All News articles – Page 93
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NewsRFF signs performance contract
FRANCE: On November 3 Réseau Ferré de France signed a five-year performance contract with the government covering the condition, use and development of its 29 973 km network. It was signed by RFF President Hubert du Mesnil, Minister of Finance Eric Woerth, Secretary of State for Transport Dominique Bussereau and ...
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NewsSuburban spending
ARGENTINA: On October 25 Transport Secretary Ricardo Jaime announced a 600m pesos investment plan for 2009-11 on the Belgrano Sur commuter network in Buenos Aires. This has been operated for the government by a consortium of operators since Metropolitano was stripped of its concession on May 22 2007 (RG 6.07 ...
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NewsBotniabanan freight starts
SWEDEN: Freight traffic is now running on a 26 km section of the Botniabanan between Örnsköldsvik and Husum, using 4 km spur to serve M-Real’s pulp and paper mill in Husum. Chief Executive of Botniabanan AB Lennart Westberg told 220 guests at the inauguration event held on October 16 that ...
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NewsIC4 enters regular service
DENMARK: With effect from December 1 DSB has put the first of the troubled IC4 diesel multiple-units into regular passenger service. The trains have been carrying passengers on test services since August 7. They are being deployed on a daily return service on the Aarborg - Århus - København ...
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NewsDB tests 1 km train
EUROPE: DB and Betuwe Route infrastructure manager Keyrail conducted trials with a 1 000 m long freight train between Oberhausen and Rotterdam over the weekend of November 29-30. DB's operations are currently based on trains with a maximum length of 750 m, but the technical and economic feasibility of ...
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NewsPKP Intercity takes over inter-regional services
POLAND: Responsibility for operating 381 Polish inter-regional services was transferred from the state railway's regional business unit PKP PR to PKP Intercity on December 1. The move is a part of the process of transferring ownership of PKP PR to the voivodships. A total of 1 908 coaches, 51 ...
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Dieter - December 2008
SWITZERLAND: Verdi’s opera La Traviata was performed at Zürich’s main station on September 30, in a co-operation between Swiss Federal Railways, the Zürich opera house and television companies. Televised and streamed onto the internet, the opera was performed amidst the normal traffic at the station. ‘If we reach people ...
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People in the News - December 2008
Swiss Federal Railways will adopt a new management structure with effect from January 1 2009. The main change is the establishment of an independent property business with the same status as the passenger, freight and infrastructure divisions. SBB’s management board has been changed and expanded to reflect the change, with ...
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NewsHoon backs electrification strategy
UK: There are signs that the long drought in railway electrification since privatisation may soon be over. Around a third of Network Rail's 15 810 route-km is currently electrified, including 3 220 km at 25 kV 50 Hz and 1 995 km using 750 V DC third rail. Much of ...
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NewsPilbara lines declared open access
AUSTRALIA: The long-running battle to bring open access to the heavy-haul iron ore railways in Western Australia reached another milestone on October 27, when Commonwealth Treasurer Wayne Swan 'declared' BHP Billiton's Goldsworthy railway and Rio Tinto's Robe River and Hamersley lines under the National Access Regime within the Trade Practices ...
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NewsSNCF launches France's human train
AESTHETICS: As a showcase for its Rolling Stock Engineering Division, SNCF has enlisted the help of a team of designers to rethink the passenger environment of a regional EMU. Nick Kingsley joined Régine Charvet-Pello, whose agency oversaw the interior redesign, for a guided tour.
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NewsICE axle cracks wreak havoc
GERMANY: Passengers on Deutsche Bahn's long-distance trains have had a torrid time in recent weeks following a series of incidents that culminated in the sudden withdrawal from service of all 71 ICE-T tilting trainsets on October 24. DB had been concerned about possible cracks in the axles of its ICE3 ...
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NewsThameslink EMU invitations to tender issued
UK: On November 27 the Department for Transport issued pre-qualified bidders Alstom, Bombardier, Hitachi and Siemens with invitations to tender to supply a fleet of dual-voltage EMUs for Thameslink commuter services through London. The exact number of trains is still to be determined, but the manufacturers have been told to ...
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NewsVolkerWessels buys Corus share of GrantRail
UK: Dutch construction group VolkerWessels bought joint venture partner Corus's 50% stake in GrantRail Group on November 26. The Doncaster-based rail construction and engineering services group will continue to trade as GrantRail. GrantRail was formed in 1996 as a 50:50 joint venture of VolkerWessels and Corus, offering services ...
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NewsRail Cargo Austria cleared to buy MÁV Cargo without GySEV
HUNGARY: The European Commission announced on November 25 that it had cleared Rail Cargo Austria's plans to acquire MÁV Cargo, subject to a commitment that the ÖBB Holding subsidiary will cut its links with cross-border operator GySEV. Hungary's Ministry of Economy & Transport put the state railway's freight division ...
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Golden egg on the Golden Pass
SWITZERLAND: For decades Swiss operator Montreux-Oberland-Bernois has dreamed of running through trains on its Golden Pass route from Montreux on Lac Léman to Interlaken and Luzern. Already world famous because of its stunning scenery, the trip requires passengers to change trains at Zweisimmen and Interlaken Ost because the central ...
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NewsICE3 order to increase capacity and flexibility
GERMANY: DB's management board has selected Siemens to supply a further 15 multi-voltage high speed trains. A contract for the ICE3 sets will be signed once the supervisory board gives its final go-ahead in mid-December, with industry sources putting the value at close to €500m. DB had called for ...
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NewsFirst KTX-II unveiled in Korea
SOUTH KOREA: Celebrations were held at the Hyundai Rotem plant in Changwon on November 25 to launch the country’s first locally-developed 300 km/h trainset. Joining the roll-out ceremony were the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Land Transport & Maritime Affairs Lee Byung Suk and the Vice-Minister of ...
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NewsBoardman named head of Amtrak
USA: Joseph Boardman has been appointed President & Chief Executive Officer of the National Railroad Passenger Corp for a one-year period with effect from November 26. He takes over as the head of Amtrak from Chief Operating Officer William Crosbie, who has been acting CEO since the resignation of Alexander ...
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NewsRail escapes budget cuts
IRELAND: Virtually all major railway projects were spared from even modest cutbacks in the 2009 budget unveiled by the Irish government last month, although this imposed extra taxes worth €2bn and introduced big cuts in many other areas of public sector expenditure because of the global financial crisis. Admitting that ...