All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1237
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Russia marries structural reform to higher investment
INTRO: Legislation currently being drafted will separate the Russian Railway Company from the Ministry of Railway Transport, which retains regulatory functions. More changes will follow, but for now the priority is to overcome a huge backlog of under-investment dating from the Soviet era, particularly inmotive power and rolling stockBYLINE: Victor ...
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TGV powers SNCF growth
DESPITE the effects of September 11 and a slowdown in economic activity, income from SNCF’s long-distance passenger business grew by 5·9% in 2001. Stimulated by the successful launch of TGV Méditerranée, which carried 11 million passengers in its first seven months of operation, TGV revenue rose 11·4% to reach €2·7bn. ...
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Singapore grows
REVENUE services on the Singapore metro extension to Changi Airport began on February 8, two days after the line was handed over to Singapore MRT Ltd by the Land Transport Authority.Construction of the two-station branch began in January 1999. The first section as far as Expo was opened on January ...
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No pneus is good pneus
WE ARE accustomed to the changes of fortune and politics that so often impede the progress of light rail schemes. The high infrastructure cost can result in a political football game between pro and anti-spending lobbies. Usually, though, once the trams are able to show off their advantages, all is ...
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ITCS goes live
CHICAGO - Detroit passenger services were accelerated on January 14, when Amtrak commissioned its pilot Incremental Train Control System in southwest Michigan (RG 8.96 p496). Trains are now permitted to run at 145 km/h between New Buffalo and Kalamazoo, in the first significant increase in passenger train speeds above 127 ...
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Glatttal light rail go-ahead
TENDERING is expected to get underway shortly for construction of the planned Glatt Valley light rail network serving Oerlikon, Kloten and Wallisellen to the north of Zürich. At the end of January the federal and cantonal government approved a SFr555m public contribution towards the infrastructure works. Up to SFr80m will ...
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Regionalisation gathers pace
On March 13 SNCF President Louis Gallois initialled an agreement with the Rh
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More Swiss funds in prospect
ON MARCH 8 the Swiss government approved draft legislation covering the second phase of the ambitious Bahn 2000 programme, auguring further development of the national rail network. At the same time it set the financial parameters for a performance contract with Swiss Federal Railways to cover the period from 2003 ...
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Tunnel freight threat grows
A FUTILE gesture, doubtless intended to help SNCF and English Welsh & Scottish Railway cope with strangulation of international freight operations through the Channel Tunnel, saw British Home Secretary David Blunkett lift the £2000 fines imposed from March 1 2001 for each illegal immigrant reaching England on a freight train. ...
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Freight locos uprated
LAST MONTH was due to see the roll-out from German Railway’s Chemnitz works of the first reconditioned Class V290 diesel locomotive for DB Cargo. Over the next six years, 398 locos of Classes V290 and V294 are to be repowered. Voith Turbo has modified two L206rs transmissions with high-capacity gears ...
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ZSR split formalised
SLOVAK Republic Railways emerged from restructuring on January 1 as two separate businesses. State-owned ZSR continues to manage the national rail infrastructure and assets such as real estate, while ancillary businesses will be divested in three stages to 17 service companies for eventual sale. Operations and commercial affairs have passed ...
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GTW orders keep flowing
THE FIRST of 17 articulated GTW2/8 electric railcars being built for Swiss Federal Railways was rolled out at the Bussnang works of Stadler AG on March 1 (below). An initial batch of 11 is due to enter service this summer on SBB’s Seetal line between Luzern and Lenzburg, and the ...
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Goninan to maintain TKE fleet
AUSTRALIAN engineering services company United Group announced on January 22 that it had been awarded a seven-year contract to maintain and service the rolling stock for Hong Kong MTR Corp’s Tseung Kwan O Extension (RG 2.02 p93). The deal is valued at over A$40m, and lifts the proportion of United’s ...
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International joint venture refurbishes first loco
RUSSIAN locomotive refubishment joint venture KRP Invest has completed the overhaul and upgrading of the first of 800 electric locos for Russian Railways, under a US$1bn contract signed in December 2000 (RG 2.01 p85). The Yaroslavl-based firm is scheduled to refurbish 100 locos this year.KRP Invest is 49·9% owned by ...
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Finance
Azerbaijan: The state budget has allocated 40bn manats for the procurement of 25 to 30 carriages for the Baku metro.Belgium: SNCB subsidiary ABX Logistics is expected to receive a €250m cash injection this year. With the aim of moving into profit from 2003, restructuring is likely to include the sale ...
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Stockholm expansion plan
Greater Stockholm County Council’s Transport Planning Committee unveiled a 15-year programme of urban rail and road investment proposals on January 19. The so-called Dennis Packet is costed at around SKr100bn, but the final shape of the financing package is not likely to be settled until after the national elections in ...
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Eurostar trims
Business results for the year ended December 31 2001, published on January 31, showed that Eurostar traffic had fallen year-on-year for the first time since services through the Channel Tunnel began in 1994. Passenger journey volumes fell 3% to 7·5 million, and Eurostar Group sales revenue was €669·7m, down 0·7% ...
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TGV Est works get underway
ON JANUARY 28 French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot joined RFF President Claude Martinand, SNCF President Louis Gallois and Luxembourg’s Transport Minister Henri Grethen to mark the start of civil works on the first phase of TGV Est européen, 300 km of high speed line running from Vaires-sur-Marne east of Paris ...
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O'Rourke launches Dublin PPP
IRELAND'S Minister for Public Enterprise Mary O'Rourke announced on January 16 that the government had given the formal go-ahead for Phase 1 of the Dublin metro (RG 10.01 p629). The Rail Procurement Agency is to seek expressions of interest for a concession to finance, design, build and operate the network. ...
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Training interoperable drivers
DECADES must pass before use of ERTMS becomes universal, even within the present EU borders. During a transition that will span a working lifetime, drivers of international trains such as Thalys and Eurostar therefore need higher levels of professional competence to cope with different signalling systems, operating rules and languages. ...