All Railway Gazette International articles in July 2006
All articles published this month.
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News
UltraCaps win out in energy storage
Richard Hope explains how double-layer capacitors have broken through the economic barriers to capturing braking energy on a Mannheim light rail vehicle
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News
Upgrade underway
MAY 25 saw the start of upgrading work on the initial 37·7 km section of the Plovdiv - Svilengrad line in Bulgaria.Reconstruction and electrification of the section from Krumovo on the outskirts of Plovdiv as far as Parvomai is being project managed by Greek contractor Tema SA. Local firm Rubicon ...
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NewsSpotting trouble
USA: BNSF Railway is enlisting railway enthusiasts to help prevent attacks by terrorists and others bent on disrupting the transport network. Since the September 11 attacks, some enthusiasts have complained of harassment by railway police while taking photos of trains and otherwise enjoying their hobby, despite enthusiast groups arguing ...
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News
Victoria to spend
PROPOSALS to invest more than A$3bn in the state rail network over the next 10 years were announced by Victoria Premier Steve Bracks and Transport Minister Peter Batchelor on May 17. The Transport & Liveability Statement envisages investment totalling A$10·5bn; it provides A$2·9bn for rail improvements and A$200m for level ...
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News
Singer success
EARLY results from the Singer project were announced in Ljubljana on June 8. The Slovenian Intermodal Gateway to European Rail project is being supported for the first two years by the EU’s Marco Polo programme (RG 11.04 p728). The aim is to develop ’an international network of unaccompanied services’ between ...
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News
To Toronto with reluctance
AN ELECTRO-DIESEL works locomotive being built for the Toronto Transit Commission by ARVA Industries will feature switched reluctance drive from the Drive Systems Group of Texas-based company LeTourneau. According to the US firm the Toronto locomotive will be first to use switched reluctance motors. These have coils in the stator ...
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News
Railbus refurbishment
THE FIRST Czech Railways Class 814/914 two car-DMU to be rebuilt from a Class 810 by Pars Nova Sumperk re-entered service between Otrokovice, Zlín and Vizovice on May 25. Branded ’Regionova’, the unit is the first series rebuild, following on from a prototype completed last September (RG 12.05 p757).The cars ...
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News
Research progresses together
IF THERE WAS any doubt that a great deal of research is still being undertaken into the rail mode, this was rapidly dispelled by the seventh World Congress on Railway Research on June 5 - 9. Over 750 delegates from more than 40 countries assembled in Montréal to debate several ...
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News
Pointers
Head of Jordan’s Executive Privatisation Authority Dr Mohammad Abu Hamour said last month that Aqaba Railway Corp will be privatised within the next year.China has completed a feasibility study for a 340 km railway linking Dali in Yunnan province with Ruili on the border with Myanmar. Work could begin shortly ...
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News
Procurement plans in question
SHOCK WAVES reverberated around the North American metro industry in June with the resignation of Rick Ducharme as Chief General Manager of Toronto Transit Commission.Quitting the week after a strike shut down the city’s metro and tram networks, Ducharme blamed political interference. He singled out TTC Chairman Howard Moscoe for ...
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News
People
The General Assembly of European Rail Infrastructure Managers has appointed head of Network Rail’s European Affairs Department Michael Robson to succeed Marc Falchi as EIM Secretary-General. His three-year term begins on September 1.Kang Gil-Hyun of Korail has been elected Chairman of the WCRR Organising Committee, in succession to Roy Allen, ...
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News
NEWS
SBB Cargo restructured its domestic wagonload services on May 29. The Fokus project cuts the number of locations served to 323, which SBB says retains 96% of traffic with around 5150 wagons handled every day; services are also provided to 90 depots on Switzerland’s independent railways. SBB Cargo no longer ...
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News
product NEWS
Waving its ’legs’ like an giant insect above visitors to the VDEI show in Münster (RG 6.06 p339) was the Menzi Muck A91 4x4 Plus road-rail machine. Each road wheel is on an independently-movable hydraulic leg, and with the aid of spiked supports and its jib the machine can climb ...
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News
A procurement strategy to transform Russia's motive power
A programme has been launched to develop modern motive power to replace Russia’s ageing traction fleet. Boris Lukov reports on a strategic agreement between Russian Railways and Transmash Holding Group that will see hundreds of new locomotives of up to 14 types delivered over the next five years
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News
Mumbai Metro underway
INDIAN Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh formally laid the foundation stone for the first line of the Mumbai Mass Rapid Transit System in a ceremony at Vikhroli on June 21. Construction of the 11 km Versova - Andheri - Ghatkoper route is expected to get underway in October, following the ...
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News
Madrid LRT tenders
THE MADRID REGIONAL government has invited bids for two 30-year concessions to build, operate and maintain three light rail feeder routes in the Spanish capital. One contract, for which a budget of €292·9m has been set, covers the 5·4 km route from Pinar de Charmartín to Las Tablas. The second, ...
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News
US loco market still a two-horse race
As the domestic market booms, North American locomotive builders Electro-Motive Diesel and General Electric are striving to meet their customers' demands for ever-higher availability and reliability with a relatively narrow range of rugged, standardised products. David Lustig reports
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News
IRIS sets the quality standard
Dipl-Ing Guido Huke, Managing Director of Railistics GmbHDipl-Ing Jörg Friedel is responsible for quality management consultancy MAY 18 saw the formal introduction of a new set of international standards for the rail industry, allowing equipment manufacturers to apply to a certification body of their choice rather than go through direct ...
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News
Interiors segment proves popular
INTRO: More than 100 exhibitors reserve display space in Hall 6.2THE’Interiors’ segment being launched at InnoTrans 2006 is already proving to be a great success. Well over 100 exhibitors have registered to take part - half of them from outside Germany - filling to capacity the 6000 m2 allocated in ...
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News
Rift Valley hold-up
FURTHER delays seem inevitable before the Sheltam-led Rift Valley Railways consortium achieves financial close for its 25-year concession to operate the Ugandan rail network.Following a legal challenge by two former members of the consortium, Judge Egonda Ntende of Kampala Commercial Court ruled last month that 25% of the consortium’s shares ...