All News articles – Page 364
-
News
Rail Business Intelligence
FOUNDED as Rail Privatisation News in March 1995, our fortnightly newsletter Rail Business Intelligence is now widely acknowledged to be the definitive publication covering developments in Britain's privatised rail industry. With the prospect of huge investment over the next 10 years (p541), interest in what is happening on our ...
-
News
Israel builds for growth
WITH passenger traffic continuing to break monthly records, achieving 1·9 million riders in July, Israel Railways launched a further route modernisation project on August 15. The 11 km Rehovot - Pleshdod - Ashdod line will be closed for around five months, during which the track and signalling will be renewed ...
-
News
SER builds to the sea
INDIA’s South Eastern Railway has started construction of an 87 km single-track electrified branch to serve the seaside resort of Digha in southern Bengal. Proposed in 1984, the line was delayed by land acquisition problems. The first girders for a 500m bridge over the river Haldi were launched in August, ...
-
News
Neubaustrecke late and over budget
IT IS no wonder that German Railway’s Board Chairman Hartmut Mehdorn has set up a special committee to oversee major projects. When contracts were signed for construction of the K
-
News
Europe drawn to British honeypot
STRONG interest in the programme to replace the 19 short-term passenger franchises in Britain has been expressed by Swiss Federal Railways, with a formal approach made to the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority. With Chiltern Railways already relet and shortlists announced for several others (see table), SBB will need to decide ...
-
News
Products in Brief
SKF and Sécheron are developing a bogie monitoring system to be launched later this year, with an integrated sensor in the SKF bearing unit capturing speed, temperature and vibration data to ascertain bearing and wheel condition. A Sécheron data acquisition unit will perform analysis and communication with the train control ...
-
News
Passenger in Brief
Amtrak has opened a new terminal in Lorton, Virginia, for its Auto Train service for accompanied cars to Sanford in Florida, built over two years at a cost of US$25m with contributions from Virginia Railway Express and Virginia Department of Rail & Public Transportation. The terminal has six tracks, each ...
-
News
Brasilia to open
COMMERCIAL operations on the Brasilia metro will start in November, Companhia do Metropolitano do Distrito Federal announced on August 15. When construction began in 1991 (DM 92 p32), opening was set for April 21 1994. However, a newly-elected city government suspended work in 1994-96. Test trains are now running on ...
-
News
BNSF/CN merger is off
BURLINGTON Northern Santa Fe Corp and Canadian National Railway Co announced on July 20 that their respective boards had voted to terminate the ’combination agreement’ to create North American Railways Inc and form an 80500 km coast-to-coast network.In a joint statement, CN President & CEO Paul Tellier and BNSF Chairman ...
-
News
Blue line’s rolling birthday party
TOCELEBRATE the 10th anniversary of the light rail Blue line between Los Angeles and Long Beach on July 14, LAMTA rolled out two of its P-865 LRVs repainted in the livery of the historic Pacific Electric interurban network which once plied the same corridor. With assistance from the Electric ...
-
News
Polish privatisation bill passed
ON JULY 25 the Sejm, the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament, passed the formal Act paving the way for the commercialisation, restructuring and privatisation of Polish State Railways. The Act has still to be approved by the Senat (the upper chamber) and signed by the President.The Act will see ...
-
News
Westrail bids shortlisted
FOUR CONSORTIA have been shortlisted for the privatisation of Western Australia’s freight and infrastructure business. The four are undertaking due diligence, which will culminate with the submission of final bids in October. Announcing the shortlist on August 9, WA Transport Minister Murray Criddle said that he hoped to announce the ...
-
News
Light rail back on the map
One of the most astonishing policy reversals since Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott published his Transport White Paper two years ago is his new enthusiasm for light rail. Transport 2010 notes that only Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and the West Midlands have lines in operation outside London - ’far fewer than ...
-
News
Voters back DART expansion
CONSTRUCTION of three new light rail lines in Dallas will be accelerated by up to eight years following a vote approving a $2·9bn bond package on August 11. Over 77% approved the proposals, with only 22·8% against. Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s Executive Director Roger Snoble said he was ’humbled by ...
-
News
Tel Aviv to tender LRT
TENDERS are to be called within three months for construction of the first light rail line in Tel Aviv, following the signing of an agreement between the promoter NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd, the Municipality of Tel Aviv, and the Israeli government on July 23. The accord was signed ...
-
News
Steel sleeper success in Australia
Sir - The letter by Mr Clive Budge in RG 5.00 p282 raises concerns about the use of steel sleepers. Having been involved with design, construction and maintenance of track in Australia, and especially in the use of steel sleepers, for the past 20 years, I would like to share ...
-
News
Alicante light rail opens
SPAIN’s Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana has launched an initial light rail service in the resort of Alicante. The 1 km segregated alignment runs from Puerta del Mar via Albufuerta to the FGC station at Marina, from which some LRVs continue over the Denia line as far as Lucentum. Next ...
-
News
Africans build rail trolleys
MALAWI bus manufacturer PEW handed over its first locally-built maintenance gang trolley in July to the local rail operator Central East African Railways, which was awarded a 20-year franchise to run the Malawi network last summer. Owned by Kamwayi Corp, PEW mainly builds minibuses for countries in southern ...
-
News
Advanced current collection
GERMAN Railway is currently working with its principal suppliers and the German Aerospace Research Centre on the development of a next-generation current collector. The Ultra design uses electronic control to regulate the contact pressure, improving performance at high speeds. Reliable contact at 400 km/h will only require a force of ...
-
News
Bombardier agrees to buy Adtranz
Bombardier announced on August 4 that it had signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire Adtranz from its parent DaimlerChrysler. The move had been expected following Bombardier’s unsuccessful bid for Siemens’ rail arm. The deal values the extensive Adtranz empire at just US$725m, reflecting the company’s recent lack of ...