All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1044
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News
WestNet plans West Australia iron ore network
WHILE NOT on the same scale as iron ore production in the Pilbara, high prices are driving the development of new mines in the Mid West region of Western Australia. WestNet Rail, the Babcock & Brown subsidiary that leases and manages Western Australia's 5 100 km of 1 067 mm ...
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Mine forces Malmbanan move
DEEP-LEVEL mining of iron ore will require the relocation of Sweden's Malmbanan at Kiruna, as the present alignment of the Luleå - Narvik main line will be affected by ground deformation. According to Thomas Nordmark of mining company LKAB, the new line will be around 20 km long and has ...
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National Express wins East Coast
ON AUGUST 14 the UK Department for Transport announced that National Express Group had been selected to operate the InterCity East Coast franchise, which runs to March 31 2015. From December 9 NEG will take over from GNER, which agreed last December to hand back its 10-year franchise after ...
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Zhuzhou to build 5·6 MW freight locos
SIEMENS Transportation Systems announced on August 14 that it had signed a €334m contract to supply CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co with components for the construction of 500 heavy-haul electric locos. Due to enter service with Chinese Railways from early 2009, the 150 tonne, six-axle freight locos will be rated ...
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Taipei orbital nears E & M bidding
TENDERS for electrical and mechanical work on the first phase of the medium-capacity orbital transit line in Taipei are likely to be called in September, according to Chung-Cheng Kao, Chief Engineer of the Department of Rapid Transit Systems. Announcing this at a UK Trade & Investment seminar in London last ...
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Wien U-Bahn to extend north and south
THE Austrian government and the city authorities in Wien have unveiled plans to add 14 km to the Wien U-Bahn network in a €1·85bn expansion programme stretching to 2019. Announcing details of the extensions on July 12, Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer and Deputy Mayor Renate Brauner said that ...
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Off to a fresh Start at MÁV
LAST MONTH Hungarian Railways launched MÁV Start as a subsidiary company to run the passenger business, marking a key step in the government’s plans to reform the state railway. The new company began life on July 1 using a temporary operating licence and start-up capital of 62bn forints. Rolling stock ...
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Up in Algeria and Den Haag
THREE track-mounted mobile lifting jack systems are being supplied to Algeria’s national railway for installation in the depots under construction at Mecheria and Béchar. Each consist of four jacks with individual capacities of 20, 25 and 35 tonnes and a lifting height extending up to 2 000 mm, giving the ...
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Argentina sets a new course
With the failings of a once-vaunted privatisation programme now clear to see, the government of Argentina is seeking to create two new state-owned companies to reform the railway sector and carry out much-needed investment.
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'Cobra' offers high speed future
ONE OF THE promises that Néstor Kirchner made during his successful campaign for Argentina's 2003 presidential election was to restore long-distance passenger services to those communities which had lost them back in the 1990s, leaving them at the mercy of unmetalled roads which become impassable in wet weather. Almost ...
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ERRAC updates Research Agenda 2020
A DOUBLING of rail traffic in Europe over the next 15 years is anticipated in the updated version of the Strategic Rail Research Agenda drawn up by the European Rail Research Advisory Council. This was formally presented to András Siegler, Director for Transport at the European Commission's Research Directorate-General, by ...
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First train to Modi'in
ISRAEL Railways operated its first trial train on the new line from Ben Gurion Airport to Modi'in on July 2. The IC3 Flexliner DMU carried guests from the local municipalities and selected press representatives, covering the 14 km in around 20 min. Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz had already announced that ...
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SweMaint taken over
WAGON maker Kockums Industrier announced at the end of June that it was paying SKr88·3m to acquire SweMaint, Sweden's largest wagon repair and maintenance company, from state-owned Swedcarrier. Kokums also assumes SKr78·3m of SweMaint debt under the deal, which creates a combined group with around 360 employees and an annual ...
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NewsRailteam bids to relaunch international rail travel
A DRIVE to position rail as the natural mode for international travel across Europe came on July 2, when the Railteam alliance of high speed train operators was launched in Brussels. A year of detailed negotiations has shaped the Railteam concept since a provisional accord was signed last year ...
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Third Railway Package agreed as mega-truck battle hots up
AGREEMENT between Europe’s Council of Ministers and the European Parliament has been reached on the Third Railway Package, and ratification is anticipated in a vote during a plenary session in Strasbourg in September. A ‘conciliation agreement’ was confirmed by an exchange of letters on June 20. Implementation of the Third ...
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Latvia completes rail restructuring
A TWO-year programme to restructure Latvian Railways was completed on July 4 with a formal registration of three new companies in the national Register of Enterprises. Started by a government decision on May 10 2005, the process has been led by a steering group chaired by Transport Minister Ainars Šlesers ...
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Fehmarn Belt bridge approved
DANISH Transport Minister Flemming Hansen and his German counterpart Wolfgang Tiefensee announced on June 29 that they had reached agreement on the construction of a fixed link across the Fehmarn Belt, following a meeting in Berlin. Work on the 19 km bridge between Puttgarden on the German island of Fehmarn ...
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Bangladesh - India order reopens
AUGUST is expected to see the launch of through passenger services between Kolkata and Dhaka, according to the Director-General of Bangladesh Railways Belayet Hossain. This will see the restoration of cross-border passenger services between India and Bangladesh after a suspension of 42 years. Hossain's announcement followed the running of ...
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Six on Western Railway shortlist
SAUDI Railways Organisation announced on June 25 that six of the seven bidding groups had been shortlisted for a BOT concession to build the 444 km Western Railway high speed line linking Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah. Transport Minister Dr Jobara Al-Suraisry expects that tenders will be invited in the next ...
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More Swiss tunnels to take double-deckers
SWISS Federal Railways is to spend SFr626m on a 10-year programme to improve tunnels on its 3 087 km network. Signed off by the board of management in July, the package will see work carried out on 84 tunnels with a total length of 105 km. Around half the money ...