All News articles – Page 340
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News
Infraspeed wins HSL-Zuid PPP
ON MAY 11 Dutch Transport Minister Tineke Netelenbos and Finance Minister Gunnar Zalm announced that a Memorandum of Understanding had been signed for provision and maintenance of track, signalling, power supplies, noise barriers and communication systems on HSL-Zuid between Amsterdam and the Belgian border.The Infraspeed BV consortium has been selected ...
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MetroRail keeps growing
WASHINGTON Metro held a groundbreaking ceremony on May 8 for its 5 km Blue line extension from Addison Road to Largo, Maryland (RG 1.01 p29). The $434m project includes two new stations, and the line is expected to open at the end of 2004.On April 19 the WMATA board ...
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Grasping the nettle
EARLIER this year alarming reports surfaced about a McKinsey study that envisaged German Railway making huge cuts in passenger and freight services in an attempt to avoid massive financial losses in the next few years. At the time DB acknowledged that McKinsey had been asked to undertake studies, but was ...
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Line H gets under way
On April 19 Aníbal Ibarra, head of the Buenos Aires city government, formally marked the start of work on metro Line H during a ceremony at the site of the future Incl
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S-Bahn funds
AUSTRIAN Transport Minister Monika Forstinger has approved an initial grant of Sch600m towards the development of an S-Bahn network in Salzburg. A further Sch150m will come from the local authority towards the first stage of the Sch3bn scheme originally agreed in 1998. A start of work is expected shortly on ...
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Investment funds sought
THIS YEAR’S TransAfrica 21 conference, organised on May 8-10 in London by GlobalSA Ltd within the Africa Investment Forum promotional framework, treated delegates to a range of contrasting views on ways to privatise or restructure their railways.With concessioning and privatisation starting to bear fruit in several African countries, investment is ...
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Nigerian funding
TRANSPORT Minister Ojo Maduekwe has allocated state finance totalling 1bn naira for rehabilitation of the Nigerian rail network. The move followed a promise made by President Olusegun Obasanjo on April 26 to complete the revitalisation of the national railways within two years. The President made his comments during the inauguration ...
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Freight strategy unveiled
A £4bn investment package to boost rail freight traffic in Britain was announced on May 3 by the Strategic Rail Authority’s Freight Director Julia Clarke. Intended to form part of the SRA’s Strategic Plan due later this year, the freight strategy is designed to deliver the 80% increase in tonne-km ...
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Fleet management software
SWISS consultancy Enotrac was to launch an English-language version of its VIS-Carsis fleet management software at the UITP’s Mobility & City Transport exhibition in May. Available on both local area network and over the internet, the software is designed for use by any size of railway. Lifetime data collection for ...
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Finance
China: The Export-Import Bank has negotiated a ´11·6bn loan for the Shuoxian - Huanghua heavy-haul coal line. The money will allow the autonomous Shenhua (Group) Co Ltd to purchase 20 high-power locos and 3000 coal wagons.From June 1 the Hang Seng Index includes Mass Transit Railway Corp. MTR has the ...
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EMU maintenance plan improved
ELECTRIC multiple-units operated at 3 kV DC by South Africa Rail Commuter Corp are up to 42 years old, requiring a careful approach to maintenance to keep them running. The period between general overhauls for the Class 5M2A fleet had been extended from seven to 18 years, but part of ...
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Embedded rail on test
Trials have been carried out by München University with a novel design of embedded rail system developed by Balfour Beatty Rail Projects. An initial batch of rail has been rolled, but a firm commitment to full-scale field trials has yet to be signed.The Type 14072 rail weighs 74 kg/m and ...
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Dong shortage
AMBITIOUS PLANS to develop the metre gauge network in Vietnam have been drawn up by the Ministry of Communications & Transport. By far the largest tranche of the 13000bn dong programme would be destined for the 1730 km Trans-Vietnam trunk line between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with 10500bn ...
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The deficits have gone - now we need the investment
INTRO: Apart from Queensland, privatisation of rail freight in Australia could be completed this year. Operational efficiency has improved and trains are now moving more tonne-km than trucks, but publicly-owned interstate routes are still not getting the investment required to boost asset productivity and performanceBYLINE: John KirkExecutive DirectorAustralasian Railway AssociationAUSTRALIA’s ...
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Dear Sir - The Hatfield rail was not unique...
INTRO: Fred Mau* points out that rails have shattered before on the scale observed after last October’s derailment, and points to the interaction of rolling contact fatigue cracks with residual stresses in the railTHE PICTURE of the rail recovered from Hatfield in RG 3.01 (p157) prompts me to write. The ...
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Victoria to deal with gauge frontiers
INCLUDED in the State of Victoria’s budget from July 1 2001 to June 30 2002 is the first A$10m tranche of a A$140m programme to convert 2000 km of country lines beyond the electrified Melbourne suburban area from 1600 to 1435mm gauge. The state government has committed in principle a ...
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ICE orders confirmed
AFTER announcing in February that it was placing orders for 28 ICE-T tilting trainsets and another 13 ICE3 units (RG 3.01 p141), German Railway has confirmed that the trains will be built by a Siemens-led consortium. Other members include Bombardier and Alstom, which will supply hydraulic tilt gear to the ...
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Liberalisation conference
ON MAY 2 a conference at the European Parliament called, perhaps not unexpectedly, for the liberalisation of Europe’s railways. Representatives of Unife, the European Commission’s Railway Policy Unit and a number of railway companies attended, in addition to MEPs.Chairing the event was British Conservative MEP Christopher Beazley who said ’the ...
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Montreal commuter expansion
QUEBEC’S Minister for Transport Guy Chevrette announced on April 17 the go-ahead for a fifth commuter rail route in Montreal. Services to the south shore town of Delson are due to start on September 4, as part of a programme designed to reduce road congestion in the city centre.The ministry ...
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China to fund PR coaches
AN AGREEMENT signed in Islamabad on May 11 should see 40 coaches of a new design delivered to Pakistan Railways from China by the end of 2002. Under the US$100m funding package, a further 135 coaches are to be assembled in Pakistan to the same design with Chinese technical assistance.The ...