All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1054
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News
Barcelona LRT expansion
SPAIN: MAY 6 saw the opening of the latest phase of the Trambesòs light rail network in eastern Barcelona, a 2·2 km extension of Line T5 from Besòs to Sant Joan Baptista. With three intermediate stops, the route has cost €25m to build. Comprising routes T4 and T5, the Trambesòs ...
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Closer to Barcelona
ON MAY 8 ADIF’s Talgo BT track recording train began verification runs over the Camp de Tarragona - Sant Joan Desp? section of the Madrid - Barcelona high speed line. Sant Joan Desp? lies 12?km from Barcelona, and the Ministry of Development is working to have the route open as ...
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FS business plan wins government backing
ITALIAN ministers have signed off a five-year business plan for Italian Railways (RG 4.07 p194). Submitted in February, the proposals will see Trenitalia order 1 000 new trains for local and regional passenger services by 2011 at a cost of k6?4bn.Approval came at a meeting on May 4 attended by ...
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Trams arrive in Parla
SPAIN: The initial 8·25 km of a light rail route under construction in the town of Parla, 20 km south of the Spanish capital (RG 8.05 p464), was opened on May 6. Mayor Tomás Gómez was accompanied by the President of the Madrid regional government, Esperanza Aguirre. Due to be ...
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Amman contract
Transport Minister Soud Nseirat announced on May 8 that a consortium of Jordanian, Pakistani and Chinese firms has been awarded a contract worth between 170 and 180m dinars to build the Amman - Zarqa light rail line (RG 1.07 p9).The contract was expected to be signed during the World Economic ...
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Underground in Alacant
ON MAY 10 the lastest section of the light rail network serving the Spanish city of Alacant opened. Branching off the existing El Campello - Porta del Mar route at L’Illot, it serves new undergound stations at MARQ and Mercat, the latter having platforms 20?m below ground. The k110m city-centre ...
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Abuja metro launched
NIGERIAN President Olusegun Obasanjo participated in a ceremony on May 7 to launch the construction of a metro network in the capital Abuja, which he expects will be completed in 15 years. Emphasising that ’no modern city can develop without a modern transport system’, Obasanjo said the three-phase project would ...
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NewsPhase 3 agreed in Bordeaux
WITH WORK now well underway on Phase 2 of the city's light rail programme (RG 4.07 p188), the greater Bordeaux authority has agreed to call tenders for consultancy contracts worth up to €28m covering studies and project supervision for Phase 3. Expected to cost a total of €342m, this would ...
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Finance June 2007
France: Transport funding agency AFITF has agreed to contribute €10m towards the Leslys project to build a rail link between Lyon Part-Dieu and Saint-Exup?ry Airport (RG 2.07 p59). It will also provide €20m for Sytral's Line T4 running 10 km from Line T2 at Jet d'Eau-Mend?s France to Cliniques Feyzin ...
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Pointers June 2007
The government of Sierra Leone has presented donor institutions with a 10-year Transport Sector Development Plan which includes the revival of rail services. Operations on the 762 mm gauge state railway were abandoned in late 1974.According to its financial bid opened on April 27, the Veloxia consortium led by Alstom ...
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People June 2007
President Sarkozy has appointed Alain Jupp? as France's Minister for Ecology & Sustainable Development, replacing Minister for Transport, Infrastructure, Tourism & the Sea Dominique Perben. Dominique Bussereau is Secretary of State for Transport. Georgian Railways Deputy Director Guram Guramishvilli has been appointed head of the co-ordination council for the Baku ...
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Pilot ERTMS project on course
DUE TO open in stages this year and next year, the Córdoba - Málaga high speed line will be equipped to operate with ETCS Levels 1 and 2. Contractor for the train control systems is Dimetronic Signals, sister company of Westinghouse Rail Systems. Both companies are members of the Invensys ...
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Comboios do Portugal embraces best practice
‘WE ARE putting Portugal on the European railway map’, insists António Ramalho, President of the country’s state-owned train operator Comboios do Portugal. Recently elected to the board of the Community of European Railways, Ramalho wants to take advantage of his position to bring best practice to his distant corner of ...
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Premium rail and suspension changes could cut rolling contact fatigue
Two methods of achieving economic benefits in the management of rolling contact fatigue were examined in studies carried out by TTCI for the UK railway industry during 2005. Both the use of premium rail steels and changes to vehicle suspensions have the potential to deliver cost savings AMONG Network Rail's ...
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Major milestones mark ADIF's first year
Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias started life on January 1 2005 with responsibility for the management of the Spanish national network and the construction of new lines formally assigned to it by the Ministry of Development. Robert Preston asked President Antonio González about ADIF's achievements and plans Preston: What ...
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'Investment will be of historic proportions'
Unprecedented levels of investment are transforming Spain's national railway with new high speed lines and a huge rolling stock acquisition programme. Robert Preston put the questions to Renfe Operadora President José Salgueiro Preston: What were Renfe's results for 2005 and what are its financial targets for 2006?Salgueiro: One key fact ...
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Modular common rail fuel system
TO MEET the latest emissions limits for railcars in Europe, British diesel engine supplier Cummins has announced plans to modify its QSK19-R design with a modular common rail fuel system. The QSK19-R, rated at 650 to 750 hp, is being fitted to the 51 three-car TransPennine Express DMUs being built ...
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Mixed signals on access charges
INFRASTRUCTURE separation is a key plank of the European Commission's strategy to restructure the railways in the member states and make them more market-responsive by opening up the national networks to competition.When the Commission convinced EU Transport Ministers that the rail sector needed restructuring to keep it from falling into ...
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Partnership brings revenue boost
Persuading train operators and Network Rail to work together with local authorities and other community groups in Community Rail Partnerships is generating substantial increases in patronage on UK lines that might otherwise risk closure. Richard Hope detects growing political support for the initiative AROUND 37 YEARS AGO Great Britain ...
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Double-deckers dominate the loco-hauled coach market
Examining the market for loco-hauled coaches in Europe and North America, SCI Verkehr finds that capacity issues have driven operators to favour double-deck stock Andreas WolfSenior Market AnalystSCI Verkehr GmbH CURRENTLY there are about 225 000 loco-hauled passenger coaches in use on the world's railways. The largest fleets are found ...