All News articles – Page 350
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News
Government prepares to privatise national network
INTRO: Taiwan’s Minister of Transport & Communications Mrs Chu-Lan Yeh envisages that a privatised national railway will one day complement the role of high speed line operator Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation. Murray Hughes interviewed her in TaipeiHughes: You have a very unusual situation in Taiwan in that a private ...
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Laval goes out to tender
BIDS for construction of Montréal’s Orange line extension to Laval were called last month, following the allocation of C$378·8m by the Québec provincial government. On January 26 Transport Minister Guy Chevrette confirmed that the province would fund 100% of the capital cost, and announced that a request for bids would ...
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Lhasa go-ahead
CHINA’S State Planning Council announced on February 8 the go-ahead for construction of the long-planned rail link from Golmud to the Tibetan city of Lhasa. One of four routes studied by the Ministry of Railways, the 1118 km line is the shortest option, and is costed at around 20bn yuan. ...
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Wash and go
GERMAN train washer specialist Kärcher has installed several new plants for Swiss and German railways. The plant at Hof in Bayern uses a preheating system to allow it to operate at temperatures down to -5°C, and recycles 70% of the water used.Frankfurt-H
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Gauteng rail initiative
PROPOSALS to develop a fast rail network linking Pretoria, Johannesburg, Johannesburg International Airport and Sandton are set to move forward, with a conference to be held in May for potential suppliers and private-sector investors in the proposed public-private partnership. The aim is to close a BOT deal during 2002, ...
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Metro overhaul must go forward
ON MAY 21-24 the International Union of Public Transport will hold its 54th Congress. Host city for this event will be London, where delegates will have the opportunity to see at first hand what private operation can do for rail commuter services. They will also be able to explore London’s ...
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Finance
Spain: The Ministry of Development has allocated Pts4·4bn this year for removing or upgrading level crossings, in addition to Pts4·5bn to be provided by Renfe and FEVE. At the end of 2000 there were 3849 level crossings still in use.Sudan: The Chinese government has agreed to lend US$22m to fund ...
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Hikari Rail Star starts to reverse fall in market share
INTRO: Shojiro Nan-ya, President of West Japan Railway, believes that the latest design of Shinkansen rolling stock is winning back traffic lost to air. Murray Hughes met him in JapanALTHOUGH immensely successful, Japan’s Shinkansen is not invincible. Both JR Central’s Tokaido Shinkansen and the Sanyo Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Fukuoka ...
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Samjota Express runs on
Delegations from India and Pakistan have agreed to continue running the bi-weekly Samjota Express between Lahore and Amritsar for another three years. Indian Railway Board member S Bhandari and Abdul Qayyum of Pakistan Railways signed a new agreement in January after a review of the level of rail services between ...
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East-west fast link
French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot has asked RFF and SNCF to complete feasibility studies for the first stage of a ’fast link’ project that would see RER Line E connected to the national network beyond its current western terminus at Haussmann Saint-Lazare. Expected to be complete by 2007 at cost ...
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First Desiro UK shell ready
SIEMENS was due to complete the first bodyshell for its Desiro UK electric multiple-unit fleet last month. Unveiling a full-scale mock-up of a 20m driving power car on February 5 in Britain, Siemens said that the trains will be supplied from its Krefeld and Wien plants, with bogies from SGP ...
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Delhi makes progress
ON FEBRUARY 3, Delhi Metro Rail Corp completed the launching of the Yamuna bridge, which forms the centrepiece of its 8·3 km initial section of Line 2 between Shahdara and Tiz Hazari (MR 00 p32). The incrementally-launched 555m long 12-span bridge has a 25-segment girder weighing 14000 tonnes. Built by ...
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DB’s high speed programme regains momentum
THE ANNOUNCEMENT on February 14 that German Railway is to proceed with the stalled Stuttgart 21 project and construction of a new high speed line over the 65 km between Wendlingen, southeast of Stuttgart, and Ulm suggests that it has managed to garner strong support for its programme of major ...
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DB joins loco leasing pool
GERMAN Railway revealed on February 2 that it had reached agreement with Austrian Federal Railways to form a joint locomotive leasing pool. An initial fleet of 50 locos is being allocated: 25 of DB’s Siemens-built Class 152 freight locos and 25 of ÖBB’s similar Class 1016 Taurus design. According to ...
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Contractors offer more efficient renewals
INTRO: Track renewals would be cheaper and more efficient on the French national network if private sector contractors were allowed a larger share of the workMANY FRENCH people remember December 1995. In that month a long-running industrial dispute at French National Railways erupted into a full-blown strike. Paris was all ...
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Ground improvement offers consistent subgrade stiffness
INTRO: Field tests are to start shortly into methods of improving the stiffness of the subgrade without disrupting commercial services. The Isert project is being carried out by the University of Birmingham with Railtrack and a group of suppliers. Methods to be tested include mixing or injection of chemical stabilisers, ...
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Ministers commit to Lyon - Torino
ON JANUARY 29 during an intergovernmental summit held in Torino, French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot joined Italian Transport Minister Pierluigi Bersani and Minister of Public Works Mario Nesi to sign an agreement setting out the immediate programme of studies to be undertaken for a new line between Lyon and Torino. ...
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Circular revival
SINDH Province Transport Minister Dewan Mohammed Yousuf Farooqui announced on February 2 that passenger services would be re-introduced on the Karachi Circular Railway on May 1. The line will be operated by a new Urban Railway Board formed by Karachi Metropolitan Council, with technical assistance from Pakistan Railways.A provincial committee ...
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Cross channel market gains
Eurostar Group has reported strong year-on-year growth for the full year of 2000. During the period sales revenue across the Eurostar business increased by 12% to £439m, up from £393m in 1999 (excluding exchange rate movements). Sales volumes increased by 9%. The corresponding figures for 1999 were a 6% increase ...
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Wisconsin Central sells to CN
CANADIAN National revealed on January 30 that it had reached agreement to buy the North American operations of Wisconsin Central Transportation Corp for US$1·2bn. CN will acquire WCTC’s common stock for US$17·15 per share, and take over approximately US$400m of debt. The deal will give CN control of WC’s Chicago ...