All Railway Gazette International articles in June 1998
All articles published this month.
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News
Underground split could cost £1bn
AN EXTRAORDINARY conflict of evidence emerged when a committee of MPs questioned Managing Director of London Underground Denis Tunnicliffe and ex-Chairman of London Transport Peter Ford - sacked by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott on April 17 (p376).Tunnicliffe was asked on April 29 for LU’s reaction to the ’public-private partnership’ ...
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News
Thameslink every 15min
BRITISH Train Operating Company Thameslink Rail relaunched its cross-London service as two distinct service groups with the summer timetable on May 24, with a simplified 15min interval service pattern for most stations outside peak hours. Bedford - Brighton services via Gatwick Airport have been branded City Flyer, and Luton - ...
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News
Talgo and Adtranz to build 350 km/h prototype
SPANISH rolling stock supplier Patentes Talgo SA announced on April 23 that its President, José Luis de Oriol, had signed an accord with Adtranz Executive Vice-President Heinz Cronimund for the joint development, construction and marketing of a prototype trainset suitable for operation at 300 to 350 km/h. Talgo will invest ...
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News
Porterbrook raises £363m to fund MU orders
BRITISH rolling stock company Porterbrook Leasing has put together a package to fund over 400 new vehicles. It includes a £273m securitisation arranged by Union Bank of Switzerland and a £90m corporate facility from UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland. The European Investment Bank is lending £110m (Ecu170m), and the ...
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News
IC/IR98 boost
Passsenger services in Belgium increased by 8% with the start of the summer timetable on May 24. Introduction of I11 loco-hauled coaches and AM96 EMUs has allowed SNCB to restructure several inter-city and inter-regional routes.Dual-system AM96 units have expanded cross-border routes from Lille, with regular-interval services to Oostende, Antwerpen and ...
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News
CD trials AC coaches
CAPTION: SGP and MSV Studénka have delivered nine of these Ampz first-class coaches to Czech Railways for test running. The 200 km/h pressure-sealed and air-conditioned vehicles were ordered in 1995 for Kc398m (RG 10.95 p621), along with 26 second-class cars; all will be in service in IC and EC trains ...
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News
Forcing open access
SHORTLY before Europe’s environment and transport ministers convened in Chester in April, the European Commission issued a discussion document on open access. The latest proposals emanating from Brussels envisage that Europe’s railways must offer 5% of the rail freight market to new entrants, with this proportion rising in stages over ...
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News
Accessibility regulations start to firm up
INTRO: Richard Armitage reports on progress with drawing up and implementing regulations governing accessibility to public transport and rail vehicles in Europe. In Britain, Rail Accessibility Regulations requiring all new main line rolling stock to be accessible to wheelchairs will come into force on December 31MUCH of COST335, the Europe-wide ...
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News
Chinese agenda
HUGE EFFORTS are being made this month to knit together a complex patchwork of finance deals and partnerships that would allow the US$17bn build-operate-and-transfer deal for the 345 km Taipei - Kaohsiung high speed line to go ahead. If it does, Taiwan High Speed Rail Consortium will be launched on ...
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JFK rail link to go ahead
NOTICE TO PROCEED with design, and construction of a fully automated light metro serving New York’s John F Kennedy International was issued by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey on May 5. The Board of Commissioners had selected the AirRail Transit Consortium of Skanska USA, Bombardier Transit ...
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News
Miami airport rail link opens
Tri-Rail opened a commuter rail station at Miami International Airport on April 27, following its dedication by US Transportation Secretary Rodney E Slater on April 9. The project cost $18m and included 1·6 km of track linking the existing line to the airport. A 4min ride on a bus shuttle ...
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News
Airport Express brings the plane to town
INTRO: MTR Corporation’s Airport Railway will open next month to connect the centre of Hong Kong with Chek Lap Kok. The aim has been to make the link an extension of the airport, achieving seamless rail-air integrationBYLINE: Jack C K SoChairmanMTR CorporationON July 6 MTR Corporation will begin operating its ...
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GEC Alsthom scoops West Coast signalling
Railtrack’s Commercial Director, Richard Middleton, named GEC Alsthom on May 15 as preferred bidder for a contract to develop, test and install on the West Coast main line transmission-based signalling conforming to Level 3 of the European Train Control System. He expected a contract worth ’between £0·5bn and £1bn’ to ...
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News
Passenger numbers increase in North America
VIA RAIL Canada’s annual report, released on April 22, revealed increased ridership and reduced government subsidy for 1997. Passenger revenue increased to C$179m, 7% higher than in 1996, while government funding fell to C$229m, of which C$196m was for operating expenses; operating subsidy should drop further to C$178m this year.Amtrak’s ...
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News
München - Augsburg quadrupling work begins
DESPITE driving rain, ceremonies were held on May 4 in the Bavarian town of Kissing to mark the start of work on four-tracking of German Railway's trunk line between München and Augsburg. Taking part were the Federal Finance Minister Dr Theo Waigel, Bavarian President Dr Edmund Stoiber and DB Board ...
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News
Wisconsin sets the pace in Europe and Australasia
INTRO: Ed Burkhardt’s vision of how rail can win freight and make profits is capturing enthusiastic converts in some unlikely places, as Richard Hope discovered ED BURKHARDT is unique. That often overworked adjective is justified by the fact that nobody else has hands-on experience of carrying freight profitably by rail ...
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Ballast cleaners handle higher volumes
TRACK MAINTENANCE engineers from Russia, Bulgaria and Austria are gather beside a siding in the outskirts of the Austrian city of Linz. In front of them stretches a combination of track maintenance machines gleaming in fresh yellow paint.Focus of interest is an RM801 ballast cleaner just completed in Plasser ...
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Swiss ’ready to start’ on Gotthard base tunnel
ON MAY 8 Swiss Federal Railways issued a statement saying that ’the Gotthard base tunnel is ready for construction to begin’. Four days later it announced the founding of AlpTransit Gotthard AG with start-up capital of SFr5m to plan and build the 57 km tunnel.Both announcements followed the conclusion of ...
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Best practice wins the passengers
INTRO: Continuing growth in air traffic is offering the rail mode more opportunities to develop high quality links to airports. With several launches this year and more in 1999, railways are taking advantage of their ability to provide fast and comfortable service. Freight links too are poised to take off ...
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News
Briztram bidding
THE QUEENSLAND government has invited expressions of interest for a concession to finance, design, build, operate and maintain a light rail network in Brisbane, costed at A$230m. Bids are due by June 16.The government confirmed in May that it had selected a preferred route for the 14 km initial line. ...