All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1333
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Flange-bearing crossing diamonds offer improved performance
INTRO: Trials at the AAR Transportation Technology Centre have found that flange-bearing crossings which reduce wheel impact loadings have the potential to cut track maintenance costs and operating delays, with no significant problems in terms of wheel wearBYLINE: David Davis and Semih Kalay*BYLINE: * David Davis is Principal Engineer and ...
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Counting sensors
RENFE’s Suburban business unit has installed the Cuper passenger-counting system developed in conjunction with Eliop on 10 EMUs operating in Madrid. The number of people boarding and leaving a train is counted using pressure sensors installed on the fixed step of each passenger door. An on-board processor locates the train ...
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Track engineers seek cost-saving innovations
INTRO: Increasing use of electronics has paved the way for suppliers of maintenance equipment to improve track quality and availability, and at the same time reduce costs. David Burns previews the VDEI exhibition taking place in Wien from June 1 to 3IN COMPARISON with many other industries, the railway business ...
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Not counting the cost of safety
SPEAKING at a press conference in Frankfurt on May 3, German Railway Chairman Dr Johannes Ludewig gave some indication of the safety measures likely to be introduced once the enquiry into the ICE disaster at Eschede on June 3 1998 is concluded. Noting that DB ’is doing everything humanly possible ...
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High-speed contribution
SPANISH Secretary of State for Infrastructure Albert Vilalta told the Parliamentary infrastructure committee on April 30 that 30% of the cost of building the high speed line from Madrid to Barcelona and the French border would be met by charging access fees for the first 20 years of operation. In ...
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South Jersey LRT contract
ON MAY 12 the NJ Transit board approved a US$604m design-build contract with Southern New Jersey Rail Group, a consortium of Bechtel and Adtranz, for the Camden-Trenton diesel light rail project, subject to NJT reaching agreement with Conrail by June 1 to operate a 7 1/2 min interval passenger service ...
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Double-deckers complete IC service
FINNISH RAILWAYS is currently taking delivery of 42 double-deck coaches to expand capacity on its highly successful InterCity services launched in 1989. VR Ltd now operates eight supplementary-fare trains each way per day. Most run inwards to Helsinki in the morning and return in the evening, targeting the day-trip business ...
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Commuter rail proposed
Septa has commissioned a US$145000 two-year feasibility study into restoring passenger services on the Bethlehem and Stoney Creek lines, providing a commuter service to Philadelphia. Trains would start at Quakertown in Bucks County, and run south through Perkasie, Derstines, Telford, Hatfield and Lansdale before taking the Stoney Creek line ...
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West Coast deal
ON MAY 11 British bus and rail operator Go-Ahead Group confirmed that the three-company consortium of which it is a member had reached agreement with the Swedish government to run inter-city services on the West Coast route between G
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Storm clouds gather over WCML upgrade
FIVE YEARS have slipped by since the newly-created Railtrack launched in March 1994 a feasibility study into the upgrade of Britain’s prime inter-city route. The West Coast main line - actually a network linking London Euston with Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh - had already been scheduled by British ...
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Talgo to buy Transtech
On May 12 the Finnish national steel company Rautaruukki announced that it had signed a pre-contract for the sale of its Transtech rolling stock business to Patentes Talgo of Spain. The deal is still subject to final approval by the boards of the two companies.Transtech was formed to build freight ...
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British operators step up services
Midland Main Line’s high-profile service expansion is just one of a number of major improvements in frequency being rolled out with the summer timetable, beginning on May 30. MML will deploy its Class 170/1 Turbostar DMUs from Adtranz to double its London - Derby/Nottingham service to half-hourly, and add through ...
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Bidding extended
VICTORIA’s state government announced in mid-April that the deadline for bids to operate Melbourne’s suburban rail and tram routes would be extended to the end of May. Several bidders had asked for more time to assess the implications of the government’s requirements for extra rolling stock investment on the viability ...
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EPIC runs to Richards Bay
SPOORNET’S Coalink business unit has ordered integrated braking and train controls from Westinghouse Air Brake Co for installation on a test train on the 420 km Ermelo - Richards Bay heavy haul corridor. Four Class7E1 electric locos will be fitted with EPIC electronic air brakes and PowerLink distributed power units, ...
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Back to builder
NORWEGIAN State Railways has finally reached a settlement with Siemens about the ill-fated Type Di6 locomotives which were ordered under a NKR300m contract placed in 1992.The deal provides for Siemens to take back the 11 units delivered to NSB and to reimburse the full price. Further, it is to pay ...
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Line B contract
NEXT MONTH should see the start of work on a 1·8 km extension of Buenos Aires metro Line B at a cost of 34m pesos. Civil engineering contractor Techint was selected as preferred bidder for the work on April 21 and the contract was signed a week later.The extension from ...
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Benefits justify higher BHP axleloads
INTRO: Innovative management and a commitment to research have halved the cost of hauling iron ore to Port Hedland in Western Australia in the last five years. A key lever has been less variable loading that sees axleloads now nudging 37 tonnes, with 40 tonnes in prospectBYLINE: Mike Moynan, Alex ...