All Railway Gazette International articles in February 2004 – Page 2
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News
Maglev triumphs and falters
PROMOTERS of magnetic levitation technology in China celebrated the launch of the world’s first fare-paying high speed regular maglev service on December 29 between Shanghai Airport and Pudong. Maglev vehicles formed of five sections depart at 20min intervals, reaching a maximum speed of 430 km/h on their 71/2min journey over ...
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News
Samjhauta Express reinstated
THE CHAIRMAN of Pakistan’s Railway Board Kurshid Ahmad Khan joined ceremonies at Lahore station on January 15 to dispatch the first cross-border train to India for more than two years. The Samjhauta Express between Lahore and Delhi had been discontinued in 2001.A three-year agreement to restore freight and passenger services ...
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News
Waterfall exposes safety management failings
TWO senior managers in RailCorp have been sacked and others faced the prospect of disciplinary action following publication on January 15 of Commissioner Peter McInerney’s interim report into a derailment at Waterfall in New South Wales on January 31 2003. Seven died and 42 were injured (RG 3.03 p122). He ...
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News
Sounder expands
US URBAN rail operator Sound Transit ran its first commuter rail service between Everett and Seattle on December 21 carrying spectators to a Seattle Seahawks game. A regular daily train in each direction began the following day. The launch followed lengthy negotiations between ST and BNSF. On December 17 ST ...
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News
Powerpacks expand the range of hydraulic transmissions
INTRO: As builders move towards subcontracting larger modules as complete units, Voith Turbo has launched a range of complete power packs and uprated its hydraulic transmissions for higher performance. Harry Hondius MSc reports from HeidenheimWITH A turnover of €3·3bn in 2003, Voith AG employs 24000 staff around the world. It ...
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News
IR electrification to be tendered
ISRAEL Railways confirmed on January 14 that it expected to call tenders in April for electrification at 25 kV 50Hz of 300 route-km. Expected to cost around US$270m, the work will take 4½ years. IR had originally envisaged wiring its entire passenger network, which is expected to grow from 450 ...
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News
Recording geometry effectively
THE Technology Research & Development Department at JR Central has developed a small and lightweight device to give high precision measurements of rail geometry.LightRec is manually pushed along the rails on conventional and Shinkansen lines, and calculates in real time the track gauge, level, alignment and twist.At less than US$34500, ...
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News
Duplex deal
FRENCH National Railways decided last month to exercise a further option for TGV Duplex double-deck trainsets, in addition to the 82 already built or on order for delivery by 2005.The latest €305m order covers seven complete trainsets with two power cars and eight intermediate vehicles, plus another 15 sets of ...
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NewsCzech station lease signed
AN AGREEMENT has been signed for Grandi Stazioni SpA to manage commercial and retail space at three major Czech stations. Under the terms of the 30-year lease the Italian firm will carry out refurbishment work at Praha Hlavni, Karlovy Vary and Marianske Lazne. It is to spend KC658m upgrading ...
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News
Scientific ways to cut noise
TWO wagons which have been modified to reduce emitted noise were officially launched by Jacqueline Tammenons-Bakker, Director General, Freight Transport, at the Dutch Ministry of Transport & Public Works’ in a ceremony held in Den Haag on November 25.Noise pollution is of particular concern in the highly urbanised and densely ...
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News
Crossing and signal lights with LEDs
THE LIFE of level crossing warning lights can be extended, and the need for maintenance reduced, by using light emitting diodes in place of conventional bulbs. The 433 Series module from Dialight has been designed for use with existing crossing equipment as well as fitting to new installations. The red-tinted ...
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News
Co-operation underpins open-source ticketing
Transport operators and authorities in the Calypso Networks Association have been developing standards for smart card ticketing and related applications
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News
Information and control
TWO contracts have been awarded for station management and passenger information computer systems for use in London.Transmitton is to supply a real-time passenger information system for the interim London St Pancras station, which will be used by Midland Main Line trains during the refurbishment and major redesign of the historic ...
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News
Modi’in contracts let
WORK began last month on two new stations in Modi’in, which will be served by a line branching at Daniel Junction from Israel Railways’ planned fast line from Ben-Gurion Airport to Jerusalem. The US$26m contract for Modi’in Central was awarded to Shafir Engineering. The four-platform station will be built underground ...
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News
Regional contracts
SWISS FEDERAL Railway’s subsidiary EuroThurbo GmbH has been selected to operate the Seehas line in Germany, linking Konstanz to Engen via Singen. However, German Railway has retained control of the Schwarzwaldbahn between Karlsruhe and Konstanz against a wide range of rival bidders including Connex.International tenders for operation of the two ...
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News
Madrid metro expansion continues
THE NEWLY-ELECTED President of the Madrid regional government, Esperanza Aguirre, has unveiled a €3·7bn programme to add another 72·7 km to the city’s metro network by the time her term of office comes to an end in 2007. The programme comprises 15 individual projects, combining 42·1 km of extensions to ...
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News
Wiring completed
ELECTRIFICATION of the northernmost connection between Russia’s Northern and October railways was completed on December 25, boosting capacity for freight services from the Urals and Siberia to the White Sea port of Murmansk. Russian Railways’ Vice-President Valentin Gapanovich, October Railway President Gennadi Komarov and Northern Railway President Vasiliy Bilokha joined ...
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News
Civia debuts
ON JANUARY 20 Renfe President Miguel Corsini joined Development Minister Francisco Álvarez-Cascos, President of the Madrid Regional Government Esperanza Aguirre and Mayor of Madrid Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón to mark the start of passenger service with the Civia commuter EMU. Six of the initial 14 trains ordered from Alstom, Bombardier, CAF and ...
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News
Darling says fragmentedUK structure must change
EVER since Alistair Darling became Secretary of State for Transport in May 2002 he has firmly ruled out fundamental restructuring as a cure for the two dominant problems facing Britain’s railways: a huge rise in infrastructure costs, and poor performance that sees one in five passenger trains late or cancelled. ...
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News
Budget shortfall hits DB plans
THE PRESIDENT of the Association of German Transport Undertakings Dipl-Kfm Günter Elste warned on January 13 that the political objective of switching traffic from road to rail was in jeopardy. This, he suggested, was directly attributable to cuts in government funding for expansion and development of the national rail network, ...
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