All News articles – Page 318
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News
Kaohsiung starts at last
ON JANUARY 12 officials in Kaohsiung attended a ceremony to mark the start of work on the city’s long-planned metro network. Mayor Frank Hsieh and Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp Chairman Wang Chung-Yu signed a 36-year concession contract to build and operate the first two lines, totalling 42·7 km, at a ...
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Rawang - Ipoh under way
MALAYSIAN construction firm DRB-Hicom Bhd announced on December 20 that it had started preliminary works for the Rawang - Ipoh electrification project. The company was selected last July to undertake the civil works for double-tracking and realignment; the systems & electrification work is being undertaken by a Mitsui-led consortium (RG ...
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Interlockings live
SPANISH National Railways inaugurated a new signalling installation in Andalucia on November 30. Five electronic interlockings control a 50 km single-track section of the Córdoba - M
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INTELLIGENCE
Australia: The deadline for bids to purchase National Rail and FreightCorp has been extended to mid-January; Competition & Consumer Commissioner John Martin said on December 12 that the three bidders are Lang/Toll, ARG and Freight Australia (RG 11.01 p729).Upgrading and relocation of the Gladstone - Monto line in Queensland is ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Australia: Hamersley Iron has taken delivery of 132 iron ore wagons from Bradken; 106 more will arrive in February. Goninan is currently commissioning three General Electric Dash-9 locos at Dampier.Brazil: CPTM has begun preliminary studies for a US$200m privately-financed rail link between São Paulo and Guarulhos Airport, 4 ...
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Industry News
Canada: Alstom is to lay off 550 staff at its Pointe St Charles plant in Montréal. Blaming a slowdown in the American market, Alstom has halted its policy of speculative loco and wagon production.Czech Republic: Siemens has won the bid to acquire bankrupt rolling stock supplier CKD Dopravní, ahead of ...
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Rolling stock woes threaten industry turnround
NEWS REACHES us that German Railway’s Class VT611 tilting DMUs were once again withdrawn during December following a series of technical problems with the two-car sets in Rheinland-Pfalz. We have commented previously on the unfortunate tale of the VT611, which has seen the 50-strong fleet pulled in and out of ...
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Pearl line inaugurated
CEREMONIES were held in Shanghai on December 26 to mark the the start of revenue services on metro Line 3. The 25 km route, known as the Pearl line, runs around the western side of the city centre, connecting Jiang Wan Zhen in the northeast with the main station and ...
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Pendolinos handed over
THE FIRST fully-equipped Pendolino trainset for West Coast Main Line services linking London Euston with the West Midlands, North West and Scotland was handed over to Virgin Trains on November 26. In fact, Alstom managed to hand over two of the 25 kV 50Hz tilting trains rather than the single ...
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Geotextile site
ENGINEERS and contractors can now obtain impartial information about geosynthetic textiles, which are used to stabilise embankments, for subgrade soil separation and drainage. The Vinci-Quality website offers international access to a panel of 30 independent geotextile experts. Questions about geosythetics can be sent to the panel, who provide free advice ...
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Geosynthetic grid reinforcement
A £6m project to install a concrete deck slab over 150m of abandoned coal mine workings has been completed near Edinburgh. Donaldson Associates designed an innovative slab with transition zones of Vibro stone columns and Tensar polymer geogrid reinforced stone platforms for the project. Subsidence of the undocumented shallow mine ...
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Freight initiatives still lacking
’IF LONG-DISTANCE freight on Europe’s motorways grinds to a halt, then the European economy is finished, at least in the transit land of Germany.’ Speaking at WCRR 2001, Germany’s Secretary of State for Research Dr-Ing Uwe Thomas threw down a challenge to the railway community to develop ’a new long-distance ...
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SNCF tries silent freight train
IN HIS CLOSING speech to WCRR 2001, SNCF President Louis Gallois urged delegates to develop a freight train with quiet brakes, as he was ’constantly harrassed’ by complaints from people living near marshalling yards.Indeed, SNCF’s own research budget includes funds for a project to reduce the noise of freight trains ...
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Innovators study rail freight potential
FIVE YEARS AGO rail freight in the Netherlands was almost dead. NS had a market share of less than 2%, and journey lengths in the small country were far shorter than conventional wisdom dictated as the practical minimum. So it was of little surprise when the newly-commercialised NS decided to ...
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IR seeks food plaza operators
INDIAN Railway Catering & Tourism Corp has been set up to manage catering provision on trains and stations. The railway subsidiary will provide space, power and water for ’food plazas’ at 19 stations, but the catering outlets are to be built and operated by private companies.Companies interested in bidding to ...
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Foil sensors foil vandals
German Railway is using strain gauges from measurement technologist HBM to protect touch screen ticket machines from vandalism. The vandal-proof touch screens are formed by placing unbreakable glass in front of a normal computer VDU. At each corner of the frame is an HBM DBB01 sensor, consisting of an aluminium ...
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‘We need to find a more stable solution’
INTRO: Legislation before the Netherlands parliament will pave the way for the formation of a state-owned infrastructure company and the award of long-term operating and infrastructure management concessionsTHIS MONTH the Dutch parliament is due to debate a new law which will fundamentally alter the structure of the country’s rail network. ...
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Finance
Australia: New South Wales Premier Bob Carr announced on November 14 that A$80m would be allocated for track and bridge upgrading on rural lines in the north and west of the state, from money budgeted but not spent on the Olympic Games.Estonia: International Finance Corp has approved a US$50m loan ...
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Finance
Brazil: BNDES is lending R$231·9m to Ferronorte, to fund construction of 290 route-km between Alto Taquari and Rodonópolis and a bulk freight terminal.China: CR was due to issue last month three-year bonds totalling 2bn yuan to fund the construction of new railways.On January 8 Beijing Subway Co and Eximbank agreed ...
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Perpignan - Figueres shortlist
ON NOVEMBER 30 the French and Spanish governments agreed to shortlist all six bidders who had expressed an interest in the contract to build and operate the proposed cross-border link between Perpignan and Figueres (RG 11.01 p731). The shortlisted consortia now have until March 31 2002 to submit their bids, ...