All Railway Gazette International articles in February 2006
All articles published this month.
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News
Suburban spring
MUMBAI’S suburban trains are subject to high passenger loadings during the peaks, and coil springs in the primary suspension of the city’s EMU cars have proved unreliable with a short life expectancy.Indian Railways approached Trelleborg and requested a revised suspension design for new-build trains, which could also be retrofitted to ...
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Sidetrack
Commuter Dave Askwith tried to brighten up his daily journey by putting up official-looking signs providing spoof instructions, warnings and information. He subsequently branched out into road, warning and council signs around Britain’s trains, shops and hotels. ’Some lasted several weeks before being pinched, or taken down by disgruntled staff’, ...
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Siemens scoops Saudi signalling
A CONSORTIUM of Siemens and Nour Communications Co has been selected to undertake a €91m renewal of signalling and communications on the Saudi Railways Organisation network.Under a contract announced on December 21, the consortium will provide a Simis computer-based interlocking, Vicos control system, and Trainguard 100 ETCS Level 1 equipment, ...
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News
Waverley redevelopment
SCOTTISH Minister for Transport Tavish Scott and the Chief Executive of Transport Scotland Dr Malcolm Reed visited Edinburgh Waverley station on January 9 to launch a £150m redevelopment scheme.Phase 1 will increase movements through the throat at the west end of the station from 24 to 28 passenger trains/h in ...
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Spending programme unveiled
MUCH-HERALDED plans to modernise and develop Argentina’s run-down railways are finally taking shape. The proposals are contained in a Presidential decree that came into force on January 4, setting out an ambitious programme to upgrade the commuter and metro networks in Buenos Aires, and to restore inter-city passenger services to ...
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Police reinforced
IT IS hard to say for sure what happened on board TER train 17430 from Nice to Lyon on New Year’s day, but numerous offences, including theft and sexual assault, seem to have been committed.The 10-coach train left Nice at 06.00, conveying among its 600 passengers a number of inebriated ...
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Pointers
Setting its budget for 2006-11, the Austrian government has allocated record development funding to ÖBB Infrastruktur Bau AG. €1·55bn will be invested in 2006, with €1·3 to €1·5bn in later years. An allocation of €100m for special projects this year includes €20m for planning the Semmering base tunnel.Feasibility studies have ...
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People
The appointment of Peter Hendy as Commissioner of Transport for London with effect from February 1 was announced on January 17. Norfolk Southern President & CEO Charles W Moorman has been elected Chairman of the Association of American Railroads for 2006. He succeeds CSX Corp's Chairman, President & ...
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News
Order revised
RUSSIAN Railways President Vladimir Yakunin confirmed on December 12 that terms had been agreed for a revised contract with Siemens for the supply of high speed trainsets, which is expected to be signed in March.Several agreements were signed last year for RZD to buy around 60 trainsets from Siemens, with ...
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Montréal spends
A THREE-YEAR programme of renewals and upgrading for the Montréal metro was announced by Société de Transport de Montréal on December 12. Total value of the capital programme is put at C$1·1bn, of which 57·4% will go on the metro.According to STM Chairman Claude Dauphin, ’in 2006 customers will see ...
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Transmission modelling promises a quieter railway
INTRO: Selection of the right trackform for an underground railway has been simplified by the development of a simulation model that accurately predicts the transmission of ground-borne sound and vibration from the rail surface to nearby buildingsBYLINE: Ulrik Danneskiold-Samsøe, Uffe Degn and José Luis Eguiguren*BYLINE: * Ulrik Danneskiold-Samsøe is Marketing ...
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Metros
Australia: The first of 11 Bombardier Flexity trams entered service in Adelaide last month. Six will be running by April, and the rest of the A$58m fleet at the end of the year.Brazil: São Paulo has called international tenders for a 30-year PPP concession covering metro Line 4. The first ...
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Spanish projects make progress
SPANISH INFRASTRUCTURE authority ADIF has awarded the last civil works contract for the Córdoba - M
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Investing in Talgo
ON DECEMBER 22 Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking and MCH Private Equity announced investment in a capital increase in Patentes Talgo SA.Purchase of shares from the Oriol family and corporate restructuring will give LBMB a direct and indirect voting equity stake of 49·9%. The transaction is expected to close in the ...
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Intermodal sale
SYDNEY-based Babcock & Brown has acquired Swiss intermodal operator Crossrail AG, with all shares and staff transferred on January 1.Crossrail was the brand name used since January 2004 for unaccompanied intermodal services operated by the Logistics & Freight Traffic business of Burgdorf-based Regionalverkehr Mittelland. This included five trains a week ...
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Independent review
LLOYD’S REGISTER Rail carried out an independent review of Hong Kong MTR’s asset management practices in 2005, after public concern about high-profile incidents.Asset management was assessed through verification of processes and inspection of asset condition, with the international cross-sector BSI PAS 55 asset management standard as a benchmark. Maintenance ...
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Leased locos to work HSL-Zuid
FACED WITH the prospect of having no ETCS-equipped trainsets available to operate the Antwerpen - Rotterdam - Amsterdam high speed line when it opens on July 1 2007 (RG 9.05 p519), HSL-Zuid concessionaire High Speed Alliance has decided to start with loco-hauled trains.On December 23 HSA signed an agreement to ...
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‘Investment will be of historic proportions’
INTRO: Unprecedented levels of investment are transforming Spain’s national railway with new high speed lines and a huge rolling stock acquisition programme. Robert Preston put the questions to Renfe Operadora President José SalgueiroPreston: What were Renfe’s results for 2005 and what are its financial targets for 2006?Salgueiro: One key fact ...
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Heavy haul study
AUSTRALIAN mining group Murchison Metals Ltd announced on December 22 that it had reached a preliminary agreement for ’industrial partners’ to undertake a feasibility study for a 380 km heavy haul railway in Western Australia.The line would link the Jack Hills deposits to a new port at Okajee, 23 ...