All News articles – Page 290
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News
Domodedovo linked
AUGUST 1 saw the start of hourly trains from Moscow Paveletsky station to the city’s Domodedovo airport, in a joint project developed by Moscow Railway and the airport operator East Lines Group. The dedicated service uses the first refurbished EMUs from Moscow Locomotive Plant (RG 7.02 p346). Airline passengers, who ...
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Modular diesels on parade
VOSSLOH Schienenfahrzeugtechnik will be presenting its recently developed G1000BB and G1700BB centre cab diesel-hydraulic locomotives.A successor to the V90, the G1000BB is designed for heavy shunting and light main line duties. The G1700BB is a powerful diesel-hydraulic locomotive designed for heavy freight trains and shunting operation. Built in Kiel, both ...
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Network Rail demands more
A 97% majority of Railtrack Group shareholders voted on July 23 to accept Network Rail’s offer to buy Railtrack plc (RG 8.02 p398). Despite a threat of legal action against the government by private shareholders, NR is expected to assume ownership and control of the UK’s rail national infrastructure this ...
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Metro rolls in Delhi
DELHI Metro Rail Corp has taken delivery of its first four-car metro trainset, and was expecting to begin testing and commissioning on September 15. The initial 8·3 km Shahdara - Tis Hazari section is expected to open in the last week of December.A total of 240 coaches worth US$330m have ...
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Media deal
BEIJING Metro Corp and Zhongxin Culture & Sport Industry Co have formed a joint venture, Beijing Subway Culture & Media Co, to manage advertising, signage and newspaper distribution on the Chinese capital’s metro. The publishing and marketing of materials on sale at stations will be unified. Modern and more convenient ...
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Metrostar funding deal
MANILA’S private-sector Metro Rail Transit consortium confirmed on August 7 that it had raised US$378m to fund construction of the second phase of the EDSA light rail Line 3. The money has been raised by a public offer and private placing of asset-backed bonds. The deal also involved securitising future ...
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SECR created in zonal split
DESPITE protests from West Bengal politicians, India’s Railway Minister Nitish Kumar confirmed on July 8 an earlier decision to create two new zonal railway administrations by splitting the Eastern Railway. Under the 1996 reorganisation, ER lines in Bihar (the Danapur and Malda divisions) were to be hived off with two ...
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Driving costs down
SOUTHAFRICAN procurement company Promat, which previously operated as a separate subsidary of the state holding company Transnet, has been incorporated into Spoornet as part of an overhaul of the railway’s buying policies. ’World class’ buying practices are to be evaluated, with a view to improving the railway’s buying power and ...
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DB relinquishes research and questions the cost of ETCS
INTRO: German Railway is ending in-house research as it realigns its commercial strategy. Giving his views to Murray Hughes in Berlin, DB Board Member for Technology Dr Karl-Friedrich Rausch also affirmed that DB has no commercial incentive to install ETCSBEFORE JOINING German Railway as Board Member for Technology, Dr Karl-Friedrich ...
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Train control technology
INTERACTIVE workstations will be used by Westinghouse Rail Systems to demonstrate its train control technology. Invensys Rail Systems’ radio-based ERTMS/ETCS equipment developed by Westinghouse and Dimetronic Signals will be available for inspection. Also on display will be the Westrace computer-based interlocking processor, Westcad displays, and a Radio Block Centre module.A ...
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Connex drops Metro EMU
FACED WITH a deadline to withdraw all remaining MkI EMUs by December 31 2004, Connex South Eastern has cancelled plans to buy a fleet of ’Connex Metro’ high-capacity inner suburban units, for which Alstom and Hitachi had submitted bids. Instead, it announced on July 24 it was exercising two more ...
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Tax change unlocks investment
AFTER DECADES of resisting change to its tax laws, New York’s state legislature has finally decided to provide tax relief for railways that serve the state. Legislators have passed a bill that will cut property taxes by 45% over the next seven years, bringing rates for railways in line with ...
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Chile car orders
ALSTOM is to build 180 stainless steel cars for Santiago metro Line 4, on which construction started in July (RG 8.02 p401). The €250m contract covers supply of 60 three-car Metropolis trains, Urbalis automatic train control equipment and long-term maintenance services. Deliveries from works in Europe and Brazil will be ...
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Canberra may lease NSW freight lines
FEDERAL Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport & Regional Services John Anderson offered investment worth A$870m to improve Australia’s principal freight routes when he addressed the National Rail 2002 conference in Melbourne on July 31.However, the funding is conditional upon acceptance by the New South Wales government of an ...
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Canadian routes could get federal funds
Also included would be financial help for about 40 short lines. Canada’s short line operators have been drawing the government’s attention to their needs as policy changes are formulated by Transport Canada. The Association of Regional Railways of Canada, set up in October last year, is keenly awaiting a ruling ...
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Boom time for the Dutch
AN 11m extended long-reach boom attachment has been fitted to a Volvo EC460 excavator being used to help build a chord from the Flevo line to the Amsterdam - Hilversum main line near Weesp. The machine is removing a 2m deep overburden for the construction of a 1·5 km cut ...
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In search of a quieter, lighter freight bogie
INTRO: With the prospect of the European Union introducing mandatory standards for noise emissions from rail vehicles, researchers in Germany have developed a low-noise freight bogie that could attract lower access charges. The first of two prototypes with cross-anchors and inside frames will begin tests next yearBYLINE: Prof Markus HechtRail ...
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Marmaray construction bids due
TURKEY: Prequalification bids are due by September 17 for construction of Istanbul's Marmaray tunnel. As well as the 1·8 km double-track submerged tube under the Bosporus linking Eminonu on the European shore with Uskudar on the Asian side, there will be 11·5 km of bored tunnel forming an underground route ...
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Cathedral of glass houses Berlin’s central interchange
AT 04.05 on July 4 a Berlin S-Bahn train bound for Potsdam drew to a halt in Berlin’s new Lehrter Bahnhof. Passengers and media representatives were presented with mementos to commemorate the first commercial service to halt at what will surely become Germany’s busiest interchange. Long-distance and regional trains on ...
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S-Bahn Berlin restores the Ring
INTRO: Completion in June of the final segment of Berlin’s S-Bahn Ring marked the end of a programme to reinstate missing links in the central area. Emphasis is now switching to renewal and upgrading workBYLINE: Dipl-Ing Günter RuppertChief ExecutiveDipl-Ing Rainer PohlmannTraffic Planning ManagerS-Bahn Berlin GmbHIT HAS BEEN an eventful summer. ...