All Railway Gazette International articles in April 2008 – Page 4
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NewsTibet cruise train financed
CHINA: HSH Nordbank has completed a deal with RailPartners to finance the Tangula luxury trains which will run from Beijing to Yunnan and Lhasa from September (RG 8.07 p492). The bank is providing US$30m of the US$95m project financing, with RailPartners shareholders including TZG Holdings of Shanghai and Hong Kong ...
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Twin Cities project gets local backing
USA: A coalition of local elected officials has agreed to support the Central Corridor light rail project connecting the centres of Minneapolis and St Paul, although the $909m plan will still require federal funding. The 17·7 km line would serve 20 stations from a MultiModal Terminal in Minneapolis, running via ...
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Regulation tops the freight agenda
Delegates attending the freight day at EuroRail 2008 focused on the regulatory and capacity issues facing the sector as it works to realise the EU's vision of an open, liberalised and inter-operable market.
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NewsThrough ticketing is the missing element
Jean-Marc Charoud, Director for Network Development at French infrastructure company RFF, told EuroRail 2008 delegates on February 26 that trains 'will completely kill air traffic between Paris and Bordeaux' once the LGV Sud-Atlantique project is completed. This prediction is undoubtedly correct, but it is worth recalling that timings of around ...
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NewsHigh speed operators spread their wings
Europe's well-established high speed sector is broadening its horizons to improve access to its services. Speakers at Terrapinn's EuroRail 2008 conference in Milano explained how high speed rail can benefit from improved integration both on the ground and in the air
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Mthatha line re-opens
SOUTH AFRICA: Speaking at the departure on March 1 of the first passenger train in 20 years to use the line, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said about R133m had been spent on reinstating the 281 km branch to Mthatha from Amabele on the East London - Johannesburg main line. The ...
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NewsFreight operator announces London IPO
RUSSIA: Private freight operator Globaltrans Investment announced on April 4 that it is planning to launch an initial public offering and listing on the London Stock Exchange. The offering represents around 30% of its outstanding shares and will take place by the end of the first half of this year. ...
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NewsCullen reveals buy-back bid
NEW ZEALAND: It looks as if private ownership of the country's railways may be drawing to a close, 15 years after Tranz Rail was sold outright to an international consortium led by Wisconsin Central, Fay Richwhite and Berkshire Partners. The railway has had a rocky ride. WC's charismatic and expansionist ...
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InterCity fleet renewal poised to start
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn will call tenders later this year for 100 to 130 trainsets to replace its fleet of loco-hauled EuroCity and InterCity trains. Likely to be fixed-formation eight-car sets, they will be built to match the standards of DB's ICE fleet. In the meantime DB is evaluating offers for ...
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San Diego Sprinter opens at last
USA: Packed trains marked the first day of revenue service on the $486m 35 km Sprinter line which connects Oceanside with Escondido in California's San Diego County. Two earlier start dates had been missed because of problems with signals and level crossings. The California Public Utilities Commission issued a letter ...
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Leasing firm enters wagon market
ANGEL TRAINS: Loco and passenger rolling stock leasing company Angel Trains has established a wagon leasing business offering a number of specific vehicle types to European operators. Its first wagon lease was signed with German freight forwarder TX Logistik, which leases seven Class 185 locos from Angel Trains. Slovakian rolling ...
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First Great Western admits franchise breach
UK: Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly announced on February 26 that the government was taking action to deal with 'unacceptably high' levels of train cancellations at First Great Western, issuing the operator with a Remedial Plan Notice. Cancellations during the second half of 2007 exceeded the threshhold marking a breach of ...
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Freight ring to relieve metro
RUSSIA: Meeting on March 14, the board of Russian Railways formally adopted a master plan for converting the circular freight railway that runs round the city for use by local passenger trains. The 54 km line is to be electrified throughout, and 30 new stations built by 2011. Under an ...
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Genève to get S-Bahn
SWITZERLAND: Transferis has been established as a joint venture of SBB and SNCF to manage the launch of intensive cross-border suburban services for the Genève region from 2013. SNCF CEO Guillaume Pepy joined Paul Blumenthal, Head of Passenger Traffic at Swiss Federal Railways, at a ceremony to mark the inauguration ...
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'Reduce the flexibility of ERTMS'
Speaking at Terrapinn's EuroRail 2008 event in Milano on February 27, Swiss Federal Railways' Head of Train Protection Dr Thomas Staffelbach called for Europe's railways to recognise that less flexibility in the design of ERTMS would be for their own benefit
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NewsLänsimetro contribution
FINLAND: The cabinet voted on March 11 to provide €200m towards the total €713m cost of extending the metro westwards into the neighbouring city of Espoo. In the wake of the decision, planning tenders are expected to be received this month, with construction likely to start in 2009 and the ...
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Freight support boost
AUSTRALIA: Following the announcement that Pacific National was looking to discontinue many rural freight services (RG 2.08 p76), the state of Victoria has taken steps to safeguard rail freight for the next two years. On February 26 Premier John Brumby announced an A$20m Rail Freight Support Package, designed to ensure ...
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Logistics venture formed
RUSSIA: Regular intermodal services are to be introduced to link Moscow with various German cities, following the formal launch of the Trans-Eurasia Logistics joint venture on March 6. A memorandum of understanding had been signed in July 2007, and the project has now been approved by the competition authorities. To ...
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Tram-train trials
UK: Five tram-trains are to be procured for trials in northern England, the Department for Transport confirmed on March 18. The two-year test starting in 2010 will 'establish whether tram-trains similar to those operating successfully in Europe are suitable for Britain's railway network.' Tram-trains will replace DMUs on the 60 ...