All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1305
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News
RoadRailer territory grows
AFTER YEARS of negotiations, Roadrailers are to enter commercial service in France this month. An initial fleet of 30 vans, mostly curtain-sided, is to operate on CNC routes such as Paris - Perpignan. Able to run at 120 km/h, they will have disc-braked bogies with a 22·5 tonne axleload. Wabash ...
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Grass roots reform will shake up MÁV
HUNGARIAN State Railways is being restructured so that it conforms to the regulations required for railways in member countries of the European Union. This restarts a process begun in June 1993, when MÁV was established as a share company fully owned by the state. In the same year a law ...
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Fu orders speed up
CHINESE Railways is to invest 1bn yuan to boost maximum speeds on its network during the 10th five-year plan period, running from 2001-05. Minister of Railways Fu Zhihuan announced on March 30 that all trunk lines will be upgraded for 160 km/h operation of passenger services and 120 km/h for ...
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Interstate freight
Sir - You refer in RG 12.99 p753 to a proposed by-pass from Campbelltown to Hornsby for freight trains between Melbourne and Brisbane. The following issue mentions a shortlist of consultants to investigate an inland route for freight (RG 1.00 p13). This gives the impression that the future for rail ...
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Finance
France: On March 27 the Aquitaine region allocated Fr310m towards the reopening of the Pau - Canfranc line (RG 4.00 p209).Malawi: New operator Central East African Railways is to invest US$26m over 15 years, including US$4·5m for rolling stock upgrading this year.Pakistan: Following suspension in February of a US$100m World ...
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FEVE rebuilds MU fleet
SPANISH metre gauge operator FEVE is spending over Pts6bn this year on rebuilding its DMU and EMU fleet, after investing Pts2·7bn in the programme in 1999. In addition to replacement of mechanical equipment, the work involves comprehensive interior refurbishment, plus installation of air-conditioning, public address systems and passenger information displays. ...
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Toulouse to extend VAL Line A
Construction should get under way later this year on a 2·5 km extension of Toulouse VAL Line A, following the signing of an agreement between metro operator SMAT and Matra Transport International at the beginning of April. Running from the present terminus at Jolimont to Balma-Gramont, the extension will serve ...
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ICE derailed by worn wheel
PASSING the ICE workshops at Hamburg-Eidelstedt on April 6, we were struck by the large number of power cars awaiting attention. Later that day we learnt that a problem with welds on traction linkages between the power car body and bogies had led to 13 units being withdrawn. With safety ...
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Political deal triggers sale
REGISTRATIONS of interest were to be called last month for purchase of Western Australia’s rail freight business. This has been planned since 1997, but progress has been held up in recent months by a parliamentary stalemate over the structure of the future private sector railway. The government had wanted to ...
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TEFNs could slash track costs
IN A PERIOD of 17 years following deregulation under the Staggers Act of 1980, the major Class I railways in the US achieved a threefold reduction in the cost per gross tonne-km of maintaining and renewing their infrastructure. They did it by investing heavily in raising track quality, and in ...
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Concrete v steel
Sir - Your February issue highlighted ’the invasion of steel sleepers into concrete territory’ (RG 2.00 p96) but gave no fully satisfactory explanation for the rapid growth in their use over the last five years.The Concrete Sleeper Manufacturers Association (CSMA), a Product Association of the British Precast Concrete Federation, was ...
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Salt Lake City pushes on
Utah Transit Authority has selected SLC Rail Constructors to design and build the planned 4 km TRAX light rail branch from the city centre to the University of Utah, which is due to be completed in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics. In mid-March the federal government confirmed that UTA ...
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EU regulations will force policy changes
IN ITS DRIVE to compel Europe’s railways to change course to avoid what it perceives to be a disastrous future, the European Commission is drawing up a raft of proposals that will bring about radical alterations in practice and policy. Both governments and railways will be required to implement policy ...
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Rotterdam Centraal revamp
ON May 11 Rotterdam city council is to decide the way forward for redevelopment of Centraal station for its new role as an international terminal, prior to publication of a master plan scheduled for October. A public-private partnership formed between the council, Netherlands Railways, Amvest Vastgoed and ING Vastgoed is ...
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CarGoTram go
DRESDENER Verkehrsbetriebe has ordered two freight LRVs to haul automotive components to a Volkswagen car plant in the city centre (RG 11.99 p698). Contracts for the so-called CarGoTrams were signed in March at a ceremony in the plant. The vehicles will be supplied by a consortium led by Schalker Eisenhütte ...
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Californian mega-spend
California GOVERNOR Gray Davis unveiled on April 6 a $15bn Traffic Congestion Relief Plan for the state’s principal cities. Most of the money is earmarked for highway maintenance and improvements, but a surprisingly large amount is proposed for rail projects, some of which are unexpected.Among the proposals is $760m to ...
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Products In Brief
A production version of the BridgeGuard system developed by Ferranti Technologies is due for release by mid-2000, following two years of trials on five Railtrack structures. BridgeGuard uses accelerometer-based sensors to detect overheight road vehicles hitting rail bridges, with a microprocessor monitoring unit providing an assessment of likely damage.The Silentbloc ...
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Passenger in Brief
The state governments of Victoria and South Australia have agreed to subsidise the Melbourne - Adelaide Overland operated by Great Southern Railway to the tune of $A1·5m a year. From this month the frequency has been cut from five to four days a week; with the journey time reduced to ...
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Bidders line up in high speed race
ON MARCH 28 the board of Spanish National Railways approved the start of tendering for between 26 and 40 high speed trainsets to be deployed on the Madrid - Barcelona route and its continuation to the French border. Potential bidders had 40 days from the publication of the tender notice ...
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Hudson - Bergen Light Rail opens
USA: April 15 saw the formal inauguration of the first 12·7 km of New Jersey Transit’s $1·2bn Hudson - Bergen light rail network by state Governor Christie Whitman. Services are now running from 34th Street in Bayonne to Exchange Place in Jersey City, and on the short branch from Exchange ...