All Railway Gazette International articles in April 2002
All articles published this month.
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News
Shinkansen network tops 2000 km
INTRO: December this year sees the opening of the Morioka - Hachinohe extension of the Tohoku Shinkansen, taking the length of Japan’s high speed network to 2047 km. The first part of the Kyushu Shinkansen will open next year, and work is proceeding on two other extensions BYLINE: Hiroshi KanazawaDirector, ...
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Westbahn upgrading adds capacity to priority transit corridor
INTRO: Austrian Federal Railways’ 317 km Westbahn between Wien and Salzburg is being modernised to handle growing transit traffic as the European Union prepares for expansionBYLINE: Dipl-Ing Helmut Hainitz and Dipl-Ing Rudolf Koller*AUSTRIA’S location at the heart of Europe obliges it to handle heavy flows of transit traffic, both north-south ...
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Advanced Commuter Train pioneers changes on Tokyo’s suburban network
INTRO: Testing of East Japan Railway’s prototype Advanced Commuter Train is now in hand. Breaking with several conventions, the articulated EMU makes extensive use of on-board information technology to reduce operating costs and increase reliabilityBYLINE: Takashi EndoDirector, Advanced Railway System Development CentreEast Japan Railway CoJR EAST operates 17 suburban routes ...
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News
Rebodied EMUs take over South African commuter routes
INTRO: Unable to afford new trainsets, South African Rail Commuter Corp is fitting new bodies to old EMU underframes. Rollo Dickson has the storySTRIKINGLY refurbished rolling stock is appearing in Johannesburg and Cape Town, where the electric multiple-units that work South Africa Rail Commuter Corp’s suburban services are typically 30 ...
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News
Service pattern not yet agreed
PLANS are being finalised for the domestic and international inter-city services which will use HSL-Zuid, but Managing Director of the NS-KLM High Speed Alliance Nol D
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Schwechat Express go ahead
AUSTRIAN Federal Railways has reached agreement with the operators of Wien Schwechat international airport to launch a dedicated rail service. This paves the way for the long-planned renovation of Wien Mitte station, which is due to be completed by the end of 2003. A new City Air Terminal will ...
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News
Tunnel freight all but stopped
ON MARCH 8, SNCF informed neighbouring railway administrations in Belgium, Italy and Spain that it would not accept any freight bound for Britain until a backlog of 17 trains in transit through France had been worked through the Channel Tunnel. While a few subsequently made it to the other side, ...
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News
Alstom boosts confidence
ON MARCH 14 Alstom announced details of its ’Restore Value’ plan to investors and analysts. Aimed at strengthening the balance sheet and generating cash, the plan prompted an immediate rise of 7·5% in the share price quoted in Paris.’Key challenges’ facing Alstom include high gearing following internally-funded acquisitions, insufficient cash ...
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Poles no longer apart
BOMBARDIER Transportation has reached agreement with Polish State Railways over the purchase of high-performance EU11 electric locomotives, originally ordered from Adtranz on December 23 1996. The contract was for 50, of which eight were to have been dual-voltage units able to accept 15 kV 162/3Hz as well as PKP’s 3 ...
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AustralAsia link making rapid progress
Tracklaying begins this month on the A$1·3bn Alice Springs - Darwin line. Opening in 2004, the Darwin extension of the existing line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs will realise a plan first put forward in 1858 and which has been a federal commitment since 1911BYLINE: Franco MorettiChief Executive Officer,Asia Pacific ...
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Bolt from the green
MARCH 15 saw the opening of a 375m light rail line in Los Angeles, linking the Farmers Market tourist complex and a new outdoor retail and entertainment centre dubbed The Grove. The 'environmentally-friendly transit system' is worked by a double-deck, open-top tram carrying up to 62 passengers at a top ...
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Products in Brief
Alstom Ferroviaria has ordered 78 SAFT Matrics MRX compact rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries (RG 3.02 p151) for use on Cityway trams that it is supplying to Torino.Laniel Canada has supplied its model LC-12017 change machines fitted with CashCode ST banknote validators for use at stations on the Shanghai Metro network.Cattron-Theimeg has ...
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Industry News in Brief
Balfour Beatty plc has announced pre-tax profits before exceptional items and prior to the amortisation of goodwill for the 12 months to December 31 of £103m. Annual worldwide rail sales are expected to approach £800m in 2002.The IER subsidiary of French group Bolloré, has become the main shareholder of Belgian ...
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News
Passenger News in Brief
German Railway has begun a programme to refurbish 1305 Eurocity and Intercity coaches (RG 3.01 p141). DB’s workshops at Neumünster, Delitzsch and Wittenberge will share the work with PFA Weiden, Mittenwalder Gerätebau and Vossloh, which will supply electronic seat reservation systems.Eurostar is to run a London - Avignon service on ...
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Security in Brief
The South African cabinet has approved the creation of a dedicated special police unit covering rail, sea, air and taxi facilities.London Underground and British Transport Police have awarded Tyco a contract to install 550 CCTV cameras in 58 station car parks. The cameras will be linked to control centres at ...
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News
RATP buys broadband net
PARIS Transport Authority is upgrading its video surveillance system to reduce operating costs and enhance security. RATP has selected Marconi to build a €14m multi-service broadband network for video surveillance, voice communications and advanced data services. Able to integrate with legacy technology, the packet-based system will support up to 6000 ...
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Tram cameras
HALLE tram operator HAVAG began a six-month trial of on-board video cameras in January, aiming to prevent vandalism and assaults. Date and time- stamped images from four cameras are stored for 48 h before being automatically overwritten. If any criminal activity is detected, the pictures are saved for submission to ...
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Capacity crunch on TGV Sud-Est
FRENCH National Railways is considering options to expand capacity on its pioneering high speed line between Paris and Lyon. Development Director Michel Leboeuf told delegates that since the Paris - Sud-Est line opened in 1981, the ’awesome’ effort of developing over 1000 km of high speed line had boosted ...
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French delays compensated
TWO sections of 25 kV overhead line on SNCF’s Paris - Lyon high speed line were damaged on the evening of March 2, a peak day for holiday traffic, leading to long delays for many TGV services. Operations to rescue passengers in two stranded TGVs were put in hand, but ...