All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1311
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News
INTELLIGENCE
Belarus: BCh has put into service the first of a batch of coaches being refurbished at Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk works. With assistance and equipment from Spain, the coaches have been fitted with air-conditioning and vacuum toilets, and are passed for 200 km/h.Belgium: SNCB is to extend its Zeebrugge branch in May ...
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Industry News
Canada: The provincial government of Nova Scotia has retained Ernst & Young to sell the assets of Sydney Steel Corp. This follows the termination of an agreement to sell the company to Rail Associates Inc of the USA for C$30m.Germany: On January 27 the Rail Vehicle Systems Division of Knorr-Bremse ...
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Spanish plan gives rail priority
ON JANUARY 24 Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar unveiled a 2000-07 Infrastructure Plan costed at Pts9100bn, to be funded with private finance and public money at European, national, regional and municipal level. Rail has been allocated Pts4700bn, which would be largely used to develop the high speed network so ...
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Oliemans rejects freight
Two years into his appointment as Managing Director of Railinfrabeheer, the company responsible for managing the Dutch rail network, Ir Roland Oliemans is preparing to tell Transport Minister Tineke Netelenbos next month that the railway should stop carrying freight.Oliemans is a businessman, and he told AiC’s Network Control & Capacity ...
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NewsSSRA to replace MkI fleet
UK: The Shadow Strategic Rail Authority announced on February 11 that it was seeking expressions of interest in the supply of up to 1500 electric multiple-unit vehicles, to replace the MkI stock currently operated by Connex and South West Trains on the 750 V DC third rail network south of ...
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Finance
Argentina: SUBA and Electromac have purchased a 51% stake in Trainmet for US$28m, and are looking to increase Trainmet’s half share in Metropolitano which operates the Roca, San Martín and Belgrano Sur commuter routes in Buenos Aires. The other 50% of Metropolitano is held by construction group Ormas.Australia: BHP has ...
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Mindanao fast track
THE PHILIPPINES government has decided to fast-track part of the long-planned Mindanao rail network, with the aim of getting the first section open during the presidency of Joseph Estrada. Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Flagship Projects & Programmes Roberto Aventajado announced at the end of January that the government ...
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GO expansion plan
A MASSIVE expansion of Toronto’s commuter rail services is envisaged as the backbone of improved public transport in a strategic plan unveiled by the new Greater Toronto Services Board at the end of January. Closer integration with metro and streetcar services is recommended, together with the construction of ’gateway’ park-and-ride ...
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Dual-system S-Bahn
AN 11 km extension of Hamburg’s S-Bahn from Neugraben to Buxtehude is envisaged as the first stage in a major expansion of the city’s urban rail network. Hamburger Verkehrsverbund announced the scheme in January as part of a regional development plan for 2010 being drawn up by the city and ...
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Driverless metros poised to expand
The high off-peak frequency and flexibility to meet demand surges which unmanned trains offer may lead to conversion of existing lines in Paris or Berlin. Tom Parkinson and Ian Fisher believe the caution displayed by operators and safety regulators is no longer justified
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Integration drive
MOSCOW City Government has launched a campaign for better integration of railway, metro, tram and bus operations in the Russian capital. Gibb Rail has been appointed to help with developing a long-term transport strategy, and Project Implementation Director Ekaterina Popova visited the firm in January to discuss ways of raising ...
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Delhi metro tenders go in
FEBRUARY 23 was due to see the submission of bids to supply rolling stock for the initial two lines of the Delhi metro network. This will be followed on March 9 by the bids for the signalling & telecommunications contract, with tenders for electrification & power supplies due on March ...
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Integral deal
CZECH RAILWAYS finally signed an agreement with Fiat Ferroviaria on January 31 amending the contract for Class 680 tilting trains. Negotiations had been under way for much of 1999, following the bankruptcy of CKD Dopravní systémy, which had intended to assemble the trains in co-operation with Fiat and Siemens. CD ...
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LRT conversion
PITTSBURGH’s Port Authority Transit awarded a $36·2m contract to A&L Inc on January 28 for reconstructing 3·2 km of the Overbrook tram line as a light rail route. It is the first of three contracts covering the 8·9 km route between Castle Shannon and South Hills Junction, which was closed ...
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GIF lets wiring contracts
SPANISH high speed construction authority GIF has awarded two contracts worth a total of Pts23·8bn to a consortium of Adtranz, Cobra, Semi, Emte and Elecnor, covering the installation of overhead electrification and traction power supply equipment on all but 20 km of the 450 km Madrid - Lleida route. The ...
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Nacala concession signed
ON FEBRUARY 10 representatives of Mozambique’s national railway & port administration CFM and a consortium led by Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp initialled the formal concession contract covering operation of the country’s Nacala Railway for the next 15 years. Subject to final approval by the government, the consortium expects to take ...
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Momentum wins Eurostar catering
ON FEBRUARY 7 Eurostar Group announced that it had awarded a three-year contract to provide onboard catering to Momentum, a new joint venture of Cremonini SpA of Italy (51%) and Granada Food Services of Great Britain (49%). Starting on June 1, the new contract is worth £40m in turnover a ...
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A Trojan horse called Effort
TO JUDGE from her keynote speech to The Economist freight conference in Brussels on January 28, the EC’s new Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio is every bit as determined as her predecessor to drive through reforms needed to correct rail’s seemingly intractable failure to compete for international traffic. ’Governments still ...
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Success builds on solid foundations
INTRO: Switzerland’s major programme of infrastructure upgrades is being implemented on the basis of market-driven projects, carefully tailored to contribute to an overall improvement in the speed, capacity and ease of use of the rail network. Paul Moser, SBB’s Manager, Major Projects, revealed to Reinhard Christeller why the SFr7·4bn Bahn ...
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Passenger In Brief
VIA Rail Canada is to introduce The Enterprise, an overnight service between Toronto and Montréal offering both seats and sleeping cars equipped with shower facilities. The company is also offering PRIVA, a group business travel service ranging from private cars to special trains.German Railway has opened lounges for first and ...