All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1217
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News
Independent testing at Wildenrath
RAIL Test Ltd was set up in July to offer independent testing and trial services at Wegberg-Wildenrath Test Centre in Germany. A contractual agreement provides for use of facilities and infrastructure at the Siemens-owned site by other firms including Alstom and Bombardier.The partners in Rail Test are the Institute of ...
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NET Incentro unveiled
BOMBARDIER rolled out the first of 15 trams for Nottingham Express Transit Line 1 on August 13. The five-section Incentro all-low-floor articulated trams are similar to those already in service in Nantes. The stainless steel car bodies with GRP cladding and aluminium roofs were assembled in Derby from components produced ...
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Research underpins the green train
INTRO: As part of its ongoing research programme, Alstom LHB has developed an environmentally-friendly trainset with a high level of recyclability. The company’s experimental lightweight Lirex prototype has also spawned several derivatives. Chris Jackson reports from SalzgitterON July 17 the first DT4.5 trainset was formally handed over to Hamburger ...
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Government moves to rescue Tranz Rail
AS THE VALUE of shares in Tranz Rail continued to slide towards NZ$2, public ownership of New Zealand’s 3900 km rail network became a subject of serious public debate during July. A group of major exporters ranging from coal and forestry to dairy products announced the formation of Rail ...
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Montparnasse-Bienvenüe gets moving walkway
PARIS Montparnasse-Bienvenüe metro station has been fitted with a high speed moving walkway. Having entered service on July 2, the 185m long Gateway conveyor connects the SNCF station with metro lines 4, 6, 12 and 13.Designed for distances of about 200m to 500m, which are too long for a conventional ...
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Four-system freight loco on show
SIEMENS will be unveiling the first of 100 four-voltage Class 189 locomotives being supplied to Railion. The Bo-Bo locomotives are designed to operate on 25 kV 50Hz, 15 kV 162/3Hz, and 3 kV and 1·5 kV DC. The first pre-series loco has been undergoing trials at the Velim test ...
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IE to renew inter-city fleet
IARNROD Eireann is to begin replacement of its main line rolling stock, some of which dates back to the 1960s. Bids are being sought for 67 coaches, and under EU procurement rules, an order has to be placed before the end of the year. But despite the short timescale, a ...
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Flipping flaps and fluorescence
INFOSYSTEMS will be demonstrating its range of visual and acoustic passenger information systems, emergency communications and electronic rear view mirrors on the Schaltbau Group’s joint stand. Visitors to the stand can see interior and exterior matrix, flip dot, LED and vacuum fluorescent displays, and InfoSystems staff will be available to ...
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Lhasa reaches first milestone
ENGINEERS on Chinese Railways’ Golmud-Lhasa line announced at the end of July that 31 km of track had been laid in the first four weeks of work, with rail installation on the Nanshankou - Yanshiping section reaching a rate of 400m/h. Workers have so far found high-altitude tracklaying much ...
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Point firm shares sold
VOESTALPINE Bahnsysteme GmbH has bought Vossloh AG’s 45·3% stake in turnout and component manufacturer VAE AG for €140·5m, following Vossloh’s purchase of Cogifer (RG 8.02 p406). Voestalpine Bahnsysteme is now the majority shareholder in VAE, owning 90·6% of the company. Once the deal has been approved by the competition authorities, ...
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Leeds remodelling finished
CAPTION: Completion of the £245m Leeds 1st remodelling of Leeds City station was marked on August 1 when Lord Mayor Bryan North unveiled a plaque, accompanied by Railtrack's Eastern Region Director Robin Gisby (left) and the Chairman of West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority Mick Lyons (right). Major work has been ...
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Finance
Azerbaijan: The Ministry of Economic development has offered German firms a US$8m contract to rebuild Balajari depot.Brazil: The National Bank for Economic & Social Development is considering a proposal to provide R$100m for improvement works on the metre gauge network operated by Companhia Ferroviaria do Nordeste.Europe: Eurotunnel’s results for the ...
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Safety failure
KUALA Lumpur’s monorail line suffered a setback on August 16, when a 60 kg safety wheel fell off a test train, badly injuring a pedestrian walking underneath the elevated guideway. He is now recovering from head injuries.Monorail spokesman Soh Yeh Bee said the accident was under investigation. ’We have not ...
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Staff presence on evening trains
SWISS Federal Railways and Zürich Transport Authority are testing reaction to a secure coach on evening Zürich S-Bahn services. The two-month trial on Route S5 between Niederweningen, Pfäffikon and Rapperswil sees security staff from SBB’s Securitrans subsidiary travelling in a designated car known as the ’Treffpunkt-Wagen’ after 19.30. Passengers riding ...
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ETCS may be in trouble
THIS MAY be heresy, but there are disturbing indications that all is not well with the project to fit Europe’s railways with an internationally-compatible signalling and train control system. The European Train Control System and the related European Rail Traffic Management System are ingenious answers to many of the compatibility ...
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Uzbek electrification study
UZBEKISTAN: Three segments of Uzbek Railways' network totalling 539 route-km are to be rehabilitated and electrified over the next six years, thanks to an agreement with the US Trade & Development Agency signed in Toshkent on July 12. Providing US funding for studies into major infrastructure projects, the deal was ...
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Domodedovo linked
AUGUST 1 saw the start of hourly trains from Moscow Paveletsky station to the city’s Domodedovo airport, in a joint project developed by Moscow Railway and the airport operator East Lines Group. The dedicated service uses the first refurbished EMUs from Moscow Locomotive Plant (RG 7.02 p346). Airline passengers, who ...
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Modular diesels on parade
VOSSLOH Schienenfahrzeugtechnik will be presenting its recently developed G1000BB and G1700BB centre cab diesel-hydraulic locomotives.A successor to the V90, the G1000BB is designed for heavy shunting and light main line duties. The G1700BB is a powerful diesel-hydraulic locomotive designed for heavy freight trains and shunting operation. Built in Kiel, both ...
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Network Rail demands more
A 97% majority of Railtrack Group shareholders voted on July 23 to accept Network Rail’s offer to buy Railtrack plc (RG 8.02 p398). Despite a threat of legal action against the government by private shareholders, NR is expected to assume ownership and control of the UK’s rail national infrastructure this ...