All News articles – Page 308
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News
Rennes opens VAL mini-metro
FREE rides were offered on the 8·5 km VAL mini-metro in Rennes from March 8 to 17, although access was restricted on March 15 for the formal opening by Minister of Justice Marylise Lebranchu and Mayor Edmond Hervé.Services using a fleet of 16 rubber-tyred driverless VAL 208 cars are operated ...
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Metros
Brazil: São Paulo Metro took delivery on February 14 of its first Alstom Metropolis six-car stainless steel EMU for Line 5. The remaining seven will be delivered by the end of August.France: Toulouse Metro has taken delivery of the first of 14 automated VAL 208 light metro trainsets.RATP is to ...
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Market
Australia: John Holland Group is to maintain the infrastructure of WestNet’s standard and 1067mm gauge networks in a five-year A$150m extension of its current maintenance contract.Czech Republic: Lekov Blovice is to supply components including electrical equipment and pantographs to Alstom, for use on locos for SNCF and Class 680 tilting ...
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Madrid plans MetroNorte
WITH ELECTIONS DUE next year, the Madrid regional government has begun studies that could determine the next phase of the city’s metro expansion programme. The administration led by Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón is planning to replicate the MetroSur ring line to the north of the capital, using private finance to build a ...
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Zug LRV order
WITH Swiss Federal Railways taking delivery of its first light rail car for the Seetalbahn (p165), similar vehicles may be in prospect for the light rail network planned for the town of Zug. SBB was designated as the operator last year, and it plans to call tenders shortly for 12 ...
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London PPP passes value for money test
On February 7 the board of London Transport voted unanimously to ’progress arrangements for all three competitions’ under the London Underground Public Private Partnership (RG10.01 p664). According to LT Chairman Sir Malcolm Bates, the vote demonstrated the board’s belief that the PPP is safe and offers value for money, as ...
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Zambian rail links
CONSTRUCTION is expected to start soon on two 1067mm gauge lines in eastern Zambia, following the receipt of US$100m in grants from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. The long-planned 40 km link from Malawi’s Mchinji railhead to the Zambian town of Chipata will be a comparatively straightforward ...
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Neubaustrecke link planning starts
GERMAN Railway announced at the end of January that it had started the formal planning process for a 75 km high speed line between Frankfurt and Mannheim. Due to be completed by 2008, the line would connect the existing Mannheim - Stuttgart Neubaustrecke with the K
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WTC rebuilds let
NEW YORK Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on February 14 the award of a US$92m contract to rebuild the tunnel carrying IRT subway Lines 1 and 9 under the site of the World Trade Center. Tully Construction and AJ Pegno Construction are expected to reopen the route to South Ferry by ...
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Toll and Lang win NRC/FC
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Transport Minister John Anderson announced on January 31 that interstate freight operator National Rail Corp and FreightCorp of New South Wales would be sold to the National Rail Consortium Pty Ltd for A$1172m. Due to be concluded by the end of February, the deal ...
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Kyushu wires
ELECTRIC services have been introduced on a secondary loop line between Kurosaki and Fukuoka, in northern Kyushu, following the completion of a wiring project totalling ´14bn. The 64·8 km route incorporates parts of JR-Kyushu’s Chikuho and Sasaguri lines, serving the former coal mining district of Chikuho.The loop diverges from the ...
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Radiolignes keeps SNCF passengers in the picture
ON JANUARY 30 French National Railways launched its Radiolignes service for main line passengers. By dialling a single telephone number, passengers can listen to a summary of train running performance for TGV and other inter-city trains across the SNCF network, followed by details of timekeeping by region, route or specific ...
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Turnround in Italy
ANNOUNCING Italian State Railways’ preliminary financial results for 2001 on February 12, President & Chief Executive Giancarlo Cimoli proudly stated that the national railway had made a ’net profit’ of €20m compared with a loss of €683m in the previous year. The preliminary figures give FS a gross operating margin ...
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Investment priorities switched
FOLLOWING strong criticism of ambitious investment plans for Russian Railways drawn up by former Minister of Rail Transport Nikolai Aksyonenko, his successor Gennadi Fadeyev has realigned the priorities for improvements to the 86031 km network (p136). The planned fixed link to the island of Sakhalin has been put on a ...
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Hitachi test train
HAVING been shortlisted with Alstom and Bombardier to supply 180 cars for the Connex South Eastern ’Metro’ inner-suburban EMU project, Hitachi has launched a test project with UK consultants AEA Technology Rail, Babcock & Brown, and leasing company HSBC Rail.Preliminary work in Japan has included crashworthiness tests to UKRailway Group ...
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Russia marries structural reform to higher investment
INTRO: Legislation currently being drafted will separate the Russian Railway Company from the Ministry of Railway Transport, which retains regulatory functions. More changes will follow, but for now the priority is to overcome a huge backlog of under-investment dating from the Soviet era, particularly inmotive power and rolling stockBYLINE: Victor ...
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TGV powers SNCF growth
DESPITE the effects of September 11 and a slowdown in economic activity, income from SNCF’s long-distance passenger business grew by 5·9% in 2001. Stimulated by the successful launch of TGV Méditerranée, which carried 11 million passengers in its first seven months of operation, TGV revenue rose 11·4% to reach €2·7bn. ...
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Singapore grows
REVENUE services on the Singapore metro extension to Changi Airport began on February 8, two days after the line was handed over to Singapore MRT Ltd by the Land Transport Authority.Construction of the two-station branch began in January 1999. The first section as far as Expo was opened on January ...
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No pneus is good pneus
WE ARE accustomed to the changes of fortune and politics that so often impede the progress of light rail schemes. The high infrastructure cost can result in a political football game between pro and anti-spending lobbies. Usually, though, once the trams are able to show off their advantages, all is ...
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ITCS goes live
CHICAGO - Detroit passenger services were accelerated on January 14, when Amtrak commissioned its pilot Incremental Train Control System in southwest Michigan (RG 8.96 p496). Trains are now permitted to run at 145 km/h between New Buffalo and Kalamazoo, in the first significant increase in passenger train speeds above 127 ...