All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1210

  • News

    EIB lends Bretagne €110m

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    EUROPEAN INVESTMENT Bank Vice-President Francis Meyer and Josselin de Rohan, President of the Bretagne regional council, signed an agreement on November 15 that will see EIB provide €110m to fund new rolling stock and infrastructure upgrades. Using the first EIB loan to a French region since they assumed responsibility for ...

  • News

    Growing fuel

    2003-01-01T10:38:00Z

    INDIAN Railways' Research Design & Standards Organisation is to carry out testing of locomotives fuelled by biodiesel. Plans to sign a memorandum of understanding with Indian Oil Corp were announced in December, paving the way for a research programme using stationary locos at the RDSO test centre inBenares. Only minor ...

  • News

    DART extends

    2002-12-01T11:00:00Z

    DALLAS light rail operator DART completes its current expansion programme on December 9, six months ahead of schedule. Opening of the final 5·1 km of the Red line from Galatyn Park to Plano, with two intermediate stops, will bring the network to 70·8 km and 34 stations.The final two-station extension ...

  • News

    Super-resilient wheels

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    ITALIAN wheelset specialist Lucchini Sidermeccanica and German rubber components supplier Gummi-Metall-Technik GmbH have formed a joint venture to produce and sell a super-resilient wheel known as ITUS. A prototype wheel was unveiled at the InnoTrans show in Berlin on September 24.Lucchini has meanwhile obtained certification from Italcertifer for unrestricted use ...

  • News

    Sidetrack

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    Rolling drunkHAVING had one drink too many, a Finn recently found himself on an extended tour of the country. Too tired to walk home, he crawled into the battery compartment of a carriage stood in the town of Oulu. Inevitably, he then discovered this compartment could only be opened from ...

  • News

    Reverting to regions

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    ON OCTOBER 1 Amtrak restructured its Operating Department, abolishing the ’product line’ management based on Special Business Units in favour of a geographical organisation of regions and divisions. The Western Region has three divisions, Pacific, Southwest and Central, whilst the Eastern Region has four: Southern, Mid-Atlantic, New York and New ...

  • News

    Publications

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    Freight Railways: Sustainable Mobility for Economy & SocietyThis fifth volume in the Blue Books series from the Association of German Transport Undertakings covers issues of interest to freight railway operators. In addition to state-owned DB Cargo there are around 165 active public freight operators in Germany, and a further 850 ...

  • News

    Pointers

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    The Norwegian government is expected to start tendering the provision of local rail services next year, in a bid to cut the NKr1·3bn annual cost. Early candidates identified by the Ministry of Transport & Communications include the Gjøvik, Bratsberg and Bergen - Foss services. Connex is due to take over ...

  • News

    PEOPLE

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    Dr Manfred Stolpe has replaced Kurt Bodewig as German Federal Minister for Transport, Building & Housing.Jean-Marie Bertrand was appointed Director General of Reséau Ferré de France on October 7, succeeding Jean-François Bénard.Katsuhiko Ichikawa has become General Manager of Central Japan Railway Corporate Planning Division’s International Department. Kaoru Umemoto continues as ...

  • News

    Tram networks to reintegrate

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    AS FORECAST last month (RG 10.02 p605), Melbourne is about to turn the clock back and put a single operator in charge of the world’s third-largest tram network. National Express Group Australia, operator of M>Tram, revealed on October 17 that it was negotiating to sell M>Tram to Yarra Trams, a ...

  • News

    Network Rail takes over

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    OCTOBER 1 saw the formal lifting of the Railway Administration Order served on Railtrack plc last year, following a 6h hearing in the High Court in London. This cleared the way for the sale of the infrastructure company to the government-backed ’not-for-dividend’ company Network Rail, which was completed at 07.00 ...

  • News

    Metros

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    China: Shanghai Metro has awarded Bombardier a €11m contract to overhaul 96 Line 1 cars by 2005.The government has approved the start of work on the 22 km Shenyang metro Line 1, which will begin in June 2003 for completion in 2006.France: Ile-de-France transport authority STIF has given its approval ...

  • News

    Market

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    Australia: NSW passenger operator City Rail has selected Goninan to supply 13 DMUs for its Hunter Valley services.France: The first Z-TER EMU was formally handed over to SNCF by Alstom Transport at its Bellevue test track in La Rochelle on October 4. Alstom has awarded Bombardier a €6m contract to ...

  • News

    SLR looks north

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    THESRILANKA Ministry of Transport and Sri Lanka Railways have commissioned a detailed study for reconstruction of lines in the north of the country, following the presentation of a feasibility study last month. This concluded that many bridges and stations needed to be rebuilt, and signalling and communications should be replaced ...

  • News

    Madrid - Lleida opens next year

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    THE FIRST 450 km of the Madrid - Barcelona high speed line is due to open to traffic on January 1 2003, following an official opening ceremony that the Ministry of Development is planning to hold on December 20 or 21. Pending the arrival of its new Siemens and Talgo ...

  • News

    LIRR and MNCR to merge

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    A FAR-REACHING restructuring of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority was announced on October 9 by MTA Chairman Peter S Kalikow. Subject to approval by the state legislature, the changes will be phased in over two years. Establishment of five subsidiary companies is the start of a campaign to make ...

  • News

    Russian private line opens

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    SIBERIAN-Urals Aluminium Company held a ceremony on September 20 to open its 158 km railway linking the Middle Timan bauxite deposits with the RZD network. The line is the first privately-owned railway in Russia since the 1917 revolution. Over 3000 people were involved in construction works on the route, which ...

  • News

    Letters

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    High speeds?Sir - As long ago as the summer of 1966 there were two Trans-Europ-Express trains each way between K

  • News

    RailNetEurope launched

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    JOINT MARKETING of international freight train paths across Europe was initiated on September 24, when representatives from 18 infrastructure managers signed a co-operation agreement at InnoTrans in Berlin. The symbolic launch of RailNetEurope foreshadows the start of open access on the Trans-European Rail Freight Network in March 2003. Role models ...

  • News

    INTELLIGENCE

    2002-11-01T11:00:00Z

    Argentina: On September 26 Metropolitano inaugurated 10·4 km of 25 kV 50Hz AC electrification between Glew and Alejandro Korn south of Buenos Aires (RG 5.02 p238), undertaken at a cost of US$3·45m. Work to electrify the Temperley - Florencio Varela route was due to begin last month.Czech Republic: On October ...