All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1155
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News
Safety lighting
MERIDIAN diesel-electric multiple-units being built by Bombardier for Midland Main Line and Hull Trains are being fitted with green LED emergency lighting from Marl International.Load-bearing lighting strips are incorporated in the floors, and kick-strip lights fitted to the vestibules. These will be permanently illuminated to familiarise passengers with evacuation routes, ...
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Portland launches Yellow Line
CELEBRATIONS were held in Portland, Oregon, on May 1 to mark the inauguration of the city’s third light rail line. The 9·3 km Interstate Avenue extension has been opened four months early at a total cost of $350m.Running north from the city to Expo Center, TriMet’s Yellow Line adds 10 ...
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Kenya-Uganda through trains revived
Uganda Railways Corp and 150 by KRC. KRC is relaying its line west of Nakuru with heavier rails, and work will be completed by mid-2005. KRC is also providing assistance to URC for refurbishing the track between Kampala and the border at Malaba. According to KRC’s Ugandan representative Julius Chando, ...
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Istanbul - Köln shuttle trial
WEEKLY freight services between Germany and Turkey will be running by the end of the year following a successful trial run from Istanbul to Köln that covered the 3000 km in just 79h. According to freight operator Railion Deutschland, the objective is to launch a daily service within two years. ...
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Russia invests in passenger stock
DURING the current year Russian Railways is to invest 12·7bn roubles in its passenger services, including 4·1bn roubles for improvements to stations and 1·7bn on capital repairs of buildings. In the first quarter, 1·7bn roubles has been spent on purchasing carriages, and 433m roubles on the refurbishment of existing stock.Figures ...
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Intelligent metro
METRO line controllers may be able to respond more efficiently to operating disruptions using real-time decision support software which is being demonstrated by Cambridge Consultants Ltd.The software can automatically balance any performance penalty payments applicable at the current time of day with crewing requirements, infrastructure limitations and the ease of ...
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Intelligence
Canada:The federal and Manitoba province governments have agreed to assist funding the continuation until December of two VIA Rail passenger services and one Hudson Bay Railway freight train per week between The Pas and Pukatawagan. Three First Nation communities plan to purchase the line.Czech Republic:On April 26 work was launched ...
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Integrated in Interfleet
ROLLING stock consultancy TrainTech Engineering AB has been relaunched as Interfleet Technology AB, following its acquisition by Interfleet Group last October. TrainTech was formerly part of rolling stock maintenance provider EuroMaint AB in Sweden, and has around 100 consultants and a turnover of SKr90m. According to Regional Director Sven Ödeen, ...
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Impact-resistant insulators
PORCELAIN insulators used to support conductor rails are heavy and suffer from chipping and cracking, but these problems can be avoided by using glass-reinforced plastic insulators developed by Rehau. Assembled from three adjustable and replaceable GRP parts, the insulators are comparable in cost to porcelain. Two versions are available to ...
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Tunis needs a heavy metro
CONTRACTS are due to be awarded shortly for the construction of a light rail line in Tunis, linking the central station with the southwestern suburb of El Mourouj. Expected to be completed next year, the line is the first of two 7 km extensions to the city's five-line light ...
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QR heads south
APRIL 28 saw the arrival of Queensland Rail’s maiden Brisbane - Melbourne open-access interstate train at CRT Group’s Altona terminal in the Victoria state capital. The East Coast Intermodal Service is run by QR’s standard-gauge subsidiary Interail in conjunction with CRT.On hand to greet the train were CRT Group Executive ...
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Gold Line to grow
PUBLIC consultation began last month on plans to extend the Los Angeles Gold Line east from Pasadena to Montclair. This would follow the 9·6 km extension from Union Station to East Los Angeles, on which work is expected to begin this year. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Foothill ...
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Transandine funding
THE ARGENTINIAN province of Neuquén is seeking legislation that will allow it to raise up to US$48·9m in loans to fund construction of the first section of a new rail crossing of the Andes from Zapala to Lonquimay in Chile. The initial Zapala - Las Lajas section would cost between ...
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French freight plan is ’on target’
FRENCH National Railways announced on April 28 that the plan to rescue its rail freight business is showing early results.Deputy Managing Director, Freight, Marc Véron said the objective was to achieve 3% annual growth from 2007 onwards. Since the start of implementation at the end of last year, the main ...
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Finance
Canada: The federal, provincial and city governments have announced funding commitments totalling C$660m to extend Ottawa’s O-Train DMU-operated line from Lebreton to Limebank, and to develop plans to run to Barrhaven and the city centre.Europe: Eurotunnel has appointed Lazard and Lehman Brothers as banking advisors. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein will continue ...
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E-ticketing trials in Finland
FINNISH national operator VR began trials with e-ticketing on May 11. Customers can make a booking on the internet and then print off a ticket, or alternatively they can opt to receive an e-mail or text message confirming the booking. Tickets can be purchased between eight weeks and one hour ...
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TGV Est will be ERTMS testbed
INTERNATIONAL trials of the European Rail Traffic Management System are to be undertaken on the Paris - Frankfurt corridor, and are due to start in 2007.Meeting in Paris on May 14, Hartmut Mehdorn of DB AG, RFF President Jean-Pierre Dupont and Louis Gallois of SNCF signed a ’common declaration’ launching ...
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Greener tram lines in Erfurt
THIS month Erfurter Gleisbau GmbH will begin installing grassed track using clip-together sleeper and rail fastening protectors developed by Regum GmbH. Made from bonded recycled rubber, the components will be used on reserved track sections of the 3·7 km extension of Erfurt’s tram network from the cemetery to the airport ...
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Flash-butt welder enters service
COSTFER’s Plasser & Theurer APT600 which entered service during April represents the state of the art in mobile flash-butt rail welding technology.Flash-butt welding permits the precise alignment of rails and a consistently reproducible join quality, as well as permitting a high level of automation. In contrast to aluminothermic techniques, it ...
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Security tops enlargement issues
ON APRIL 22 the European Parliament approved the proposals in the so-called Second Railway Package (RG 3.04 p121) for further liberalisation of the rail businesses. The legislation also paves the way for establishment of the European Railway Agency in Valenciennes, for which a board will be appointed this summer.All this ...