All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1396
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News
Intelligence
Brazil: Brazil Rail Partners (RG 5.96 p256) has signed a contract to manage operations on the Ferronorte railway. Although the federal government has allocated US$120m to finish the road/rail bridge across the Paran
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Integrated infrastructure monitoring
TRACKWATCH integrated monitoring systems are designed to log all signalling activity, enabling failures to be located and potential problems to be identified. Suitable for mobile use or permanent installation at level crossings and large interlockings, the modular concept has been developed by Solartron.Isolated measurement pods are connected to spare signal ...
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Industry
Great Britain: London & Continental Engineering, the Channel Tunnel rail link design and management consortium, has been renamed Rail Link Engineering.Thrall Car has announced plans to build wagons in Great Britain; Wisconsin Central subsidiary EWS plans to order up to 500 wagons each year.Malaysia: On March 20 Ansaldo Signal announced ...
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JR West tests the limits of independence
INTRO: As the second JR company to achieve a listing on the Tokyo stock market, JR West is beginning to sever the links that tie it to government control. Chairman Masataka Ide was interviewed by Murray Hughes in OkayamaWhen JR WEST was listed on the Tokyo stock market on ...
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IC-Neigezug to roll out next year
INTRO: From 2001 a fleet of tilting trainsets will cut 20min off Swiss Federal Railways’ journey times between Lausanne and St Gallen without the need for SFr500m of civil worksORDERED in July 1996 at a cost of SFr497m as an alternative to expensive civil engineering works originally planned under the ...
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Maglev guideway opening presages three years of trials
INTRO: The 18·4 km priority section of experimental Superconducting Maglev guideway was formally opened on April 3, and the first levitation trials are due to take place next month. Murray Hughes reports from the Yamanashi test centreJAPANESE Minister of Transport Makoto Koga and Yoshiyuki Kasai, President of JR Central, took ...
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Rodgau go-ahead
APPROVAL of a financing package worth DM605m has cleared the way for two extensions to the Rhein-Main S-Bahn network south of Frankfurt to be completed by the June 2001 timetable change. Work on upgrading German Railway’s two ’Rodgau’ branches began at the end of 1994 (RG 1.95 p14), but progress ...
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Finance
Bulgaria: BDZ has secured a total of $170m in loans from the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, and other sources, to fund modernisation projects up to the end of 1998.Finland: Finland’s Ministry of Trade & Industry with Rautaruukki Corp have launched a share offering of 13 ...
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Mozambique eyes export markets
PLANS to boost export coal traffic from the near-mothballed Moatize coalfield will revive rail routes in northern Mozambique. The first phase would see a US$30m upgrading of rail and port facilities at Nacala to handle up to 1000 tonnes an hour. This would help to clear a stockpile of 200000 ...
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Kuala Lumpur welcomes Exporail exhibitors
From May 14 to 16, Tun Razak Hall 3 of Kuala Lumpur’s Putra World Trade Centre hosts Exporail (Asia) 97, organised by Interfama Brooks Exhibitions. Local supporters include operators KTMB, PUTRA and STAR, the Chartered Institute of Transport, Malaysia, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers ...
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Eurotunnel launches freight shuttle safety upgrade
INTRO: Richard Hope explains why enclosure of open-sided wagons has been ruled outRESTORATION of freight shuttle services by mid-June was announced by Eurotunnel on April 3, subject to the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority approving a package of additional safety measures. No lorries have been carried since the major fire of ...
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Gatwick Express EMU order
UK: National Express Group has ordered eight 8-car EMUs from GEC Alsthom Metro-Cammell to operate its Gatwick Express franchise linking London Victoria to Gatwick Airport. The £100m train service provision package requires delivery of the first 160 km/h trainset in December 1998, with fleet service to start in May 1999. ...
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Rail investment to cut fuel costs
THE GOVERNMENT of Kazakstan has approved a comprehensive upgrading plan for the republic’s railways, including new lines to integrate the former SZD West Kazakstan and Almaty regional railways.Top priority in the package are measures to cut the use of imported diesel fuel, which currently accounts for 80% of KR’s operating ...
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S-bane order confirmed
ON APRIL 8 GEC Alsthom announced that its German subsidiary Linke-Hofmann-Busch had won a contract to supply 112 suburban trainsets for Danish State Railways’ København S-bane, in consortium with Siemens Transportation Systems. Some local assembly work is due to be undertaken by the Danish arm of Adtranz in Randers. Total ...
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Chuo Shinkansen will be 'a national project'
As JR Central prepares for a stock market listing in October, President Yoshiyuki Kasai tells Murray Hughes that the Chuo Shinkansen superconducting maglev line will only be built as a strategic national project
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Curing the Chiasso syndrome
COMMUNITY of European Railways’ Chairman Heinz Dürr presented plans on April 14 to Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock for putting into practice the concept of Freight Freeways. The proposals were discussed at a high-level Commission meeting in Brussels on April 17 at which launch of a pilot Freeway was likely to ...
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NS and CSX settle Conrail carve-up
A FORMAL agreement to divide Conrail between Norfolk Southern and CSX was unveiled on April 8. The two companies will drop litigation against each other and form a jointly-owned entity to buy the remaining Conrail shares for $115 each in cash. NS will take a 58% stake for $5·9bn and ...
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In Brief
Following talks in Frankfurt, German Railway Chairman Heinz Dürr and Italian State Railways Managing Director Giancarlo Cimoli have announced plans to upgrade services between the two countries. Improved overnight trains could be joined by Frankfurt - Milano and München - Roma high-speed services before 2000. ScotRail has installed a touch-screen ...
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In Brief
n Vietnam Railways and Chinese Railways have agreed a timetable for the restoration of through Hanoi - Kunming passenger services by the middle of this year. A three-car train will initially run through once a week.n Mexico’s Transport Ministry has invited bids for a 50-year concession to run the second ...
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Ten-point plan to boost traffic
French National Railways has unveiled a second tranche of measures designed to win back passengers following recent difficulties (RG 3.97 p175). According to SNCF President Louis Gallois, the 10 sales and marketing initiatives aim to make train travel easier, cheaper, more practical, punctual and inviting.From June, young people aged 12 ...