All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1063
-
News
Festive start for Chinese sets
High speed trainsets have begun trial services between Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzen and Guangzhou, marking the latest step in Chinese Railways’ passenger service upgrade. The first services operated on the line to Hangzhou on January 28 using sets derived from the E2-1000 Shinkansen used by JR East (RG 8.05 p485). ...
-
News
Channel Tunnel freight is collapsing
EUROPE: Two of the regular streams of freight traffic through the Channel Tunnel ceased at the beginning of February because the cost of using the Tunnel has increased substantially. Unilog based in Belgium has been forced out of business altogether, while GTS Trasporti in Italy stopped dispatching intermodal trains ...
-
News
Five qualify to build CDG Express
FRENCH Minister of Transport Dominique Perben announced on January 30 that five consortia had qualified for the concession to develop a dedicated rail link to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport (RG 9.06 p485). The five bids are from: Eiffage partnered with Macquarie Bank a group formed of Bouygues TP, Seco-Rail, RATP-Développement, ...
-
News
Industry in Brief
Railpower Technologies announced at the end of January that it had raised C$30m through a bought deal with a syndicate of Canaccord Adams, Sprott Securities, National Bank Financial, Paradigm Capital and Pacific International Securities. The hybrid loco technology company will use the proceeds to finance the fulfilment of current orders ...
-
News
Bratislava commissions expansion studies
A CONSORTIUM of Bratislava-based contractors Dopravoprojekt and Infraprojekt has been appointed by Railways of the Slovak Republic to draw up a KS940m detailed feasibility study for three major investment projects in the capital. Construction bids will be invited shortly for the ambitious 2007-15 expansion programme, which includes upgrading and electrification ...
-
News
Freight bottlenecks in focus
EU POLICIES deregulating European rail freight are forecast to generate significant growth in intermodal traffic over the next decade. Initiatives such as Singer (p164) are already demonstrating what may be achievable. But operators and infrastructure managers are becoming increasingly concerned that the continent’s rail network will not be able to ...
-
News
Troops take railway towards the border
ERITREA'S government has provided 1 000 soldiers to work on rehabilitation of the 124 km of the 950 mm gauge Eritrean Railway west from Asmara to Agordat. Continuing a further 109 km from Agordat would take the line to Biscia, thereafter to Tessenei and the Sudanese border, ...
-
News
Building blocks
Poundfield Products believes its Betabric retaining wall design could reduce the cost of building such structures by as much as 50% on the UK network. Many earth retaining walls were built in the nineteenth century and their structural integrity is a growing cause for concern. Poundfield’s Betabric product allows ...
-
News
Bluetooth in Bilbao
RENFE Cercanías de Bilbao has launched a trial Bluetooth service, offering passengers timetable, fares and service disruption information on their mobile phones and PDAs. The service uses J2ME technology to communicate with Bluetooth-enabled devices, allowing passengers to download a guide to RENFE services in the local area, complete with ...
-
News
Second Avenue contract
Skanska USA Civil, Schiavone Construction and JF Shea Construction were due to sign a contract in mid-February to build the first section of the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan. The $333m agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority paves the way for work to begin on the first of four planned ...
-
News
Dubai auto-couplers
VOITH Scharfenberg is to fit auto-couplers to a fleet of 87 metro cars for Dubai being built by Kinki Sharyo. The couplers will be fitted with shock absorbers to protect the driverless vehicles in a low-speed collision. The couplers, like the vehicles themselves, are being designed to cope with the ...
-
NewsWorld railway market is 'robust and attractive'
A study commissioned by UNIFE from Roland Berger Strategy Consultants puts the value of the world railway market at over €100bn a year. Growth is predicted at 1·5% to 2% a year for the next decade.
-
News
Second high speed line for Argentina?
ON FEBRUARY 8 President Néstor Kirchner launched tendering for the second high speed line planned in Argentina, linking Buenos Aires with Mar del Plata. It is hoped to complete tendering this August, including the award of contracts for civil works, tracklaying, electrification, signalling and telecommunications as well as the ...
-
NewsBDZ separation plan approved
BULGARIA: The cabinet approved a plan to further restructure Bulgarian State Railways on January 18, following the creation of financially independent passenger, freight and traction divisions of the national operator on January 1 (RG 12.06 p764). Transport Minister Peter Mutafchiev plans to create separate telecoms, rolling stock management, maintenance ...
-
NewsPendolino deal falls apart
THE SURGE of passengers riding Virgin's tilting Pendolinos after the UK's West Coast Main Line was upgraded for 200 km/h operation has created an urgent need for two extra vehicles in each of the 53 nine-car trainsets. Under a 'handshake deal' valued at around ?158m, reached on January ...
-
News
Restructuring announced at Tognum
TOGNUM announced a restructuring on February 5, creating two divisions which Chief Executive Volker Heuer says will provide ’clear structures of responsibility and allow us to implement our growth strategy more effectively.’ The new Engines & After-Sales division is centred on MTU’s rail, marine and heavy industrial engine manufacturing ...
-
News
United Streetcar to enter American tram market
ON JANUARY 26 Oregon Iron Works announced a $4m contract to produce a prototype modern low-floor light rail vehicle for the North American market at its Clackamas plant in the USA. United Streetcar LLC has been established as an OIW subsidiary to produce the vehicle, which will be based on ...
-
News
Bangkok growth goes ahead
A 165bn baht programme for expansion of Bangkok’s metro network has been approved by the government of Thailand. The latest package calls for construction of five routes totalling 118?km. The government’s final decision comes after the Cabinet gave its backing to the scheme at a meeting in November (RG 12.06 ...
-
News
Records fall as the French forge ahead
AN UNOFFICIAL world rail speed record of 554?3?km/h was set in France on February 13 during trials on TGV Est. This comprehensively beats the 515?3?km/h rail record that SNCF established on May 18 1990 and surpasses the 552?km/h achieved by the Japanese experimental maglev trainset MLX01 at Yamanashi on April ...
-
News
Combino Plus takes off after false start
AT 82 MILLION passengers a year, the Grand Boulevard in Budapest is probably the busiest tram route in Europe today. It handles no less than 22 8% of the 357 million passengers moved by the Hungarian capital's transport authority BKV each year. Tracks on the 8 km semi-circular ...