All Railway Gazette International articles in August 1997
All articles published this month.
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News
Sidetrack
Oooh! Aaah! Eurostar?READERS of our regular Passenger Portfolio feature will no doubt be familiar with the continuing efforts of train operators worldwide to keep their business clintele supplied with the creature comforts that they have come to expect. Eurostar (UK) appears to have gone one better than at-seat video or ...
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News
VHST shortlist
NEW SOUTH WALES Premier Bob Carr announced on July 3 that six groups had been shortlisted for the next stage of the planned Sydney - Canberra Very High Speed Train project. They have been given six months to prepare detailed proposals, after which the VHST Project Team will evaluate the ...
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Renfe spreads the risk
IN A BID to introduce new rolling stock without incurring further debt, while opening up the railway to market forces in a controlled manner, Spanish National Railways has decided to form ’train service provision’ ventures with manufacturers. A joint venture would lease vehicles from its parent manufacturer and operate them ...
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News
PR turned over
THREATS to put Pakistan Railways through the mill of change were imple-mented last month when the cabinet ruled that PR be separated from the railway ministry and its management board replaced. The announcement was timed to coincide with the start of a new financial year and marked the opening of ...
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News
Northeast night trains revamped
AMTRAK introduced significant changes on July 10 to NortheastDirect services on the Boston - Washington DC - Newport News corridor. Improvements included the relaunch of the Night Owl as the Twilight Shoreliner, an overnight Boston - Washington DC service now including a new Viewliner sleeping car and a first class ...
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News
Something old, something new
DESPITE the gloomy lessons of the past and the more recent financial problems of Río Negro province’s Sefepa venture, local initiatives to resurrect passenger trains continue to appear in Argentina. Under a one-year operating concession granted by the province of Tucum
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News
Market
Australia: Ove Arup & Partners is to study options for a 40 km rail link to serve the coastal resorts of Caloundra and Maroochydore north of Brisbane.Austria: ÖBB has ordered 1314 electronic door mechanisms from Faiveley, which is also supplying 120 doors to LHB for LINT railcars being built for ...
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News
Letters
Heavy haul bogiesSir - The Leader in your May issue (RG 5.97 p 267) concerning high axleloads for heavy haul railways mentions ’the unending search for the ideal wheel-rail interface’. This subject was addressed in detail in my paper titled Review of Freight Car Bogie Design and Performance presented to ...
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News
JR-West
BYLINE: Nariyasu MatsuokaChief Engineer, Rolling Stock DepartmentWest Japan Railway CoECONOMIC and financial circumstances facing JR-West mean that the Rolling Stock Department must give its highest priority to providing passengers with high-quality trains at low cost. Plans are well in hand to develop better trains for the Sanyo shinkansen (RG 5.97 ...
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News
Island network
RARELY today are railway investment projects justified solely as tools for regional development. Even rarer are ones as ambitious as the 2000 km network proposed on the Philip-pine island of Mindanao. Despite the considerable problems afflicting PNR’s main lines on Luzon, the government rightly believes that rail can play a ...
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Industry
Austria: Knorr-Bremse is taking a 49% shareholding in door specialist IFE.Great Britain: GEC Alsthom Signalling Ltd has moved to new offices at Trafford Park, Manchester.India: Konkan Railway Corp plans to establish a subsidiary to tender for railway construction projects overseas; revenue from this business will help with international loans taken ...
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Technology transfer spearheads Indian inter-city renewal
INTRO: IR operates around 29000 all-steel lightweight vehicles to a common basic design. Now the Rail Coach Factory is poised to launch an up-to-date inter-city coach under a technology transfer deal with Linke-Hofmann-Busch. R C Acharya reports on IR’s inter-city business that handled over 404million passenger train-km in 1995-96IN A ...
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Spadina LRT inaugurated
TORONTO Transit Commission was due to open its Spadina Avenue light rail extension on July 27, adding 3·7 km and 12 stops to the 2·1 km Harbourfront line opened in 1990. At the northern terminus, the line interchanges with the east-west Bloor-Danforth subway. TTC has shelved plans for a ...
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Hotel train power
GREAT Scottish & Western Railway Co, operator of The Royal Scotsman land cruise, has taken delivery of two ex-British Rail MkIII sleeping cars purchased from Porterbrook Leasing and converted by EMC (International) Ltd at Carnforth. Each 41·5 tonne vehicle now houses a 160 kW Volvo diesel generator set to meet ...
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News
RDC to revive Guatemala Railways
ON JUNE 6 the government of Guatemala awarded a 50 year concession for the restoration, reopening and operation of the country's 914mm gauge national rail network to Compañía Desarrolladora Ferroviaria SA, an affiliate of Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp. The government will receive 5% of gross income for the first two ...
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News
Replaceable units keep GE locos rolling
INTRO: Computer diagnostics and the ability to replace electronic assemblies translates directly into higher asset utilisation, bringing major financial benefitsBYLINE: Vic SergeantSenior Systems Engineer,General Electric Transportation SystemsGENERAL ELECTRIC introduced the first ever microprocessor controlled diesel locomotive in production quantities in 1985. With the 4 000 hp C39-8, the concept of ...
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Paris opening launches next round of French tram projects
PRESIDENTS Louis Gallois of French National Railways and Jean-Paul Bailly of Paris Transport Authority joined Minister of Transport Claude Gayssot to inaugurate the French capital's second modern tramway on July 1. Originally intended to open last year, the 11·3 km Tram Val de Seine links La Défense to Issy-Val ...
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Franco-Dutch mouse takes on Netherlands Railways
ANNOUNCEMENT by Compagnie Générale d’Entreprises Automobiles on July 4 that it had acquired a 70% stake in the independent Dutch operator Lovers Rail confirms beyond all doubt that the French company is seeking to become a major player in providing contracted rail passenger services across Europe.From humble beginnings running branch ...
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News
Flexible Thalys supplements
WITH the aim of making Thalys services more accessible to passengers travelling between the Netherlands and Belgium, a Flexi Supplement valid for two months is available until December 13. With the new product, passengers holding full-fare international tickets can board a Thalys service where the train manager will allocate them ...
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Finance
Brazil: Ferrovia Sul-Atlântico is planning to invest US$56m this year, despite making a loss of nearly US$19m.Canada: CP Rail is to spend C$87m on capital projects in British Columbia; C$47m will go on an intermodal terminal near Vancouver.China: The Ministry of Railways has applied for a US$300m World Bank loan ...