All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1123

  • News

    Freight interface simplified

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    DB Systems has selected ILOG JViews to create the user displays for its Cargo Disposition Fahrzeuge application which is used to schedule freight trains throughout Germany. CDIF monitors every locomotive in the Railion fleet, allowing decisions to be made about scheduling and deployment. The previous system relied on tables of ...

  • News

    French freight first

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    JUNE 13 is due to see the start of open-access freight train operations on the French national rail network, when Connex subsidiary CFTA Cargo starts hauling international traffic between France and Germany.Connex announced on April 26 that CFTA Cargo had been awarded a contract by Belgian limestone supplier Lhoist, to ...

  • News

    Faster in Galicia

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    THE SPANISH Ministry of Development has awarded a consortium of Copasa and Corsan-Corviam Construcción SA a €28·4m contract to build a new double-track alignment 4·3 km in length between Ordes and Queixas on the Santiago de Compostela - A Coruña route. Expected to take 22 months to complete, the new ...

  • News

    Penalty fare postponed

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    NETHERLANDS Railways’ passenger business NS Reizigers has decided to postpone until October the introduction of a new penalty fare scheme, designed to discourage passengers from boarding trains without tickets. At present passengers can purchase tickets from train staff at a premium, but under the new proposals the penalty fare surcharge ...

  • News

    Quetta expresses inaugurated

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    ON MAY 16 Pakistan Railways launched two daily inter-city express services from the western city of Quetta. The inaugural trains were flagged off by the Governor of Baluchistan, Owais Ahmed Ghani.Worked with new Chinese-built air-conditioned coaches, the accelerated Baluchistan Express between Quetta and Karachi now covers the 862 km in ...

  • News

    EWS set to follow

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    UK FREIGHT operator EWS announced last month that it would order ’at least 360’ wagons during 2005 to be used ’in Britain and mainland Europe’. At present EWS operates solely within Britain, although it shares with SNCF exclusive rights to haul rail freight through the Channel Tunnel. Last year EWS ...

  • News

    EMUs ordered

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    PLANS to order a fleet of dual-system EMUs reached fruition on May 9, when Mumbai Railway Vikas Corp confirmed the award of a Rs9·25bn contract to Siemens. The deal is being supported by the World Bank as part of a major upgrading and expansion of the Mumbai suburban network.Siemens India ...

  • News

    End of train deliveries

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    CANADIAN National has placed a US$5m order with Wabtec for over 500 TrainLink ATX ES end-of-train devices to allow drivers to apply the brakes from both front and rear of trains simultaneously.An integrated GPS unit is provided for tracking and control. Rather than use a battery, TrainLink ATX ES is ...

  • News

    Railway: Identity, Design and Culture

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    by Keith LovegroveIn its own words, this book sets out to provide ’an exuberant collection of imagery depicting vintage, modern and futuristic train travel’.The identity, design and culture of the passenger train is explored in over 160 pages, with the help of 250 illustrations. Although car interiors loom large, in ...

  • News

    Tram crossing

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    CEGELEC will be showing signalling systems developed to control barrier-protected level crossings on light rail lines.The technology has been chosen for Lyon’s LEA tram route T3 which will run between Part-Dieu and Meyzieu. The route will have 26 level crossings over 14·7 km, and the high commercial speed planned for ...

  • News

    Cross-desert cut-off planned

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    WORK IS to start this year on a 1390 km line across the Ulan Buh and Badain Jaran deserts in northern China, connecting Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang.No timetable has been announced for completion of the line, which is being managed by Chinese Railways’ regional administration in Hohhot. It is ...

  • News

    Coupler electronics

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    VOITH Turbo Scharfenberg has developed an electrical and pneumatic coupling system for use with AAR and Tightlock couplers. As well as protecting electrical components during coupling, it ensures reliable contacts between vehicle electronics. Voith’s E-box sits below the coupler where it is protected against heavy knocks, jolts and contamination which ...

  • News

    Depot contracts

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    MADRID regional government has awarded contracts worth a total of €181·3m for the construction of four new rolling stock depots and the expansion of an existing facility on Line 4 in the Hortaleza district. The depots are needed to service the 698 new metro cars and 70 light rail vehicles ...

  • News

    Driver training contracted out

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    SWISS Federal Railways is to transfer its driver training activities to the specialist company Login which already trains other staff involved in public transport.From January 2006 Login will take over training of all SBB drivers. While SBB will continue to recruit and employ drivers, Login’s driver training school will be ...

  • News

    One coach refurbishment contract

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    UK: Bombardier has been awarded a £17m contract by Porterbrook Leasing to overhaul and refurbish 110 MkIII coaches used by National Express Group's Greater Anglia train operating company One. Superseded by Pendolino tilting trains on Virgin West Coast services, the MkIIIs were leased by One last year to replace older ...

  • News

    Jewel chips on show

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    CENTREPIECE of the Innovision Research & Technology stand will be three ticket machines that can read the company’s Jewel low-cost contactless ticketing chip. An Almex Optima mobile ticket machine from H

  • News

    DLR capacity expansion

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    DOCKLANDS Light Railway ordered 24 more articulated cars from Bombardier on April 28, as part of a programme to expand the capacity of its busiest route from Bank to Lewisham via Canary Wharf. Platforms are being lengthened so that trains can be extended from two to three cars in ...

  • News

    Conference call

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    WITH all speakers now confirmed for the Railway Gazette Centenary Congress on July 1, we are in the final stages of preparation for a very special event.Topics include Switzerland’s successful national regular-interval timetable - a concept now being suggested in France by RFF; the future of signalling and train control ...

  • News

    Joint company to build international link

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    ATA CEREMONY in Tehran on May 2 the heads of the railways in Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan signed a formal accord to build the Qazvin - Rasht - Astara line as part of the emerging North-South Corridor linking the Gulf with the Baltic Sea.At a second meeting held in Tehran ...

  • News

    Broadband Thalys

    2005-06-01T10:00:00Z

    21NET will be demonstrating the broadband internet access it is providing on Thalys services between Paris and Brussels in a three-month commercial test. The company is involved in a European Space Agency programme to develop bi-directional satellite communications to deliver broadband internet to high speed trains. Successful live trials of ...