All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1366
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News
Accessibility regulations start to firm up
INTRO: Richard Armitage reports on progress with drawing up and implementing regulations governing accessibility to public transport and rail vehicles in Europe. In Britain, Rail Accessibility Regulations requiring all new main line rolling stock to be accessible to wheelchairs will come into force on December 31MUCH of COST335, the Europe-wide ...
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Forcing open access
SHORTLY before Europe’s environment and transport ministers convened in Chester in April, the European Commission issued a discussion document on open access. The latest proposals emanating from Brussels envisage that Europe’s railways must offer 5% of the rail freight market to new entrants, with this proportion rising in stages over ...
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CD trials AC coaches
CAPTION: SGP and MSV Studénka have delivered nine of these Ampz first-class coaches to Czech Railways for test running. The 200 km/h pressure-sealed and air-conditioned vehicles were ordered in 1995 for Kc398m (RG 10.95 p621), along with 26 second-class cars; all will be in service in IC and EC trains ...
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IC/IR98 boost
Passsenger services in Belgium increased by 8% with the start of the summer timetable on May 24. Introduction of I11 loco-hauled coaches and AM96 EMUs has allowed SNCB to restructure several inter-city and inter-regional routes.Dual-system AM96 units have expanded cross-border routes from Lille, with regular-interval services to Oostende, Antwerpen and ...
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Porterbrook raises £363m to fund MU orders
BRITISH rolling stock company Porterbrook Leasing has put together a package to fund over 400 new vehicles. It includes a £273m securitisation arranged by Union Bank of Switzerland and a £90m corporate facility from UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland. The European Investment Bank is lending £110m (Ecu170m), and the ...
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Talgo and Adtranz to build 350 km/h prototype
SPANISH rolling stock supplier Patentes Talgo SA announced on April 23 that its President, José Luis de Oriol, had signed an accord with Adtranz Executive Vice-President Heinz Cronimund for the joint development, construction and marketing of a prototype trainset suitable for operation at 300 to 350 km/h. Talgo will invest ...
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Thameslink every 15min
BRITISH Train Operating Company Thameslink Rail relaunched its cross-London service as two distinct service groups with the summer timetable on May 24, with a simplified 15min interval service pattern for most stations outside peak hours. Bedford - Brighton services via Gatwick Airport have been branded City Flyer, and Luton - ...
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Underground split could cost £1bn
AN EXTRAORDINARY conflict of evidence emerged when a committee of MPs questioned Managing Director of London Underground Denis Tunnicliffe and ex-Chairman of London Transport Peter Ford - sacked by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott on April 17 (p376).Tunnicliffe was asked on April 29 for LU’s reaction to the ’public-private partnership’ ...
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Security restricts Tunnel’s potential
EUROTUNNEL’s financial restructuring was finally completed on April 8, 30 months after the company suspended interest payments on £8bn of bank debt. Executive Chairman Patrick Ponsolle said ’restructuring provides financial stability for the years to come’, but warned that ’this in itself is not sufficient’. The first quarter of 1998 ...
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Pointers
nIndia’s Ministry of Railways is drawing up a 10-year programme to install automatic train protection on the IR main line network at an anticipated cost of Rs70bn. A decision between conventional signalling and satellite train location is expected shortly.nSouth African power generator Eskom is considering the feasibility of building two ...
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Metros
Argentina: The Soldati group is planning to develop leisure attractions including cinemas, theme bars and amusements for children at stations along its 15 km Tren de la Costa light rail route, linking Maipu and Delta in the Buenos Aires suburbs. The company has confirmed that it is considering the sale ...
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Marketplace
Canada: Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway Co has ordered 11 C44-9W diesel locomotives from General Electric.Egypt: Alexandria Passenger Transport Authority has called tenders for 15 LRVs with asynchronous drives and IGBT inverters. Each 65 to 70% low-floor vehicle with three sections must accommodate 60 seated and 140 standing passengers.Egyptian ...
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Swedes to manage ZR revival
ZAMBIAN Transport & Communications Minister Rev Anoshi Chipawa confirmed on March 19 that a Swedish consultancy had been selected to manage and restructure Zambia Railways over the next 2 1??2 years. He revealed that an agreement with Hifab International AB had been signed in December, after four years of negotiations ...
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On-screen loco management
ALK Associates has been retained by Union Pacific to design and implement a locomotive management system for its Harriman Dispatching Centre in Omaha, Nebraska. Designed to improve service reliability and help UP make the most effective use of its available motive power, the system will provide information on trains and ...
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New lines in the west
DESPITE the economic meltdown in South East Asia, the Hamersley Iron Railway set a new record by moving close to 60 million tonnes of ore for shipment from the port of Dampier last year. Iron ore sales were 20% up on 1996, resulting in what HIR’s owner Rio Tinto called ...
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Shinkansen under way at last
CEREMONIES were held in Japan at the end of March to mark the formal start of work on three more shinkansen extensions, following their approval by Transport Minister Takao Fujii on March 12. Construction of the three routes is expected to be spread over 20 years because of limitations on ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Argentina: Trenes de Buenos Aires was due to begin a station refurbishment programme on the Mitre commuter network at the start of April. This includes the installation of automatic fare collection equipment, after its introduction to TBA’s Sarmiento route in January.Ferrosur Roca and Ferrocarril del Pacífico of Chile have introduced ...