All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1362
-
News
North Carolina riders up
Ridership on the two state-subsidised passenger trains operated by Amtrak in North Carolina has shown increases for the six months from October 1997. The Piedmont showed a 9·7% rise compared with the same period a year earlier while the Carolinian was up just 0·2%.Starting in May, a full-length dome car ...
-
News
Branches reopen
CEREMONIES attended by the Czech Transport Minister Petr Moos and CD General Manager Vladimír Sosna marked the launch of private operations on the 9 km Sumperk - Sobotín line on May 1. Part of CD’s Desn
-
News
Greenbrier to boost Polish production
NORTH AMERICAN rolling stock supplier The Greenbrier Companies has launched a drive to break into the European freight wagon market. This follows the group’s purchase on March 9 of a majority stake in the Polish wagon builder Fabryka Wagonów Swidnica SA, which is to be relaunched this month ...
-
News
IR wins budget boost
INDIAN Prime Minister A B Vajpayee has approved a 10% increase in the Railways Ministry budget for 1998-99, which will total US$2 454m compared to US$2 155m in 1997-98. Railways Minister Nitish Kumar says the increase will help to to boost IR’s capital investment under the 1997-2002 five-year plan.The budget ...
-
News
Sounder bi-levels ordered
ON JUNE 11 the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority authorised purchase of 18 bi-level cab cars and 20 coaches from Bombardier Transportation for the Seattle - Tacoma Sounder commuter rail service. The US$75m deal includes a $39·2m option for an extra 20 coaches for the extensions from Seattle to ...
-
News
Caucasian railways start the long climb back
INTRO: Railways in the three countries of the Caucasus region suffered badly when the demise of the Soviet Union triggered civil strife, causing healthy freight traffic to shrink to almost nothing. The railways have responded positively to the end of hostilities, and the oil boom in Azerbaijan is helping to ...
-
News
AVE contracts
SPANISH high-speed line authority GIF awarded contracts on May 22 for the construction of a further 124 km of the Madrid - Barcelona high-speed line at a cost of Pts83·5bn. The package covers eight sections between Chiloeches and Calatayud near Zaragoza (RG 4.98 p253). Work is expected to start in ...
-
News
Derailment attempt
DETAILS have emerged of a recent attempt to sabotage the Tokaido shinkansen. Maintenance staff working on the track one day at the end of April found that 25 rail fastening bolts had been removed from a section of track on the Nagoya - Shin Osaka route between Maibara and Gifu ...
-
News
STB approves Conrail split-up
SEPTEMBER 1 is set to see the disappearance of another US Class I railroad with the formal break-up of Conrail and its merger into Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation. The $10bn deal was ’unanimously and enthusiastically’ approved by the Surface Transportation Board on June 8 (map RG 5.97 p271). Announcing ...
-
News
BART tries a different approach
SAN Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit District is another North American operator that has embarked on an ambitious TBTC programme. It will have some significant differences from the New York City approach.BART began its Advanced Automatic Train Control System (AATC) development early in 1994 under an unusual joint project with ...
-
News
Anglia unveils fresh look
Britain’s Anglia Railways franchise launched its first refurbished inter-city train set for London Liverpool Street - Norwich services on June 9.A Class 86 locomotive and a push-pull set of MkIIf coaches have been turned out in a bright turquoise livery with a cream stripe. The Forward Trust-owned stock was refurbished ...
-
News
Amtrak builds non-passenger revenue
INTRO: As part of its strategy to eliminate operating subsidies, Amtrak is actively developing its express parcels business to the concern of some of the big freight railways. Julian Wolinsky looks at developments so farALMOST 40 years after the major US railroads lost most of their premium parcels and sundries ...
-
News
New York pilot will set North America’s TBTC standards
INTRO: Suppliers are due to be chosen this month for a pilot installation of transmission-based train control on NYCT’s F Culver line. William D Middleton assesses the proposals, which envisage that a lead supplier develops compatible equipment permitting competitive procurement in the future INTEREST in transmission-based or communications-based train control ...
-
News
Alstom goes public
ON June 2 Alstom, formerly GEC Alsthom, officially launched the initial public offering of its shares. The company was to be floated simultaneously on the London, New York and Paris stock exchanges, with Paris the primary listing. Trading was expected to begin on June 22 when the offering price was ...
-
News
Cheaper ways to cross the French Alps
AT THE end of May France’s Ministry of Transport published the findings of a report into development of its transalpine links with Italy. Drawn up by transport experts Christian Brossier, Jean-Didier Blanchet and Michel Gérard at the behest of Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot, French Policy for Land Transport through the ...
-
News
FS to adopt
INTRO: Italian State Railways has awarded contracts for the installation of automatic train protection equipment on 150 route-km between Milano and Torino, and on the Milano Junction, based on the latest European data transmission standards BYLINE: Mario PoggioHead of On-Board Systems EngineeringAnsaldo Segnalamento FerroviarioFACED WITH increasing difficulties in the construction ...
-
News
Corridor accords
UPGRADING of two strategic rail corridors in Eastern Europe moved a step closer in May with the signing of two multilateral agreements.On May 13 representatives from Polish State Railways, Austrian Federal Railways and Czech Republic Railways met in Wien to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the modernisation of the ...
-
News
LDZ to split by 2002
THE LATVIAN government is to introduce a bill in November to split the national railways into five business units, following the passing of legislation in April enabling the partial privatisation of the LDZ network. Following studies of rail restructuring in Sweden, Germany and Great Britain, Latvian transport minister Uldis Petersons ...
-
News
SNCF parcels to run at 200 km/h
FRET SNCF is planning to operate parcels trains at 200 km/h on its Paris Sud-Est high-speed line by the end of this year. SNCF subsidiary Sernam launched 160 km/h trains from Paris to Bordeaux and Toulouse and to Orange, near Avignon, last October (RG 10.97 p656). The Orange train already ...
-
News
SL takes C20 option
STORSTOCKHOLMS Lokaltrafik has decided to order a further 75 Series C20 metro cars from Adtranz Sweden at a cost of SKr1·6bn. The move exercises an option in SL’s 1995 order for 75 cars, and lifts the value of the contract to SKr3·4bn. The three-section articulated units are destined to replace ...