All News articles – Page 78
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NewsPermanent Way industry makes tracks to Münster
INFRASTRUCTURE: More than 150 companies representing all aspects of the permanent way industry will be present in Münster for the 25th International Exhibition of Track Technology taking place on April 21-23.
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NewsSBB invites bids for biggest train order
SWITZERLAND: Swiss Federal Railways invited bids on April 20 for the supply of 59 double-deck trainsets, which it says will be its largest-ever rolling stock order. Three types of train are planned: 20 inter-city sets 200 m long, 30 inter-regional trains of 200 m and nine inter-regional sets of ...
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NewsFull order book in Freilassing
ROBEL: Driven by a robust export market and sub-contracted work from its parent company Plasser & Theurer, German track equipment supplier Robel is increasing capacity at its base in the south of the country.
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NewsWorld rail market April 2009
Australia: The government has appointed engineering consultancy GHD Pty Ltd to undertake an A$3m study of rail freight movements in and around Adelaide, looking at noise, capacity and safety issues. UK: ATOC has selected Delta-Rail and Steer Davies Gleave to develop and operate a new economic forecasting model ...
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NewsPeople in the news - April 2009
Gerald Hörster was formally installed as President of Germany’s Federal Railway Office (EBA) by Parliamentary State Secretary Achim Grossmann at a ceremony in Bonn on March 9. Appointed by Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee on January 22, Hörster succeeds Dipl-Ing Armin Keppel, who retired in December. After training as a ...
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NewsObama announces inter-city rail funding programme
USA: An ambitious strategic programme to spend $13bn on 10 'high speed' rail corridors over five years was unveiled by President Barack Obama on April 16, as part of an initiative to reduce fuel consumption, pollution, traffic congestion and airport overcrowding. The federal $787bn economic stimulus plan includes ...
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NewsSuppliers expect strong interest at Münster exhibition
IAF: Full order books are keeping track machinery suppliers busy, while economic regeneration programmes should lead to more contracts in the medium term. We look at some of the machines on show at iaf 2009 and talk to suppliers about the market.
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NewsNairobi commuter upgrade plan
KENYA: Kenya Railways signed a joint venture agreement with InfraCo on April 15 commissioning a two-year study into a major upgrading of commuter rail services in Nairobi. Implementation of the recommendations would take a further 18 months, for completion in 2012 when national rail concessionaire Rift Valley Railways loses the ...
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NewsFreight trains to use High Speed 1 from 2010
UK: DB Schenker Rail (UK) announced on April 16 that it had signed an agreement with HS1 Ltd to develop TVM software modifications enabling Class 92 electric locomotives to operate on High Speed 1, the high speed line from the Channel Tunnel to London. Infrastructure owner HS1 Ltd and ...
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NewsPort of Melbourne link opens
AUSTRALIA: The upgraded Tottenham - Dynon rail link was officially opened on 8 April, five years after the start of the A$45m project to provide a 7 km double track standard gauge connection between the Tottenham yards and the Port of Melbourne's intermodal terminal. Opening the line, Minister for ...
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NewsTunnel with no trains
EUROPE: RFF President Hubert du Mesnil visited Perpignan on February 17 to celebrate the completion of works to connect the Perpignan - Figueres cross-border railway with the French rail network. Under the €210m package funded by the government, two new platform tracks have been added at Perpignan station, along with ...
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NewsCompetition through the Channel Tunnel
EUROPE: Presenting the FaberMaunsell/Aecom lecture on the future of rail freight in the UK at the Institution of Civil Engineers on March 12, Rail Freight Group Chairman Lord Berkeley announced that the first ‘open access’ freight train through the Channel Tunnel would be running that night. It transpires that the ...
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NewsRussia-Finland freight joint venture
RUSSIA: Plans to establish a joint venture freight forwarding company to boost export, import and transit traffic between Russia and Finland were announced by RZD subsidiary Freight One on April 13. Freight One's General Director Salman Babayev has signed a 'statement of intent with the Chairman of VR Ltd ...
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NewsHaenel urges change at SNCF
FRANCE: Anyone studying French railway policy over the last 20 years will find that one name stands out as a supporter of proposals to steer strategy towards a more commercial and viable future. That name is Hubert Haenel, Senator for Haut-Rhin, who, since he chaired an inquiry into SNCF in ...
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NewsDaunting tasks lie ahead
INDIA: Commending Indian Railways as scaling ‘a new pinnacle every year’, buoyed by a steady year-on-year increase in freight and passenger output during the last five years, Railways Minister Lalu Prasad told the Lok Sabha on February 26 that IR was now standing at ‘the zenith of success’. Introducing the ...
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NewsState Railway of Thailand split approved
THAILAND: Two new companies are to be launched within six months, following the adoption of plans for restructuring State Railway of Thailand last month. Meeting in early March, the State Enterprise Policy Committee chaired by Deputy Premier Korbsak Sabhavasu instructed the Ministry of Finance to bring forward proposals for endorsement ...
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News
Panda corridor
CHINA: Construction work on the Chengdu - Lanzhou railway officially began on February 21 and is expected to last for six years. As the route runs through the country’s protected corridor for giant pandas, parts of the line will be built in tunnel, and extra bridges will be provided ...
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NewsDriving green trains
UK: At the Railtex exhibition in London held on March 10-12, Corys TESS exhibited a Class 350/2 Desiro driving simulator for train operator London Midland. The simulator was due to move to Birmingham after the show for commissioning in June. A simulator for the Class 172 Turbostar DMU is also ...
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NewsOutsourcing is off
CZECH REPUBLIC: Minister of Transport Petr Bendl confirmed on March 10 that he was cancelling plans to outsource maintenance and repair of the national rail network. Announced by SZDC on January 8, the plan had been endorsed by former Transport Minister Ales Rebícek. Bidders were to have submitted proposals by ...
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NewsPointers April 2009
Coal India Ltd has been invited to take a stake in the Beira Railway Co consortium led by Rites and Ircon which is upgrading the 590 km Sena line in Mozambique at a cost of $440m. The route is expected to carry 12 million tonnes a year from the Moatize ...