All News articles – Page 85
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NewsRhB studies Albula tunnel replacement
SWITZERLAND: Rhätische Bahn is developing proposals for a comprehensive renewal or replacement of the Albula tunnel on the Chur - St Moritz line. Opened in 1903, the 5 865 m tunnel is the highest transalpine bore at 1 800 m above sea level. A major examination in 2006 found ...
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NewsPutting the customer first
REFORM: Belgian national operator SNCB has undertaken a radical restructuring of its freight business to create a more commercially-focused business. But, as group co-ordinator Geert Pauwels explains, there is a lot still to do to ensure the incumbent keeps growing in an increasingly-competitive market.
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NewsDedicated Freight Corridor construction launched
INDIA: Chairman of the United Progressive Alliance ruling coalition Sonia Gandhi formally launched the construction of the eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor in a ceremony at Rohtas in Bihar on February 10 (RG 6.08 p383). The eastern DFC will run for 1 279 km from Ludhiana to Sonnagar via Kanpur ...
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NewsAgility Trains to supply Super Express fleet
UK: Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon announced on February 12 that the Agility Trains consortium of Hitachi, John Laing and Barclays has been selected as preferred bidder for the supply of ‘up to 1 400’ vehicles as part of the government-led Intercity Express Programme. Under the £7·5bn train service provision ...
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NewsDiesel after-treatment agreement
USA: GE Transportation and Tenneco announced an agreement for the joint development of after-treatment technology to clean the emissions from locomotive engines on February 4. Tenneco has acquired licensing rights to integrate GE's Hydrocarbon-Selective Catalytic Reduction technology into a complete after-treatment system for rail and other non-road applications. ...
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NewsBelgrano revival continues
ARGENTINA: President Cristina Fernández visited Barranqueras in Chaco province on December 29 to mark officially the re-opening to freight traffic of a 199·7 km section of the metre-gauge Belgrano network between the river port and Avia Terai. Following the reopening of the Pichanal - Joaquín V González route (RG 1.09 ...
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NewsGO Transit orders 20 more locos
CANADA: Toronto area commuter operator GO Transit has placed a US$85m order for a further 20 MPXpress diesel locomotives. The contract announced by the MotivePower subsidiary of Wabtec on February 10 is an option on an original order for 27 of the 3 600 hp locomotives, which are now ...
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NewsFigueres - Girona to go dual gauge
SPAIN: Infrastructure manager ADIF has awarded a joint venture of Alstom, Acciona and Comsa a €93·8m contract to upgrade the double-track 41 km Girona - Figueres route and convert one line to dual gauge. Alstom's €40·4m share of the 16 month contract includes supplying Atlas 1000 ETCS Level 1 ...
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NewsSarmiento tunnel funded
ARGENTINA: Work to place the Sarmiento commuter route in Buenos Aires underground is expected to start in mid-2009, following the signature on December 23 of a contract between the federal government and the consortium of Iecsa, Odebrecht, Comsa and Ghella named as preferred bidder on January 23 2008. Costing 4·07bn ...
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NewsFreight development plan
SPAIN: Development Minister Magdalena Álvarez has presented the cabinet with a €4·72bn development plan to make rail freight more competitive. The plan’s key objective is to create a basic freight network to improve service reliabilty, linking terminals that will be open to traffic 24 h a day, 365 days a ...
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NewsAl Rajhi wins Makkah - Madinah civils contract
SAUDI ARABIA: The Al Rajhi Alliance has won the 6·79bn riyal design and build contract for civil works on the Haramain High Speed Rail project. Work is scheduled to begin in March on the 444 km high speed line linking the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah ...
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NewsFreight maglev on test
USA: We reported last year that Union Pacific had commissioned a study into an 8 km maglev conveyor to shuttle containers between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and its Intermodal Container Transfer Facility. Suitable technology is now under development in San Diego, where General Atomics has built ...
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NewsPeople in the News - February 2009
In a decision made at a shareholders meeting on January 9 Czeslaw Warsewicz has been replaced as President of PKP Intercity by former PKP PLK President Krzysztof Celinski, while Technical Director Krzysztof Sopa has been succeeded by Krzysztof Kolodziejski. PKP PLK board members Miroslaw Pawlowski and Józef Jezewicz have ...
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NewsPointers February 2009
The project to build a high speed line between Buenos Aires and Córdoba is ‘on stand-by’ due to the current financial crisis according to Patrick Kron, Chairman & CEO of Alstom. ‘When conditions return to normal, I hope the project can be realised and that is a decision for the ...
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NewsMelbourne orders 20 more X'Trapolis EMUs
AUSTRALIA: Premier of Victoria John Brumby announced on February 6 that the state government had exercised an option for a further 20 six-car Alstom X'Trapolis suburban EMUs. The €170m order is an option on a €160m January 2008 contract for 18 units. They will be used in Melbourne, where 58 ...
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NewsThalys metamorphosis
REFURBISHMENT: With a dramatic laser show and wreaths of smoke, the first refurbished Thalys trainset was presented to a select group of VIPs and invited guests at the Forest TGV depot in Brussels last month.
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NewsLocomotive with local technology
INDIA: The first diesel-electric locomotive fitted with Indian-designed IGBT traction converters and microprocessor controls has entered service following a month of intensive trials. The Diesel Locomotive Works at Varanasi originally began production under a 1961 technology transfer agreement with Alco. A further agreement with EMD in 1995 led to increased ...
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NewsBrigam buys Oleo International
UK: Brigam Ltd has bought Oleo International from the administrators of Wagon plc, which went into administration at the end of last year. The deal includes Oleo Buffers Shanghai Co Ltd in China and Oleo Inc in the USA. 'We have been interested in acquiring Oleo for many years' ...
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NewsBahn 2030 vision emerges
SWITZERLAND: Further expansion of the national rail network is envisaged in ambitious plans outlined in December by the transport ministry. Following completion of the successful Bahn 2000 investment project, attention switched to a more limited programme of improvements to the rail network known as Zukünftigen Entwicklung der Bahninfrastruktur (RG ...
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NewsCisalpino problems continue
SWITZERLAND: SBB continues to wrestle with the problems caused by late delivery from Alstom of Class 610 tilting trainsets ordered in 2004 for Cisalpino services to and from Milano. The difficulties have been made worse by frequent faults with the ETR470 sets currently diagrammed for this service, and SBB has ...