All Railway Gazette International articles in July 2004
All articles published this month.
-
News
ARTC prepares to spend $A1·3bn
As forecast in RG 6.04 p317, Australia’s Federal Government published a White Paper on June 4 promising A$11·8bn for land transport spending over the next five years. On the same day, Australian Rail Track Corp signed a 60-year lease under which it takes over management of lines in New South ...
-
News
SLRA to be abolished
SRI LANKAN Transport Minister Felix Perera announced at the end of May that the newly-elected government had decided to abolish the Sri Lanka Railway Authority set up by the previous administration and transfer its powers back to a revitalised Railways Department.Although the legislation creating SLRA was approved in 1993, the ...
-
News
Bombardier accelerates plant closures
BOMBARDIER has announced that it will not re-open its mothballed US rolling stock assembly plant at Barre in Vermont, and is to sell the site.Opened in 1981 to help meet the Buy America requirements of federally-funded US rolling stock contracts, the plant was mothballed in November 2002 on the completion ...
-
News
North-South link accord
THIS MONTH is due to see the publication of proposals for a joint venture which will finance and build a 511 km railway along Iran's Caspian Sea coast, as part of the North-South rail corridor being promoted by Russian Railways. The scheme is being developed by a working group set ...
-
News
Bearing supplier in acquisitive mood
ROLLER bearing manufacturer SKF is ’very interested in acquisitions’ at the moment, according to Gottfried Kure, Marketing Director of the Railway Business Unit. Having acquired bearing reconditioning specialist Rolling Stock Supply & Services in Australia in 2003, the company is looking for similar opportunities to expand.SKF is realigning its strategic ...
-
News
Supersite will advance techniques of wayside monitoring
Developed by the Wayside Monitoring Alliance, the Supersite condition monitoring station is designed to provide comprehensive data on passing wagons, using root cause analysis and predictive maintenance to prevent small defects leading to major problems
-
News
Alstom ruling awaited
The European Commission is expected to announce its verdict on Alstom’s restructuring plan on July 7, two days ahead of the company’s annual general meeting.Discussions on the restructuring of the company have continued since the basis of an agreement was brokered between French Minister of Finance Nicolas Sarkozy and European ...
-
News
Estram arrives in Eskisehir
The Turkish city of Eskisehir will get its first light rail services this month, with the opening of the 16·2 km Estram network
-
News
Athens gears up to face Olympic challenge
Unprecedented levels of investment are being poured into four separate urban rail networks as the Greek capital prepares to host the 28th Olympiad next month. Artemis Klonos reports
-
News
LA awards Gold Line contract
LOS ANGELES Metropolitan Transportation Authority has awarded a $600m contract to Eastside LRT Constructors for construction of the 9·6 km East Los Angeles extension of the Gold Line. The deal was signed by MTA CEO Roger Snoble on June 1, following the approval of a $491m Full Funding Grant Agreement ...
-
News
Toll takes back passenger trains
NEW ZEALAND rail operator Tranz Rail (renamed Toll NZ with effect from June 8) has agreed to buy back control of the country’s inter-city passenger business Tranz Scenic. The move follows an announcement by Toll Managing Director Paul Little that the company had ’changed its mind’ on passenger operations, and ...
-
NewsWinning the RCF battle on the production line
Faster and more frequent train services, higher axleloads and new generations of rolling stock have increased loadings on rails, particularly on curves. Improved manufacturing processes and product development are now focusing on rail head wear, internal fatigue defects and rolling contact fatigue
-
News
Beijing seeks metro funds
UP TO 30% of the funding needed to expand Beijing’s metro network for the 2008 Olympic Games will be raised from the private sector. The city government’s Deputy Director-General of Development & Planning Liu Zhi revealed on May 25 that the city was looking to raise 14·5bn yuan in foreign ...
-
News
Belgrano bidding timetable
THE ARGENTINIAN government was expected to launch officially on June 22 the bidding process for a 79% stake in metre gauge freight operator Belgrano Cargas (RG 5.04 p257). Outline tender documentation was to be made available on June 28, followed by more detailed information on July 18. Bids are to ...
-
News
Upgrade bids rejected
THE MINISTRY OF Transport & Public Works is to invite new bids to upgrade 1114 km of Uruguay’s national network after the two received earlier this year (RG 4.04 p183) were rejected, one on technical grounds and the other on price. Officials hoped to call new bids by mid-July. National ...
-
News
Blue Line extends
AT 06.00 on June 6 Metro Porto began revenue service on the final section of its light rail Blue Line between Trindade and Est
-
News
Walking Stick boosts inspection
DEVELOPED to reduce the need to rely on engineering judgement when inspecting rails, ACFM Walking Stick is a self-contained electromagnetic probe which provides semi-automated ratings of the severity of rail defects.The Walking Stick has been developed by Technical Software Consultant and Balfour Beatty Rail Technologies, which is carrying out field ...
-
News
Industry News in Brief
Corus announced on June 15 that it will invest £20m in its Scunthorpe steelworks in the UK. Addition of a second degassing unit and a third ladle furnace will increase production of rail bloom to 500000 tonnes a year. All bloom for the company’s rail mills at Workington and Hayange ...
-
News
Products in Brief
Weighing 27 kg, the Weldbaby portable 40to 165A welder can be carried to a lineside worksite by one person. Its Honda four-stroke engine has an auto-idle facility and consumes around 1 litre of unleaded petrol per hour. In addition to welding, Weldbaby can be used to supply power to ...