All Railway Gazette International articles in February 2008 – Page 2

  • News

    Inspection and recording train

    2008-02-21T05:15:00Z

    SPANISH infrastructure authority ADIF has named its high speed inspection and recording train 'Seneca' in honour of the Roman philosopher who was born in Córdoba around 4 BC. Comprising one 4000 kW power car, three cars and a driving trailer, it has already reached a speed of 363 km/h ...

  • News

    Australia looks to Europe for train control technology

    2008-02-21T04:56:00Z

    RailCorp is considering ETCS Level 1 to improve safety and create additional capacity on the increasingly-congested network around Sydney. A trial to evaluate how ETCS can best be adapted for the Australian environment is now underway in the Blue Mountains

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    News

    Veolia buys Rail4chem

    2008-02-20T10:49:00Z

    GERMANY: Rail4chem is to be sold to Veolia Cargo, the shareholders of the Essen-based private freight operator announced on February 20. Subject to regulatory approval, the transaction will be completed in the first half of 2008. The parties have agreed not to disclose the price. Rail4chem will be merged with ...

  • News

    Finance February 2008

    2008-02-20T05:46:00Z

    Canada: The Regional & Remote Passenger Rail Services programme is providing C$4·2m to support Algoma Central Railway passenger services to otherwise inaccessible areas between Sault Ste Marie and Hearst until April 2009. Montréal transport authority STM has unveiled a C$1·5bn capital spending plan for 2008-10, allocating C$942m to the metro ...

  • News

    All-night party people

    2008-02-20T05:11:00Z

    FOLLOWING the withdrawal of the last domestic sleeping car services in France with the December timetable change, SNCF has launched a campaign to promote overnight rail travel. Among the strategies to tempt the 18 to 30 age range back to the rails is the Overnight Party Train, offering ...

  • News

    Pointers February 2008

    2008-02-19T06:10:00Z

    Iranian national railway RAI plans to call tenders this month for the electrification of the Tehran - Mashhad line, along with the supply of 70 electric locomotives. Lithuania's Ministry of Transport & Communications is developing a proposal to seek EU assistance to upgrade the 104 km Vilnius - Kainas line. ...

  • News

    European Rail Agency 'driven by the imperative of competitiveness'

    2008-02-19T05:43:00Z

    Established to advise the European Commission and co-ordinate technical specifications for interoperability and safety, the European Railway Agency has increasingly become a hub for communication within the railway industry. Chris Jackson talks to Executive Director Marcel Verslype

  • News

    Best practice in safety

    2008-02-19T05:42:00Z

    ERA's first biennial report on railway safety is due to be published in the spring of 2008, and will - for the first time - bring together safety data from Europe's railways on a comparable basis. 'Everyone said "railways are safe", but no-one could prove it', comments the Head ...

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    News

    An open passenger market beckons

    2008-02-19T05:42:00Z

    The European market for international passenger services will be opened up to competition from January 2010. Murray Hughes investigates what preparations are being made

  • News

    Grappling with the challenges of ERTMS

    2008-02-19T05:41:00Z

    THE DECISION in the TSI to make ERA the Systems Authority for the European Rail Traffic Management System was clearly a pragmatic move, although one that was not intended when the agency was set up. 'Of course, ETCS was a long-standing project before ERA was formed', says Pio Guido, ...

  • News

    Eight aspects of interoperability

    2008-02-19T05:41:00Z

    MORE THAN a quarter of ERA's permanent staff work in the Interoperability Unit, dealing with the TSIs and other technical aspects, as laid down in articles 12 to 19 of the ERA's founding regulation (Table I). Interoperability Adviser Kai Brandstack says ERA is co-operating closely with the various European and ...

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    News

    VTG buys into US leasing market

    2008-02-19T05:35:00Z

    HAMBURG-based wagon leasing company VTG has announced its entry into the North American market with the acquisition of Texas Railcar Leasing Co. An agreement was reached with the family-owned business in December, with the transaction expected to be completed early this year. Financial terms were not disclosed. Founded 20 years ...

  • News

    AMT orders commuter cars

    2008-02-18T06:09:00Z

    CANADA: Montréal transport authority AMT has placed a C$386m order with sole bidder Bombardier for 160 double-deck commuter coaches. The base order was for 30 cars with options for 130, but the provincial government exercised all the options immediately. The province is meeting 75% of the cost, and deliveries will ...

  • News

    Intelligence February 2008

    2008-02-18T05:39:00Z

    Austria: ÖBB has unveiled the first of 12 coaches that have been rebuilt as multi-purpose cars with a compartment for disabled passengers; seats in the compartment convert into berths for use on overnight trains. Canada: CN has agreed to purchase the Athabasca Northern Railway serving the oil sands of northern ...

  • News

    Le Mans light rail

    2008-02-16T15:35:00Z

    Letter to the Editor

  • News

    Selling 5 000 tickets at once

    2008-02-16T05:21:00Z

    CHINA'S Ministry of Railways is revamping the country's national railway ticketing and seat reservation system using technology from Sybase, the company which supplied a previous generation of ticketing databases in 1996. The upgraded system will be able to handle more than 4½ million ticket sales a day, with 5 000 ...

  • News

    Metrolink contract

    2008-02-16T05:19:00Z

    Letter to the Editor

  • News

    News in Brief

    2008-02-15T06:42:00Z

    US manufacturer MotivePower rolled out its first low-emission genset locomotive at its plant in Boise, Idaho, on January 22. Designated MP21B, the 2 100 hp Bo-Bo demonstrator is powered by three Cummins QSK-19 engines and equipped with Wabtec's Q-Tron QES III microprocessor-based control system. After commissioning on the Idaho Northern ...

  • News

    São Paulo metro automates

    2008-02-15T05:06:00Z

    SIEMENS is leading a consortium that has been selected by MetroQuatro to provide control systems and communications equipment for São Paulo Line 4, which will become the first automated metro in South America. The 12·4 km line from Luz to Vila Sõnia is currently under construction and is due to ...