All Railway Gazette International articles in February 2000
All articles published this month.
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News
Trouble at start-up
THINGS did not go too swimmingly on January 6 when the CityPendeln consortium formed of Via GTI, Go Ahead and BK Tåg began operating Stockholm’s commuter services. The biggest problem appears to have been a shortage of drivers and other staff who decided at the last minute that they did ...
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Sidetrack
Millennium steam 1Just as many US cities maintain a reserve fleet of obsolete buses for use during severe winter weather, when passenger numbers can increase substantially at short notice, some railways have mothballed steam locos ready to be pressed into emergency service. Tea-kettles regularly help out in electricity-starved Ukraine, but ...
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News
Spending set to rise in Russia
INVESTMENT in the sprawling and run-down Russian Railways network is to rise by 20% this year compared with 1999, according to Minister of Railways Nikolai Aksyonenko. Speaking at the annual board meeting of the Ministry of Railways on December 24, he called for more intensive use of assets to raise ...
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Publications
The Milwaukee Electricsby Noel T HolleyNorth America’s pioneering main line electrification across the Rockies was a bold but misguided project. The Milwaukee’s Pacific Extension, completed in 1909, was the fourth and weakest link from the Midwest to the North West. Electrification at 3 kV DC through the mountains between Harlowtown, ...
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Pointers
n Look for Spanish high speed construction authority GIF to award the civil works contract for the Soto del Real - Segovia section of the Madrid - Valladolid route after the general election on March 12. Four consortia have submitted bids ranging from Pts149·8bn to Pts180bn for GIF’s largest single ...
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News
PEOPLE
Robert E Mortensen, Chief Executive Officer of Central East African Railways, has been appointed Managing Director, Africa, for Railroad Development Corporation, leader of the consortium which took over operation of CEAR at the end of last year.Intercontainer-Interfrigo has appointed Pia Ljunggren as Manager of the North-South Division of its Combined ...
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Metros
Argentina: Buenos Aires city council has begun consideration of a bill granting powers to build metro Line H from Retiro to Nueva Pompeya. The first section to be built is likely to be Hospitales - Plaza de Miserere.China: Looking to award a contract in May, Guangzhou Metro has called tenders ...
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Market
Australia: SAB Wabco D&M Engineering of Great Britain is to supply complete braking systems for the 80 double-deck EMU cars of Millennium stock being built for Sydney suburban services by Clyde Engineering (RG 3.99 p161).State Rail Authority of New South Wales is to order three cars for Countrylink’s Sydney - ...
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News
Link restored
A TAPE cutting in the Land of Sachsen-Anhalt on December 18 marked the completion of the latest rail reunification project to be completed by Verkehrsprojekt Deutsche Einheit. The 113 km Stendal - Uelzen route was originally part of the so-called Amerikalinie between Berlin and Bremerhaven, carrying up to 64 trains ...
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Letters
Unity endangeredSir - Useability of a rail network depends heavily on the continuity of its main parameters. Introduction of incompatible elements hampering through working will not just hit the economy of the region involved, but will affect the entire community. Thus the proposed development of a Berlin - Hamburg - ...
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News
New northwest line leads Uzbek projects
ON December 31, Uzbekistan Railways (UTY) inaugurated the first 115 km of its new cut-off line serving the country’s isolated northwest. Starting from the existing Chardzhou - Astrakhan line at Sultanuizdag, near Nukus, the line currently reaches Miskan. Eventually the route will run 362 km to the existing terminus at ...
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News
NS to invest
NORFOLK Southern unveiled a $747·2m capital spending programme for 2000 on January 10. This follows a $1·1bn programme in 1999. According to Chairman, President & CEO David Goode ’Norfolk Southern is moving as quickly as possible to complete capacity improvement projects ... to meet customer needs and improve service levels.’ ...
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News
INTELLIGENCE
Australia: Rail America subsidiary Freight Victoria is to refurbish 70 km of the Gippsland line and reinstate freight trains between Sale and Hillsdale. FV Chief Executive Maris van Onselen hopes to negotiate state funding for refurbishing another 8 km to Bairnsdale.Azerbaijan: In association with DSC and The Port of Rotterdam, ...
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News
Integral to the rescue
SEVERE storms swept across parts of France, Germany and Switzerland over the Christmas period, causing immense damage. Lines were blocked by fallen trees or washed out in many parts of France, and SNCF estimates the loss of traffic will knock Fr200m off its 1999 revenues.Meanwhile, a storm called Lothar wreaked ...
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Industry News
Czech Republic: Siemens has signed a letter of intent with Konsolidacni Banka, now in control of CKD Dopravni systémy as its largest creditor, to establish a joint venture with the train builder. This would allow production to continue without Siemens assuming CKD’s debts.Denmark: Modulex A/S has acquired ScanAcoustic A/S which ...
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News
Kim inaugurates KTX test section
PRESIDENT Kim Dae-jung of South Korea formally opened the initial test section of the Seoul - Pusan high speed line on December 16. Now known as Korea Train Express (KTX), the project has been rescheduled so that Korea High Speed Rail Construction Authority launches 300 km/h services between Seoul and ...
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JR West launches Hikari Rail Star
ON MARCH 11 West Japan Railway launches its own Series 700 shinkansen trainsets between Shin Osaka and Hakata. The eight-car sets have a maximum speed of 285 km/h and are similar to the 16-car Series 700 units already in service with JR Central (RG 10.98 p697).Marketed as Hikari Rail Star, ...
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South Hants LRT
ANOTHER British light rail scheme moved a step closer on December 17, when Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council invited expressions of interest in the South Hampshire Rapid Transit Project (RG 12.99 p815). Linking Fareham, Gosport and Portsmouth, and running in an immersed tube tunnel under Portsmouth Harbour, the ...
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Two railways grapple with rolling stock modernisation
The national railways in Belgium and the Netherlands are modernising their passenger rolling stock fleets, but commercial and political objectives complicate the task. Harry Hondius MSc Eng compares the two railways' traction policies