All Railway Gazette International articles in April 2006

All articles published this month.

  • News

    FasTracks route by route

    2006-04-01T10:30:00Z

    West Corridor ($508·2m) This will be the first of the new projects to start. Final design is now underway, and construction will start in 2009 for opening at the end of 2013. The 19·5 km light rail line will link Auraria West station in Denver with Lakewood and the Jefferson ...

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    News

    FasTracks will drive smart growth

    2006-04-01T10:23:00Z

    Colorado's mile-high city has embarked on an ambitious 12-year programme of rail expansion which will shape economic development over the next 30 years. RTD General Manager Cal Marsella explains to Chris Jackson why a fiercely Republican community bought into spending $4·7bn on public transport

  • News

    Underneath Taiwan

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    TAIWAN High Speed Rail Corp has ordered eight ride-on underframe inspection vehicles (RG 3.05 p160) for use in the maintenance of its Series 700T trainsets.Powered by 24V batteries, the trolleys will run on tracks within THSRC’s 320m long inspection pits. They will be equipped with lights, tool storage and a ...

  • News

    Snow service

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    WELL, it turns out that we were wrong about the Winter Olympics train service from Milano Malpensa Airport to Torino. We said last month (RG 3.06 p109) that passengers were obliged to resort to buses for the trip between Malpensa and the high speed line at Novara. Not so.Here is ...

  • News

    Renfe restructures

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    THE BOARD of Spanish national operator Renfe has approved a new management structure that will see six business units replaced by four areas broken down into 26 smaller units. Responsible for commercial passenger services, the High-Speed/Long-Distance Area is divided into five geographical business units, whilst the Suburban & Medium-Distance Area ...

  • News

    U-Bahn renewal

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    A MAJOR renewal of the U-Bahn fleet in Frankfurt-am-Main was announced on March 15. Mayor Petra Roth said the city was investing in the future.VGF has ordered 146 Flexity Swift high-floor LRVs from Bombardier for €300m, with options for 24 more. Due for delivery between 2008 and 2015, the Series ...

  • News

    Pointers

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    AFE has appointed Andean Development Corp to assist with structuring the tender process that will see a public-private partnership established to upgrade the national network in Uruguay (RG 12.05 p750). Minister of Transport & Public Works Victor Rossi has said that at least US$35m will be required for rolling stock ...

  • News

    Tilting to St Petersburg

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    TRIALS with a Finnish Pendolino trainset between Helsinki and St Petersburg are planned in the near future.In a Letter of Intent signed on March 14, Executive Director of VR Group Tapio Simosom and Vice-President of Russian Railways Mikhail Akulov agreed to establish a joint venture to buy and operate high ...

  • News

    Metros

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Australia: The New South Wales government has dropped plans to replace rail services along the Newcastle waterfront with buses, and now plans to investigate options for introducing diesel tram-trains.Brazil: In February CPTM exercised an option with an Alstom-led consortium for 48 Metropolis cars, under a contract dating from 1994. They ...

  • News

    Market

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Angola: This year China Northern is to supply a further two 1500 kW diesel-electric locos with a top speed of 90 km/h.Asia: Ansaldo Signal subsidiary CSEE Transport has placed an order with Faiveley Transport for 350 odometer and tachometer units to be installed on Alstom and Kawasaki trainsets under China’s ...

  • News

    Maintenance

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    CAPTION: Tianjin Metro is using three-car train lifting jacks supplied by Windhoff and CNR Sifang Rolling Stock Research Institute. The steel structure was built locally, using components and controls produced in Germany

  • News

    Kolkata stations

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    INDIA’S Eastern Railway began transferring some long-distance services from Howrah and Sealdah to a new Kolkata station on February 20. Designed to relieve pressure on the existing stations, the Rs900m Kolkata terminal is sited on a former freight yard at Chitpore where the foundation stone was laid on May 15 ...

  • News

    Second Indo-Pakistan link open

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    CROSS-BORDER services between Khokhropar in Pakistan and Munabao in India were revived following the departure of the first Thar Express from Karachi at 11.00 on February 17. Railways Minister Shamim Haider and the Governor of Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan were among official guests who attended a ceremony to mark ...

  • News

    Holiday with Homaridae

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    BETWEEN May and October VIA Rail offers a Maritime Learning Experience on its Montréal to Halifax eastern trans-continental trains. Launched last summer, this aims to 'immerse travellers in the culture of the region and celebrate its historical richness'. On-board staff have been schooled in local history, the region's ...

  • News

    Reflections help see underground

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    RADAR reflective strips are laminated into the Terram PW5 geotextile, enabling ground-penetrating radar to be used to confirm that the correct depth of ballast is present after a track renewal project. The non-woven material was developed by Terram in collaboration with Network Rail, and after tests in the UK it ...

  • News

    The Hejaz Railway

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    Book review

  • News

    Sarmiento goes underground

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    ON FEBRUARY 21 Argentina’s President Néstor Kirchner launched the tendering process for a US$300m project to build a 7·1 km four-track tunnel between Caballito and Villa Luro in Buenos Aires. Part of a level crossing elimination project on the 37 km Sarmiento commuter route between Once and Moreno, it is ...

  • News

    Locos to fit in a tight spot

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    FOUR custom-designed battery locos have been built by Clayton Equipment for use by London Underground PPP contractor Metronet in a five-month modernisation programme for the Waterloo & City Line which begins this month (p178). Designed to suit the restricted loading gauge, sharp curves and steep gradients of the 2·37 ...

  • News

    Tight fit on the traverser

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    THEARRIVAL of the five-section Cobra low-floor LRVs, which are 36m long, and the extension of 23 Tram 2000 cars to 28 m with the addition of a low-floor centre section, posed a problem for Zürich tram operator VBZ. The overhaul bays at the main workshop are laid out on either ...

  • News

    Leoliner firm sold

    2006-04-01T10:00:00Z

    LEIPZIG Transport authority has sold a 51% stake in its Leoliner Fahrzeug-Bau Leipzig subsidiary to crane builder Kirow Leipzig for an undisclosed price. An additional 25% stake will be transferred in July 2008 under the terms of the agreement which was announced on January 25, and this will be followed ...