All News articles – Page 324
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News
East London line go-ahead
BRITISH Transport Secretary Stephen Byers announced on October 9 that he had approved plans for a southern extension to London Underground’s East London line. A 2·5 km link to the South London line and a flyover at New Cross Gate will reconnect the line with the South Central network, enabling ...
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Dieter
CAPTION: Austrian Federal Railways has brought a new twist to the tradition of school trains, bringing the school to the passengers instead of the passengers to the school. In conjunction with Innsbruck University, ÖBB is offering daily language classes in ex-dining cars on regional services. Dieter suggests this may be ...
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Success in research demands railway-industry partnerships
INTRO: Research work is increasingly carried out by suppliers and industry, but railways still have an important role in co-ordinating innovation and the development of new ideas. It is vital that performance specifications incorporate railway experience of operations and maintenanceBYLINE: Dr Rainer SchmidbergerDirector of Research & Development,German RailwayTHE SHAPE of ...
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Cutting rail noise
CURRENTLY on trial with SNCF are tuned steel bars bonded to the web and foot of a rail by a high-integrity damage- resistant polymer, to reduce radiated noise. The absorbers can be installed on existing track or when the rails are made.Corus Rail developed the technique with Southampton University, ...
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Cross-border progress
PLANNING for construction of a standard-gauge rail link across the Pyrenees between Perpignan and Figueres moved forward on October 9, when the French government issued a Declaration of Public Utility for the line as far as the border at Le Perthus. Intended to carry both freight and passenger services, the ...
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Hybrid shunter lowers costs and emissions
RAILPOWER Technologies Corp demonstrated its first ’Green Goat’ hybrid microturbine/battery electric shunting locomotive in New Westminster, British Columbia, on September 5. The 130 tonne loco offers a 50% to 90% reduction in nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions and up to a 35% reduction in fuel consumption compared with conventional shunters.Green ...
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Freight corridor
UPGRADING WORK IS to start shortly to create a new rail freight corridor through the French region of Lorraine, following the signing of a €125m financing agreement between RFF and the regional council on September 28. The government will provide €62·5m, Lorraine €37·1m and RFF €18·3m.The 150 km line between ...
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Istanbul tunnel and metro contracts to be signed
TURKEY: The Railway, Port & Airport Construction Directorate was expected to sign a contract with Eurasia Joint Venture by the end of October, covering consultancy and engineering services for the Marmaray Bosporus rail crossing. Preparation of tender documents for the construction work is expected to take eight months, and construction ...
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NS contract delayed
NETHERLANDS Transport Minister Tineke Netelenbos has agreed to postpone the start of Netherlands Railways’ 10-year operating contract, to give the railway time to recover from its current performance problems (RG 9.01 p555). Under the deal, NS will be given a ’pre-franchise’ monopoly of the core network, with the minister reserving ...
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Ensuring consistency and continuity
INTRO: Over the past six months, the stake-holders in the European Rail Research Institute have been reviewing its long-term role in the changing shape of railway researchBYLINE: Drs Gunnar GustafssonManaging Director,European Rail Research InstituteCHANGE has become a way of life for the world’s railways, sweeping through the industry for a ...
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Forstinger favours on-rail competition ...
SPEAKING at the IRCA-UIC World Railway Congress in Wien on September 25, held jointly with the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, Austrian Transport Minister Dipl-Ing Dr Monika Forstinger announced a 30-year National Transport Plan. Of a total spend of Sch644bn, as much as Sch400bn is earmarked for rail, although ...
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Managing clients
Sir - I am a final year student on the University of Reading’s MBA course on Construction & Real Estate and I am in the early days of a dissertation entitled ’Managing the client in railway construction projects’.The hypothesis which I am seeking to prove is that the role of ...
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Wagon checking
LYNXRAIL has commissioned an Automated Train Examiner for BHP Iron Ore Railways. It uses machine vision technology and expert system software to measure component wear, detecting and reporting critical faults.Installed at the lineside, ATEx works at speeds up to 140 km/h. As a train passes, cameras and microphones take 135 ...
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CTRL charges too high, says Gallois
SNCF President Louis Gallois asserted last month that high track access charges for using the Channel Tunnel Rail Link 'will make it hard to have a viable Eurostar service' into St Pancras when Section 2 is completed in 2007. He also told the Financial Times that 'we will lose Waterloo' ...
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Research centre ready
EAST JAPAN Railway is to open a new technical research & development centre in December, built at a total cost of ´6·6bn. The facility is located at Omiya, 30 km north of Tokyo, on the site of a former training centre which has been moved north to Shirakawa. JR-East will ...
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Developing a standard metro car
INTRO: As the number of metros in South Korea increases, the range of vehicle types in use has proliferated. Following extensive research, specifications have been developed for a future standard metro trainset BYLINE: Kwan-Sup LeeDirector General, Urban Transit Engineering Department, Korea Railroad Research InstituteNOW undergoing safety and reliability tests on ...
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Calgary light rail grows
CEREMONIES were held on October 5 to dedicate the first extension of Calgary’s C-Train light rail network to be completed in 11 years. The 3·5 km, two-station extension of the south line to Canyon Meadows and Fish Creek-Lacombe (146 Avenue) opened for revenue service on October 9, following the Canadian ...
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Byers sees 'a golden opportunity'
UK: Far from showing signs of contrition over the storm and upheaval that his October 7 decision had generated, Secretary of State for Transport Stephen Byers told the House of Commons on October 15 that 'the administration of Railtrack provides us with a golden opportunity to create a railway system ...
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Bureaucratic overkill
Sir - The Institute of Logistics & Transport’s report Railway Health & Safety Regulatory Strategy (RG 10.01 p664) appears to be a most apt and timely warning against the bureaucratic safety overkill that has been inflicted on Britain’s railways over the last decade or so. Indeed, Part 2 of Lord ...
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Industry News in Brief
Siemens Duewag Schienenfahrzeuge GmbH and Siemens Krauss Maffei Lokomotiven GmbH were formally merged into Siemens AG with effect from October 1.International Engineering plc and Queensland Rail are planning to bid jointly for expansion and rebuilding projects on the State Railway of Thailand network. International Engineering is also planning to invest ...