All Railway Gazette International articles in April 2001 – Page 3

  • News

    RET to build three tram lines

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    TENDERS are to be called shortly for the construction of three ’high-quality’ light rail lines in Rotterdam, following the allocation of more than 400m guilders for the scheme by the Netherlands transport ministry. Local operator RET says the grant is not enough to cover all three routes, but the success ...

  • News

    Passenger News in Brief

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Netherlands Railway is to modernise 60 Sprinter EMUs used on stopping services between the Randstad conurbations. The 20-year old vehicles will gain new interiors, more spacious seating, more accommodation for wheelchairs, bicycles and pushchairs and a passenger information system. Partitions will be replaced with glass screens, and electrical equipment will ...

  • News

    Products in Brief

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Trelleborg Industrial AVS is supplying rubber chevron springs for the refurbishment of 51 São Paulo metro Line 1 vehicles and 58 Line 3 vehicles. The laminated rubber/metal assemblies are fitted between the axles and the bogie frames.Corus and Pandrol have incorporated Pandrol’s Fastclip rail fastenings into Corus steel sleepers. Fastclip ...

  • News

    Industry News in Brief

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Australia: Fare collection equipment supplier ERG Group is to acquire Motorola’s interest in the ERG Motorola Alliance for A$46m, subject to approval by ERG’s shareholders. ERG will assume responsibility for all existing projects, and the companies will continue to co-operate to support current Alliance customers.The Downer Group is to take ...

  • News

    Skoda breaks into the urban market

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: Better known as a supplier of electric locomotives to the former Comecon bloc, Czech builder Skoda Plzen has established a second product line in urban rail vehicles. Milan Sramek reports on two significant orders completed in MarchON FEBRUARY 20 Skoda Transportation Systems completed the first low-floor trams for the ...

  • News

    Bodewig takes the separation plunge

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    JUST HOW much the hugely-trumpeted reform of German Railway has fallen short of its objectives is now becoming painfully clear. Part of the trade-off for restructuring was government promises to invest in modernisation to make the 37525 km network more competitive. This continued a long tradition whereby transport ministers responded ...

  • News

    High-speed flywheels cut energy bill

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Chris Jackson reports on trials of a lightweight flywheel energy storage unit being conducted on London Underground's Piccadilly line

  • News

    Betuwe Route designed to relieve long-term freight congestion

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: Despite vocal opposition, construction is getting under way on a billion guilder 160 km freight railway between Rotterdam Maasvlakte and the German border. The electrified line is expected to boost rail’s share of the steadily-increasing flow of freight to and from the port of RotterdamBYLINE: Leendert BouterDirectorProjectorganisatie Betuweroute BY ...

  • News

    Beijing metro deal signed

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    CANADIAN engineering group SNC-Lavalin signed a letter of intent with three Chinese firms in February, paving the way for construction of another metro line in Beijing. Costed at 12bn yuan, the 15 km north-south Line 5 is due to be completed by 2006, and will serve the Olympic Village proposed ...

  • News

    Votes beat reform

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    KEEPING the voters sweet appears to have been the maxim used by Railway Minister Mamata Banajee in drawing up Indian Railways’ budget for 2001-02. With elections due in her home state of West Bengal this month, populist measures announced in the budget on February 26 outweighed any attempt to deal ...

  • News

    Driverless trains hit legal barrier

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Sir - You reported last year (RG 12.00 p798) that the Federal Railway Office had signalled the end of its reservations against driverless operation in Germany. EBA section chief Hans Heinrich Grauf had explained to a seminar of the Deutsche Verkehrsforum that the office no longer saw any legal restrictions.This ...

  • News

    Balfour Beatty expands in US

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    ON FEBRUARY 26 Balfour Beatty announced the acquisition of the Rail Systems Division of US industrial group ABC-NACO for a total of US$21·5m. The railway signalling, control and communication services business will be renamed Balfour Beatty Rail Systems Inc. Operating across the USA, but focusing on the northeast, southeast and ...

  • News

    Putin backs Trans-Korean link

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    VISITING South Korea on February 27 and 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed proposals to connect the country’s rail network to the Trans-Siberian corridor, describing the idea as ’a very good project’. He told business leaders in Seoul that Russia would be prepared to invest ’several hundred million dollars’ to ...

  • News

    International link back

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    SYRIAN Transport Minister Makram Obeid joined celebrations in Aleppo on March 10 to inaugurate a through passenger service between the city and the Iranian capital Tehran. Reinstatement of the international service was announced last year following Syria’s decision to reopen its borders with Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.From Aleppo the train ...

  • News

    Vietnam metro approved

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    THE PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE in Ho Chi Minh City has approved a master plan for development of an urban rail network. The Vietnamese Transport Ministry hopes to commission feasibility studies for the first routes by the end of this year, with the aim of starting construction by 2005. Three urban metro ...

  • News

    Amtrak unveils California dream

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    A 20-YEAR programme to upgrade many of California’s passenger routes was launched by Amtrak on March 6. Other partners in the $10·1bn scheme are California DOT, Metrolink, Caltrain and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The aim is to increase patronage from 3 to 12 million passengers a year by 2020.California Governor ...

  • News

    Rail Estonia dumped amid controversy

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    PRIVATISATION of Eesti Raudtee, the largest component of Estonia’s state-owned railway responsible for freight and main line infrastructure, suffered a major setback on February 28 when Rail Estonia lost its status as preferred bidder. RE failed to convince the privatisation agency EPA that it had a strategic investor on board ...

  • News

    Alsop puts the station at the heart of Rotterdam

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: This month Alsop Architects is due to present its master plan for the redevelopment of a 20ha site around Rotterdam Centraal station. Incorporating the city’s gateway to the European high speed network, a major transport interchange has been designed to extend its presence into the urban fabricThe arrival of ...

  • News

    Sir Alastair sets out his DBFT stall

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    IT HAS BEEN a long time coming, but the Chairman of Britain’s Strategic Rail Authority, Sir Alastair Morton, finally published A Strategic Agenda on March 13. True, a tortured industry slowly recovering from unprecedented disruption after last October’s Hatfield derailment must wait six months or more before a strategic plan ...

  • News

    Wires added to Russian network

    2001-04-01T10:00:00Z

    FURTHER sections of the Russian Railways network are being electrified under a Master Programme to convert more main lines. From mid-January electric locomotives replaced diesels on the 105 km Obozyorst - Vonduga section of the Northern Railway’s Vologda - Belomorsk main line. Wiring is now in hand over the 120 ...