All Railway Gazette International articles in April 2005 – Page 2

  • News

    Passenger projects gain momentum

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    FOLLOWING the approval last month of bidding conditions by the Ministry of Federal Planning, the Argentinian government was expected to call tenders for a 20-year concession to operate passenger trains between Buenos Aires and Posadas. Trenes Especiales Argentinos has been operating the route since November 2003.NCA was due to provide ...

  • News

    Finance

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    China: In a pilot private financing scheme, 60% of the 775m yuan cost of a 45 km line expected to open in 2006 is to come from bank loans. A 32·5% stake in the Quzhou Changshan Railway Co will be owned by the private Changshan Cement Co, with the Ministry ...

  • News

    Perpignan - Figueres funding signed

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    ONMARCH 16 AFITF President Gérard Longuet signed the French transport infrastructure funding agency’s first payment, a sum of €30·1m forming the third tranche of support from the French government for the 44·5 km new line between Perpignan and Figueres in Spain.Public bodies at European and national level are providing a ...

  • News

    Faults with freight

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Sir - New Opera (RG 3.05 p115) is a travesty. The EC is paying the European rail freight industry for things it should be recognising and doing itself. For too long rail has taken a ’take it or leave it’ position, despite the rising capabilities of the road sector. Operations ...

  • News

    Midway and O’Hare expresses planned

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    CHICAGO Transit Authority invited proposals on February 16 for consultants to assist with developing dedicated Airport Express services which would use existing metro lines to link the city centre with the region’s two principal airports. Bids were due by March 11. CTA envisages the construction of a dedicated in-town Airport ...

  • News

    Miami expansion package takes shape

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    MIAMI-DADE Transit Authority has appointed a prime consultant to assist with development of the long-planned east-west metro route. HNTB Corp will help with engineering design and undertake initial environmental impact studies.Construction of the 27·4 km line forms part of a multi-million dollar expansion programme approved by local voters in November ...

  • News

    Tehran expands

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    IRANIAN President President Mohammad Khatami formally inaugurated a further section of Tehran suburban Line 5 on March 15. The 35 km line from Sadeghieh to Karaj has been extended 9 km to Golshahr, with one intermediate station at Mahdasht. In the next few years Line 5 will be extended further ...

  • News

    European procurement turns professional

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: Analysis of purchasing policies and benchmarking are helping to improve the procurement strategy of European rail operators and infrastructure companiesPHILIP van Beek, Head of Purchasing at Netherlands Railways, has a clear objective in his other role as Chairman of the European Railways Purchasing Conference. Simply put, it is to ...

  • News

    Tracks and trains on TGV Est

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Sir - Nabla fastenings will not be used on TGV Est (RG 3.04 p147). Since the end of 2003 RFF’s policy has been to use the Pandrol Fastclip as its standard fastening for both new lines and renewals. The high capacity tracklaying trains have been modified to lay Fastclips.Nabla is ...

  • News

    Stuck down in the underground

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    FAST curing and fire retardance are offered by the Tredfast 4004 two-part epoxy adhesive which is being used to hold down floor coverings at London Underground stations. The adhesive will bond to metal, wood and concrete substrates with an initial hardening time of 4 h, making it suitable for rapid ...

  • News

    DMU heads north

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    NAMIBIAN President Sam Nujoma and around 600 high-level guests participated in a ceremony on March 12 to inaugurate Oshivelo station on the N$90m northern extension from Tsumeb to Oshikango. The naming ceremony for Dr Sam Njoma station reflected rapid progress with tracklaying. The Namibia Rail Contractors joint venture has been ...

  • News

    Reorganised divisions

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    WESTINGHOUSE Rail Systems Ltd has been restructured to reflect ’the quite different needs of main line and mass transit customers’, who will now be served by distinct commercial divisions.The two customer-facing profit centres will be supported by resources operating across both, including research and development. An export team has been ...

  • News

    Dining in style

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    AUSTRIAN Federal Railways has returned to traffic the first four of 45 dining cars which are being refurbished at a cost of €100000 per vehicle by ÖBB Technische Services GmbH in Simmering.Refurbishment was required because ’the majority of our dining cars no longer corresponded with the wishes of our customers ...

  • News

    Driving from the desktop

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    DEMAND for visual and interactive ways of teaching railway rulebooks is being met by FAAC with its Simulation-Based Training package. SBT bridges the gap between traditional video-aided classroom teaching and realistic but expensive full-size cab simulators.SBT is intended for use in initial, refresher and remedial driver training and assessment, and ...

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    News

    Darwin traffic takes a hit

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    THERE were further developments at the end of February affecting the Adelaide - Alice Springs - Darwin route in Australia. Northline, Freightlink's second-biggest customer, decided to withdraw some of its business and tender to have it carried by road again. Freightlink Chief Executive John Fullerton put a brave face on ...

  • News

    Darling starts Trent Valley quadrupling

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    UK TRANSPORT Secretary Alistair Darling participated in a ceremony at Lichfield on February 22 to mark the start of work to quadruple a 19·3 km section of the West Coast Main Line between Tamworth and Armitage.Network Rail has set up a dedicated team to manage the two-year project, now costed ...

  • News

    Hipertrack cuts noise and vibration

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    TRIALS have been taking place near Foggia in Italy with two types of ballastless track that suggest it may be possible to dispense with special noise mitigation and vibration reduction measures. Part of the High Performance Rail Track research project, the tests were carried out under the Strategic Rail Research ...

  • News

    Flowing with the currents

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Adequate insulation between tram rails and the buried stray current mat on the Nottingham Express Transit tramway was confirmed using a fault finding technique developed by Radiodetection and Carillion.A Radiodection PCM transmitter was used to inject a 4Hz electrical signal into the rail under test, with a magnet used to ...

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    News

    MoU puts ERTMS on course for delivery

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in Brussels on March 17 paves the way for rapid deployment of ETCS on priority corridors across Europe

  • News

    Signalling contracts

    2005-04-01T10:00:00Z

    ITALIAN infrastructure manager RFI has awarded two contracts totalling €180m to Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviaro for resignalling work on the national network.The larger contract, valued at €136m, covers the installation of SCMT automatic train protection and supervision equipment on routes in the Genova, Milano, Verona and Napoli regions. ASF will supply ...