All Railway Gazette International articles in August 2009 – Page 3

  • Skoda Transportation 109E locomotive.
    News

    Skoda wins Slovak push-pull orders

    2009-08-12T10:01:00Z

    SLOVAKIA: National operator ZSSK has awarded Skoda Transportation the first export order for the 109E locomotive design which was unveiled last year. As well as two locomotives, the Czech firm will also supply 10 three-car double-deck push-pull trainsets and modernise 10 existing electric locomotives for Slovakia. Contracts totalling €83m ...

  • tn_us-california-hs_05.jpg
    News

    High speed scramble

    2009-08-12T10:00:00Z

    USA: As expected, the decision by the Obama administration to allocate $8bn of stimulus funding for high speed rail development, followed by $5bn from the transport budget over the next five years, has triggered a flood of interest across the country. Earlier this year the federal government invited proposals ...

  • tn_sk-passengers_09.jpg
    News

    Large Events and Public Transport: a Winning Team

    2009-08-12T04:00:00Z

    Book review

  • tn_eu-eurostar-ctrl_14.jpg
    News

    DB assault forces Eurostar reform

    2009-08-12T04:00:00Z

    EUROPE: Five years after the collapse of Project Jupiter, another attempt has begun to transform Eurostar from an unincorporated tri-national partnership into a single coherent entity. The operator confirmed last month that negotiations were underway to position the business ready for the introduction of competition in the international passenger sector ...

  • Berlin U-Bahn trains in depot.
    News

    Berlin U55 metro line opens

    2009-08-11T15:19:00Z

    GERMANY: Berlin’s U55 underground metro line between Brandenburger Tor and Hauptbahnhof finally entered service on August 8, following inauguration by the city’s mayor Klaus Wowereit. Passengers were able to travel for free to mark the occasion. The 1·8 km line and its three stations cost €320m to build and took ...

  • tn_ru-wagons-in-yard_06.jpg
    News

    RZD approves Finnish freight joint venture

    2009-08-11T15:17:00Z

    EUROPE: The Russian Railways board has given the go -ahead for a planned joint venture between its First Freight Company subsidiary and Finnish national railway VR. An equally-owned joint-stock company is to be incorporated under Finnish law, and will be responsible for marketing and organising rail freight services between ...

  • Sydney.
    News

    Sydney Metro construction shortlist announced

    2009-08-11T11:40:00Z

    AUSTRALIA: Three consortia have been shortlisted for the contract to build the Permanent Route Infrastructure for Phase 1 of the CBD metro line between Central and Rozelle in Sydney. The names of the successful consortia, selected from the five groups which submitted detailed expressions of interest last June, were announced ...

  • tn_us-portland-trimet-max-avanto.jpg
    News

    S70 enters revenue service in Portland

    2009-08-11T10:14:00Z

    USA: TriMet placed the first of its new Siemens S70 Avanto LRVs into revenue service on August 6, following a VIP trip from Pioneer Square to Hatfield in Hillsboro. The transit agency has purchased 22 cars, which it calls the Type 4, the last of which had been delivered ...

  • tn_airport-aircraft-nose-bat.jpg
    News

    Four shortlisted for BART Oakland Airport connector project

    2009-08-11T09:59:00Z

    USA: The Bay Area Rapid Transit District has prequalified four teams to bid for the US$522m 5·2 km Oakland International Airport Connector Project. The design, build, operate and maintain contract covers construction of an automated peoplemover linking BART’s Coliseum station with passenger terminals at the airport. OAC is scheduled ...

  • Mumbai CST
    News

    Banerjee warns of tighter times

    2009-08-11T04:00:00Z

    INDIA: Internally-generated funding is likely to fall sharply this year, according to the Indian Railways budget for 2009-10 presented on July 3 by recently-appointed Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. Noting the ‘continuing trend of recession’, she announced ‘more realistic’ projections than those set by her predecessor Lalu Prasad in his interim ...

  • Waterloo & City Line train.
    News

    NPL provides accurate measurement

    2009-08-10T13:15:00Z

    UK: Britain's national measurement institute is measuring sample gear cases from trains on London Underground's Central and Waterloo & City lines every three months to ensure that they remain within specified tolerances. The National Physical Laboratory has been working for two years to validate the geometry of final drive ...

  • Wegberg-Wildenrath test centre.
    News

    Siemens railway test site equipped for Galileo trials

    2009-08-10T10:08:00Z

    GERMANY: Eight 'pseudolite' signal generators which are being installed at Siemens Mobility's Wegberg-Wildenrath railway test centre will allow practical trials of railway applications of the Galileo satellite navigation system before the real signals are available in 2013. Signal generators on 50 m masts will provide a Galileo signal across ...

  • Pre-production Waratah double-deck commuter train for Sydney.
    News

    First CityRail double-deckers delivered

    2009-08-10T04:00:00Z

    AUSTRALIA: The double-deck commuter trains being built for Sydney under the Reliance Rail PPP contract were officially named 'Waratah' when Minister for Transport David Campbell unveiled four pre-production cars at Newcastle on July 29. Waratah is a shrub native to southeast Australia, and the floral emblem of New South Wales. ...

  • tn_generic-tracks-electric_45.jpg
    News

    Pointers August 2009

    2009-08-09T04:00:00Z

    Following an unsuccessful first round of tendering, Arica port authority EPA expects on August 25 to announce its preferred bidder for a contract to restore the 205 km of the Arica - La Paz Railway between the Chilean port and the Bolivian border (RG 1.09 p7). Five bidders including Comsa ...

  • tn_wheelsets-hot_05.jpg
    News

    Industry News in Brief

    2009-08-08T04:00:00Z

    Engineering consultancy Buro Happold has opened a Hong Kong office to develop its business in the Asia Pacific region. Its first contract is with an Aecom-Aedas joint venture for the West Kowloon Terminus of the proposed Express Rail Link. ‘Rapid growth in China and Hong Kong is being accompanied by ...

  • Berlin S-Bahn (Photo: DB AG/Hans-Joachim Krumnow).
    News

    Wheelset troubles strike again

    2009-08-07T13:11:00Z

    GERMANY: Passengers turning up for S-Bahn services in Berlin on July 20 were confronted with a drastically reduced timetable. S-Bahn Berlin GmbH had been forced to withdraw a huge proportion of its rolling stock fleet, leaving just 165 of its 630 two-car units operational. Under the emergency timetable, 19 stations ...

  • CP locomotives.
    News

    Locomotives get less hungry

    2009-08-07T04:00:00Z

    EFFICIENCY: More than 2·3 billion litres of fuel a year would be saved if every train in North America were to be fitted with GE Transportation's Trip Optimizer, the supplier believes. The launch customer for the energy management package is Canadian Pacific, which is to fit it to 200 locomotives ...

  • tn_za-track_02.jpg
    News

    Planning for growth

    2009-08-06T10:00:00Z

    SOUTH AFRICA: Putting forward his budget in July, Minister of Transport S’bu Ndebele said the government is spending R25bn over the medium term to stabilise and upgrade passenger rail services. R14bn is allocated for infrastructure and rolling stock, the rest for operations. Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa CEO ...

  • Prototype rebuild completed in 2007.
    News

    Shunting locomotive upgrade underway

    2009-08-06T08:00:00Z

    SWITZERLAND: SBB's Biel workshop rolled out the first of 23 SBB Cargo Tm IV light shunting locomotives which are being rebuilt as type Tm 232 on August 4. A prototype rebuild was completed in 2007 before the start of the modernisation programme, which aims to extend the life of ...

  • generic-tracks-cz_16.jpg
    News

    Grease in the right place

    2009-08-06T04:00:00Z

    LUBRICATION: Turnout sliding joint lubrication can prove ineffective if the grease gets pushed out during the first few operations. The automatic lubrication system from SPX Rail Systems injects the grease into the centre of the slide interface, guaranteeing effective lubrication with no need for manual intervention for six months to ...