All Railway Gazette International articles in January 2004
All articles published this month.
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News
Ticketless Thalys
THALYS is to introduce paperless ticketing for frequent-traveller card holders. From early 2004 regular passengers will be able to book over the internet or by telephone, simply presenting their chipcards during ticket checks, according to General Manager Frank Bernard. In addition, the Thalys trainsets will have Wi-Fi servers for on-board ...
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News
Wheel/Rail Safety
Edited by Professor Roger LundénTHIS October 2003 special edition (Volume 26, Number 10) of the monthly journal Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structure contains 15 articles on research into the wheel-rail interface, with a particular emphasis on the rail. Three introductory articles provide an overview of rail defects, ...
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News
Pre-cast platforms
STATION platforms can be assembled quickly and easily using the Fast Build range of pre-cast components recently launched by Bell & Webster Concrete. The basic parts comprise four identical base units, a platform unit, ground beams and infill panels. These form a 4m by 3m module which can be assembled ...
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News
West Rail opens to passengers
FULL COMMERCIAL service on Hong Kong's West Rail was due to start at 14.00 on December 20, after a formal opening ceremony had taken place that morning at Kam Sheung Road station. KCRC Chairman Michael Tien announced the opening date on December 12 following six weeks of fault-free ghost ...
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Productivity must rise
In a keynote presentation to CEE 2003, Hungarian State Railways’ General Director Zolt
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News
ORR sets NR spending limits
NETWORK Rail must be allowed to spend £22·2bn on operating, maintaining and upgrading the UK’s national network over the next five years, Rail Regulator Tom Winsor ruled on December 12. His decision follows research and consultation by the Office of the Rail Regulator, and provides around £10bn less than NR ...
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News
Letters
Intransigence holds up freight progressSir - You report that Eurotunnel has applied to the French transport ministry for a licence to operate trains in France (RG 11.03 p724), and also that SNCF is reorganising its freight business to be more commercial (RG 12.03 p765). But you make no mention in ...
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ProRail predicts RCF hotspots
INTRO: Analysis of inspection data has enabled ProRail to identify key factors contributing to the development of rolling contact fatigue, and the development of a prediction methodology to help manage the problem more cost-effectivelyBYLINE: Martin Hiensch and Andrew Watson AEA Technology Rail *ROLLING CONTACT FATIGUE is a treacherous phenomenon. It ...
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iQR Hong Kong win
QUEENSLAND Rail launched its international sales and marketing division iQR with the announcement of the railway’s third contract with Hong Kong’s Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp. iQR is a partner in the CHCQ joint venture, which has been awarded an A$36m contract to construct an East Rail branch to Lok Ma Chau ...
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High speed trials and tenders
THE FIRST Class 104 trainsets ordered by Spanish National Railways for high speed regional services (RG 7.03 p415) left the Alstom works at Santa Perpètua de Mogoda near Barcelona at the end of November, bound for La Sagra depot near Toledo and dynamic trials on the Madrid - Sevilla route. ...
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Head-hardened rail put to the test
Voestalpine Schienen and German Railway are carrying out in-track testing of the rolling contact fatigue resistance of head-hardened and as-rolled steel rails, and from this are developing an effective grinding strategy for different rail grades
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Leader will improve train handling
DRIVERS can be informed of the most efficient train handling techniques to achieve the best fuel economy and fastest journey times using Leader, which is undergoing testing by Norfolk Southern. The Locomotive Engineer Assist/Display & Event Recorder was developed by New York Air Brake Corp, and has been fitted to ...
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Guangzhou stations
A NEW station costing up to 5·1bn yuan is planned for the Panyu district of Guangzhou, to handle trains to Beijing. Expected to open in 2020, it will be one of China’s largest rail hubs alongside Shanghai, Beijing and Wuhan. The existing Guangzhou station in Yuexiu is to be closed, ...
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News
Interstate lease releases upgrading funds
NEW SOUTH WALES Transport Minister Michael Costa told around 650 delegates to the AusRail Plus 2003 event in Sydney on November 17 that the state’s rail unions were ’95% of the way’ to agreeing to the lease of interstate track in New South Wales to Australia Rail Track Corp. And ...
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News
ZR upgrade funded
WHAT IS believed to be the first African concession in recent times where the private sector has secured bank finance to upgrade rail infrastructure achieved financial close on December 3. This cleared the way for a joint venture of New Limpopo Project Investments and Spoornet to take over management of ...
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Ferry link launched
CONSTRUCTION work has started for the planned Bohai Sea train ferry linking China’s Shandong and Liaoning provinces (RG 6.02 p285). Being developed at an estimated cost of 2·35bn yuan, the ferry service is expected to start in June 2006.The 147 km sea route between Yantai and Dalian will save up ...
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Sacramento expansion at risk
NEW Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced at the end of November that he planned to cut funding for 140 transport projects across California in a bid to reduce the state’s budget deficit. Among the schemes at risk is the $66m second phase of Sacramento Regional Transit District’s South Corridor light rail ...
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News
End of the phoney war
QUEENSLAND RAIL’S subsidiary Interail has launched a regular container service between Casino in New South Wales and the Port of Brisbane, QR Chief Executive Bob Scheuber told the AusRail conference on November 17. Referring to the imminent arrival of Pacific National on the QR network, Scheuber emphasised that the ’phoney ...
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Météor and Line E extended
TWO SHORT but significant extensions to the Paris urban rail network were officially inaugurated on December 16.The first sees the automated Météor metro Line 14 opened five years ago extended by 487m from Madeleine to St-Lazare at a cost of €128m. As well as providing interchange with SNCF suburban services, ...
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Java doubling
INDONESIAN President Megawati Soekarnoputri participated in celebrations at Cikampek on December 4 to inaugurate double track on a key section of the Javan north coast main line running east from Jakarta. According to Communications Minister Agum Gumelar, doubling the 135 km from Cikampek to Cirebon will raise capacity from 145 ...