All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1387
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News
Last chance to catch the night train
MANY long-distance passenger trains outside Europe and Japan must by nature run overnight, with seating accommodation convertible to sleeper berths or bunks. In Europe, daytime inter-city trains predominate, with high speed services taking a steadily growing share of the business. This intense focus on high speed has left many of ...
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Kumamoto low-floor car enters service
AUGUST 2 saw the start of revenue operations with Japan’s first 100% low-floor tram in the city of Kumamoto. Ordered in June 1996 from Niigata Engineering and Adtranz, the two-section car was delivered for commissioning trials in April and was approved for operation by the Japanese Ministry of Transport in ...
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In Brief
Amtrak has formed a Customer Advisory Committee in an effort to improve its understanding of ’customers’ needs and concerns’. A maximum of 31 members will represent Amtrak’s various corridor, long-distance and short-distance services. The 14-day advance purchase qualification for discounted Eurostar Day Trip tickets from London to Calais, Lille and ...
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In Brief
n The US Surface Transportation Board has announced it will issue its decision on the break-up of Conrail between CSX and Norfolk Southern on April 14 next year, followed by a written ruling on June 8. The deadline for comment, protests and opposition evidence is October 21, followed by oral ...
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Luxury lounge boosts image
THE FIRST FRUITS of German Railway’s programme to modernise its major stations were unveiled on July 23, when the premier DB Lounge was opened at Frankfurt-am-Main Hauptbahnhof. The main building has been extensively modified, with a glazed cupola flooding the public areas with natural light.At ground level is a spacious ...
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TAF to boost capacity on urban routes
INTRO: Italian Railways and Nord Milano Railway are about to put into service a fleet of 50 double-deck EMUs for the cross-city Passante route; each high-capacity TAF trainset will carry up to 848 passengers in air-conditioned comfortBYLINE: Ing Giancarlo PiroTony TrainaStrategic Business UnitRolling Stock & Traction DivisionItalian RailwaysIN ...
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Investigating the dynamic behaviour of rigid track
INTRO: Numerical simulations will augment practical trials for optimal design of future track structures. Dynamic analysis of a rigid track slab using the boundary element method has shown close correlation with measurements at test sites on the German Railway network BYLINE: Branislav Verbic, Günther Schmid, Heinz-Dieter K
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Stoneblower provides ballast maintenance solution
INTRO: A five-year development programme culminated in Britain’s infrastructure company Railtrack officially receiving the first fleet-build Stoneblower from Pandrol Jackson on June 13. Maintenance contractors are eager to receive further Stoneblowers to help them meet demands for high quality track at affordable cost. Andrew Hellawell saw the first machine in ...
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One step forward, two steps back
The Amtrak funding battle resumes this month, when Congress returns from its annual summer holiday. On July 30, a conference committee drawn from the House of Representatives and Senate completed work on a tax package which included US$2·3bn in capital funding for Amtrak over the next two years. However, an ...
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Toronto turns the clock back
INTRO: On July 27 Toronto Transit Commission officially opened its Spadina Avenue light rail extension. William D Middleton was there Chinese dragon dancers, a festival atmosphere the length of lower Spadina Avenue and an estimated 32000 riders were all at hand when the Toronto Transportation Commission celebrated the opening of ...
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Spoornet steps back from the brink
AUGUST 4 did not bring the cataclysm that South African analysts had expected. Instead of Transnet’s losses for the year ending March 31 mounting to a predicted R750m from R253m last year, the state-owned transport group increased turnover and cut its operating deficit to R170m, much to the relief of ...
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All-conquering maglev
SOME railway publicity managers could learn a thing or two from Transrapid International, the company set up to market and promote German maglev technology. If the stories published by sundry media from Sydney to Santiago are to be believed, we shall shortly see Transrapid vehicles whooshing businessmen across the Andes, ...
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Alameda will ease LA port bottleneck
INTRO: Spectacular growth in trade across the Pacific has generated severe congestion on the railways which serve the southern Californian ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. William D Middleton describes the Alameda Corridor - a US$2bn construction project to cure congestion and provide capacity for future growthTHE SAN PEDRO ...
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West Rail moves ahead
KOWLOON - CANTON Railway Corp invited expressions of interest on August 12 for detailed design work on the 30·5 km first phase of the WestRail commuter link between Kowloon and Tuen Mun. Consultants have been invited to prequalify for five packages, covering the Yuen Long, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan and ...
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NY funds agreed
NEW YORK state officials unanimously approved a US$12bn improvement programme for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on July 12. NY City Transit will get $9bn, with Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road splitting the rest. The package will fund track and signal upgrades and station renovation throughout the subway network, and ...
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Kuala Lumpur seeks integrated network by 2000
INTRO: Three privately-promoted light metro lines are under construction to augment Malaysian Railways’ electrified commuter rail networkIN EXACTLY ONE YEAR, the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur will host the 1998 Commonwealth Games, at a new stadium taking shape south of the city. The start of the games on September 14 1998 ...
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First British 200 km/h DMUs
ON JULY 29 regional passenger franchisee North Western Trains announced that it was to buy a fleet of 70 diesel multiple-unit vehicles from GEC Alsthom Metro-Cammell for £64m, with an option for a further 50. Financing and ownership arrangements have yet to be settled. The fleet will be formed in ...
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Inchon on course to open in 1999
BYLINE: Cho, Ai-KyoungOperations Planning ManagerInchon Municipal GovernmentSubway Construction HeadquartersCONSTRUCTION is pushing ahead on the first metro line in the South Korean port of Inchon. Started in 1993 and now expected to open in 1999, the 24·6 km Line 1 is the first of five routes in a planned 125 km ...
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Sidetrack
Oooh! Aaah! Eurostar?READERS of our regular Passenger Portfolio feature will no doubt be familiar with the continuing efforts of train operators worldwide to keep their business clintele supplied with the creature comforts that they have come to expect. Eurostar (UK) appears to have gone one better than at-seat video or ...