All Railway Gazette International articles in January 2008 – Page 3

  • News

    People in the News

    2008-01-12T06:48:00Z

    The general assembly of the Community of European Railway & Infrastructure Companies has confirmed the appointment of Netherlands Railways Chief Executive Aad Veenman to a second term as Chairman. CEO of Slovak infrastructure manager ZSR, Dalibor Zeleny, was elected Vice-Chairman, while Antoine Hurel, Deputy CEO of Veolia Transport, and Mauro ...

  • News

    Chennai suburban expansion

    2008-01-11T06:30:00Z

    MRTS suburban services in Chennai have been extended from Tiruvanmiyur to Velachery, following inauguration of the line by Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister Dr Kalaignar M Karunanidhi on November 19. Completed as Phase II of the MRTS project, the 11 km extension has cost Rs7·7bn to build. The broad-gauge line is ...

  • News

    Brenner base tunnel wins TEN-T funding

    2008-01-11T05:00:00Z

    RAIL projects have secured nearly 75% of the €5·1bn of funds which the European Commission has allocated to support Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) projects in 2007-13. Among the largest allocations announced by Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot on November 21 is €786m towards the cost of studies and works for the ...

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    News

    Vision of US passenger growth

    2008-01-10T06:14:00Z

    AMBITIOUS PROPOSALS for expansion of inter-city passenger services in the USA were unveiled in Washington DC on December 6. The 'Vision for the Future' report calls for investment of $357·2bn between now and 2050. The report was compiled by a working party formed of state transport authorities and regional rail ...

  • News

    Charlotte Lynx launched

    2008-01-10T05:23:00Z

    REVENUE SERVICES on the 15·4 km Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte, North Carolina, began on November 26, following a formal dedication ceremony with local officials a week earlier. Charlotte Area Transit System offered free rides over the weekend of November 24-25, attracting more than 100 000 people, and leading to ...

  • News

    Sweden - Germany through freight launched

    2008-01-09T11:59:00Z

    HECTOR Rail began operating through freight trains between Sweden and Germany via the Øresund bridge and Denmark on January 4. The Swedish-based open access operator is running five trains a week between Norrköping and Herne in the Ruhr area under a contract signed with Dutch logistics firm Van Dieren Maritime ...

  • News

    Freight standards need updating

    2008-01-09T11:22:00Z

    ANY COMPARISON of the prevailing technologies on both sides of the North Atlantic will demonstrate how inadequate are today's rail freight operations in Europe. Let us overlook for now the continuing problem of pathing priorities, which still sees premium freight trains playing second fiddle to secondary passenger services. The low ...

  • News

    Cross-acceptance moves closer

    2008-01-09T06:24:00Z

    DRAFT legislation to recast the Technical Specifications for Interoperability in a revised directive has been agreed by the European Parliament. In a first reading on December 11, MEPs voted by a large majority to accept the proposals, the key objective of which is to streamline acceptance procedures for traction and ...

  • News

    SCT Logistics locos on test

    2008-01-08T15:47:00Z

    CURRENTLY undergoing acceptance trials in Australia are the first of 11 GT46Ce locomotives ordered from Downer EDI Rail by SCT Logistics for use on Melbourne - Perth freight services. Photo: Mark Carter The first private interstate rail freight operator, SCT currently hauls around one-third of Australia's east-west traffic, using ...

  • News

    Work starts on Wehrhahn line

    2008-01-08T08:37:00Z

    FOUR shovels were driven simultaneously into the earth at a construction site in the centre of Düsseldorf on November 28 when Mayor Joachim Erwin and Nordrhein-Westfalen Land State Secretary Günter Kozlowski, accompanied by two senior city transport officials, marked the start of work on the Wehrhahn U-Bahn line. The 3·4 ...

  • News

    Energy challenge will drive traction policy

    2008-01-08T06:57:00Z

    The rail industry must reduce its energy consumption, for both environmental reasons and to contain the increasing cost of energy. Alternative fuels offer few advantages, and the best option may be to capitalise on strategies being adopted by the electricity generation industry to reduce carbon emissions, suggests Professor Roger Kemp

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    News

    First Flirt to Algeria

    2008-01-08T05:41:00Z

    STADLER has begun rolling out 64 four-car Flirt EMUs ordered by SNTF for Alger suburban services at a cost of SFr600m. Top speed of the 25 kV 50 Hz standard gauge units is 120 km/h, and deliveries will run until the end of 2010.

  • København Metro
    News

    Milanese run København Metro

    2008-01-08T05:18:00Z

    WITH EFFECT from January 1, the København Metro is being managed by Inmetro Srl, a newly-formed joint venture of Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari (49%) and Milano urban transport operator Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (51%). The Danish capital's automatic metro has been run by the Metro Service consortium of Ansaldo STS and ...

  • Traxx under construction.
    News

    Traxx locomotive family meets European needs

    2008-01-07T06:26:00Z

    Rapid liberalisation of Europe's rail sector, and an associated increase in cross-border operations, is challenging operators and suppliers to rethink locomotive design. The flexibility of the Traxx locomotive platform meets a wide range of requirements, and no fewer than 1 226 locomotives have been ordered to date

  • VIA Rail train with LRC cars.
    News

    VIA loco rebuild contract

    2008-01-07T05:53:00Z

    ON DECEMBER 12 VIA Rail Canada announced it had awarded a C$101·5m contract for the rebuilding of its fleet of GM-built F40 diesel locos over five years. The project is being funded under a C$691·9m investment package announced by the government on October 11 (RG 11.07 p673), and will see ...

  • News

    Graz S-Bahn launched

    2008-01-07T05:40:00Z

    AMBITIOUS plans to increase local rail travel by 10 000 trips a day came to fruition on December 7 when the first stage of a S-Bahn network was launched in the Austrian city of Graz. Hourly, half-hourly or quarter-hourly trains run on routes to Bruck an der Mur, Übelbach, Köflach, ...

  • News

    Le Mans light rail takes off

    2008-01-06T05:17:00Z

    LE MANS Metropole inaugurated light rail services on November 17 as the French city became the latest in a growing club to have opened a modern tram system in recent years. Le Mans' network consists of a principal route of 12·6 km from the university in the northwest to a ...

  • News

    Freight crosses the Korean divide

    2008-01-05T05:01:00Z

    DECEMBER 11 saw the first commercial freight service cross the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea when a train loaded with construction materials from Munsan in the south reached an industrial complex at Kaesong in the north. It returned south carrying footwear and clothing. Operation of the train followed ...

  • Train.
    News

    China rolls out 300 km/h trainset

    2008-01-04T14:38:00Z

    THE FIRST Chinese-built high speed trainset capable of 300 km/h operation was rolled out at Sifang Locomotive works on December 22. The design is derived from East Japan Railway's E2-1000 Shinkansen trains, and follows from a batch of 60 CRH2 sets developed by a Kawasaki-led consortium and assembled by Sifang ...

  • News

    Railion brand dropped

    2008-01-04T10:11:00Z

    GERMANY'S national rail operator launched a fresh identity for its freight, passenger and infrastructure businesses last month. The Railion brand has been discarded in favour of DB Schenker, which more accurately reflects the organisation of the freight and logistics business. Passenger services will operate under the DB Bahn brand, while ...