All Railway Gazette International articles in January 2001
All articles published this month.
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News
U-Bahn to Simmering
ON DECEMBER 2 the city of Wien celebrated the opening of a 3·1 km extension of metro Line U3. The capital’s Mayor Michael Häupl and Wiener Linien Director-General Günther Grois were joined by other politicians and Austrian pop stars for the celebrations, which also featured the inaugural public run of ...
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News
ZSR to separate
THE SLOVAK government has approved proposals to split the state-owned railway into two separate businesses from April 1 2001. The strategy was agreed by the ZSR board last May, and endorsed by the Transport Ministry in August.Zeleznice Slovenskej Republiky will be transformed into a joint stock company responsible for management ...
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Police state
Safe in civilised Britain, we used to smile patronisingly at reports of train crew hiding after a fatal accident in some third world dictatorship for fear of arrest and harsh interrogation. No longer. The British Transport Police (who only police railways, despite the name) have switched since the mid-1990s from ...
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News
Pointers
n Axor of Canada has signed an agreement with Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels to carry out feasibility studies on a build-operate-transfer approach to the Abu Qir - Misr Station section of the Alexandria metro. The study is being part funded by the Canadian International Development Agency. n On December ...
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News
PEOPLE
Ms Chikage Ogi, head of Japan’s Conservative Party, has been appointed Minister Land, Infrastructure & Transport in the new coalition government which took office on December 5.Sergey N Gapeev has been named acting Vice-Minister at Russia’s Ministry of Railways responsible for passenger traffic, repair and maintenance of carriage stock, following ...
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News
Strategy out of the shadow
THIS MONTH should see publication of a strategic plan for Britain’s national rail network. The Strategic Rail Authority - which is finally dropping its ’shadow’ status following the passing of the Transport Act on November 29 - has substantially redrafted the plan to take account of the post-Hatfield crisis. Part ...
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News
Ohedo opened
JAPANESE Transport Minister Chikage Ogi and Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara joined celebrations at Shinjuku station on December 11 to mark the completion of the capital’s small-profile metro Line 12. Now named the Ohedo line, the 40·7 km route has taken Tokyo Municipal Government Subway (TOEI) 13 years to build at ...
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News
Metros
China: Guangzhou Metro Corp General Manger Lu Guanglin has applied for authority to build the city’s third and fourth lines over the next 10 years, bringing the network to 129·4 km. The 23·3 km Line 2 is due to open in 2003.France: Marseille has approved an urban transport plan envisaging ...
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Market
Australia: The NSW government has appointed CSFB as financial advisor for the sale of FreightCorp. Macquarie Bank is to advise the Commonwealth government on the sale of National Rail.Canada: GO Transit has awarded a C$38m contract to Bombardier for the mid-life refurbishment of 56 bi-level commuter rail coaches and 15 ...
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News
Trolley launch
COLOURFUL ceremonies on November 17 marked the start of construction on San Diego’s $431m Mission Valley East light rail extension. The 9·5 km route will connect the Mission San Diego terminus of the Misson Valley West route to the Orange (El Cajon) line in La Mesa. This is the most ...
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News
Ladies only
IN RESPONSE to increasing numbers of groping assaults on female passengers in Tokyo, Keio Teito Electric Railway has reintroduced women-only carriages. One coach per train will be set aside on nine late night services between the business and entertainment district of Shinjuku and the Tama region of western Tokyo from ...
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News
Jerusalem starts tendering
THIS MONTH is due to see formal tender documents issued to the five consortia shortlisted last year for the build-operate-transfer concession to develop the first light rail lines in Jerusalem (RG 8.00 p462). The Transport Ministry and the Municipality announced at the end of November that preliminary works totalling US$75m ...
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News
INTELLIGENCE
Australia: Wesfarmers and Genesee & Wyoming have set up two subsidiaries to run the recently-acquired Westrail freight business (RG 12.00 p788): operator Australian Western Railroad and infrastructure business WestNet Rail.On December 1 Federal Transport Minister John Anderson announced $20m of funding towards a $57m project to relocate the Melbourne - ...
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News
Industry News
Italian wheelset and rail manufacturer Lucchini has acquired the Adtranz Wheelset business, which has plants in Manchester and Surahammar, Sweden, with the deal effective from November 16. The company plans to invest in modernisation of the business.Siemens Transportation Systems is to invest up to £10m to allow the operation of ...
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News
Industry News
South Africa: Spoornet is to create a new business unit for subsidiary companies, including International Joint Ventures, regional operator Comazar, and a leasing company to exploit locomotive and stock that are surplus to requirements.USA: On November 15 General Electric’s Global eXchange Services launched an internet based business-to-business exchange for the ...
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News
Russians revive high-speed route plans
DECEMBER 3 saw the launch of improved high-speed services between Moscow and St Petersburg, cutting the 650 km trip to 4h 30min. The services will run five days a week, with early morning and evening departures each way targeted at business travel. The move follows the return to service of ...
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News
High speed rail has a vital role to play
MAGNUS PERSSON, Director, Transport Policy, at Swedish State Railways, grabbed the attention of delegates to the International High Speed Railway Conference 2000, co-hosted by Central Japan Railway and West Japan Railway to commemorate the 25th anniversary of through services between Tokyo and Hakata on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen. Persson ...
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News
Night stock goes west
AFTER years lying around in workshops and military depots in various stages of completion, the Channel Tunnel Night Stock is heading for a new home. On December 15 Canadian Transport Minister David Collenette joined Via Rail Chairman & Acting CEO Marc LeFrançois in Montreal to announce that VIA is buying ...
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News
WB funds ZR sale
BIDS are to be called within the next two months for the privatisation of Zambia Railways, following the approval of a World Bank credit in November to fund the cost of restructuring. Following the award of concessions, the bank will provide US$27m through the International Development Association, with a grace ...