All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1263

  • News

    C-Train growing

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    THREE of 32 new Siemens SD160 LRVs entered service in Calgary on July 4. Equipped with IGBT controls and AC drives, they are to be delivered in two batches, 15 this year and 17 in 2003, at a cost of C$112m. The bodyshells are being built in Siemens’ Carson plant ...

  • News

    Delhi on course

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    THE FIRST section of Delhi’s northwest line is to be ready by December 2003. Delhi Metro Rail Corp announced on July 8 that it was starting utilities diversion for the route, which will run entirely on viaduct 12m above ground. The 8·5 km first section links the junction at Tri ...

  • News

    Restructuring cuts FS costs

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    THE RESTRUCTURING of Italian State Railways took a further step on July 1, with the legal formation of infrastructure company Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. Part of the process to meet European directives on the separation of infrastructure and operations, the move also paves the way for wider implementation of open access ...

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    News

    Tilt technology still evolving as the cost falls

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    With trains operational in more than a dozen countries and two more fleets about to enter service in Britain, the commercial case for tilt is firmly established. While there is still diversity of actuation techniques, the cost is falling and side effects such as nausea are being overcome

  • News

    Loans fund corridor upgrades

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    CFR has negotiated several international loans to fund the modernisation of its two main international corridors. European Investment Bank financing worth €200m was negotiated in 1998 for the 160 km core section of Corridor IV between Bucuresti and Brasov, which is shared over the 59 km to Ploesti by Corridor ...

  • News

    Czech corridor energised

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    ELECTRIC services began running between Ceske Budejovice and the Austrian border at Horni Dvoriste in southern Bohemia on June 10, following the inauguration of the 25 kV 50Hz wiring three days earlier (below). Part of Czech Railways’ north-south Corridor 4 linking the German and Austrian borders (RG 6.95 p377), the ...

  • News

    High speed contracts

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    THESPANISH cabinet has given its approval for tenders to be called for civil works on the 12·8 km Santaella - Puente Genil section of the Córdoba - M

  • News

    Door contract

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    A partnership of Parker Pneumatic and Fersystems has been selected to supply complete automatic internal door operating mechanisms for the upgrading of SNCF regional trains.Reader Enquiry Numbers Parker Pneumatic148Fersystems149

  • News

    PR seeks concessionaires

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    THE PAKISTAN government has ruled that there is no question of full privatisation of the country’s 7791 km network, but private concessionaires have been invited to run passenger trains on selected routes. Initial response has been mixed, with some companies reluctant to bid for fear that they would face unfair ...

  • News

    Cool comfort comes to the Paris metro

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    PARIS Transport Authority has awarded a contract worth €695m to a consortium of Alstom, Bombardier and Technicatome for 161 five-car MF2000 steel-wheeled metro trainsets. The order follows a long evaluation process - bids originally had to be submitted to RATP in April 1998.The order will replace about half the MF67 ...

  • News

    Shinkansen comes to York

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    THE FIRST Japanese Shinkansen carriage to be exhibited outside Japan was unveiled at Britain’s National Railway Museum in York by His Excellency The Ambassador of Japan Sadayuki Hayashi on July 12.Built in 1976, Series 0 car number 22-141 was withdrawn in 2000 after travelling over 10 million km. It was ...

  • News

    Funding collapse ends long-term investment hopes

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    THE RESPECTED Institute of Economic Affairs must have been aghast. Its June 26 conference on The Future of UK Rail was intended to celebrate the first anniversary of a 10-year funding package that would see £63bn of public cash and private capital pour into Britain’s privatised railway, leading to 50% ...

  • News

    Cleaning venture

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    FROM October 1 Norway’s medium-distance trains are to be cleaned by a new company, NSB Trafikservice AS. This is a joint venture between Norwegian State Railways and cleaning services provider ISS Norway. This is part of the ISS services group, which also has contracts with London Underground and several British ...

  • News

    Catalan trams

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    BARCELONA’s Autoritat del Transport Metropolità has approved plans for two more light rail lines, serving the eastern suburbs. With a total of 31 stops, the two lines will cost around Pts30bn. One will connect Gorg de Badalona with Barcelona Nord. The second will link the Renfe station at Sant Adrià ...

  • News

    Smart cards to be standardised

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    THE ASSOCIATION of German Transport Undertakings is to draw up a set of standards for smart card ticketing. VDV members and industry partners will develop the technical and security specifications for future cards.Companies will use the specifications to simplify the use of smart cards across different networks, and to encourage ...

  • News

    Integrated smart card

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    SMART cards can be recharged and account histories accessed over the internet using Nextfare Web Services, from Cubic Transportation Systems.Launched at the Card Tech conference in Las Vegas earlier this year, the software suite allows transit operators to offer customers a range of fare options and reward programmes. Multiple operators ...

  • News

    Line A car deal

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    ONJULY 4 the Comune di Roma selected CAF of Spain to supply a fleet of 33 six-car trains to boost capacity on metro Line A. The €231m deal includes an option for a further 12 sets, and provision for a five-year maintenance agreement. Delivery of the first train to Metro.Ro ...

  • News

    Intermodal faces capacity constraints

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    EFFORTS to surmount obstacles to international freight crossing Europe’s rail frontiers are making headway at last, though it would be premature to claim that the tide has turned against road competition. UIC reports that European freight tonne-km was 7% higher in 2000 than in 1999, with the international component up ...

  • News

    Reshaping the passenger business

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    LAST YEAR CFR Calatori accounted for 54% of all domestic passenger-km, with the rest split between road and air. Chairman & CEO Valentin Bota describes the loss of traffic between 1990 and 1996 as ’serious’, but says the decline has now slowed, ’following the upturn in the national economy’. During ...

  • News

    October Railway speeds up business class

    2001-08-01T10:00:00Z

    RUSSIA’S PLANS for high-speed train services took a step forward on June 11, when the Nevsky Express was launched between Moscow and St Petersburg. Formed from 12 of the 18 air-conditioned business class cars built at Tver for 200 km/h operation, the train is hauled by a refurbished CS-200 electric ...