All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1129
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News
Simulating the world’s railways
CORYS Training & Engineering Support Systems is supplying train simulators to railways across the world from its base in Grenoble. The company has recently completed the modification of a cab simulator used to train Acela Express drivers to represent four additional types of vehicle, covering the majority of Amtrak’s fleet.The ...
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Rails to be rolled in Scunthorpe
CORUS announced on February 17 that rail production will be transferred from its Workington plant to Scunthorpe steelworks by November 2006.The steelmaker is to spend £130m at Scunthorpe, creating a rail production facility at the existing section mill, as well as an on-site service centre offering rail in lengths of ...
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Publications
End of the Line: The Failure of Amtrak Reform and the Future of America’s Passenger Trainsby Joseph VranichIf you thought that Amtrak had some redeeming features, you will have forgotten them by the time you reach the end of this well-researched book.Author Joseph Vranich, a former Amtrak public affairs spokesman ...
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Pointers
During an official visit to Chile, Argentinian President Néstor Kirchner announced in Santiago on March 14 that tenders would soon be called for work to restore the central rail crossing of the Andes between Mendoza and Los Andes.Chinese Railways expects to start work this year on an underground link between ...
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Metros
China: Alcatel has won a €9·8m contract to provide communications for the planned Line 9 in Shanghai. The 31 km route between SongJiang and YiShan Road with 12 stations will open in 2009.France:On February 28 Reims council approved a €281m plan for an initial tram line running 10 km from ...
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Market
Argentina:National Railway Equipment Co of the USA is supplying four rebuilt GM-EMD G12 locomotives to Fepsa. Originally manufactured for National Railways of Mexico, they have received 1676mm gauge bogies and the Qtron fault diagnosis system.Chile:EFE has signed a US$180m contract with a consortium of Sice-Enyse and Cam to upgrade electrification, ...
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Mexico suburban makes progress
TWO CONSORTIA have been shortlisted for a concession to develop suburban services around Mexico City. The two groups were expected to lodge their partnership documentation by the end of March, with technical and financial bids due in May.According to the transport ministry, the contract is expected to be awarded at ...
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Replica line has the technology
TRAINING company Rail Tech Group has created an indoor replica of a section of typical modern railway infrastructure which is being used to provide courses for signalling engineers. The lengths of track in Rail Tech’s Ipswich training centre simulate a compressed 1·6 km of line, and are equipped with a ...
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News
Macau plans light rail network
TENDERS are to be invited next year for construction of a 27 km light rail network in the Macau Special Administrative Region, with the aim of having the first routes operational by 2009. Proposals for the three-line network were unveiled by the Land, Public Works & Transport Bureau at the ...
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NS reform makes progress at last
UNDER the Railways Act 2003, concessions for operation of the trunk passenger network and for management of the national railway infrastructure are about to come into force with Netherlands Railways and ProRail. Both will be backdated to January 1, the date on which the formal ownership of NS was transferred ...
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Paris invests in suburban renewals
ILE DE France transport authority STIF has approved in principle a €324m upgrading of the northern section of Paris RER Line B, and expects to give the formal go-ahead in September.By upgrading the existing RFF long-distance tracks which parallel Line B Nord and building an additional track from Villeparisis to ...
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Intelligence
Bangladesh:The Ministry of Communications has called tenders for consultants to undertake feasibility studies into double-tracking and electrification of the Dhaka - Chittagong main line. The study will also look at building a cut-off from Laksam to Dhaka, shorter than the route via Akhaura. Belarus:The creation of a joint venture to ...
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High-output machines speed track renewals
WORK is due to start in early May on a programme of track renewals covering around 100 km of the ProRail network. The contract was awarded to the contractor Spitzke Spoorbouw BV, a subsidiary of the German Spitzke group.The work forms part of the Nefit Noordoost programme to renew sleepers ...
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Tibet to get high-altitude trains
CHINA’S Ministry of Railways has ordered 361 passenger coaches designed for use at high altitudes. Due to enter service from June 2006, they will be used on trains to Lhasa from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.The €213m order was placed at the end of February with the Qingdao-based Bombardier Sifang Power ...
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Passenger projects gain momentum
FOLLOWING the approval last month of bidding conditions by the Ministry of Federal Planning, the Argentinian government was expected to call tenders for a 20-year concession to operate passenger trains between Buenos Aires and Posadas. Trenes Especiales Argentinos has been operating the route since November 2003.NCA was due to provide ...
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Perpignan - Figueres funding signed
ONMARCH 16 AFITF President Gérard Longuet signed the French transport infrastructure funding agency’s first payment, a sum of €30·1m forming the third tranche of support from the French government for the 44·5 km new line between Perpignan and Figueres in Spain.Public bodies at European and national level are providing a ...
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Faults with freight
Sir - New Opera (RG 3.05 p115) is a travesty. The EC is paying the European rail freight industry for things it should be recognising and doing itself. For too long rail has taken a ’take it or leave it’ position, despite the rising capabilities of the road sector. Operations ...
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Midway and O’Hare expresses planned
CHICAGO Transit Authority invited proposals on February 16 for consultants to assist with developing dedicated Airport Express services which would use existing metro lines to link the city centre with the region’s two principal airports. Bids were due by March 11. CTA envisages the construction of a dedicated in-town Airport ...