All Railway Gazette International articles in December 2008 – Page 4
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NewsGetting to the point
RENEWALS: Faced with poor asset condition, cramped working conditions and limited access time, Tube Lines has adopted a new strategy for maintaining and upgrading turnouts on three of London Underground’s busiest lines.
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NewsNews in Brief
A final rule on electronically controlled pneumatic brakes was issued by the Federal Railroad Administration on October 15, allowing US railways to begin installing a standardised system. FRA requires ECP brake systems to comply with existing industry standards, and certain operating rules and training programmes should be modified to enable ...
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NewsIndustry News in Brief
Last month RZD and Finmeccanica signed a co-operation agreement for the development of Itarus signalling, telecoms and satellite technology for the rail sector. RZD subsidiary Niias and Ansaldo STS will establish an Itarus-ATS signalling test site in 2009, and trials on major routes will begin the following year before the ...
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NewsLux launches Luxembourg lines
LUXEMBOURG: Plans for the construction of two new lines serving the southern part of the Grand Duchy were officially announced by Transport Minister Lucien Lux on October 15. The ministry has launched public consultation over alignment options for the two routes, which together with the reconstruction of three stations are ...
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Security in Brief
Philadelphia’s Port Authority Transit Corp has awarded a US$3·8m contract to building services group TAC to install an integrated IP-based video monitoring and emergency communications system on the 22·5 km Patco metro line between Philadelphia and Lindenwold, NJ, under a programme funded by the Department of Homeland Security. ...
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NewsBiometric security tested
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration’s Office of Research & Development announced in October that it has developed a biometric Locomotive Security System to prevent the unauthorised operation of locomotives. According to FRA, ‘LSS integrates available off-the-shelf fingerprint and ID card reader technologies into a rugged enclosure for application in the ...
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Intelligent surveillance trial concludes
UK: Atos Origin has completed its trial of ‘intelligent’ CCTV at Sheffield station (RG 11.07 p730). Working in association with station operator East Midlands Trains and its predecessor Midland Main Line, the company provided an integrated CCTV network capable of offering more functionality than conventional systems. One of the system’s ...
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NewsShareholding changes
FAIVELEY: An Extraordinary General Meeting has been arranged for December 23 to approve a restructuring of the shareholdings in Faiveley Group, the manufacturer of brakes, air-conditioning, screen doors and other subsystems. It follows the signing of an agreement with fund manager Sagard and other direct and indirect shareholders on October ...
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Perpignan - Figueres makes progress
EUROPE: Tracklaying is well advanced on the 44·4 km standard -gauge cross-border line linking Perpignan in France with Figueres in Spain. Intended to link the French and Spanish high speed networks, the line includes an 8·2 km twin-bore tunnel under the Pyrenees at Le Perthus. The line is being developed ...
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NewsSNCF places Traxx order
FRANCE: On December 5 Bombardier announced a €160m firm order to supply SNCF with 45 Traxx F140 DE diesel-electric locomotives. The first delivery is scheduled for May 2010, and orders for a further 35 locomotives could follow. Bombardier has now sold more than 1 300 locomotives from the Traxx ...
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NewsTEN-T rail funding signed
EUROPE: Major rail projects in Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Slovenia and Hungary are to receive a total of €1·7bn under 11 Trans-European Transport Networks financing decisions signed by European Commissioner for Transport Antonio Tajani on December 5. The money is being allocated under the TEN-T programme for 2007-13. ...
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NewsSwiss national timetable on a single page
SWITZERLAND: Subscribers to Railway Gazette International will have received a copy of Netgraph with the December 2008 issue. Devised by Zürich-based transport planning consultancy SMA & Partner, the visual representation of the 2009 Swiss timetable represents the network as the relationships between routes. The introduction of nationwide co-ordinated timetables ...
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NewsMaking every second count
SWITZERLAND: SBB is focusing on making better use of reserves in train scheduling to add greater robustness to its integrated national timetable. Real-time management of train services to maintain connections and more detailed passenger information provision are at the heart of the ‘Co-Production’ concept.
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NewsBelgrano to be split
ARGENTINA: The federal government has begun the process of returning the metre-gauge Belgrano network to public ownership, by means of a decree published on October 31. The concession awarded to Belgrano Cargas SA in 1999 was to be terminated within 90 days, while the ‘state of emergency’ under which the ...
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NewsCrossrail agreements signed
UK: A series of core funding and governance agreements paving the way for construction of the long-planned Crossrail route under London were signed on December 4 by Transport Minister Andrew Adonis and Mayor of London Boris Johnson. A parallel deal was finalised with the City of London Corporation which will ...
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NewsGrain branch upgrades funded
AUSTRALIA: Premier of Victoria John Brumby announced on October 20 that the state is to refurbish more freight-only branch lines as part of an A$38·7m funding package to support the state’s rural economy. The state government has launched a programme of works to raise speed limits and boost operating efficiency ...
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NewsNorwegian infrastructure budget up
NORWAY: The government’s 2009 budget allocates NKr8·84bn for rail spending, an increase of NKr1·3bn on 2008. There is a particular focus on maintenance and renewals. Funding for infrastructure manager Jernbaneverket is up 22% to NKr7·07bn, allowing spending on maintenance to be increased by 25%. This will improve reliability and capacity, ...
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NewsHeavy haul automation contract placed
AUSTRALIA: Ansaldo STS announced on December 4 that it had been awarded a €103m contract to provide automation technology for the driverless operation of Rio Tinto's Hamersley and Robe River heavy haul railway in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The automation project will be completed by 2012, enabling ...
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NewsTrans-Laos railway survey agreed
LAOS: Investment company Giant Group is to undertake surveys for a railway running 220 km across southern Laos from the Thai to the Vietnamese borders. A memorandum of understanding for the project was signed with the Ministry of Public Works & Transport on November 10. The proposed electrified line ...
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NewsDublin orders another eight trams
IRELAND: The Railway Procurement agency has ordered a further eight Alstom Citadis trams for use on Dublin 's Luas network from early 2010. The €21m contract announced on December 1 is an option on a March 2007 agreement. Alstom has previously supplied Dublin with 40 Citadis cars, and another ...