All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1089
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Pacific concession goes to court
COLOMBIA's national concession agency INCO has begun legal proceedings against Tren de Occidente, which holds the 30-year concession to upgrade and operate the 498 km Pacific network connecting the port of Buenaventura with Cali, La Virginia and Armenia. INCO maintains that the concessionaire has fallen behind with an infrastructure ...
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Composite tie-up
STEEL Dynamics Inc announced on March 9 that it is to begin manufacturing composite sleepers under licence from Primix Corp through a joint venture.The sleepers will have a formed steel core, to be produced by Steel Dynamic’s flat roll division. This core will be filled with concrete for stability and ...
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Strategic thinking can reduce the mass of commuter EMUs
Rolling stock manufacturers are studying the potential for reducing the weight of rolling stock, with a view to cutting energy consumption and life-cycle costs. Experience from Japan suggests that taking a strategic view offers long-term benefits
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Porto Metro close to completion
MARCH 31 saw the start of revenue services on two further sections of the Porto Metro, bringing the light rail network to 58·2 km serving 65 stations.The Green Line (C) was extended by 4·5 km from Fórum Maia to Ismai, using the alignment of a former metre-gauge line which had ...
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Montpellier Citadis rolled out
THE FIRST of 24 Citadis 302 low-floor cars being built by Alstom for Montpellier’s second tramline was unveiled by city officials and TAM representatives on April 3. Tracklaying is nearing completion on the 19·8 km line, which is expected to open at the end of this year. Running from southwest ...
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China offsets stagnant Europe
KNORR-BREMSE recorded consolidated sales of €2·7bn in 2005, 13% up on the 2004 figure of €2·4bn. Orders were up 16% to €2·85m, and net income rose 18% to €154m.The Rail Vehicle division accounted for €991m of last year’s sales, up from €944m in 2004, but the Commercial Vehicle sector in ...
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Gounon challenges creditors to get real
AFTER MONTHS of largely fruitless negotiations on debt restructuring, Eurotunnel’s Executive Chairman Jacques Gounon threw down the gauntlet on April 12. He effectively challenged creditors holding £6·2bn of debt to settle on terms that would allow the company to operate profitably. The alternative was the uncertain prospect of trying to ...
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DB chases a high score in World Cup challenge
INTRO: German Railway has seized on the opportunities presented by this year’s World Cup to promote its services and win more passengers to rail. The north-south tunnel in Berlin and the high speed line from Nürnberg to Ingolstadt open this month in good time to help handle the expected crowds ...
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Technicentre Est Europeen opens for business
FRANCE: At 09.00 on April 6, two TGV Duplex trainsets were standing at Platforms 5 and 6 in Paris Est station, well outside their normal sphere of operations. They were laden with 1500 guests, press and VIPs, bound for the inauguration of the new TGV Est rolling stock ...
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Replacement station at Burgos
THE SPANISH cabinet has given its approval for tenders to be called for the construction of a station on the new alignment avoiding the centre of Burgos on the Madrid - Hendaye main line. A budget of €18·58m has been set for the work, expected to take 18 months to ...
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RENFE to build more trains
ON APRIL 18 Renfe President José Salguiero signed five agreements with rolling stock suppliers Alstom, CAF and Siemens that will see 258 passengers cars built by the operator's Valladolid workshops in 2006-09, representing 700000h of new work. Valladolid is to build 42 Civia III EMU cars under a contract ...
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Products in Brief
China Academy of Rail Sciences and Sifang Rolling Stock Research Institute have standardised on the LonWorks IEEE 1473L network platform for onboard safety monitoring of functions including brakes, doors and power supply.Echelon, USALos Angeles MTA has ordered an emergency access and incident response road-rail vehicle from Mattman Speciality Vehicles in ...
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City News in Brief
On March 23 the Septa board approved a US$244m contract to buy 104 Silverliner V EMU cars from United Transit System to replace life-expired stock on the Philadelphia suburban network. Three prototypes are due in 30 months, and the remainder within four years. The UTS consortium of Rotem and Japan’s ...
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Industry News in Brief
Spanish train builder CAF recorded a consolidated net profit after tax of €18·1m in 2005, up 29% on 2004. Turnover was up 18% to €680·8m, and cash flow after taxation reached €23·3m, an increase of 19%. Orders in hand at December 31 2005 stood at €2·7bn, with 27% of this ...
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Training in Brief
Ptarmigan Transport Solutions, Maxim Learning and the UKAssociation of Train Operating Companies have developed a modular course totalling 2h to train ticket sellers in selling passengers additional services such as first class travel, railcards and through bus ticketing.Rail Training International has established a partnership with UK train operator Southern to ...
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Passengers in a box
DURING April Dorsey station on the Camden Line in Baltimore was equipped with a 20ft shipping container housing walk-through explosives and metal detectors supplied by Smiths Group.The USA’s Transportation Security Administration wants to know whether the container can process large numbers of passengers without requiring them to empty their pockets ...
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Bought by the neighbours
AMERICAN Railcar Industries acquired the Custom Steel subsidiary of Steel Technologies with effect from April 1.Under the deal announced on March 27, ARI paid approximately $13m for the Custom Steel business, plus $5m for its inventory. Custom Steel operates a rolling stock component fabrication facility in Kennett, Missouri, which primarily ...
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Billing costs cut
FRETSNCF is using ILOG’s JRules software to create a new pricing system as part of a major IT modernisation programme, which aims to increase sales flexibility and billing transparency while reducing costs. JRules is being used to automate and streamline pricing for freight traffic worth around €1·82bn a year, and ...
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Betuwe Route soap opera continues
SHORTLY after our last issue went to press (RG 4.06 p173), Transport & Public Works Minister Karla Peijs announced that operation of the Betuwe Route would, after all, be undertaken by Prorail, the Dutch rail infrastructure manager. Her statement was received badly by the lower house in parliament, where MPs ...
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Belgrano rescue
ON APRIL 18 President of Argentina Néstor Kirchner signed a decree placing operations at Belgrano Cargas SA in a ’state of emergency’ for a period of 180 days. During this period, which can be extended for two similar terms, the government will provide funding to meet essential expenses, including the ...