All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1402
-
News
Ferrovías offers Atlantic concession
ON JANUARY 16 Colombia’s railway authority Ferrovías launched a competition for a 30-year concession to rehabilitate, maintain and operate freight services over its Atlantic network; bidding is due to close on July 16.The concession covers 1284 active route-km of 914mm gauge, formed by the Chiriguana - Dorada - Bogota - ...
-
News
Central Asian upgradings funded
A CONSORTIUM of three Japanese suppliers has won a contract to assist with the upgrading of Kazakstan’s railway network. Choi Co, Kawasaki Steel Corp and Kawasho Corp will modernise KR’s telecommunications and reconstruct 350route-km of main line over the next four years. The aim is to boost capacity for the ...
-
News
Amtrak tries DMUs
PENNSYLVANIA’s Department of Transportation has been authorised to buy a fleet of diesel multiple-units for the 176 km ’Keystone Corridor’ from Philadelphia to Harrisburg. Governor Tom Ridge has approved a package combining $18·7m of federal and $4·7m of state funding.Costed at $1·5m per vehicle, the two or four car sets ...
-
News
Amtrak signs Illinois contract
AN AGREEMENT securing Amtrak’s continued operation of three Chicago ’corridor’ services was announced on January 14. Illinois Department of Transportation had been threatening to invite open tenders for the State House to St Louis, Illini to Carbondale and Illinois Zephyr to Quincy, in an effort to lower the state’s subsidy ...
-
News
Alerted in a flash
passengers can be warned of the imminent closure of automatic coach doors on Zürich’s S-Bahn thanks to warning flashers developed by Bron Elektronik AG. A flash energy of 8 J at 1 Hz was found to achieve the desired effect of getting passengers to keep clear of the doors, whilst ...
-
News
Chinese sign research agreements
CHINA ACADEMY of Railway Sciences signed a co-operation agreement with Japan’s Railway Technical Research Institute on January 28 covering the joint development of automatic train control for a possible Chinese high-speed line. The ´150m project to equip the CARS test track near Beijing with ’digital ATC’ by August will be ...
-
News
Abando rebuild out to tender
PLANS for the long-awaited rebuilding of Bilbao’s main station, Abando, are close to being finalised. Tendering for the Pts41bn project is now in hand, and construction is expected to start towards the end of this year on the railway stations, bus station and car parks. The privately financed commercial areas ...
-
News
SJ torpedoed by 60 tonne trucks
DRASTIC CUTS in passenger services are scheduled by Swedish State Railways for June 1, following losses in 1996 that could reach SKr1bn. Among many overnight sleepers to be abandoned are Stockholm to G
-
News
JR West sets 2hr Osaka - Hakata target
INTRO: Series 500 trains are poised to cut journey times on the Sanyo Shinkansen, but JR West’s long-term plans envisage high performance trains to replace Kodama services, and ultra-high-speed trainsBYLINE: Masataka IdePresident, West Japan Railway CoTHIS YEAR marks the 25th anniversary of the 161 km Sanyo Shinkansen which opened in ...
-
News
Sidetrack
Swiss precisionThieves with perfect timing held up a Swiss Federal Railways service on December 11, making off with 26 mailbags. They appear to have used similar tactics to those employed in Britain’s Great Train Robbery of 1963. At 22.30 two masked men ordered the driver of Train 744, a St ...
-
News
Tilburg Wadloper refurbishment
Netherlands Railways is to refurbish its ’Wadloper’ diesel multiple-units for 12m guilders under a programme scheduled for completion by the end of this year. NS says the investment demonstrates its commitment to local services in the Groningen/Leeuwarden area.The DMUs will undergo mid-life internal treatment including the replacement of bench seating ...
-
News
Publications
Deutsche Bahn UmweltberichtFor the first time DB has produced a brochure covering its environmental policy and data. Illustrated with colour photographs and graphics, it covers everything from power stations to WC effluents. Useful graphs indicate, among others, DB’s energy consumption and how it compares (very favourably) with road and air. ...
-
News
People
Mr Emmanuel Hau has been named Director of Finance & Economics for French National Railways. He replaces Mr Jean-Pierre Leclerc who has become President of Groupe CTT Sceta.Mr Hau studied at the Ecole National d’Administration and joined Electricité de France in 1977. He became Director of Finance & Legal Affairs ...
-
News
US operators under pressure on safety
FALLOUT continues from the spate of spectacular train wrecks early in 1996 (RG 4.96 p177) which marred a generally excellent safety record in the USA. In a hearing on December 11, the National Transportation Safety Board spread blame widely for the February 1 1996 runaway down Cajon Pass, California. Investigators ...
-
News
News Pointers
n Shortlisting of qualified bidders for the Taipei - Kaohsiung high speed line in Taiwan could be announced this month following close of tenders on January 15. The winner should be announced in November.n South Korea’s Ministry of Transport & Construction is planning to proceed with a 66 km high ...
-
News
Metros
China: Shanghai metro Line 1’s extension from Jinjiangleyuan to Xinzhuang opened on December 28. In conjunction with Monotraction Pty Ltd of Australia, a 13 km feeder costing US$300m is proposed from Xinzhuang to Shanghai’s Minhang suburb by 1998.Germany: Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund has identified a Frankfurt outer ring route for development as ...
-
News
Market
Australia: BHP Iron Ore has ordered a wagon dumper from Strachan & Henshaw valued at A$7m for its Port Hedland terminal.Bulgaria: A US$23·8m contract to refurbish 50 BDZ passenger coaches has been awarded to Adtranz and MAV DVJ Kft of Hungary.Czech Republic: Vodni Stavby AS has won a Kcs969m contract ...
-
News
Intelligence
CAPTION: CPTM is taking delivery of 11 Series 101 EMUs being refurbished by Mafersa at a total cost of US$29m. The three-car units were originally manufactured for São Paulo suburban routes by Budd of the USA in the 1950sPhoto: E PiresCAPTION: GEC Alsthom’s Aytré factory is due to roll out ...
-
News
Intelligence
CAPTION: Amtrak has begun revenue operation of RoadRailer bimodal vehicles designed to run at 160 km/h. Attached to passenger trains, the RoadRailers carry US Mail trafficCAPTION: London Transport Chairman Peter Ford, Jubilee Line Extension Project Director Hugh Doherty and Minister for Transport in London John Bowis (right) rode one of ...