All Railway Gazette International articles in April 1998
All articles published this month.
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News
Via at the Styx
’CAN we close the gap between revenue and costs any more? The answer is no.’ Addressing the Standing Committee on Transport on February 26, Via Rail Canada President & CEO Terry Ivany told Canada’s MPs that by the end of this year Via will have reduced its reliance on government ...
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News
Training strategy
CONTINUING optimism about the future of rail in Britain has prompted concern that engineering expertise could be lacking in years to come. Launching a consultation paper on February 25, the Chairman of the Railway Division of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Peter Lowe said that it was important ’to ...
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News
Talgo speed-up
THE FEDERAL Railroad Administration and BNSF have given Amtrak West permission to raise the speed of its Talgo tilting trains through curves on the Seattle - Portland portion of the 750 km Pacific Northwest corridor. The move will cut journey times by up to 25 min, permitting introduction of a ...
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News
SIDETRACK
Going undergroundVisitors to Moscow have always been impressed by the Metro. Glass chandeliers hanging from cavernous painted ceilings, and walls and floors surfaced in polished marble and granite gave a feeling of extraordinary grandeur - dare one say, like the interior of a royal palace. But times have most definitely ...
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Sizarail seizure settled
THE GOVERNMENT of the Democratic Republic of Congo has started paying off a debt of R136m owed to South African operator Spoornet following renationalisation of the railways in the former Zaire. The aim is to restore relations damaged last year when Laurent Kabila’s regime seized the railway and rolling stock, ...
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News
Road and rail to the rescue
NS Safety Services has developed a modular rescue train mounted on a crane-equipped Volvo truck, with the aim of getting hydraulic jacks, cutters and other equipment to accident sites within 15min of being called out. The truck carries three 2·5 tonne units which are lowered onto the track at a ...
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News
PUBLICATIONS
Maghreb Rail (map)This detailed 70x100 cm colour relief map covers at 1:2350000 scale Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya - a region whose railway geography is unfamiliar to many. Colour coding and hatching is used effectively to distinguish four different gauges, single and double track, electrification, closed and projected lines. Also ...
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News
Porto regauging
PORTUGUESE infrastructure authority Refer began work on February 16 to regauge and electrify the metre-gauge branch from Lousado to Guimarães, part of the 62 km route from Porto Trinidade to Guimarães. Between Trofa and Lousado trains shared a 2 km dual-gauge section with the Porto - Valença main line. Through ...
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News
Pointers
n The Gulf Co-operation Council has recommended construction of a US$30bn rail network linking the six partner states which have a combined population of 25 million. United Arab Emirates has launched its own study of the proposals.n The first of Polish State Railways’ Class EU43 dual-system electric locos is expected ...
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Pilgrim shuttles
MANY MOONS have passed since anyone has suggested reviving the Hedjaz Railway, built in 1901-08 from Damascus to the Islamic holy city of Medina in what is now Saudi Arabia. Although sections were famously destroyed by Lawrence of Arabia, substantial parts of the 1050mm gauge line are remarkably intact, and ...
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News
PEOPLE
Rafael Mosura has been appointed General Manager of Philippine National Railways.Polish Minister of Transport & Maritime Economy Eugeniusz Morawski appointed a new PKP Council on February 6. The President is Wojciech Wardacki, with Janusz Kawecki as Vice President. Other members are Zbigniew Boniuszko, Marek Borecki, Waldemar Chyczewski, Stanislaw Kogut, Kazimierz ...
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News
Unions stall NSW tenders
TENDERING of infrastructure maintenance work worth A$500m was halted indefinitely in February by New South Wales Transport Minister Carl Scully, following pressure by the Public Transport Union. SRA’s 6500 staff maintaining infrastructure and some rolling stock were regrouped into the Rail Services Authority in July 1996 (RG 7.96 p418). RailAccess ...
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Mexican sales spur progress
TENDERING for the 50-year concession to operate Mexico’s 1480 km Sureste Railway began on February 18. Connecting Mexico City with the Gulf coast ports of Veracruz and Coatzacoalcos, the line carries almost 9% of the country’s rail freight. The government has set June 11 as the deadline for submitting bids, ...
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Metros
Canada: Toronto Transit Commission has asked the promoters of the AirCanada Centre to help fund expansion of the metro station at Union Station, to handle the anticipated traffic which will be attracted by the new sports arena.China: Hong Kong MTR Corp signed a contract with Siemens on February 18 ...
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Marketplace
China: CSEE Transport of France has been awarded a HK$150m contract to supply a station management system for MTR Corp. CSEE will act as main contractor in association with KM Luk and MITS Ltd.Fujitsu General Ltd of Japan is supplying 120 Plasma Vision panels for MTR Corp’s Airport Railway in ...
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News
LETTERS
BYLINE: Co-built by SkodaSir - You have twice mentioned (RG 11.97 p745 and RBR 98 p33) the new Class 471 double-deck EMU for Czech Railways, but unfortunately on both occasions the information was incomplete. MSV Studenka is not the only manufacturer involved in building these trains. There are two builders, ...
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News
Kazaks move to market model
’KAZAKSTAN RAILWAYS has overcome the crisis’ declared Transport Minister E Kaliyev on January 29. The minister, who is also Director-General of Kazakstan Temir Zhoby (KTZ), was reviewing the railway’s results during the first year following the merger of the ex-Soviet Alma-Ata, Tselinnaya and West Kazakhstan railways at the end of ...
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Spain joins Terff
ON FEBRUARY 27 an agreement was signed to bring Renfe into partnership with the railways of Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Italy to extend the first Trans-European Rail Freight Freeway. The deal was signed by SNCF and RFF, SNCB, CFL, and the FS Infrastructure Directorate. The Terff which opened on January ...