All Railway Gazette International articles in July 2005 – Page 2

  • News

    Renfe plans for growth

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    RENFE President José Salgueiro has unveiled the Spanish national operator’s 2005-09 strategic plan, which forecasts revenue to grow by 79·6% and passenger traffic to increase by 19·3% by 2009. The €5·5bn investment programme for 2005-09 includes €4·05bn for new trains, €746m for rolling stock refurbishment and €322m for maintenance facilities.A ...

  • News

    Following the noses

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    CHINESE train-building joint venture Bombardier Sifang Power and Voith Turbo have signed a technology transfer agreement under which the German firm is to supply 20 noses for use on 200 km/h trainsets to be built in China.The noses will feature retractable couplers, linked to the car body by hollow rubber ...

  • News

    Flood repair funds

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    ON JUNE 13 the Andean Development Corporation signed an agreement to lend the Argentinian government US$35m, which will be used to fund a US$50·8m project to raise a section of ALL-Central’s Buenos Aires - Mendoza main line that has been flooded following a rise in the level of the La ...

  • News

    Reform is imperative, but solutions must be flexible

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    The last 30 years have witnessed an assault on the mid-century template of state-owned national railways prevalent outside North America. Today, the pressure of globalised transport markets is forcing governments to find structures that allow rail to remain competitive without requiring unsustainable subsidies

  • News

    TfL's flagship sets sail

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    THE 20-year old project to extend the East London Line took a decisive step forward last month when Transport for London invited bidders to prequalify for the main infrastructure works contract for Phase 1. Described as the organisation's 'flagship project' by Howard Smith, Chief Operating Officer of TfL London Rail, ...

  • News

    Finance

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    Chile: EFE has secured loans worth a total of US$400m to finance electrification, signalling and telecommunications projects under its US$1bn 2003-05 investment programme. US$72m was raised through a bond issue on the local market.China: In May China Development Bank and China Railway Construction Corp signed an agreement for a 20bn ...

  • News

    Private finance needed

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    CHINESE Railways started construction of its latest dedicated passenger railway on June 12, with a ceremony on the borders of Hebei and Shanxi provinces. Expected to cost 12·6bn yuan, the 189 km route linking the provincial capitals at Shijiazhuang and Taiyuan is predicted to carry 15 million passengers a year ...

  • News

    Heavy haul expertise is there to be mined

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    HAD SOME catastrophe struck Rio de Janeiro on June 13-16, the railway industry would have been deprived of what is arguably the world’s most valuable gathering of railway engineering expertise.Around 600 delegates attended the IHHA’s eighth conference, where around 100 technical papers were presented. The papers, and those from the ...

  • News

    Real work starts at ERA

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    CEREMONIES were held in Valenciennes on June 16 to inaugurate the European Railway Agency, which was created last year to advise the European Commission as part of the Second Railway Package (RG 8.04 p449). ERA Executive Director Marcel Verslype said the event marked the end of the set-up phase and ...

  • News

    Letters to the Editor

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    Rail-sea connections Sir - Dick Fearn is a rail manager held in high regard by his erstwhile customers in several parts of Britain. But his comments about Rosslare in his capacity as Chief Operating Officer of Iarnród Éireann (RG 5.05 p278) are depressing and disappointing. He says 'the boat train ...

  • News

    Stadler wins Dutch GTW order

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    ARRIVA has ordered a fleet of 43 low-floor diesel railcars from Stadler Bussnang to operate a 255 route-km network of secondary lines in the northeastern Netherlands provinces of Friesland and Groningen. The cars are being bought under the terms of a 15-year operating concession which starts in December 2005. Herrenveen-based ...

  • News

    Power dive

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    TRAINS all over Switzerland ground to an untimely halt in the evening peak hour on June 22 when a short circuit in a transmission line triggered a chain reaction that cut all traction power supplies to the Swiss network.The original fault occurred at 17.08 on a transmission line between Amsteg ...

  • News

    Dieter

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    In an effort to reduce road congestion around Amsterdam’s main concert hall and theatre, city transport company GVBis to offer free tram, metro and bus travel to and from performances to holders of concert and theatre tickets

  • News

    Resignalling deal

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    AFTER a lengthy hiatus in awarding major signalling contracts, Network Rail announced on May 24 that it had selected Siemens for a £50m resignalling of the Portsmouth, Fratton and Havant area.Work is due to start this month for completion in 2007. A new centre at Havant will control 131 signals ...

  • News

    Sydney plans cross-harbour tunnel

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    NEW South Wales Premier Bob Carr announced on June 9 that A$8bn would be spent over the next 15 years on construction of a new deep-level north-south tunnel under Sydney’s central business district.The line would continue under the harbour to serve suburbs north of the city that currently rely heavily ...

  • News

    Corridor study

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    THE MINISTRY of Development has called tenders for a preliminary study into creating a ’high performance’ route between the north coast of Spain and the Mediterranean Sea.The proposed route would connect with the high speed line between Barcelona and the French border as well as the proposed central rail crossing ...

  • News

    Monorail contract

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    AFTER NINE months of talks, Seattle Monorail Project announced on June 3 that it had agreed a draft contract worth US$1·6bn for construction of the 22·5 km Green Line between Ballard and West Seattle via the city centre.The privately-financed line is to be designed and built by the Cascadia Monorail ...

  • News

    Rail-sea connections

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    Letter to the Editor

  • News

    Rebuilding the gateway to Coney Island

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: Solar panels are now a distinctive feature of New York City Transit’s Stillwell Avenue station, which has been completely rebuilt by a joint venture of Granite Halmar and Schiavone Construction Co IncBYLINE: Kim BegonjaGranite Halmar/Schiavone joint ventureCONEY Island’s Stillwell Avenue station was opened in 1919, with four island platforms ...

  • News

    Tunnels completed

    2005-07-01T10:00:00Z

    WITH THE WESTERN bore holed through at 12.30 on June 1, tunnelling work has been completed on the 28·4 km Guadarrama tunnel on the Madrid - Valladolid high speed route. Spanish Development Minister Magdalena Álavarez had been on hand when the eastern bore was completed on May 5.The boring of ...