All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1394
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MTR unveils expansion strategy
HONG KONG’s Mass Transit Railway Corp has launched a 10-year expansion programme costed at around US$4bn, following forecasts that the increasingly congested three-line network will reach saturation point in 2006. As well as the branch to Tseung Kwan O now at the planning stage, MTR envisages two new lines and ...
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NDX poised to network Europe
INTRO: Gordon Mott FCIT tells Richard Hope why chartered trains are going to be riding the Freightways before open access emerges As Assistant Vice President International Development for CSX Transportation, and a director of NDX, Gordon Mott is well placed to help rail industry colleagues hack a path through the ...
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Dürr leaves Ludewig a tough legacy
INTRO: Next month Heinz Dürr passes the reins of German Railway to Johannes Ludewig, an economist who is close to Chancellor Kohl. Inheriting a 40000 km railway halfway through an ambitious programme of reforms, Ludewig must tackle numerous unfinished tasksHEINZ DÜRR may be leaving his post as Chairman of ...
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Regionalisation drive gathers pace
INTRO: The programme to transfer regional lines in Germany to local control is bearing fruit in some areas, but as Gordon Wiseman reports, it is unlikely to save numerous lightly-used rural routes in the east of the countryTHIS SUMMER’S timetable change on June 1 sees six more lines transferred from ...
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London Underground happy with first private train deal
Two years into the 400m lease-and-maintain agreement under which GEC Alsthom is building 106 trains for the Northern line, Richard Hope explains why London Underground expects a growing proportion of investment to be privately financed
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Longer concession is the last hope
A PROSPECTUS due last month explains the deal with banks holding more than £8bn of junior debt which Eurotunnel hopes will enable the company to continue trading. Despite last November’s fire which will cost Eurotunnel and its insurers more than £200m, the restructuring deal is essentially unchanged from the package ...
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More in first class with Eurostar
Priced to compete with full-fare airline business class, Premium First was launched on London - Paris Eurostar services on April 28. With Premium First and Standard Plus, four distinct levels of service are being introduced to replace the two classes dating from Eurostar’s inception. For £370 return, ...
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Multi-purpose smart cards
Schlumberger Electronic Transactions has unveiled the Easy range of smart cards for ticketing applications, available in two basic versions. The contactless version incorporating a Mifare 1 chip is readable in 100ms at a distance of 100mm through pockets, wallets or purses, and features a 1kB memory structured for multi-operator networks. ...
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New York State to fund record car order
Details of the largest metro car order in North American history were confirmed on April 29. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has reached agreement with two manufacturers to acquire 1080 vehicles for the IRT division. They will replace many of MTA New York City Transit’s oldest cars, some dating from ...
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Products In Brief
The exterior and cab front design produced by Design Triangle for Hong Kong’s Airport Express and Tung Chung line trainsets is to be adopted for the refurbishment of MTRC’s existing fleet. Involving 759 EMU cars, the programme is scheduled for completion in 2001 (RG 12.96 p786).SNCF’s blue and grey TER ...
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In Brief
NS Stations has announced plans to site branches of the A&P supermarket chain at larger regional stations. The shops would offer products ranging from fresh fruit and vegetables to oven-ready meals.Great North Eastern Railway has introduced a loyalty programme for first class passengers known as Excel Portfolio. Points accumulated ...
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In Brief
n Canadian Pacific transferred 1839route-km in the US Midwest to I&M Rail Link in April for US$250m. Formed by Montana Rail Link owner Dennis Washington, I&M includes a route from Kansas City to the Chicago area plus branch lines in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.n A consortium headed by privatisedBrazilian steel ...
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Mushroom concept will transform Berlin
INTRO: Construction work to rebuild Berlin’s main line and S-Bahn networks is forging ahead at a furious pace. Murray Hughes reports from the site of Berlin’s future inter-city interchangeVISIT THE east end of the S-Bahn platforms at Lehrter Stadtbahnhof in the centre of Berlin, and you will see and feel ...
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Real time management becomes a reality
TENDERS will be called by German Railway this month or next for the first three of seven Advanced Train Control Centres that will ultimately take over train operations from thousands of existing signalboxes. These will be turnkey projects of substantial size, with around 150 workstations each, and great complexity, especially ...
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Firenze backs TAV tunnel
ITALIAN Transport Minister Claudio Burlando has signed an agreement with Mayor of Firenze Mario Primicerio paving the way for construction of a tunnel to carry the Roma - Milano high speed line under the city. High-speed project manager Italferr TAV SiS and Italian State Railways are party to the agreement, ...
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Sishen - Saldanha pulls back from the brink
INTRO: Murray Hughes reports from the 6th IHHA Congress in Cape TownVISIT the 861 km iron ore artery in South Africa, and you will see signs that the railway has suffered badly. Spoornet executives admit that the line nearly closed when the iron and steel market plummetted in the mid-1980s. ...
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Rivals to build automated freight terminals
GERMAN Railway has let development contracts for two fully-automated freight handling terminals. Intended to cut the time taken to transfer containers between train and lorry, the terminals will also occupy less land than conventional intermodal sites with similar throughput.Krupp F
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At-seat entertainment
An at-seat entertainment system for rail vehicles has been developed by established airline supplier MBM Technology, in conjunction with seat manufacturer Compin and interiors and component specialist Transintech. In a prototype static installation presented to train operators, lessors and manufacturers, LCD video screens have been fitted to Compin first class ...
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Transrapid survives another review
WE HAVE lost count of the number of times that high speed maglev projects have been given green lights, go-aheads and approvals in Germany. The latest came at the end of April when Transport Minister Matthias Wissmann said the project to build a Transrapid line between Hamburg and Berlin would ...
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Suppliers flock to City Transport ’97
INTRO: Organised in conjunction with UITP’s Stuttgart congress, the City Transport ’97 exhibition takes place on June 2-5A wide range of products and services for urban and regional operators will be on display at City Transport ’97 in Stuttgart’s Messegelände exhibition and congress centre. The Transfloor range from Altro Floors ...