All Railway Gazette International articles in January 2002 – Page 3
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NewsNIR staves off closure
UK: Rail services in Northern Ireland look more secure after a ruling by the Northern Ireland Assembly to consolidate rather than shut down the 357 km network. Following a report commissioned by Translink from A D Little, a task force convened by the Assembly carried out public consultation. Four ...
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Weight and comfort dominate seating strategies
INTRO: Quality improvements by rival modes are leading to growing demand from passenger train operators for higher standards of comfort. Marrying this pressure with the need to keep down vehicle weight is spurring innovation among seat manufacturers and component suppliersGREATER COMFORT, more space for passengers, lighter weight and lower cost ...
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Interstate standards coming into line
DESPITE the paucity of Federal funding available, Australia has moved a step closer to achieving uniform standards of speed and axleload on interstate corridors, thus helping freight operators to compete with road. Australian Rail Track Corp announced on December 2 that the two routes for which it is responsible in ...
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JR companies go commercial
THE THREE Japan Railways Group companies operating on Honshu became fully-fledged commercial companies on December 1, when a law change approved by the Diet on June 15 came into force (RG 7.01 p446). The law frees JR East, JR Central and JR West from many state controls, giving them the ...
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TRC concession tender
JANUARY 16 is the deadline for prequalification bids for a 25-year concession to operate the Tanzania Railways Corp network. The Presidential Parastatal Sector Reform Commission issued an initial invitation to tender on December 7, with further details available at www.psrctz.com. According to PSRC Executive Chairman John C Rubambe, prequalified consortia ...
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Suburban concourse open
French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot and SNCF President Louis Gallois joined ceremonies at Paris Nord on November 21 to mark the completion of a new suburban concourse. As part of a Fr257·5m programme to rebuild the suburban section of the station, work began in 1997 to dig a light well ...
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Marina line contract
A CONSORTIUM of Alstom and Singapore Technologies Electronics has been awarded the turnkey contract for supply of electrical and mechanical equipment on the initial section of Singapore’s Marina metro line. The Land Transport Authority hopes to expand the 5·2 km route into a 36 km E-shaped network over nine years, ...
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Regions gain control
LEGISLATION authorising the transfer of financial responsibility for French local rail services to the regions from January 1 was passed on November 28. Until now SNCF’s regional operations have been funded by central government, but this grant will now be paid to the regions, who will decide for themselves how ...
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Coradia order
TRENITALIA has selected Alstom to supply Coradia DMUs and EMUs for use on regional services across Italy. The initial contract covers 36 trainsets, and there are options for up to 110 more EMUs and 90 DMUs to a total value of 650m euros as part of the FS six-year investment ...
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Córdoba - M
ON DECEMBER 15 the Spanish cabinet gave its approval for tenders to be called for civil works on the first three sections of the 153 km Córdoba - M
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Gauge corner cracks
Sir - I suggest that the comparisons made between Europe and North America in the article ’Gauge corner cracking becomes a very dangerous beast’ (RG 12.00 p810) miss the mark in a number of respects. For example, Railtrack has no effective data on rail profiles, nor undertakes effective grinding programmes. ...
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Vertical integrationists emerge from cover
PUBLIC SKIRMISHING has broken out at the start of what promises to be a long battle with the European Commission over the reintegration of operations and infrastructure. The Commission’s policy is based on the premise of intra-modal competition, which presupposes separation to ensure fair access, so the chances of reintegration ...
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Lightweight structures meet tougher crashworthiness standards
INTRO: Aluminium alloy is now the preferred material for passenger coach bodyshells, but recent high-profile accidents have led to concern about its performance in high impact collisions. Both steel and aluminium bodies can meet today’s crashworthiness specifications, but in a high energy collision serious damage cannot be avoidedBYLINE: Simon Leutenegger, ...
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Tunnel freight still crippled
INTERNATIONAL rail freight between Britain and continental Europe is ebbing away as a result of severe restrictions on use of the Channel Tunnel (RG 12.01 p812). These became necessary because large numbers of illegal immigrants were boarding trains waiting to depart from Fréthun yard near the Tunnel portal. Combined Transport ...
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Managing the critical wheel/rail interface
INTRO: Research into the root causes of the Hatfield derailment indicates that the interaction between wear and rolling contact fatigue is the key issue in managing the wheel/rail interface for optimum lifeBYLINE: Ajay Kapoor, Felix Schmid and David Fletcher *OVER THE PAST 20 years, substantial progress has been made in ...
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News‘The situation in Holland is critical’
Seven years after the separation of infrastructure and operations, the punctuality on Netherlands Railways hit a post-1995 low, fuelled by labour and rolling stock shortages. Chris Jackson spoke to NS and the ministry of transport about their recently-agreed five-year recovery plan, which provides for a 23% growth in passenger traffic. New legislation will see the formation of a state-owned infrastructure management company and the award of long-term operating concessions, in a bid to restore quality and support high levels of investment in the rail network.
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Cross-city links
ON HIS second day in office, Strategic Rail Authority Chairman Richard Bowker launched construction work on the Edinburgh Crossrail project on December 4. Joined by Scottish Minister of Transport Wendy Alexander, he participated in ceremonies at Newcraighall station southeast of the capital (below).Backed by £8·5m of Scottish Executive funding, the ...
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Loco support deal
GENERAL MOTORS-EMD has signed an agreement with Häfen & Güterverkehr Köln AG to provide support services to operators using JT42CWR (Series 66) diesel locomotives in mainland Europe. According to GM-EMD’s Director of Maintenance Services in Europe, Jim Lindsay, the partnership ’will harness GM-EMD’s international technical expertise and HGK’s local knowledge’.GM-EMD ...
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Transrapid deal struck
HAVING HAWKED its magnetic levitation technology around the world for 20 years, Transrapid has finally found a buyer. A contract was signed on January 23 between Transrapid International and a consortium led by Shanghai City Council for a 30 km maglev line from Longyang Road in the southeast suburbs of ...
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Towards a total journey design
INTRO: As Netherlands Railways struggles to implement its service recovery plan, attention is focusing on investment in stations and trains to improve the quality of customer service’AS A COMPANY, we have a major challenge’, admits Anton Valk. As Managing Director of the International Business Group at Netherlands Railways, he is ...