All News articles – Page 270
-
News
Heads roll after bridge closes
AT PRECISELY 18.37 on March 27, Director-General of Transport in New South Wales Michael Deegan ordered the indefinite closure to all traffic of the Menangle bridge. Several trains approaching the bridge on the main line between Sydney and Melbourne were halted. Freight operations have been severely disrupted, not assisted by ...
-
News
Ugandan affair
ENABLING legislation has been drafted for the privatisation of Uganda’s rail network, and the government hopes to issue an information memorandum in August. Minister of State for Privatisation Prof Peter Kasene told the Trans Africa 21 conference in London on March 31 that formal bids for a 25-year concession, renewable ...
-
News
AAR makes the case for rail
INTRO: Following deregulation, North America’s freight railways have continued to enjoy impressive market share, but challenges remain as the industry strives to make the best use of emerging technology and tap new sources of capital funding. Murray Hughes put the questions to Ed Hamberger, President & Chief Executive Officer of ...
-
News
GISA lets Line 9 civils
THE CATALUNYA regional government’s construction authority GISA has awarded 15 contracts for civil works on Line 9 of the Barcelona metro (RG 4.03 p184), worth a total of €1·16bn. Consortia including FCC have won work worth a total of €471m, while Dragados is a member of groupings that have netted ...
-
News
Valencia opens Line 5
AT THE end of last month Valencia metro operator FGV was due to put into service the first section of Line 5, a 2·5 km branch running from Alameda on Line 3 to Parque Ayora in the east of the city (RG 6.02 p287). With intermediate stations at Aragón and ...
-
News
POSS to monitor 1000 ’most critical’ points
CONTINUOUS analysis of the current drawn by 150 point motors at key locations near Amsterdam (right) has reduced train delays by more than 60% during trials, and ProRail has now approved a plan to install the equipment at over 1000 sites across the Dutch rail network.POSS, which translates as Strukton ...
-
News
Tamping tine tips
RE-TECH HandelsgesmbH and BTI-USA have jointly developed two designs of tamping tool tips, Speed Tip and Xtreme Tip. The carbide parts are designed to offer high availability and lower costs. The height and width can be made to suit a customer’s requirements, with the pad position selected to suit different ...
-
News
Sidetrack
No ordinary weedYORK station car park is an unlikely location for botanical discoveries, but Dr Richard Abbott of St Andrews University has discovered a new species of plant there. He first spotted the ’scruffy-looking weed’ on a visit in 1979. On a more recent trip he noticed it had spread, ...
-
News
Publications
Rail Freight Handbook 2003This A4 softback annual provides a comprehensive listing of the many organisations involved in Britain’s rail freight industry, including operators, infrastructure providers, customers and political organisations. Introductory articles by authors including Rail Regulator Tom Winsor and Network Rail Deputy CEO Ian Coucher look at issues affecting the ...
-
News
Sumatra scheme proposed
THE INDONESIAN province of Riau has announced plans for a 1350 km network in northern central Sumatra. The province has allocated US$1·1bn, and commissioned a feasibility study.First phase would be a 225 km line from the terminus of the existing 1067mm gauge North Sumatra railway at Rantau Prapat to Riau’s ...
-
News
Safety prioritised
AROUND 60 % of safety and security problems caused by users of Netherlands Railways are attributed to people without tickets. With a view to tackling this situation, fines for fare dodging are to be increased, and access to platforms at some stations is to be controlled by barriers operated by ...
-
News
Pointers
n Queensland Railways is to put its tilting diesel trainsets into service between Brisbane and Cairns on June 15, state Transport Minister Steve Bredhauer announced on March 13. The existing Queenslander and Sunlander services were to be merged with effect from April 1. n An intergovernmental agreement for construction of ...
-
News
Salzburg plans U-Bahn
AS PART of its bid to host the Winter Olympic Games in 2010, the Austrian city of Salzburg unveiled on March 7 a plan to develop a U-Bahn over the next six years. The idea is to extend the existing Lokalbahn from Lamprechtshausen, which now terminates beneath ÖBB’s main station, ...
-
News
PEOPLE
Having first taken up the post in 1996, Louis Gallois has been reappointed as President of SNCF for a third term, lasting five years. He represents the state on the SNCF board, together with Christian Brossier, Jean-Didier Blanchet, Bruno Bézard, Pierre-Mathieu Duhamel, Nicolas Jacquet and Didier Bureau. Jacques Maillot represents ...
-
News
Siemens wins Zürich order
SWISS FEDERAL Railways has ordered 35 double-deck EMUs from Siemens Schweiz AG for the next phase of the Zürich S-Bahn network, at a cost of SFr447m. The first unit is scheduled for delivery in October 2005, and all should be in traffic by January 2008. The air-conditioned four-car sets will ...
-
News
Rolling news
AMSTERDAM tram passengers are now able to watch travel reports, news and information on the move. Since February 20, Mobil Info has been installed on 20 Combino trams. Eight 15 in video screens on each vehicle show ’infotainment’ programmes in 20 min cycles. Developed by Viacom Outdoor, Trend Network and ...
-
News
Missouri Mule reprieved
THE Missouri legislature has approved an extra appropriation of $800 000 to support a twice daily passenger service between St Louis and Kansas City. Amtrak had served notice it would cease running the Missouri Mule from February 28 unless it received an additional $1·2m to cover its expenses for the ...
-
News
Riders missing
LATER this year New Jersey Transit will open its 54·7 km South Jersey diesel light rail line. Sadly, the project looks set to be a serious drain on NJT’s finances, with farebox revenue expected to cover just 11% of estimated annual operating costs of $21·5m. Despite a planned bargain one-way ...
-
News
Mid-Coast trolley
SAN DIEGO Metropolitan Transit Development Board voted on February 27 to build a further light rail line, serving the La Jolla area north of the city. The 17·2 km Mid-Coast line will start at the Old Town Transit Center and run north to the University of California-San Diego campus and ...