All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1086
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News
Spoornet focuses on improving its core freight operations
South Africa's state-owned railway Spoornet has embarked on a five-year programme to improve performance and profitability, which will help to support the government's Accelerated & Shared Growth Initiative. Chris Jackson asked Vice-President Molotwane Likhethe how this will be achieved
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Contracts placed
DELHI Metro Rail Corp confirmed on May 1 that it had awarded contracts for all six projects in Phase II of the Indian capital’s metro network, and said work was expected to get underway on all of them shortly.Construction has already started on the 6·4 km northern extension of Line ...
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Threats fly in Estonian conflict
THE ROW between Baltic Rail Services and the Estonian government looks likely to boil over this summer.Last month the Ministry of Economic Affairs sent a letter to BRS, which holds 66% of shares in Eesti Raudtee, accusing the company of breach of contract. Unless BRS made good within 60 days ...
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Industrial muscle concentrated in the north
Both Alstom and Bombardier have large assembly plants in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, and both are currently busy with large orders.The Bombardier plant at Crespin is turning out AGC sets for regional services on the French network under a framework contract with SNCF for 500 units; these are being ...
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TTX is coming
After five years of development, the prototype Korean Tilting Train is now under construction. Taking to the tracks at the end of this year, it promises a significant enhancement in service quality on Korail's conventional network
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Grinding programme combines noise reduction and preventative maintenance
Use of a ballastless track design on HSL-Zuid meant that there was a risk of exceeding the legal limits for noise emissions, which are based on conventional ballasted track. The problem is being countered with a carefully-tailored maintenance programme that combines acoustic and preventative grinding
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WCRR debates capacity and sustainability
INTRO: Taking place in Montréal on June 4 - 8, the 2006 World Congress on Railway Research will promote international co-operation in the fields of operational, environmental and safety management, as well as discussing more traditional engineering topicsBYLINE: Roy Allen and Mike Lowenger*BYLINE: *Roy Allen is President of Transportation Technology ...
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Re-regulation threat to capacity investment
CAPITAL INVESTMENT by the Class I railroads in North America continues to rise. We have reported before that the operators are moving rapidly to add extra capacity on key corridors in the face of unprecedented levels of demand.Rolling back decades of downsizing is not cheap. According to the Association of ...
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Master Plan will transform Nord-Pas de Calais network
AT LEAST €1535m is to be spent on improvements and modernisation of the rail network in Nord-Pas de Calais.Projects include a €650m regional high speed line stretching for around 70 km between Lille, Valenciennes and Aulnoye, for which a pre-feasibility study is currently in hand. Other short sections of new ...
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NewsI-Trans spearheads rail investment push in Nord-Pas de Calais
Revival of railway research, construction of a major testing centre and a 20-year investment programme in track and trains are on a shopping list of railway development activities in Nord-Pas de Calais. Murray Hughes reports from Lille and Valenciennes
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NewsBordeaux tram extensions underway
Less than three years after the first phase of the Bordeaux light rail network was inaugurated, works are well advanced for several extensions which will almost double the length by 2008, reports Chris Heaps
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Bombardier wins Chicago race
ON MAY 10 the Board of Chicago Transit Authority approved the purchase of 406 metro cars from Bombardier Transit Corp in a deal valued at $577m. They will be CTA's first cars to have AC propulsion and regenerative braking. The contract covers a base order of 206 vehicles ...
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Beijing signal contracts signed
BEIJUNG metro operator BMOC has awarded a €28m contract to Alstom for resignalling Line 2 in time for the 2008 Olympic Games. Working with its joint venture subsidiary Casco and Electrification Engineering Bureau, Alstom will equip 23 route-km with its Urbalis radio-based CBTC and Eurobalises to provide intermittent back-up. The ...
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Separation battle
WHEN Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee called in January for a ’constructive debate’ over the form in which Deutsche Bahn AG should be privatised, he no doubt foresaw that there would be some pretty heated discussion.There have been no fisticuffs yet, but a clear, if predictable, separation of views has ...
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Overcoming the maintenance backlog
Spoornet has budgeted to spend R514m on infrastructure maintenance projects in the 2006-07 financial year. Much of this will be invested in the primary freight corridors used by the General Freight Business.R103m will be spent on tamping, screening and ballast renewal to improve the lateral stability of the track, reduce ...
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Portland picks Avanto for MAX
ON May 10 the TriMet board approved a $75m contract with Siemens Transportation Systems for 21 S70 Avanto light rail vehicles, with an option for another three. Intended to operate the Interstate 205 and Portland Mall extensions of the MAX light rail network that are scheduled to open in September ...
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Nanjing - Hangzhou approved
CHINA’S MINISTRY of Railways announced on May 9 the go ahead for construction of a 300 km/h passenger railway between Nanjing and Hangzhou, with the aim of starting work by the end of this year.Due to be completed by 2010, the 251 km line is expected to cost 20·3bn yuan. ...
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DART expansion approved
WORK WILL start this year on two extensions to the DART light rail network in Dallas, following approval by the Federal Transit Administration of a $700m Full Funding Grant Agreement. This is intended to support a $2·4bn programme that will double the network to 150 km by 2013. With an ...
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State stake in Alstom sold
BOUYGUES is to purchase the 21% stake in Alstom which has been owned by the French state since July 2004 under the government’s rescue agreement (RG 6.04 p369). The stake will be acquired at a price of €68·21 per share, representing an investment of €2bn, to be funded from available ...
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Change in Alice
FURTHER upheavals can be expected in the Australian rail sector with the news that a stake in the Adelaide - Alice Springs - Darwin rail link is up for sale.Operator Freight Link announced at the beginning of May that it was looking for ’a long-term strategic partner’ through the sale ...