All News articles – Page 334
-
News
Dutch Sprinter refurbishment
NETHERLANDS Railways awarded a 200m guilders contract to Bombardier on July 3 for the mid-life modernisation of 60 three-car Class SGM III Sprinter EMUs.The interiors of the Randstad commuter trains will be completely renovated, with new ceilings, floors, glass partitions and seating. An extra vestibule will be fitted to the ...
-
News
Dieter
Over 500 passengers were left wandering on the concourse at Marseille when staff forgot to put a TGV service to Paris on the departure board. The empty train was stopped at Aix-en-Provence TGV, and the passengers taken there by coach, finally arriving over three hours late. A run of bad ...
-
News
Swedish cut-off
AUGUST 20 will see the completion of a new double-track cut-off to boost capacity and shorten journey times on the Stockholm - Västerås line. Banverket inaugurated the SKr1·6bn route on June 5, although with only one track at first. Replacing a tortuous single track along the shores of Lake Malaren ...
-
News
C-Train growing
THREE of 32 new Siemens SD160 LRVs entered service in Calgary on July 4. Equipped with IGBT controls and AC drives, they are to be delivered in two batches, 15 this year and 17 in 2003, at a cost of C$112m. The bodyshells are being built in Siemens’ Carson plant ...
-
News
Delhi on course
THE FIRST section of Delhi’s northwest line is to be ready by December 2003. Delhi Metro Rail Corp announced on July 8 that it was starting utilities diversion for the route, which will run entirely on viaduct 12m above ground. The 8·5 km first section links the junction at Tri ...
-
News
Restructuring cuts FS costs
THE RESTRUCTURING of Italian State Railways took a further step on July 1, with the legal formation of infrastructure company Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. Part of the process to meet European directives on the separation of infrastructure and operations, the move also paves the way for wider implementation of open access ...
-
NewsTilt technology still evolving as the cost falls
With trains operational in more than a dozen countries and two more fleets about to enter service in Britain, the commercial case for tilt is firmly established. While there is still diversity of actuation techniques, the cost is falling and side effects such as nausea are being overcome
-
News
Loans fund corridor upgrades
CFR has negotiated several international loans to fund the modernisation of its two main international corridors. European Investment Bank financing worth €200m was negotiated in 1998 for the 160 km core section of Corridor IV between Bucuresti and Brasov, which is shared over the 59 km to Ploesti by Corridor ...
-
News
Czech corridor energised
ELECTRIC services began running between Ceske Budejovice and the Austrian border at Horni Dvoriste in southern Bohemia on June 10, following the inauguration of the 25 kV 50Hz wiring three days earlier (below). Part of Czech Railways’ north-south Corridor 4 linking the German and Austrian borders (RG 6.95 p377), the ...
-
News
High speed contracts
THESPANISH cabinet has given its approval for tenders to be called for civil works on the 12·8 km Santaella - Puente Genil section of the Córdoba - M
-
News
Door contract
A partnership of Parker Pneumatic and Fersystems has been selected to supply complete automatic internal door operating mechanisms for the upgrading of SNCF regional trains.Reader Enquiry Numbers Parker Pneumatic148Fersystems149
-
News
PR seeks concessionaires
THE PAKISTAN government has ruled that there is no question of full privatisation of the country’s 7791 km network, but private concessionaires have been invited to run passenger trains on selected routes. Initial response has been mixed, with some companies reluctant to bid for fear that they would face unfair ...
-
News
Cool comfort comes to the Paris metro
PARIS Transport Authority has awarded a contract worth €695m to a consortium of Alstom, Bombardier and Technicatome for 161 five-car MF2000 steel-wheeled metro trainsets. The order follows a long evaluation process - bids originally had to be submitted to RATP in April 1998.The order will replace about half the MF67 ...
-
News
Shinkansen comes to York
THE FIRST Japanese Shinkansen carriage to be exhibited outside Japan was unveiled at Britain’s National Railway Museum in York by His Excellency The Ambassador of Japan Sadayuki Hayashi on July 12.Built in 1976, Series 0 car number 22-141 was withdrawn in 2000 after travelling over 10 million km. It was ...
-
News
Funding collapse ends long-term investment hopes
THE RESPECTED Institute of Economic Affairs must have been aghast. Its June 26 conference on The Future of UK Rail was intended to celebrate the first anniversary of a 10-year funding package that would see £63bn of public cash and private capital pour into Britain’s privatised railway, leading to 50% ...
-
News
Cleaning venture
FROM October 1 Norway’s medium-distance trains are to be cleaned by a new company, NSB Trafikservice AS. This is a joint venture between Norwegian State Railways and cleaning services provider ISS Norway. This is part of the ISS services group, which also has contracts with London Underground and several British ...
-
News
Catalan trams
BARCELONA’s Autoritat del Transport Metropolità has approved plans for two more light rail lines, serving the eastern suburbs. With a total of 31 stops, the two lines will cost around Pts30bn. One will connect Gorg de Badalona with Barcelona Nord. The second will link the Renfe station at Sant Adrià ...
-
News
Smart cards to be standardised
THE ASSOCIATION of German Transport Undertakings is to draw up a set of standards for smart card ticketing. VDV members and industry partners will develop the technical and security specifications for future cards.Companies will use the specifications to simplify the use of smart cards across different networks, and to encourage ...
-
News
Integrated smart card
SMART cards can be recharged and account histories accessed over the internet using Nextfare Web Services, from Cubic Transportation Systems.Launched at the Card Tech conference in Las Vegas earlier this year, the software suite allows transit operators to offer customers a range of fare options and reward programmes. Multiple operators ...
-
News
Line A car deal
ONJULY 4 the Comune di Roma selected CAF of Spain to supply a fleet of 33 six-car trains to boost capacity on metro Line A. The €231m deal includes an option for a further 12 sets, and provision for a five-year maintenance agreement. Delivery of the first train to Metro.Ro ...