All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1319
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News
Railion stalks logistics role
DIRECTOR of DB Cargo Dr Eberhard Sinnecker and his Dutch counterpart Ed Smulders unveiled on September 16 in Duisburg the name Railion for the future merged rail freight company known until now as Rail Cargo Europe. The name will apply from January 1 2000, when the merger becomes effective. Owned ...
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Shenyang line starts
CHINESE Railways formally started construction on August 24 of the dedicated passenger railway between Qinhuangdao and Shenyang. The 422 km double-track line is due for completion in 2002, and will release capacity on the existing line for heavy freight trains.The Shenyang line is designed for 160 to 200 km/h, but ...
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Letters
On rail breaksSir - I was very interested to read the Behind the News item on rail breaks in RG 6.99 p346, which contains fascinating figures regarding rail breaks and rail replacements on the Railtrack network. You report that Railtrack expects to replace only about 0·8% of its 32000 km ...
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Lovers' labours lost
ON SEPTEMBER 14 Lovers Rail Director Mr Kienhorst announced that the Amsterdam - Haarlem Optio service would be discontinued with immediate effect. Criticising the lack of regulation for access to the Dutch network, Kienhorst also blamed Netherlands Railways for failing to co-operate by refusing to accept Lovers Rail tickets. Local ...
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La Rochelle LRT
ON August 30 Alstom Transport signed an agreement with the town of La Rochelle, the région of Poitou-Charentes and the Conseil Général of Charente-Maritime to build an experimental light rail line in the streets of the Atlantic port.The 1·6 km line will run from the Alstom plant at Aytré (p630) ...
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Wisconsin moves into Jordan
Tonnage carried by the Aqaba Railway is expected to triple by 2002 after a Raytheon-led consortium takes a 25 year lease AUGUST 18 saw the signing of an agreement under which management and operation of the 292 km Aqaba Railway in Jordan will pass to a consortium that includes Wisconsin ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Australia: Tradegate ECA is developing an internet-based RailHub to provide automated consignment tracking and data management for the interstate rail network and associated feeder operators.Australian Rail Track Corp has lifted speeds on the Melbourne - Adelaide corridor from 80 to 115 km/h following an A$20m upgrading programme.Queensland Rail carried over ...
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Station Information Systems
Norbain SD Ltd has supplied CCTV equipment for stations on London Underground’s Northern line, enabling station staff and the central control point at Stockwell to monitor platforms, escalators, passages and station entrances. Sony SSC370P cameras, Tecton multiplexers, video recorders from Mitsubishi and JVC colour monitors were installed by Cubic Transportation ...
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Industry News
Australia: The Australian Railway Research Institute has been formed in Brisbane, run by Dr Wardina Oghanna with backing from Queensland Rail and Spoornet.Czech Republic: US investment group Bancroft Eastern Europe has taken a 70% stake in Bontrans, a joint venture with ZDB Bohumin that is to take over ZDB’s rail ...
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Inside INDUSTRY
BYLINE: Merger vote postponed Westinghouse Air Brake Co of the USA announced on August 20 that it had decided to postpone a meeting scheduled for August 23, called for shareholders to vote on the company’s proposed merger with MotivePower Industries (RG 7.99 p465). According to WABCO, the meeting was postponed ...
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Quantity not quality, as high-speed operators mark time
INTRO: The closing years of the 20th century have seen a consolidation in high-speed train performance. In our biennial survey Dr Colin Taylor finds more trains in the top categories, but no services faster than in 1997. The next leap forward will come with the start of regular operations at ...
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Heathrow link
A £170m plan to build a line between the proposed Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow Airport and Railtrack’s Southern Zone at Staines has been endorsed by British Airways, airport operator BAA and Railtrack. The three signed a Memorandum of Understanding on September 13 to launch operational and environmental investigations, which ...
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Green policies still uncertain
NOT FOR the first time, environmentalists are wringing their hands over the fate of the earth. The GEO-2000 report compiled by the United Nations Environment Programme and published on September 15 is up for discussion at an international convention in Bonn this month - and it will make gloomy reading. ...
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ICF may go private
FOR some time now it has been clear that all is not well at Intercontainer-Interfrigo (ICF), and the mostly state-owned railways which own ICF are contemplating a radical restructuring for the ailing co-operative. One idea gaining favour is floating it off as one or more free-standing pan-European intermodal companies operating ...
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FS starts refurbishment
ITALIAN Railways has launched a national programme to refurbish and modernise around 2 500 stations across its entire network. FS says the aim is not just a renovation, but a ’veritable revolution’ in ambience and the quality of passenger service provided. Many stations will be rebuilt to improve interchange between ...
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RTRI at the focus of railway research
INTRO: WCRR ’99, the fourth World Congress on Railway Research, will be held at the Railway Technical Research Institute in Tokyo, from October 19 to 23. RTRI President Hiroumi Soejima looks at some of the developments which will be under debateBYLINE: Hiroumi SoejimaPresident, Railway Technical Research InstituteIT IS A GREAT ...
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Finance
China: Hong Kong MTR Corp has arranged an HK$3bn revolving loan facility with a 12-bank syndicate to fund capital investment and refinance debts over the next four years.France: On September 9 RFF launched another 250m euros issue of 10-year bonds retiring in April 2009, paying 5·6%. Great Britain: Angel Train ...
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F Market goes fishing
ON SEPTEMBER 7 San Francisco Municipal Railway received approval from the city’s Public Transportation Commission to operate tram services along the Embarcadero waterfront from Market Street to Fisherman’s Wharf. Construction of the route is virtually complete, and test running will start this month.The $140m extension is expected to open ...
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Kolkata extends
FOUR YEARS after the completion of India’s first heavy metro line, work has begun on an extension of the Kolkata Metro. Prime Minister A B Vajpayee joined the ceremonies to mark the start of construction of the 8·4 km southern extension from Tollyganj to Garia. The project is costed at ...
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Evaluation model optimises track renewal and maintenance strategies
INTRO: Austrian Federal Railways expects to make significant savings from the introduction of an economic evaluation model based on life-cycle costing to support decision making on track design and maintenance strategiesBYLINE: Dipl-Ing Dr Peter W Veit *Graz Technical UniversitySAVINGS on track maintenance and renewal of around 5m euros a year ...