All News articles – Page 360
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News
Iran orders express DMUs
ON SEPTEMBER 12 Austrian trade minister Dr Bartenstein and his Iranian counterpart Dr Schafei attended a contract signing ceremony for the supply of 20 inter-city diesel trainsets for Iranian Islamic Republic Railways. The four-car units will be supplied by Siemens Austria under a deal worth Sch1·37bn, which was signed by ...
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UITP debates light rail renaissance
INTRO: With several Australian cities planning to invest in expansion, modernisation or revival of their tram and light rail networks, there will be much to discuss at this month’s UITP light rail conference in MelbourneBYLINE: Hans Rat and Peter Moore *LIGHT RAIL is increasingly recognised as a superb transport mode, ...
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Track lease deal
BANGLADESH Railways awarded its first private-sector track maintenance contract in August, to come into operation from October 1. The deal covers the 40 km line from Jessore to Benapole, which forms part of the broad-gauge rail link between Bangladesh and India. The line has recently been rehabilitated at a cost ...
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DART goes west
DALLAS Area Rapid Transit extended its Trinity Express commuter rail service from 16 to 43 km on September 18. Four new stations have been opened at West Irving, CentrePort, Hurst/Bell and Richland Hills. Services run hourly from Dallas as far as CentrePort, where a shuttle bus connects to Dallas/Fort Worth ...
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Cost optimisation matches demand and resources
INTRO: From low-budget lines for low-density cities to intensely-operated networks, the variety of light rail lines around the Pacific Rim demonstrates the great flexibility of the mode. Critical for success has been the ability to tailor each application to the specific operating and financial needs of its communityBYLINE: John Schumann ...
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NSW Freight Corp to be sold
PLANS to privatise Australia’s principal standard-gauge freight operators have been shaken up by a surprise proposal to sell the New South Wales owned Freight Corp. Despite earlier commitments not to privatise the business, the NSW Labour administration voted on September 7 to dispose of Freight Corp to whichever bidder is ...
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Gauge conversion returns
JUST over a quarter of a century ago, we raised editorial eyebrows about the decision by General Gowon of Nigeria to convert the national rail network from 1067 to 1435mm gauge. The plans went the way of many similar proposals, but the idea has now been resurrected. Information Minister Prof ...
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Express Rail Link construction in full swing
With 18 months to go before the opening of Kuala Lumpur's airport rail link, civil works are nearing completion and tracklaying is getting under way
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RegioCom improves DB connections
Following successful trials in northern Bavaria, DB Regio is to roll out the RegioCom system for all its conductors across Germany by May 2001. Developed by the DB consultancy arm TLC, RegioCom is a GSM-based communications system which enables on-train staff to notify a control centre of delays. It also ...
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Metrorail concession
AT THE END of August, South African Rail Commuter Corp signed its long-awaited concession agreement with operating contractor Metrorail, setting an annual subsidy of about R800m. Under discussion since 1995, the deal has been delayed by concerns over job losses.By moving from deficit-support to a fixed price contract, the agreement ...
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Three-stage reform lays the foundations of competition
INTRO: A phased programme of structural reforms of Russia’s railways will culminate in the launch of independent companies that will compete for passenger and freight traffic against a national state-owned operator to be known as RZD Ltd. Boris Lukov reports from MoscowOn August 16 the Board of Russia’s Ministry of ...
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KRC sale closer
Finance Minister Chrisanthus Okemo announced on August 29 that six consultancy groups had been shortlisted to advise the government on the privatisation of Kenya Railways Corp, which is due to be completed by the end of 2002. Approved by the World Bank, the six are:
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Climbing the stairs
THIS YEAR’S edition of our annual supplement Metro Report included a cautionary tale about Line 3 of the Manila light rail network. Traffic was well below expectations because, to save construction costs, the design had been pared to the bone, with access to most of the elevated platforms only by ...
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RER C extended
ON AUGUST 28 French National Railways inaugurated a 9 km extension of Paris RER Line C from Montigny-Beauchamp to Pontoise, with intermediate stations at Pierrelaye and St-Ouen l’Aum
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S-Bahn stock builder picked
AUSTRIAN Federal Railways has chosen Bombardier and Elin as preferred suppliers for a fleet of three-car trainsets for the Wien S-Bahn. They are intended to replace existing stock and to provide more frequent services on an expanding network, including the S7 route to Schwechat airport now being revamped.The number of ...
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Passenger News in Brief
VIA Rail Canada has launched VIA eSchedule, an electronic timetable suitable for use on PCs and laptops as well as hand-held devices using the Palm
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Industry in Brief
Canada: Stella Jones International is to buy up the remaining 30% of sleeper manufacturer Stella-Jones Inc that is currently in public ownership. Shareholders will be offered C$3·10 in cash for each share.Czech Republic: The government was expected to approve last month a restructuring plan for engineering group Skoda, which would ...
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Products in Brief
An anti-graffiti film that can be applied to glazed and smooth surfaces is being offered to train and station operators by CPFilms. Llumar GraffitiShield protects windows and surfaces from malicious or accidental damage by pens, paint and even sharp objects. The coating is visibly marked so the vandal believes the ...
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City News in Brief
Guangzhou Metro Corp has ordered 26 six-car trains for Line 2, which is due to open in 2003-04. To be built by a joint venture of Adtranz and Changchun Car Co, they will use the Adtranz Movia modular design, with aluminium bodies and 1·5 kV DC IGBT inverter drives. Under ...