All articles by Railway Gazette International – Page 1403
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News
Intelligence
Austria: Work began on December 10 on the 6·5 km Siegberg tunnel on the 13·6 km Haag - St Valentin cut-off on ÖBB’s Wien - Linz main line.China: CR plans to introduce a Shanghai - Hong Kong express before the British colony reverts to Chinese rule on July 1. The ...
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Industry
Bulgaria: Bulgarian State Railways and VAE are to establish a joint venture to manufacture points at BDZ’s Sofia works, which is to be modernised at a cost of Lev116m.Czech Republic: CKD and Skoda have signed a co-operation agreement covering foreign and domestic markets.Europe: In conjunction with the management and employees ...
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Intelligent use of rail grinding
INTRO: Profiling can prolong rail life, improve ride dynamics and cut maintenance costs if is done carefully; incorrect use of grinding can all too easily have the opposite effects to those intendedBYLINE: Dr Allan M Zarembski PEPresidentZeta-Tech Associates IncMODERN RAIL grinding techniques use carefully applied grinding patterns to profile the ...
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Gardermobanen on track to open next year
INTRO: Rails are going down on 66 km of new line that will put Oslo’s Gardermoen airport within 19min of the city’s central station when it opens on October 4 1998BYLINE: Arne SvensøyNSB Gardermobanen ASAS CIVIL WORKS approach completion on the new railway being constructed between Norway’s capital and the ...
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SNCF starts to renew the first TGV line
INTRO: A ballast renewal and pointwork replacement programme will raise the quality of track on the Paris - Sud-Est line and extend its lifeBYLINE: André Le BihanChief Engineer, Permanent Way Department, French National RailwaysAFTER 15 years of use by trains running at up to 270 km/h, France’s first high speed ...
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Finance
China: The Ministry of Railways has announced plans for a US$422m bond issue to domestic investors including three- and five-year bills. China’s third railway issue would fund completion of the Houma - Yueshan and Nanning - Kunming routes, electrification of the Chengdu - Kunming line and work on the Beijing ...
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Subte expansion proposals
BUENOS AIRES plans to call bids later this year for a 9 km addition to the Subte metro. Expected to cost US$360 to US$450m, Line H would improve connections between the predominantly east-west routes, running under Avenida Jujuy and Avenida Pueyrredón before heading up Avenida Córdoba to the Cid Campeador ...
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EU to fund Portuguese revival
PORTUGAL’s railway network is to be modernised over the next three years at a cost of Esc600bn, according to plans announced on December 23 by Minister of Planning João Cravinho. To be funded by the government and the European Union, the package will build on the separate infrastructure and operating ...
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Economies needed
CANADIAN Pacific President Robert Ritchie announced on December 11 that major cost savings were essential if CP’s new eastern operating subsidiary St Lawrence & Hudson is to stave off the risk of sale or closure. Higher productivity and lower property taxes in Ontario and Québec have been identified as key ...
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West Rail priority is now Hong Kong domestic traffic
Hong Kong’s Executive Council approved a decision on December 10 to build the domestic passenger component of the West Rail scheme (RG 7.96 p418) and submit proposals for new links with China for further study. Under the revised schedule, the new line from West Kowloon to Yuen Long would open ...
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Diesel venture
INDONESIAN President Soharto joined ceremonies at Jakarta to mark completion of the first General Electric diesel locos to be built in Java. Three U20Cs assembled at Madiun (above) by joint venture company PT GE Lokindo were delivered on December 17.The joint venture between GE and Badan Pengelola Industri Strategis is ...
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Turkey develops electrified routes
INTRO: A five-year plan of electrification and resignalling will see over 2000route-km energised by 2001THOUGH economic difficulties have dogged new line construction in Turkey, upgrading existing routes and new rolling stock has received financial backing. Around US$120m a year will be invested, while a restructured management pursues greater productivity (panel).Electrification ...
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Seven slab track designs on test
INTRO: German Railway will pick the design of ballastless track for its 330 km/h K
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Fed-up feds demand end to subway shambles
CONTROVERSY has never been far from the Red line metro in Los Angeles. Tunnel collapses, frequent delays and rows with contractors have all attracted attention. Things went from bad to worse in Decem-ber, and when LA Metropolitan Transit Authority CEO Joseph Drew announced his resignation, it was a sure sign ...
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Shinkansen decisions postponed
Battle has raged since Japan’s general election last October over funding the next round of shinkansen construction, now that the mini-shinkansen from Morioka to Akita is about to open (p72), and work on the Hokuriku line as far as Nagano enters the final year of fitting out and commissioning. Members ...
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Debts of winter
THOUSANDS of passengers were stranded in TGVs and other trains when a freak wave of icy weather paralysed rail services across the south of France last month. One typical story related a nightmare TGV trip from Paris to Nice that took 31h; staff at one stage abandoned the train for ...
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TNT-Toll deal threatens NRC
DECEMBER’S announcement that TNT and Toll Holdings were forming a consortium to exploit Australia’s nascent open access regime by operating freight trains between major cities means that National Rail Corporation could follow Australian National into what amounts to liquidation (RG 1.97 p8). Conceivably, the joint TNT-Toll operation could become so ...
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Spiked copper could halt theft
Spoornet is developing techniques for reducing theft of copper cabling, in particular overhead line equipment on electrified routes. Conventional techniques, such as surveillance equipment and security patrols, were ruled out as prohibitively expensive to protect the 9000route-km electrified network.Instead, OHLE engineers have investigated ways of reducing the scrap value of ...
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Madrid lets contracts
THREE contracts signed on December 20 and 31 brought the length of new metro construction let by the Madrid regional government in 1996 to 31·5 km. A Pts9bn contract to extend Line 1 from Miguel Hern
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Management concessioned
On January 1 a joint venture of SNC-Lavalin and Gesproex Inc took over maintenance and operation of the Deux-Montagnes and Rigaud commuter lines from the Montreal Urban Community Transport Commission. The city’s Agence Métropolitaine de Transport, which oversees the two commuter lines, announced award of a three-year contract to SNC-Gesproex ...