All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1338

  • News

    Night train revamp

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    German Railway is spending over DM120m in a programme to refurbish its couchette and sleeping car fleet. From the start of the summer timetable at the end of May, overnight trains will be marketed as ’DB Nachtzug’. Marketing and management will be in the hands of DB AutoZug, a DB ...

  • News

    NEWS

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    CAPTION: A ceremony at Tokyo Central on March 13 marked the start of revenue services with the first production Series 700 shinkansen trains developed by JR Central and JR West (RG 10.98 p697). Four trains will work three Nozomi expresses each way between Tokyo and Hakata, cutting 7min off ...

  • News

    NEWS

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    March 10 saw the restoration of rail freight services between Yugoslavia and Bosnia-Herzegovina with the reopening of the line between Brasina in Serbia and Zvornik Novia in Bosnia. Common regulations for train operations were agreed by JZ and BHZJK on March 5 under the terms of a co-operation accord signed ...

  • News

    MTR sale

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Presenting the region's budget to the Legislative Council on March 3, Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen announced that metro operator MTR Corp will be partially privatised in the next two years. The administration plans 'to privatise a substantial minority share of MTRC through a public offering', ...

  • News

    A testing moment

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    ON March 22 Bombardier Transportation opened a US$5m test centre for passenger rail vehicles at its Plattsburgh plant in New York state. Plattsburgh engineers now have available an 800m outdoor test track fitted with a third rail power supply and two 90m indoor test sections. Among the first vehicles ...

  • News

    Millipede to the rescue

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    THE NEWS that the Italian government has come up with an R87m loan to help fund rehabilitation of the Matsapha - Mpaka - Goba line (p197) comes as a welcome relief to Swaziland Railways’ Chief Executive Officer Gideon Mahlalela. Freight volumes have been falling sharply, which he suggests may be ...

  • News

    Metros

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Argentina: Metrovías has received 12 of 30 cars for Buenos Aires Line D from Nagoya Metro, costing 25m pesos. They have been refurbished for 1·5 kV DC overhead by Osaka Sharyo Kogyo Co Ltd with electronic traction equipment.China: On March 5 Hong Kong MTR Corp awarded an HK$1·1bn contract to ...

  • News

    Modern steam serves niche markets

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    A Swiss company has rebuilt a main line steam locomotive in an experiment to assess the viability of a marriage between the earliest and the latest traction technology

  • News

    Market

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Argentina: Under its 1999-2000 investment programme, Ferrosur has signed an agreement to purchase four locomotives from General Electric. Wagon rebuilding is providing 120 additional container flats and 200 cement hoppers. Australia: National Rail Corp has ordered 10 side-tipping wagons from Evans Deakin Industries subsidiary Clyde Engineering at a cost of ...

  • News

    TRAX makes progress

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    ON MARCH 3 the Utah legislature agreed to provide up to $50m of operating assistance over 10 years for Utah Transit Authority’s proposed west-east TRAX light rail line in Salt Lake City. This clears the way for a Federal Transit Authority grant of $480m to cover the construction cost of ...

  • News

    Stockholm LRV ready

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    STORSTOCKHOLMS Lokaltrafik, Bombardier Transportation and Adtranz formally unveiled on February 25 the first LRV for a 10·2 km orbital light rail line in the Swedish capital which opens in August. The pre-series car was demonstrated on the Adtranz test track at Västerås prior to delivery.SL has ordered 12 cars to ...

  • News

    Seattle sets LRT routes

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    SOUND TRANSIT has selected final alignments for the light rail lines in Tacoma and Seattle, which are due to open in 2001 and 2006. On February 12 the ST board picked an L-shaped route for the 2·6 km Tacoma line between the Tacoma Dome commuter parking garage and the Theatre ...

  • News

    Operation Lifesaver is working

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    A SEMI-TRAILER laden with steel killed 11 passengers aboard Amtrak’s City of New Orleans when the driver apparently ignored flashing lights and drove around barriers at a level crossing in Bourbonnais, Illinois at 21.47 on March 15. More than 100 other passengers were injured. All the fatalities were in a ...

  • News

    Letters

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    New York, New YorkSir - I refer to Alan Levitt’s letter about Grand Central Terminal (RG 2.99 p78). Unfortunately, there are several factual errors which need to be corrected.The terminal was opened for service in November 1913 as the third station in that location. The first two stations were replaced ...

  • News

    Karaj opens

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    TEHRAN Urban & Suburban Railway Co has started revenue services on its 42 km outer-suburban feeder line linking Karaj to the Tehran metro Line 2 at Ayatollah Kashani. At the beginning of February TUSR announced that following trials the line would be open to traffic for 3h each day. Services ...

  • News

    Juniper links

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Silvertown UK Ltd’s Silentbloc Division is supplying torque reaction links to Alstom Gears Ltd for Juniper EMUs being built by Alstom Transport for Gatwick Express, South West Trains and ScotRail.One link is fitted between each gearbox and the bogie frame, with the heavy-duty rubber/metal construction serving to absorb shock forces ...

  • News

    INTELLIGENCE

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    CAPTION: Luxembourg Railways has started putting into service its Class 3000 dual-system electric locos being supplied by Alstom Transport. CFL is buying 20 of the 3 kV DC / 25 kV 50Hz units as a joint order with SNCB’s 60 Class 13 Tractis fleet (RG 5.98 p325), and examples were ...

  • News

    INTELLIGENCE

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    CAPTION: Swedish iron ore mining group LKAB has taken delivery of five prototype Uanoo wagons from Transwerk of South Africa for MTAB to test on the Luleå - Kiruna - Narvik Malmbanan. LKAB must decide by September 1 whether to order a 68 vehicle trainset of the 120 tonne GLW ...

  • News

    INTELLIGENCE

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    CAPTION: This month is due to see the completion of the 70 km cut-off between Beitbridge and West Nicholson in southern Zimbabwe, by contractor Murray & Roberts. Operation of the line, which will provide a direct route from the South African border to Bulawayo, has been contracted to a joint ...

  • News

    INTELLIGENCE

    1999-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Argentina: Subject to government approval, Industrias Metalúrgicas Pescarmona SA expected to complete in March the sale of its majority holdings in the Buenos Aires al Pacífico and Mesopot