All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1252
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Sakhalin link
MEETING on October 4, the Russian cabinet tentatively approved the US$4bn project to build a fixed rail link to the far-eastern island of Sakhalin. A final decision will be taken next year, although Minsiter of Railways Nikolai Aksyonenko says this is dependent upon backing from Japanese investors.Construction is expected to ...
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RZD starts North Korean studies
ON OCTOBER 11 Russian and South Korean government representatives agreed to establish a bilateral committee to progress the development of rail links between the two countries. The accord was reached at the end of a four-day visit to Seoul, which also discussed progress with reinstating the cross-border link between South ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Canada: On September 26 Canadian Pacific shareholders voted 98% in favour of the division of the company into five independent entities from October 1. The companies are CP Rail, Pan-Canadian Energy, CP Ships, Fording Coal and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.China: The Ministry of Railways has announced plans for two further ...
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Hector and Hercules take over
LOWER exhaust emissions and quieter operation are among the benefits Austrian Federal Railways expects from two fleets of diesel locomotives now under construction. Both are four-axle designs, Hector a centre-cab unit for shunting and short workings, and Hercules a twin-cab loco for main line passenger and freight work.Siemens Austria won ...
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Polish infrastructure handover
POLISH rail infrastructure company Polskie Linie Kolejowe SA officially started operation on October 1. A wholly-owned subsidiary of the Polish State Railways holding company PKP SA, PLK will be responsible for managing the rail network, although the assets will still belong to PKP. PLK will be headed by PKP’s former ...
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Task force sets the points
ALLEGATIONS by the European Commission of anti-competitive practices by German Railway, announced on October 12, were at once refuted by DB Chairman Hartmut Mehdorn. We understand that the EC is to investigate an incident in which DB rejected a request from a competing operator to hire traction at cost price ...
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Finance
Great Britain: Porterbrook Leasing has been selected as preferred bidder to finance 700 Electrostar Class 375 EMU cars for the South Central franchise, valued at over £600m (RG 10.01 p654).Kyrgyzstan: Asian Development Bank is to provide US$100m to fund repair and modernisation of the 350 km Lugovoy - Bishkek - ...
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Kyiv facelift
UKRAINIANRailways has completed the refurbishment of Kyiv Central station, which dates from 1927. The eight-month Hr500m project involved four contractors and 5000 workers from over 70 construction companies. In addition to the repair work carried out by Ukrzaliznytsya, a new aluminium and glass-fronted terminal building has been built by Kyivmisklbud, ...
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US light rail expands
SEVERAL US cities reached key milestones in their light rail development during the last week of September. On September 28, Sacramento Regional Transit marked the start of construction on its 17·5 km extension from Mather Field Road to Folsom, which will have nine stations. Work in the Rancho Cordova area ...
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Europe follows Japan into friction stir welding
INTRO: Several hundred aluminium cars with non-fusion seams are operating in Japan, and rail vehicle manufacturers elsewhere are now grasping the economic benefits of a joining technique invented in 1991BYLINE: John Davenport, Stephan W Kallee and J Graham WyldeTWI LtdA DECADE ago, the joining technique known as friction stir welding ...
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Electrification thresholds
Sir - I read with great interest the report ’Wires added to Russian network’ (RG 4.01 p210) regarding the electrification of RZD lines, and the setting of the threshold at which electrification is justified at 20 to 25 million gross tonne-km a year.The Indian Ministry of Railways has appointed a ...
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EBA wins wider regulatory powers
INTRO: Legislative changes are set to grant Germany’s Federal Railway Office ’real teeth’, including the ability to intervene directly in negotiations over paths between operators and infrastructure company DB Netz. Murray Hughes asked EBA President Dipl-Ing Horst Stuchly about EBA’s activities, including its role as purseholder for DB’s infrastructure investment ...
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East London line go-ahead
BRITISH Transport Secretary Stephen Byers announced on October 9 that he had approved plans for a southern extension to London Underground’s East London line. A 2·5 km link to the South London line and a flyover at New Cross Gate will reconnect the line with the South Central network, enabling ...
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Dieter
CAPTION: Austrian Federal Railways has brought a new twist to the tradition of school trains, bringing the school to the passengers instead of the passengers to the school. In conjunction with Innsbruck University, ÖBB is offering daily language classes in ex-dining cars on regional services. Dieter suggests this may be ...
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Success in research demands railway-industry partnerships
INTRO: Research work is increasingly carried out by suppliers and industry, but railways still have an important role in co-ordinating innovation and the development of new ideas. It is vital that performance specifications incorporate railway experience of operations and maintenanceBYLINE: Dr Rainer SchmidbergerDirector of Research & Development,German RailwayTHE SHAPE of ...
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Cutting rail noise
CURRENTLY on trial with SNCF are tuned steel bars bonded to the web and foot of a rail by a high-integrity damage- resistant polymer, to reduce radiated noise. The absorbers can be installed on existing track or when the rails are made.Corus Rail developed the technique with Southampton University, ...
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Cross-border progress
PLANNING for construction of a standard-gauge rail link across the Pyrenees between Perpignan and Figueres moved forward on October 9, when the French government issued a Declaration of Public Utility for the line as far as the border at Le Perthus. Intended to carry both freight and passenger services, the ...
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Hybrid shunter lowers costs and emissions
RAILPOWER Technologies Corp demonstrated its first ’Green Goat’ hybrid microturbine/battery electric shunting locomotive in New Westminster, British Columbia, on September 5. The 130 tonne loco offers a 50% to 90% reduction in nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions and up to a 35% reduction in fuel consumption compared with conventional shunters.Green ...
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Freight corridor
UPGRADING WORK IS to start shortly to create a new rail freight corridor through the French region of Lorraine, following the signing of a €125m financing agreement between RFF and the regional council on September 28. The government will provide €62·5m, Lorraine €37·1m and RFF €18·3m.The 150 km line between ...
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Istanbul tunnel and metro contracts to be signed
TURKEY: The Railway, Port & Airport Construction Directorate was expected to sign a contract with Eurasia Joint Venture by the end of October, covering consultancy and engineering services for the Marmaray Bosporus rail crossing. Preparation of tender documents for the construction work is expected to take eight months, and construction ...