All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1355
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News
INTELLIGENCE
Argentina: Buenos Aires suburban concessionaire Metropolitano is to invest 38m pesos in upgrading the Pereyra - La Plata and Avellaneda - Ezpeleta sections of the Roca network. As well as track renewal, the work will include renovation of nine level crossings.Australia: Victrack is to call tenders for resleepering the 50 ...
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Innovative hiccup
THIRTEEN consortia which submitted bids for the Briztram light rail line in Brisbane (RG 6.98 p371) had their applications returned unopened at the end of July. Incoming Queensland Premier Peter Beattie feels that light rail is ’19th century technology’ and he wants something ’futuristic’ to celebrate the next millenium.What he ...
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Timetable revamp heralds network speed-up
INTRO: A radical restructuring of Chinese Railways’ timetable paves the way for faster services and quality improvements over the next few years. Chris Jackson discussed the technical advances and research projects underpinning CR’s next five-year investment plan with Ju Jiaxing, Executive Vice-President of the China Academy of Railway SciencesON OCTOBER ...
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Funding shortage
INDIAN Railways’ plans to modernise and expand will have to be reined in. Sanctions in the wake of the country’s detonation of atomic bombs earlier this year look likely to force the abandonment or deferral of numerous projects as credit agencies withdraw funding.No surprise then that a parliamentary committee has ...
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V/Line Freight sale starts
EXPRESSIONS of interest were due to be submitted by August 14 for the sale of Australian operator V/Line Freight Corp. Bids were called on July 31 by Victoria’s Transport Minister Robin Cooper and Treasurer Alan Stockdale, who said privatisation would give Victoria ’a vibrant, competitive railfreight industry so that farmers ...
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Multi-gauge freight
SPANISH National Railways and Patentes Talgo unveiled a freight derivative of the Talgo gauge-convertible wheelsets at a presentation in Sevilla on July 30. Renfe has formed a partnership with French National Railways and German Railway to develop the technique for cross-border applications throughout Europe.The Talgo concept, where individual wheelsets are ...
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NRZ updates inter-city fleet
THIS MONTH National Railways of Zimbabwe will take delivery of the first of 58 main line coaches for its two principal routes: Bulawayo - Harare and Bulawayo - Victoria Falls. A radical departure from the familiar clerestory roofs and brown livery, the new stock will transform NRZ’s long-distance overnight and ...
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Time to face the real issues
UPHEAVAL at Polish State Railways looks inevitable as management and government struggle with the complexities of restructuring and possible privatisation. While the imminent order for high speed tilting trains (p563) suggests that PKP is up with Europe’s leaders in technology and expertise, much ground has to be made up in ...
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Thrall Europa rolls out first EWS wagon
THEFIRST of 310 steel coil carrier wagons was formally handed over to English Welsh & Scottish Railway on July 27, marking the start of production at the new Thrall Europa factory in York works. Participating in the ceremonies were Thrall Car Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Craig Duchossois (right) and ...
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Diesel strategy study
THIS MONTH will see the start of negotiations for a contract to renew the Austrian Federal Railways diesel locomotive fleet. Bids were called in February, with submissions due by the middle of August. ÖBB’s current diesel fleet comprises eight different types, most of which are more than 30 years old. ...
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Delhi metro relaunched
A FORMAL go-ahead for construction of the long-planned metro network in the Indian capital is due to be announced this month, following the creation of the Delhi Metro Rail Corp to manage the project. Headed by E Sreedharan, former General Manager of the Konkan Railway Corp, DMRC is a joint ...
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Taiwan HSR deal signed
TAIWAN’S Minister of Transport & Communications Lin Feng Cheng and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp President Nita Ing signed the concession contract for construction of the 340 km Taipei - Kaohsiung high speed line on July 23. The signing had been delayed by four weeks after negotiations over land purchase ...
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Eight corridors at heart of five-year plan
INTRO: Chinese Railways’ new line and upgrading plan for 1998-2002 envisages investment reaching a new record levelBY 2002 the Chinese Railways main line network will have smashed through the 70000 route-km barrier, with the construction of more than 5000 km of new line over the next five years. At the ...
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London smartcard concession signed
LONDON Transport signed the long-awaited Prestige smartcard fare collection contract with the TranSys consortium on August 13 after what LT's Commercial Director David Bailey described as 'tough and protracted' negotiations. Worth £1bn over 17 years, the deal has been agreed under the terms of Britain's Private Finance Initiative. TranSys ...
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Governments clash on interstate plans
Western Australia’s Transport Minister Murray Criddle announced on July 30 that Westrail is to be sold as a vertically integrated freight operation in the second quarter of 1999. The state will retain ownership of the land, and of suburban and country passenger services. Federal Transport Minister Mark Vaile responded by ...
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CITY NEWS
CAPTION: A formal opening date for Britain’s third light rail line is due to be announced at the beginning of this month, following a meeting between the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (Centro) and concessionaire Altram. Driver training is under way with the Ansaldo LRVs, and the line has been ...
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CITY NEWS
CAPTION: A delegation from the Valencia light rail project in Venezuela, led by President Luis Dias Elias (above) visited the Siemens Transportation Systems plant at Sacramento in July. To mark the occasion one of the additional SD-460 LRVs for St Louis Metrolink was painted in the livery of the similar ...
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Speedrail wins Sydney - Canberra
AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister John Howard announced on August 4 that the federal and New South Wales state governments had selected the Speedrail consortium as preferred bidder for a 30-year concession to build and operate a 270 km high-speed line between Sydney and Canberra. The project is costed at around A$3·5bn. ...
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Virgin opens Euston business lounge
Virgin Rail has opened a redesigned £250000 business waiting area at London’s Euston station. It offers an expanded range of facilities to cater for passengers travelling first class on the Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow routes.Bright colours and curvaceous lines have been combined to produce an area which provides facilities ...
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NYCT to build A division control
MTA New York City Transit has selected a consortium headed by Union Switch & Signal with Syseca of Great Britain to equip a new control centre for the A division of its subway network. The work forms part of a programme to install automatic train supervision throughout the 1150 track-km ...