All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1198
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News
Missouri Mule reprieved
THE Missouri legislature has approved an extra appropriation of $800 000 to support a twice daily passenger service between St Louis and Kansas City. Amtrak had served notice it would cease running the Missouri Mule from February 28 unless it received an additional $1·2m to cover its expenses for the ...
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Riders missing
LATER this year New Jersey Transit will open its 54·7 km South Jersey diesel light rail line. Sadly, the project looks set to be a serious drain on NJT’s finances, with farebox revenue expected to cover just 11% of estimated annual operating costs of $21·5m. Despite a planned bargain one-way ...
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Mid-Coast trolley
SAN DIEGO Metropolitan Transit Development Board voted on February 27 to build a further light rail line, serving the La Jolla area north of the city. The 17·2 km Mid-Coast line will start at the Old Town Transit Center and run north to the University of California-San Diego campus and ...
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Metros
Canada: Montréal Metro is planning to open a C$130m surveillance and control centre in 2005 to improve security.China: COWI is to assist Scott Wilson in preparing a tender design for the 1·7 km immersed tube tunnel which will carry the Sha Tin - Central line under Victoria Harbour in Hong ...
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Locos sold
AUSTRALIAN open access freight operator Silverton Rail announced last month that it had purchased 99 locomotives and 372 wagons from Pacific National. The locos form the bulk of the locos which PN was required to sell following the merger of National Rail and Freightcorp (RG 9.02 p455).Silverton has bought nine ...
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Lint orders
GERMAN Railway subsidiary DB Regionalbahn Westfalen has ordered 28 two-car Lint 41 diesel railcars from Alstom LHB, under a €60m contract which includes the refurbishment of 19 existing VT 640 single-car units. From December 2004 a batch of 21 units designated VT 648.1 will operate the Sauerland routes from ...
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Letters
Harbour tunnelSir - Hong Kong’s fourth cross-harbour rail tunnel (RG 3.03 p123) will form part of the Sha Tin to Central line, not the East Kowloon line. The SCL alignment through Kowloon is very similar to MTR Corp’s earlier East Kowloon line proposal, although SCL will now extend through to ...
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RSSB launched
AMENDMENTS to the UK’s railway safety case regulations were laid before Parliament on March 10, paving the way for the establishment of a new Rail Safety & Standards Board with effect from April 1. RSSB will replace the existing Railway Safety organisation, which was a subsidiary of Railtrack acting on ...
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Refurbished HST unveiled
THE first of 16 High Speed Train sets being refurbished for UK operator Midland Main Line was handed over by David Astill, Managing Director of Maintrain Ltd, to MML Deputy Managing Director Malcolm Brown in Derby on March 5. The £18·7m refurbishment programme is scheduled to finish by mid-2004, with ...
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ÖBB takes a hard look at intermodal
ANXIOUS TO ensure the long-term future of its intermodal business, Austrian Federal Railways has instigated a research and development programme aimed at cutting the costs of terminal handling. Much of the potential for savings resides in moving containers more efficiently through terminals, eliminating delays and reducing the cost of transferring ...
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Project groups
CAN in Automation, an international body for manufacturers and users of Controller Area Network standards in embedded networking, has reorganised its CANopen Special Interest Group for Railways. Two project groups have been established, which will both be co-ordinated by the CANopen Railway Special Interest Group.The diesel project group is developing ...
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Improved results at Greenbrier
GREENBRIER has announced improved European operating results, and progress towards recapitalisation of Greenbrier Europe. Following a restructuring announced in 2002, European financial results have improved and market share has increased. The company has received a US$15m tax refund for 2002, and expects to complete the recapitalisation of Greenbrier Europe in ...
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Scottish rail projects funded
THE FIRST of three light rail lines in Edinburgh is on course to open by 2009. Insisting that ’a first-class transport infrastructure for Scotland’s capital’ was a top priority, Iain Gray, Scotland’s Minister for Enterprise, Transport & Lifelong Learning, announced on March 4 that £375m would be made available to ...
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Restoring rails by friction
THE Welding Institute is working with UK rail safety and standards authority Railway Safety to study the use of friction transformation hardening to repair rails containing shallow surface defects caused by rolling contact fatigue.The concept is related to the friction stir welding technique, which uses friction to generate heat for ...
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Seeking a high speed freight market
INTRO: The growth in premium express parcels business offers the potential for high speed trains to win traffic from air and road. But despite repeated proposals, logistical issues and the high investment required have so far conspired to prevent progressBYLINE: Dr Eckhard KuhlaManaging DirectorEKonsult GmbHEVERY MORNING, a windowless TGV pulls ...
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Tehran - Mashhad finished
IRANIAN Railways announced on March 5 that it had commissioned the second track on its 926 km main line between Tehran and Mashhad. The route has become a key corridor between the Persian Gulf and the Central Asian states following the opening of the Mashhad - Sarakhs link. The line ...
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Finance
Canada: CN has announced a US$400m debt offering of 4·4% 10-year loan notes. The proceeds will repay US$250m of 10-year higher interest notes issued by CN and Illinois Central due on May 15.Ottawa’s O-Train is to receive C$2·2m of city and provincial funding to install welded rails and improve station ...
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Prismatica programme shares expertise
ON MARCH 12 drivers on Paris metro Line 4 were taking industrial action following a staff assault incident the previous evening. Referring to this in her opening speech at the Security in Public Transport conference held in Paris on March 12-13, RATP President & Director General Anne-Marie Idrac was easily ...