All News articles – Page 307
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AustralAsia link making rapid progress
Tracklaying begins this month on the A$1·3bn Alice Springs - Darwin line. Opening in 2004, the Darwin extension of the existing line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs will realise a plan first put forward in 1858 and which has been a federal commitment since 1911BYLINE: Franco MorettiChief Executive Officer,Asia Pacific ...
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Poles no longer apart
BOMBARDIER Transportation has reached agreement with Polish State Railways over the purchase of high-performance EU11 electric locomotives, originally ordered from Adtranz on December 23 1996. The contract was for 50, of which eight were to have been dual-voltage units able to accept 15 kV 162/3Hz as well as PKP’s 3 ...
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Alstom boosts confidence
ON MARCH 14 Alstom announced details of its ’Restore Value’ plan to investors and analysts. Aimed at strengthening the balance sheet and generating cash, the plan prompted an immediate rise of 7·5% in the share price quoted in Paris.’Key challenges’ facing Alstom include high gearing following internally-funded acquisitions, insufficient cash ...
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Tunnel freight all but stopped
ON MARCH 8, SNCF informed neighbouring railway administrations in Belgium, Italy and Spain that it would not accept any freight bound for Britain until a backlog of 17 trains in transit through France had been worked through the Channel Tunnel. While a few subsequently made it to the other side, ...
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Schwechat Express go ahead
AUSTRIAN Federal Railways has reached agreement with the operators of Wien Schwechat international airport to launch a dedicated rail service. This paves the way for the long-planned renovation of Wien Mitte station, which is due to be completed by the end of 2003. A new City Air Terminal will ...
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Service pattern not yet agreed
PLANS are being finalised for the domestic and international inter-city services which will use HSL-Zuid, but Managing Director of the NS-KLM High Speed Alliance Nol D
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Rebodied EMUs take over South African commuter routes
INTRO: Unable to afford new trainsets, South African Rail Commuter Corp is fitting new bodies to old EMU underframes. Rollo Dickson has the storySTRIKINGLY refurbished rolling stock is appearing in Johannesburg and Cape Town, where the electric multiple-units that work South Africa Rail Commuter Corp’s suburban services are typically 30 ...
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Advanced Commuter Train pioneers changes on Tokyo’s suburban network
INTRO: Testing of East Japan Railway’s prototype Advanced Commuter Train is now in hand. Breaking with several conventions, the articulated EMU makes extensive use of on-board information technology to reduce operating costs and increase reliabilityBYLINE: Takashi EndoDirector, Advanced Railway System Development CentreEast Japan Railway CoJR EAST operates 17 suburban routes ...
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Westbahn upgrading adds capacity to priority transit corridor
INTRO: Austrian Federal Railways’ 317 km Westbahn between Wien and Salzburg is being modernised to handle growing transit traffic as the European Union prepares for expansionBYLINE: Dipl-Ing Helmut Hainitz and Dipl-Ing Rudolf Koller*AUSTRIA’S location at the heart of Europe obliges it to handle heavy flows of transit traffic, both north-south ...
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Shinkansen network tops 2000 km
INTRO: December this year sees the opening of the Morioka - Hachinohe extension of the Tohoku Shinkansen, taking the length of Japan’s high speed network to 2047 km. The first part of the Kyushu Shinkansen will open next year, and work is proceeding on two other extensions BYLINE: Hiroshi KanazawaDirector, ...
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Transilien stock updated
PARIS COMMUTERS got a sneak preview of the future on January 16, when French National Railways’ Transilien business unit unveiled the first of 936 suburban coaches to be refurbished over the next three years. Participating in the ceremonies at the Gare de l’Est were SNCF President Louis Gallois, the Préfet ...
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Supertram shortlist
WEST YORKSHIRE Passenger Transport Executive Metro announced on March 14 that it had shortlisted four consortia to build the 28 km Leeds Supertram network (RG 5.01 p285). Over 100 firms expressed interest in the £500m project last year, leading to an initial prequalification round. Metro hopes to select two groups ...
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Sevilla tender
BY THIS SUMMER the regional government of Andalucía expects to invite bids for a concession to build and operate Line 1 of the light metro network proposed for Sevilla. Expected to cost €360m and running east-west from Mairena de Aljarafe to Dos Hermanas via the city centre, this would be ...
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Publications
Conventional & Dedicated High Speed Railway TransportEdited by Igor KiselevThis 320-page hardback book in Russian is the first of two volumes discussing the historical development of high speed rail services in Russia, and the future prospects for dedicated high speed lines in the country. It is aimed at railway staff, ...
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Pointers
n Indian Minister of State for Railways Digvijay Singh and Iraqi Transport & Communications Minister Ahmed M Ahmed signed a memorandum of understanding in January offering Indian assistance with the development of Iraqi Republic Railways. Konkan Railway Corp has prequalified for work on the Mussayab - Samawa and Baghdad - ...
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PEOPLE
Vadin N Morozov has been appointed First Vice-Minister at the Russian Ministry of Railway Transport, succeeding A V Tselko who becomes President, West Siberia Railway. Vladimir I Yakunin has become a First Vice-Minister, succeeding A S Misharin who becomes a Vice-Minister. E Vinogradov has left his position as Vice-Minister. Vladimir ...
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Solidarité in Paris
MARCH 1 sees launch by the Syndicat des Transports d’Ile-de-France of the Carte Solidarité Transport, entitling those on low-incomes and free health care to half-price travel. The card can be used to buy carnets for RATP metro, tram and bus services plus most suburban buses, and single tickets on RER ...
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ZS to order tilting trains
Slovak rail operator Zeleznica Spolocnost has decided to order a fleet of tilting trains for the Bratislava - Púchov - Kosice corridor. Director-General Andrej Egyed confirmed at the end of February that ZS had reached agreement with Czech Railways and Alstom Ferroviaria to piggyback onto CD’s order for seven Class ...
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Road-rail order
INDO-US joint venture Phooltas Tamper has signed an agreement to supply 30 road-rail maintenance vehicles to Indian Railways. The Rs48m order follows the successful testing of four vehicles on different zonal railways. The 70 km/h units are based on a domestic Tata road vehicles, which has been adapted for road-rail ...
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Rugged workshop MMI
FRENCH equipment automation specialist Centralp has launched a new 15 inch LCD screen for use as an industrial man-machine interface. The Axtpanel-15 complements the company’s existing 10 and 12 inch designs, which are widely used on machine tools and workshop equipment.The display module comes in a rugged hardened-steel enclosure, with ...