All Railway Gazette International articles in June 1999 – Page 3

  • 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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    Inside INDUSTRY

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    On April 29 Adtranz und Elektrizace Zeleznic Praha signed a co-operation agreement covering power supply and electrification equipment. The deal provides for joint design, planning, manufacture and marketing of products in the Czech Republic, Germany and other countries, and will give Adtranz access to EZ’s contacts in the East European ...

  • News

    INTELLIGENCE

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    CAPTION: Test running is under way on the Hudson-Bergen light rail line in Jersey City, using two pre-production vehicles supplied by Kinki Sharyo of Japan. The firm is now assembling the production cars at a plant in Harrison, New Jersey, as part of a US$1bn DBOM concession from NJ Transit, ...

  • News

    INTELLIGENCE

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    With the timetable change on May 30 - a year later than planned - operation of the 57 km Volmetalbahn linking Dortmund, Hagen, Brügge and Lüdenscheid becomes the responsibility of the Dortmund Märkische Eisenbahn, founded in 1997 by Dortmunder Stadtwerke (75%) and bus company Märkische Verkehrs Gesellschaft (25%).To serve ...

  • News

    INTELLIGENCE

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    CAPTION: On show at the Hannover fair in April was the first of a series of 350 Hirrs twin-section sliding-wall vans being supplied to GE Capital Rail Services by Bombardier Transportation DWA-Niesky. Designed to carry 65 tonnes at a maximum axleload of 23·5 tonnes, the vans are cleared to run ...

  • News

    INTELLIGENCE

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    Australia: Australian Rail Track Corp has begun an A$16m programme to increase capacity in the Adelaide - Kalgoorlie corridor, including the lengthening of 21 passing loops to 1850m.Azerbaijan: Forthcoming privatisation legislation is thought likely to make provision for the sale of Azerbaijan Railway by the middle of 2000. Over 50% ...

  • News

    Tseung Kwan O work starts

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    HONG KONG’s Financial Secretary Donald Tsang officiated at ceremonies on April 24 to mark the start of construction for the MTR extension to Tseung Kwan O. Several construction contracts have been awarded since the project was authorised last November, and MTR Corp Chairman Jack C K So expects to have ...

  • News

    Steffen leads VT Offensive

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    Speaking in Paris on May 10, Siemens Transportation Systems (VT) President Herbert Steffen said that the group was making ’considerable efforts to get back on the right track’ after posting a loss of DM759m in 1997-98 (RG 1.99 p51). Parent company Siemens AG was to release its financial results for ...

  • News

    Metra plans orbital lines

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    Chicago’s Regional Transportation Authority Metra has launched feasibility studies for three new commuter rail lines announced on April 16. These include a 169 km Outer Circumferential route serving Mundelein, Long Grove, West Chicago, Naperville, New Lenox and Frankfort, costed at US$600m. An Inner Circumferential linking Midway and O’Hare International airports ...

  • News

    Market

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    Bulgaria: Bulgarian State Railways has ordered 60000 Type B91S/2 concrete sleepers from ZSPV Uhersky Ostroh of the Czech Republic.Canada: Canac Inc has been awarded contracts worth a total of C$17m to rebuild the 28 km Port Alfred - Jonquière and 16 km Alma - St Bruno sections of the Roberval ...

  • News

    Vivendi to run Stockholm metro

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    STORSTOCKHOLMS Lokaltrafik, the regional transport authority covering the Swedish capital, has selected Vivendi subsidiary CGEA Transport to take over operation of its metro and tram networks for a 10-year period starting in mid-1999. The move follows an international consultation as part of SL’s ongoing programme of contracting out the operation ...

  • News

    Metros

    1999-06-01T10:00:00Z

    Australia: New South Wales Department of Transport has invited proposals by September 24 for a smartcard ticketing system covering all public transport within the Sydney CityRail area. Canada: Toronto Transit Commission has awarded Vale-Harmon Enterprises a US$6·7m contract to supply signalling for the 6·4 km Sheppard Avenue subway, scheduled for ...