All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1027
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News
Brenner base tunnel wins TEN-T funding
RAIL projects have secured nearly 75% of the €5·1bn of funds which the European Commission has allocated to support Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) projects in 2007-13. Among the largest allocations announced by Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot on November 21 is €786m towards the cost of studies and works for the ...
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NewsVision of US passenger growth
AMBITIOUS PROPOSALS for expansion of inter-city passenger services in the USA were unveiled in Washington DC on December 6. The 'Vision for the Future' report calls for investment of $357·2bn between now and 2050. The report was compiled by a working party formed of state transport authorities and regional rail ...
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Charlotte Lynx launched
REVENUE SERVICES on the 15·4 km Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte, North Carolina, began on November 26, following a formal dedication ceremony with local officials a week earlier. Charlotte Area Transit System offered free rides over the weekend of November 24-25, attracting more than 100 000 people, and leading to ...
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News
Sweden - Germany through freight launched
HECTOR Rail began operating through freight trains between Sweden and Germany via the Øresund bridge and Denmark on January 4. The Swedish-based open access operator is running five trains a week between Norrköping and Herne in the Ruhr area under a contract signed with Dutch logistics firm Van Dieren Maritime ...
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News
Freight standards need updating
ANY COMPARISON of the prevailing technologies on both sides of the North Atlantic will demonstrate how inadequate are today's rail freight operations in Europe. Let us overlook for now the continuing problem of pathing priorities, which still sees premium freight trains playing second fiddle to secondary passenger services. The low ...
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Cross-acceptance moves closer
DRAFT legislation to recast the Technical Specifications for Interoperability in a revised directive has been agreed by the European Parliament. In a first reading on December 11, MEPs voted by a large majority to accept the proposals, the key objective of which is to streamline acceptance procedures for traction and ...
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News
SCT Logistics locos on test
CURRENTLY undergoing acceptance trials in Australia are the first of 11 GT46Ce locomotives ordered from Downer EDI Rail by SCT Logistics for use on Melbourne - Perth freight services. Photo: Mark Carter The first private interstate rail freight operator, SCT currently hauls around one-third of Australia's east-west traffic, using ...
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Work starts on Wehrhahn line
FOUR shovels were driven simultaneously into the earth at a construction site in the centre of Düsseldorf on November 28 when Mayor Joachim Erwin and Nordrhein-Westfalen Land State Secretary Günter Kozlowski, accompanied by two senior city transport officials, marked the start of work on the Wehrhahn U-Bahn line. The 3·4 ...
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News
Energy challenge will drive traction policy
The rail industry must reduce its energy consumption, for both environmental reasons and to contain the increasing cost of energy. Alternative fuels offer few advantages, and the best option may be to capitalise on strategies being adopted by the electricity generation industry to reduce carbon emissions, suggests Professor Roger Kemp
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NewsFirst Flirt to Algeria
STADLER has begun rolling out 64 four-car Flirt EMUs ordered by SNTF for Alger suburban services at a cost of SFr600m. Top speed of the 25 kV 50 Hz standard gauge units is 120 km/h, and deliveries will run until the end of 2010.
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NewsMilanese run København Metro
WITH EFFECT from January 1, the København Metro is being managed by Inmetro Srl, a newly-formed joint venture of Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari (49%) and Milano urban transport operator Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (51%). The Danish capital's automatic metro has been run by the Metro Service consortium of Ansaldo STS and ...
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NewsTraxx locomotive family meets European needs
Rapid liberalisation of Europe's rail sector, and an associated increase in cross-border operations, is challenging operators and suppliers to rethink locomotive design. The flexibility of the Traxx locomotive platform meets a wide range of requirements, and no fewer than 1 226 locomotives have been ordered to date
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NewsVIA loco rebuild contract
ON DECEMBER 12 VIA Rail Canada announced it had awarded a C$101·5m contract for the rebuilding of its fleet of GM-built F40 diesel locos over five years. The project is being funded under a C$691·9m investment package announced by the government on October 11 (RG 11.07 p673), and will see ...
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News
Graz S-Bahn launched
AMBITIOUS plans to increase local rail travel by 10 000 trips a day came to fruition on December 7 when the first stage of a S-Bahn network was launched in the Austrian city of Graz. Hourly, half-hourly or quarter-hourly trains run on routes to Bruck an der Mur, Übelbach, Köflach, ...
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News
Le Mans light rail takes off
LE MANS Metropole inaugurated light rail services on November 17 as the French city became the latest in a growing club to have opened a modern tram system in recent years. Le Mans' network consists of a principal route of 12·6 km from the university in the northwest to a ...
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News
Freight crosses the Korean divide
DECEMBER 11 saw the first commercial freight service cross the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea when a train loaded with construction materials from Munsan in the south reached an industrial complex at Kaesong in the north. It returned south carrying footwear and clothing. Operation of the train followed ...
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NewsChina rolls out 300 km/h trainset
THE FIRST Chinese-built high speed trainset capable of 300 km/h operation was rolled out at Sifang Locomotive works on December 22. The design is derived from East Japan Railway's E2-1000 Shinkansen trains, and follows from a batch of 60 CRH2 sets developed by a Kawasaki-led consortium and assembled by Sifang ...
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News
Railion brand dropped
GERMANY'S national rail operator launched a fresh identity for its freight, passenger and infrastructure businesses last month. The Railion brand has been discarded in favour of DB Schenker, which more accurately reflects the organisation of the freight and logistics business. Passenger services will operate under the DB Bahn brand, while ...
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News
ETCS software error led to Lötschberg derailment
A FULL service of passenger and freight trains began operating through the 34·6 km Lötschberg base tunnel using ETCS Level 2 on December 9, marking another milestone in the protracted history of Europe's interoperable train control system. The tunnel had been formally opened on June 15, when authority was granted ...
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Patriot Rail Corp buys third railway
USA: Short line and regional freight line operator Patriot Rail Corp announced its purchase of Utah Central Railway on January 3. This is the third railway acquired by Patriot, which now owns and leases 400 km of rail line in Tennessee, Alabama, Montana and Utah. Established in 1995 to use ...