All News articles – Page 274
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News
Sprinter refit progresses
NEARING completion at Bombardier’s Randers works is a Sprinter EMU for Netherlands Railways, being refurbished as a prototype for a mid-life fleet refit under a 200m guilders contract awarded in July 2001 (RG 8.01 p503). The unit was dispatched to Denmark in April 2002, and is due to re-enter service ...
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PEOPLE
Michael Ward has been named Chairman & CEO of CSX Corp in place of John Snow, who resigned to become US Secretary of the Treasury (RG 1.03 p19). Ward was previously President of CSX Transportation.Alex Hynes has been appointed Senior Economist at the UK’s Office of the Rail Regulator. He ...
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Northwest STAR
CHICAGO commuter rail operator Metra unveiled plans on January 29 to develop an 88·5 km orbital rail corridor from Joliet to Des Plaines and O’Hare airport in the city’s northwestern suburbs over the next 10 to 12 years. The US$1·1bn Suburban Transit Access Route would be worked by diesel multiple-units ...
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Murcia suburban
THE Ministry of Development has unveiled a €552m programme to develop suburban services around the city of Murcia in southeastern Spain, with the aim of increasing rail usage from 4·8 to 9·3 million passenger-journeys a year. Increasing frequencies on Renfe routes to Alacant, Cieza and Aguilas, as well as Feve’s ...
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Metros
China: Hong Kong’s Executive Council has authorised the start of detailed planning for MTR Corp’s proposed HK$10bn South Island Link, including a review of alternatives to the monorail being advocated by MTR. Project Director Russell Black hopes to start work in 2005 for opening by 2010.Shenzhen Metro Corp has ordered ...
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Market
Czech Republic: CD has called tenders for the supply of 20 four-axle 200 km/h tri-voltage electric locos. Financed by Eurofima, they are due to enter service in 2004.China: Scott Wilson Railways is to carry out design for Hong Kong’s fourth cross-harbour rail tunnel, carrying KCRC’s East Kowloon line between Kowloon ...
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Phosphate link
WORK IS expected to start shortly on the 22·5 km branch from Jordan’s Aqaba Railway to the phosphate mines at El Shediyah. ARC Director-General Abdullah Khawaldeh said on February 5 the line would be funded by the government at an approximate cost of US$15m.Khawaldeh predicted that the two existing mines ...
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Italian profits
Sir - Trenitalia Chief Executive Roberto Renon is reported as saying that his company’s profit ’was the first profit in the whole history of FS’ (RG 11.02 p689).This is not so. Up to 1939 Italian Railways was profitable. Editions of The Railway Year Book in the late 1930s show that ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Australia: Seven people died and 15 were seriously injured when the 06.24 CityRail EMU from Sydney to Port Kembla derailed at 07.14 on January 31 near Waterfall. The first of four double-deck Tangara cars was severely damaged when the unit slewed around and struck a sandstone rock face. Nothing was ...
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Madrid - Lleida ready to go
SPANISH National Railways has finalised its commercial strategy for the opening of the Madrid - Barcelona high speed line as far as Lleida. It will be operated with two AVE trainsets and 12 Talgo Altaria loco-hauled sets running at up to 200 km/h until ERTMS signalling is commissioned. Before the ...
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Galicia upgrade
PUBLIC CONSULTATION has begun in Spain on proposals to upgrade the 117 km Ourense - Lugo route for high speed operation, including the construction of four cut-offs that would shorten the distance to 103·3 km at a cost of €364·3m. The Ministry of Development says that the route will be ...
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UK research group founded
FEBRUARY 25 sees the formal launch in London of a new centre for railway research. Rail Research UK is being set up by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council to provide a ’one-stop shop of knowledge’ encompassing 12 research groups from seven universities. It will work alongside the rail ...
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Finance
Europe: Eurotunnel has reached cash breakeven, and is able to pay the interest on its debts. It recorded a 3% rise in operating profit during 2002 to £194m.France: Having agreed a five-year syndicated credit worth €1·5bn in December, RFF was planning to launch a 20-year bond issue worth up to ...
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Ferronor for sale
RAILAMERICA announced on January 29 that it is looking to sell its 55% stake in Ferronor of Chile, as part of an ongoing US$100m asset rationalisation programme. Credit Lyonnais Securities (USA) Inc was due to issue an ’offering memorandum’ at the end of February.RailAmerica acquired its stake at privatisation in ...
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Pioneer region pursues TER development
INTRO: Nord-Pas de Calais is one of the 20 regions of mainland France that assumed powers on January 1 last year to specify and fund local TER services. Although it has been working with SNCF for 25 years, the new structure and moves to open up the national network are ...
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Derailment detectors fitted to Swiss tank wagons
BYLINE: Silvan WeissProduct Co-ordination Manager, Central Europe, Esso Schweiz GmbHAFTER two potentially catastrophic derailments involving tank wagons in the mid-1990s, one at Affoltern near Zürich and the other in Lausanne, Swiss Federal Railways, the Swiss oil industry and the private-sector tank wagon owners resolved that similar incidents should not occur ...
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NRZ in deep trouble
ALL SEVEN directors of National Railways of Zimbabwe including the Chairman, Chivarange Chimombe, were dismissed on February 14 when the board was dissolved by the government. Announcing the decision, Transport & Communications Minister Witness Mangwende said NRZ would be administered by the Secretary of Transport & Communications, Colonel (Rtd) Christian ...
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Cutting remarks
AROUND 20 years ago the German Transrapid group demonstrated that a lawn mower could tow one of its maglev vehicles. We were somewhat surprised to learn last month that the same motive power is being considered to help keep Amtrak’s morning Eugene - Portland Cascades service on the rails. Every ...
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VIAFast to cut journey times
CANADIAN Transport Minister David Collenette suggested in January that VIA Rail could be operating high speed passenger services between Montréal, Ottawa and Toronto within five years. He believes Ottawa - Montréal journey times could be cut to 75min and Ottawa - Toronto to 2h 15min.Last year Collenette requested proposals from ...
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UIC study targets infrastructure costs
INTRO: A comparative study of infrastructure costs in Western Europe, North America and East Asia prepared for the UIC reveals that best practice can cut 40% off the average cost. The authors believe that ’vast potential’ exists for further savingsBYLINE: Dr Heiner Bente, Dr Jost Lüking and Oskar Stalder *RAILWAYS ...