All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1107
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News
Steel mill
CORUS has selected Siemens VAI subsidiary Vaipomini to supply a seven-stand finishing mill, marking, hot sawing and cooling plant as part of the steelmaker’s £130m investment in Long Products at its Scunthorpe plant. Rail production is being transferred from Workington to the north Lincolnshire plant (RG 4.05 p226), which ...
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Metros
China: In August Knorr-Bremse received an order worth €7m to supply brakes for use on 128 metro cars which are being built for use on Shanghai Line 1.Croatia: On September 14 the first two of 70 TMK2200 trams ordered from the Crotram consortium by Zagreb Electric Tramways entered revenue service ...
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Thessaloniki metro revived
A CONSORTIUM headed by Greek construction company Aegek has been named as temporary contractor for the 9·6 km first phase of the long-planned metro in Thessaloniki. Budgeted at €798m, the first phase would run underground through the city centre from the main station in the north to Nea Elvetia in ...
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Market
Argentina: TBA is taking delivery of 1600 tonnes of UIC54 rail from Aceralia of Spain, which is to be laid on concrete sleepers during track renewals costing 34m pesos on the 5·5 km of four-track main line between Retiro and Empalme Maldonado in Buenos Aires. TBA is also undertaking track ...
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On the Wrong Line
by Christian WolmarTHE CONCLUDING chapter is titled ’how ideology and incompetence wrecked Britain’s railways’, setting the tone for this description of how British Rail was privatised and the unintended consequences which followed.The first half of the book is an updated version of the author’s Broken Rails, originally published in 2001. ...
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Lime mix
LARGE SCALE and commercially viable production of lime mortar to an 1860s specification is being undertaken as part of the renovation of London’s St Pancras station, which will form the terminus of Section 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link from 2007.Lime Technology, CPI EuroMix and Castle Cement have developed ...
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La Paz light metro out to tender
ON AUGUST 31 Mayor of La Paz Juan Del Granado formally launched a bidding for a 35-year concession to build and operate a 10·6 km elevated light metro route in the Bolivian capital.Expected to cost US$73m to build, the route would run from Cotacota in the south to Calle Colón ...
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Kazan metro opens
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin became the first passenger to ride the Kazan metro when it opened on August 27. He was joined for the 1·2 km trip from Kremlyovskaya to Ploschad Tukaya by Tatarstan's premier Mintimer Shamiyev and Russian Finance Minister Aleksei Judrina, and the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev ...
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Recovering from Katrina
HERCULEAN efforts have been made by railways in the US Gulf Coast region to restore services in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina on August 29.Once the storm had passed, pre-positioned maintenance-of-way gangs swung into operation, restoring track and signals wherever possible. However, major ports such as ...
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João Pessoa upgrades too
WORK is expected to start shortly on upgrading tracks for passenger services in the Brazilian city of João Pessoa. A limited diesel-hauled suburban service has been operating for some time over the 28 km between Cabedelo on the coast and the inland suburb of Santa Rita, serving seven intermediate ...
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Intelligence
China: Work began on August 26 to add a fourth track on the 147 km line between Guangzhou and Shenzhen at a cost of 4·74bn yuan. This will allow services to be increased from 100 to 137 per day, and it is expected that traffic will rise from 27million to ...
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Nanjing metro inaugurated
ON SEPTEMBER 3 Nanjing became the sixth Chinese city with an operational metro, when the first section of Line 1 was formally inaugurated by the Governor of Jiangsu province Liang Bao-Hua. The governor was joined at the inauguration by Nanjing mayor Jiang Hong-Kun, local Party Secretary Li Yuan-Chao, and Nanjing ...
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Illuminating report
REQUIREMENTS for emergency lighting on trains have been identified in a report compiled under the leadership of AEA Technology Rail and published by Britain’s Rail Safety & Standards Board.The project identified safety benefits using feedback from passengers involved in accidents where lights failed. These include helping passengers protect themselves and ...
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Stadler’s good half
CONTINUING growth in turnover and yield was reported by Stadler for the first half of 2005. Consolidated half-yearly sales of SFr274m were up from the 2004 figure of SFr231m, and the company is expecting an annual turnover for the current year of SFr600m, 22% above budget. Staff numbers are up ...
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RZD reform makes good progress
INTRO: The process of reforming Russian Railways to meet the needs of a market-based economy is well advanced, with institutional separation complete, growing private investment in rolling stock and significant competition in the freight marketBYLINE: Anna G BelovaVice-President, Russian RailwaysLouis S ThompsonPrincipal, Thompson, Galenson & AssociatesRUSSIA is a country of ...
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Network Rail found guilty over Hatfield
FINES totalling millions of pounds may be imposed on Network Rail and Balfour Beatty this month, after the jury in the eight-month Hatfield trial found NR guilty of offences under Section 37 of the Health & Safety at Work Act on September 6.At the same time, the jury found three ...
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International focus on the value of speed
INTRO: eurailSpeed 2005 will examine the latest developments and the future outlook for high speed railways, focusing on the main theme of High Speed Rail - Railways’ Leading Asset for Customers and SocietyEurailspeed 2005, the 5th World High Speed Rail Congress, will be held in Milano, Italy, on November 7-9. ...
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Finance
Germany: On September 16 Sachsen-Anhalt Transport Minister Dr Karl-Heinz Daehre confirmed a further €3·3m of Land funding towards the 8·5 km extension of the metre-gauge Harz Railway from Gernrode to Quedlinburg. Work on the €6m project officially began on April 18 for completion in mid-2006.Iran: The Islamic Development Bank has ...
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Terminal expanded
SWISS intermodal operator Hupac held celebrations on September 9 to mark the expansion of its Busto Arsizio-Gallarate terminal near Milano. Italian Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi and his Swiss counterpart Moritz Leuenberger participated in the event.Hupac has invested SFr75m to increase capacity from 15 to 23 train pairs per day. There ...
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Nordic Rail highlights northern Europe
JÖNKÖPING is once again hosting the Nordic Rail exhibition, and on October 4-6, eyes will turn to developments in the rail industries of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.The region’s suppliers will be present to highlight their products and services, while exhibitors from further afield will be heading to southern Sweden ...