chairman & CEO Patrick Kron, ’our profitability is ...
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Landbridge planning moves ahead
INTRO: A tri-national commission is finalising plans for the Trans-Asian rail link between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China, with the aim of signing a formal accord later this year and starting construction by 2005. Sergey Krivoruchko reviews the state of progress and the economic prospects for the new corridorGROWING COMPETITION between ...
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Airport links will go ahead
TAIWAN’S government has decided to take responsibility for building three long-planned rail links to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport near Taipei. The change from promoting them as build-operate-transfer concessions was announced by President Chen Shui-bian on May 24 as part of an effort to boost the economy, which has been hit ...
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DB orders ET423s
GERMAN Railway confirmed on May 28 that it had ordered a further build of Class ET423 EMUs for S-Bahn operations in various cities. The batch of 60 four-car articulated trainsets will bring the total fleet ordered to 456 sets, of which over 300 have already been delivered. Deliveries of the ...
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Line 3 launched
INDIAN Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani laid a foundation stone for Delhi Metro Line 3 at a ceremony on June 3. The 22·8 km third line forms part of Phase 1 of the city’s metro network, and will link Barakhamba with Dwarka, serving 22 stations. The first section between ...
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Upgrade on the way to 230 km/h
WITH plans to build a high speed maglev route between Berlin and Hamburg now forgotten, German Railway is forging ahead with upgrading of its main line between the two cities to allow 230 km/h running. Work during 2003 alone is costing €220m. From July 14 to September 27 the main ...
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Intelligence July 2003
Croatia: Transport Minister Roland Zuvanic has introduced a bill into parliament paving the way for restructuring HZ and permitting open access in line with European Union directives, with effect from January 1 2005. Czech Republic: Lostr has completed a prototype Kils 120 km/h high-capacity two-axle covered wagon with 22·5 tonne ...