All Railway Gazette International articles in January 2003 – Page 3

  • News

    Break-up delayed

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    PLANS TO restructure Austrian Federal Railways have been gestating for years, but until now no transport minister has been prepared to grasp the nettle. In mid-December plans surfaced for a dramatic restructuring programme, together with suggestions that it could be rushed through parliament before Christmas so that the first stage ...

  • R160 metro car.
    News

    Subway contract won with help from Brazil

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    Alstom signed a contract on October 31 to supply MTA New York CityTransit with 660 cars to the R160 design. Options could add another 1040 cars

  • News

    Block trains revised

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    GERMAN Railway’s freight arm DB Cargo is relaunching its unit train business from January 1, in an attempt to fight back against the growing number of open access carriers now operating in Europe. The package was announced on November 25, having been drawn up in detail following DB’s decision to ...

  • News

    PPP bidders indemnified

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    THE LONG-RUNNING battle between the government and London’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone, over the Public-Private Partnership for London Underground’s infrastructure took another twist on December 4. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced that the preferred bidders for the three infrastructure companies (Infracos) and their financial backers would be offered ’an indemnity against ...

  • News

    International best practice supports local experience

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    INTRO: Keolis is now operating more than a dozen urban and regional rail services in five European countries. Drawing on local expertise and partnerships, the group is seeking to spread best practice between contracts and franchises with very different structures and levels of risk transferBYLINE: Bruno Auger and Benoît Chevalier ...

  • News

    Benelux metro line inaugurated

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    INTRO: Harry Hondius reports from RotterdamON NOVEMBER 4 the Dutch Minister of Transport formally opened the 11·8 km Benelux extension of the Rotterdam metro network. The route is worked as an extension of the Caland line from Marconiplein through Schiedam Centrum and the Benelux tunnel under the Nieuwe Maas river ...

  • News

    Separation benefits

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    IN CONTRAST to the separation of infrastructure and operations prevalent in Europe, a slightly different kind of split is planned in Israel. Under an agreement reached by the economic committee of the Knesset, within the next six months Israel Railways Ltd may be established as an independent state-owned company separated ...

  • News

    ZSR restructuring bears fruit

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    INTRO: The transformation of Slovak Railways from a single organisation into two joint-stock companies has seen new contractual relationships established with the state. Progress in the first year includes a smaller payroll and a long-needed boost in investment BYLINE: Ing Ladislav DimunDeputy Director-General, Technical Development,Slovak Republic RailwaysEXACTLY ONE year ago, ...

  • News

    Generator bearings

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    AMONG products unveiled at Railtex 2002 in Birmingham was an integrated generator bearing (below). Two versions have been designed, one rated at 5W and another at 100W. Schweinfurt-based FAG, now owned by INA, originally developed the high-power version as part of the Febis project to test EP braking on freight ...

  • News

    Balancing the risks in København

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    Bids were received last month for construction of Phase 3 of the København Metro. Andrew Grantham finds that the tendering process has drawn on the experience of the many different parties involved in the first two phases of the project

  • News

    Dinant - Athus electrified

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    On November 20 Belgian National Railways officially reopened the 130 km Dinant - Athus line to freight, after an eight-year programme of reconstruction and electrification. The line speed has been raised to 120 km/h, offering a 28min journey time saving for passenger trains worked by Class 41 DMUs. The line ...

  • News

    Doors for Athens

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    ATTIKO Metro cars being built in South Korea are to have external sliding plug door panels, controls and peripherals from Vapor Rail. Doors for 126 vehicles will be provided by the Montréal-based subsidiary of Wabtec Corp under a US$6m contract with Korean rolling stock builder Rotem. The cars will boost ...

  • News

    Movia cars arrive in Guangzhou

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    The first of 154 Movia metro vehicles being built for Guangzhou Line 2 were flown to China in November

  • News

    Another Belgian compromise

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    ROYAL OPENING of the 63 km Leuven - Ans high speed line on December 10 (p7) foreshadowed the launch five days later of faster Thalys services between Brussels and K

  • News

    Anchors away

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    NORTH DOWNS Tunnel on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link has a sprayed concrete primary lining, with a waterproof membrane fixed to the outer shell. This is held in place by over 800000 CR930T nails with 800mm PVC washers supplied by ITW Construction Products.The tunnel’s fire main is supported by 18000 ...

  • News

    Alstom wins BNSF deal

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    BURLINGTON Northern Santa Fe has awarded a contract worth US$420m to Alstom for maintenance of 434 locomotives over a period of 12 years. Signed on November 4, the deal covers the maintenance of SD70MAC locomotives supplied by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. The locos will be maintained at the ...

  • News

    Airport extension will transform BART patronage

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    INTRO: With ridership forecast to grow by 20%, the long-awaited opening of the Bay Area Rapid Transit extension to San Francisco International Airport is expected to usher in the most significant reordering of travel patterns since BART carried its first passengers in 1972. William D Middleton reportsDUE TO OPEN within ...

  • News

    Cost-cutting and more subsidy are back on the agenda

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    THE WINDOW of opportunity for major long-term investment in the UK’s railways is closing fast. The string of badly-needed infrastructure projects that would relieve bottlenecks and expand the business is being pushed aside - we understand that the Strategic Rail Authority’s updated Strategic Plan due this month is unlikely to ...

  • News

    Line 5 awaits traffic surge

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    INTRO: All-day service is being launched on Line 5 of the São Paulo metro, but the line will not reach its full potential until it reaches the city centre. Murray Hughes reports from Brazil’s largest cityGIVEN THAT 18·1 million people live in the São Paulo metropolitan area, three metro lines ...

  • News

    Systra wins Delhi Line 3

    2003-01-01T11:00:00Z

    IN THE run-up to opening of the first section of Line 1 at the end of last month, on December 9 Delhi Metro Rail Corp named Systra SA as design and project management contractor for Line 3. Design of the 23 km route has been split into two contracts, which ...