All Railway Gazette International articles in June 1999 – Page 2

  • News

    Tilting ICE launched

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    CAPTION: Land Prime Minister for Baden-Württemberg Erwin Teufel (left), Dr Axel Nawrocki, Director, DB Reise & Touristik (Fernverkehr), Herbert H Steffen of Siemens, Peter Witt of Bombardier DWA, and Dr Johannes Ludewig of DB celebrated the formal presentation of the first tilting ICE at Stuttgart on April 15. They are ...

  • News

    HKL studies western metro

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    HELSINKI City Transport has started discussions with the neighbouring city of Espoo for a possible western extension of its metro beyond the present terminus at Ruoholahti. This would serve the rapidly-growing residential areas in southern Espoo, which have a population of around 280000 and are expected to grow significantly by ...

  • News

    RoadRailer grows

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    JUNE 7 is due to see the start of North America’s first dedicated RoadRailer refrigerated service west of the Mississippi river. Burlington Northern Santa Fe has formed a partnership with Mark VII Transportation Co to operate the Ice Cold Express; a 65-unit train which will run once a week in ...

  • News

    Four shortlisted for HSL Zuid

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    ON MAY 6 the HSL Zuid project office at the Netherlands Ministry of Transport, Public Works & Water Management announced that four consortia had been shortlisted to construct and maintain the Amsterdam - Antwerpen high-speed line. The government is to fund the civil engineering works and a private-sector Infrastructure ...

  • News

    Finance

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    Brazil: Banco Santander Noroeste is to lease 50 locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems of the USA to Ferronorte. The acquisition is being financed by a US$88m long-term loan from US Exim.Czech Republic: The government has raised its budget for upgrading the Decin - Praha - Breclav corridor to KC36·5bn. ...

  • News

    Europe’s rail freight at stake

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    FRENCH National Railways’ policy to go for passenger volume in 1998 was probably correct. Wooing back inter-city passengers by a combination of simpler, more attractive fares and more regular-interval services has paid off, with Grandes Lignes revenue up by nearly 10% and the number of journeys 5·3% higher than in ...

  • News

    UIC hopeful on European freight

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    IT IS EASY to trace the economic fortunes of western Europe in the last half century from the accompanying graph showing tonne-km of rail freight in EU member countries. With passenger-km it is less easy, for the graph shows traffic recovering better than freight after periods of recession. In particular, ...

  • News

    Electrification heads RHK investment

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    ONE RESULT of Finland’s 1995 railway restructuring has been a marked increase in government funds for network development, which RHK Director-General Ossi Niemimuukko says is ’starting to rectify many years of under-investment compared to road spending.’ His top priority is ’bringing the core network up to modern standards’, through track ...

  • News

    Pilbara ore lines ride out Far East recession

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    THOUGH IRON ORE prices were slashed by more than 10% in February, and export volumes fell last year, the three companies in the Pilbara region of Western Australia which together operate the world’s most competitive and efficient heavy haul railways are continuing to expand their potential output. Their expectation is ...

  • News

    Duma ruling

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    FUNDING shortages in Russia are starting to affect the metro networks in major cities. So serious has the situation become that hearings were recently held in the Duma, where members heard that operating costs this year require funds totalling 4·27bn roubles, although the state budget only allocates 850m roubles. The ...

  • News

    JLE reaches the Dome

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    THE FIRST 5·6 km of London Underground’s Jubilee Line Extension was finally opened to passengers on May 14 by British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. He welcomed ’a major milestone on the way towards completion of a brand new tube line that will prove to be a true asset to ...

  • News

    Dolly trolley

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    ON SHOW at the Hannover trade fair this year was a skate designed for dealing quickly with a damaged wheelset. Termed Dolly, the skate is intended to allow a vehicle with a defective wheelset to be moved rapidly to a workshop or depot for repair.A hydraulic jack is used to ...

  • News

    GE to upgrade Indian diesels

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    INDIAN Railways is negotiating a technology transfer agreement with General Electric of the USA for upgrading its fleet of 3000 WDM2 diesel locos, built to an Alco design of the late 1950s. This month IR is due to put into service the first of 20 diesels being supplied by General ...

  • News

    Reform underpins rail development

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: Technical innovation to upgrade equipment and operating practices is being combined with organisational restructuring to prepare Russian Railways for the challenges aheadBYLINE: N E AksyonenkoMinister of Railway TransportRussian FederationRAIL IS THE BACKBONE of Russia’s transport system. It remains the most reliable and least expensive mode, meeting the country’s demand ...

  • News

    Transpatagonian decree issued

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    THE ARGENTINE government issued a decree in April confirming that construction of two long-planned rail links would be ’in the public interest’. This paves the way for the Secretary of Transport to offer concessions to build and operate the Transpatagonico line and the Transandino del Sur corridor linking Bahía Blanca ...

  • News

    Germans to wire Harbin - Dalian

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    CHINA’s Ministry of Railways and the China National Machinery Import & Export Co signed a contract on May 12 with representatives of Adtranz and Siemens for electrification of the 950 km Harbin - Dalian trunk line. Installation of the 25 kV 50Hz equipment is due for completion in mid-August 2001, ...

  • News

    Flange-bearing crossing diamonds offer improved performance

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: Trials at the AAR Transportation Technology Centre have found that flange-bearing crossings which reduce wheel impact loadings have the potential to cut track maintenance costs and operating delays, with no significant problems in terms of wheel wearBYLINE: David Davis and Semih Kalay*BYLINE: * David Davis is Principal Engineer and ...

  • News

    Counting sensors

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    RENFE’s Suburban business unit has installed the Cuper passenger-counting system developed in conjunction with Eliop on 10 EMUs operating in Madrid. The number of people boarding and leaving a train is counted using pressure sensors installed on the fixed step of each passenger door. An on-board processor locates the train ...

  • News

    Track engineers seek cost-saving innovations

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: Increasing use of electronics has paved the way for suppliers of maintenance equipment to improve track quality and availability, and at the same time reduce costs. David Burns previews the VDEI exhibition taking place in Wien from June 1 to 3IN COMPARISON with many other industries, the railway business ...

  • News

    Not counting the cost of safety

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    SPEAKING at a press conference in Frankfurt on May 3, German Railway Chairman Dr Johannes Ludewig gave some indication of the safety measures likely to be introduced once the enquiry into the ICE disaster at Eschede on June 3 1998 is concluded. Noting that DB ’is doing everything humanly possible ...