All Railway Gazette International articles in August 2005 – Page 4
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News
City News in Brief
Mallorca operator SFM has let contracts worth €114·9m for construction of the island’s first metro line in Palma (RG 5.05 p244). Linking Plaza de España with Campus de la Universitat, the 7·2 km line will be built in three stages. Three joint ventures will complete the work by the end ...
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News
Refurbishment in Brief
By autumn JR East will have fitted all 1117 of its Shinkansen cars with Braille maps showing the carriage layouts and locations of doors, different types of waste bin and onboard facilities. The toilets are being fitted with Braille plans showing the locations of the operating buttons and emergency alarm.Axminster ...
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News
Industry News in Brief
On July 1 Slovak rolling stock supplier ZOS Vrútky bought a majority stake in the ZOS Nymburk loco maintenance and overhaul workshops in the Czech Republic for KC85m. Declared bankrupt in January 2004, ZOS Nymburk employs 290 people and turnover in 2004 was KC152m.Anti-vibration and suspension component maker Trelleborg Industrial ...
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News
Composite brakes
AN INTERCHANGEABLE lightweight composite brake block for use on European freight wagons is being launched by a joint venture of Italian Brakes and Trenitalia.The LL block is designed as a straight substitute for conventional cast iron blocks, but its lighter weight makes it safer to handle and its life expectancy ...
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Bombela wins Gautrain race
ON JULY 2 Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa announced that the Bombela Consortium had been chosen as preferred bidder for the Gautrain Rapid Link. Financial negotiations are expected to take around six months. Bombela is 50% owned by Bombardier, Bouygues and RATP Développement, with the remaining half owned by South African ...
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News
Bombardier takes Dutch regional order
NETHERLANDS Railways has awarded a €248m contract to Bombardier, partnered with Siemens, for 18 four-car and 17 six-car EMUs for regional services. Five consecutive options for 16 four-car and 16 six-car EMUs could take the fleet to 974 cars, lifting the total value to €1·2bn.Announced on July 21, the deal ...
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News
What next for the Belgrano?
THE FAILURE of the Argentinian government’s attempt to sell a 79% stake in Belgrano Cargas (RG 7.05 p385) received a degree of official confirmation at the end of June, when Minister of Federal Planning Julio De Vido and Transport Secretary Ricardo Jaime met officials from the 14 provinces served by ...
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Boring starts on Pajares base tunnel
SPANISH PRIME MINISTER José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was present at La Pola de Gordón on July 13 to mark the start of work on the 25 km Pajares base tunnel. The first of five machines to be used on the €1·4bn project, a Herrenknecht TBM began work on one of ...
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Ergomechanical back support
FOLLOWING earlier scientific research into optimum back posture (RG 11.04 p747), Grammer AG used the Roma exhibition to display its first production seat with an automatically-adjusting back support.Just released on the market, but not yet ordered, the ergomechanical seat is designed to optimise support for the passenger’s back. When the ...
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News
Terror bombers attack London Underground
THREE BOMBS were detonated on the London Underground at about 08.50 on July 7, with a fourth exploding later on a double-deck bus. At least 56 people died and more than 700 were injured in the attack that police quickly traced to suicide bombers from the Leeds area. Two of ...
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News
Gauge conversion moves ahead
UNDER the final version of the PEIT strategic infrastructure plan for 2005-20, approved by the cabinet on July 15, the Spanish government is to launch studies to define in detail a programme of works to convert the 1668mm gauge network to 1435mm gauge to achieve compatibility with the rest of ...
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News
Bulgarian wagons rolling again
SEEKING to regain market share lost to road transport while avoiding the costs of purchasing new rolling stock, Bulgarian State Railways is placing contracts for the refurbishment of 3260 wagons with specialist outside suppliers. VRZ-Karlovo is rebuilding Eaos open wagons to as-new condition, ensuring compliance with RIV and UIC standards ...
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Adding value
BOMBARDIER Transportation has adopted analytical tools from Intellectual Capital Development Ltd to manage its sales processes.Specialised audit processes are needed because of the long sales cycle of six to 24 months between the start of planning and the submission of a tender, and the average delivery time of 30 months. ...
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News
Freight accords
COMMITMENTS to improve service quality on key European intermodal corridors are to be put in place by the end of this year, under the terms of an agreement between the International Union of Railways and the intermodal operators’ forum UIRR announced on July 5.UIRR member companies have been increasingly critical ...
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D78 stock gets a fresh look
Robert Preston samples the first of 75 six-car London Underground trainsets to be refurbished
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UK now plans to install ERTMS in 2011-38
THE LATEST report from the UK's National ERTMS Programme Team revealed on June 23 that plans to fit all lines where the speed exceeds 160 km/h by 2015 have been scrapped. The new strategy sees development continuing, mainly on the single-track Cambrian lines in rural mid-Wales, but even that project ...
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Market August 2005
Angola: Rites has won five contracts totalling US$40m for staff training and the supply of rolling stock and workshop equipment for the rehabilitation of the CFN line between Menongue and Namibe. Australia: United Goninan has completed delivery to QR National of nine heavy haul diesel-electric locomotives and 310 coal wagons ...
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MF2000 on test in northern France
RUNNING trials have started with the prototype MF2000 trainset (RG 2.04 p92). Expected to enter service on the Paris metro in 2006, the five-car pre-production set began a programme of tests at the Centre d'Essais Ferroviaires at Petite Forêt near Valenciennes on June 17. The tests began almost a year ...
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News
Delhi Metro completes Line 2
CEREMONIES were held on July 2 to mark the completion of the second metro line in the Indian capital. The 7 km section from Kashmere Gate to Central Secretariat was inaugurated by Sonia Gandhi, Chair of the United Progressive Alliance party.The first 4 km of Line 2 from Vishwavidalaya to ...