All News articles – Page 418
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News
No light at the end
SWEDEN’S rail infrastructure authority Banverket reported on December 9 that it would not be worth completing the heavily-delayed Hallandsåsen tunnel on the West Coast trunk line. Finishing the twin 8·5 km bores would require at least SKr4·3bn, way above the commercial and social benefits to be gained. Even a single-track ...
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Enafer sale starts
BIDDING rules for the forthcoming privatisation of Peru’s national rail network were due to be published on December 16, according to the President of the country’s privatisation commission, Copri. Patrick Barclay hopes to complete the process and award contracts by the end of April.The government plans to award three 30-year ...
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Industrial disputes foster rivalry
IN A MESSAGE signed by President Louis Gallois to be published in French newspapers on December 18, French National Railways announced the sale of Fr20 day tickets for travel within specified regions over the Christmas period. It was a gesture of reconciliation to passengers who have had their patience severely ...
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Test tracks in demand
AS EUROPE’S railways adjust their procurement procedures towards performance specifications for rolling stock and other equipment, suppliers are having to assume fresh responsibilities. It is increasingly the manufacturer who takes the blame for trains with commercially damaging teething troubles, so it is perhaps no surprise that the industry is putting ...
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Midland Turbostar debuts in May
MORE SERVICES and extra capacity on Britain’s main line from London St Pancras to Sheffield and Nottingham are planned for this summer. From the May timetable change the first 10 of 17 two-car Class170/1 Turbostar diesel multiple-units will join Midland Mainline’s 13-strong High Speed Train fleet as the workhorses of ...
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NJ picks DBOM
ON DECEMBER 7 NJ Transit selected a consortium of Bechtel and Adtranz to design, build, operate and maintain a 55 km ’diesel light rail’ line along the Delaware River corridor from Trenton to Camden. Southern New Jersey Rail Group bid US$615m for the contract, which will be awarded after a ...
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CrossCountry DEMUs ordered
BRITISH operator Virgin Rail placed a £1060m order on December 9 for Bombardier to supply and maintain a fleet of 78 diesel-electric multiple-units between 2001 and 2002. The 200 km/h trains will operate Virgin CrossCountry services and Virgin West Coast's London - Holyhead route. The contract is valued at £390m ...
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Croatian wires
ON NOVEMBER 24 Croatian Railways commissioned the last section of 25 kV overhead wiring for the reinstatement of electric services on the Zagreb - Beograd main line. The 32 km from Vinkovci to the Serbian border at Tovarnik was severed by the Balkan war in 1991, but rehabilitation started in ...
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Train-to-Plane connection takes shape
INTRO: Construction work is getting under way on the long-planned BART extension to San Francisco International Airport, currently costed at US$1·2bn BYLINE: Thomas E MargroGeneral ManagerBay Area Rapid Transit DistrictAFTER ALMOST a decade of planning, San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit District has started construction of its long-awaited extension ...
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Thessaloniki metro concessionaire selected
GREECE: A consortium of Bouygues and Bombardier Inc has been selected as preferred bidder to build an initial 9 km metro line in Thessaloniki. The contract is due to be awarded by December 31. The total package is valued at C$600m with Bombardier getting about 25% for supplying the rolling ...
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Concession re-tendered
COLOMBIAN rail authority Ferrovías has reinvited tenders for a 30-year concession to renovate and operate the Atlantic region of its 914mm gauge network. This follows the cancellation of the previous concession when the selected consortium failed to comply with the terms of the bidding process.Information documents were issued in November, ...
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Competition drives down freight rates
RATES charged by Australia’s rail freight operators are being forced down by open access competition. Last month, FreightCorp was awarded a two-year ’interim’ contract by Flinders Energy to carry 5 million tonnes of coal to Leigh Creek power station near Port Augusta; a 10 year deal is in prospect. Only ...
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Comet completes first tunnel drive
INTRO: Construction of a 21 km automated metro in the Danish capital is well under way, with two TBMs being positioned for their second drives under the heart of the city. Andrew Hellawell visited the sites to see construction work in progressBEHIND THE quayside at Havnegade in central København a ...
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Gulf Coast flyers
HIGH SPEED promoters are active again in the United States. Ambitious plans for a 1600 km Gulf Coast Corridor were unveiled in New Orleans on November 18. The first phase would link Houston, Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Pensacola, with a branch to Birmingham. Phase 2 would extend the line ...
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Second Salt Lake line closer
PRELIMINARY engineering was due to be completed in December for the second light rail line in Salt Lake City, which Utah Transit Authority hopes to have open in time for the Winter Olympic Games in February 2002. DeLeuw Cather & Co was expected to complete the Final Environmental Impact Statement ...
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CityNEWS
On December 4 Manila’s Metro Rail Transit Corp urged the Department of Transport & Communications to authorise the 5·2 km second phase of the EDSA light rail line from North Avenue to Monumento at a cost of US$270m. This would allow the construction teams to roll forward from the first ...