All Railway Gazette International articles in June 2006

All articles published this month.

  • News

    Track engineers look to get more from materials and possessions

    2006-06-01T12:40:00Z

    As well as giving exposure to the latest technologies, the triennial exhibition of track maintenance equipment organised by the Association of German Railway Engineers (VDEI) provides an opportunity to reflect on industry trends. Exhibits focus on getting the most out of material and track possessions, finds David Burns

  • News

    I-Trans railway research projects authorised

    2006-06-01T10:47:00Z

    Interoperability This category embraces the high speed inter-city train project and a new track design. The train would run at more than 200 km/h and the project is aimed at developing new technologies or equipment needed for a train to run on existing lines at high speed. So far three ...

  • News

    Stakes up in Taipei

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    TAIWANESE Transport Minister Kuo Yao-chi has put her political career on the line, promising to step down if Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp fails to launch services in October - a year later than planned. It seems likely that some trains will run, but the minister was careful not to ...

  • News

    Slovak strategy

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    ZSSK Passenger has endorsed plans for the renewal of its obsolete rolling stock during 2006-09. The proposals envisage conversion of nine East German-built BRcm couchette/buffet cars dating from 1984 into Type WRRm restaurant cars, and modernisation of 14 Bc sleepers as Type B.A programme to modernise 64 Bmee second-class coaches ...

  • News

    Revival in prospect

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    FURTHER attempts are being made to revive the fortunes of Nigerian Railway Corp. Marking the start of a major effort to rehabilitate around 2800 km of NRC’s 3505 km network, Permanent Secretary for Transport Babangida Aliyu announced on May 18 that six ’Sub-Project Engineering Teams’ had been set up to ...

  • News

    Velaro RUS to St Petersburg

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    PARTICIPATING in the 1520 Forum conference of broad gauge railways being held in Sochi, Russian Railways Vice-President Valentine Gapanovich formally signed a €276m contract with Siemens President Hans M Schabert on May 18 for the supply of eight high speed trains. Due for delivery from the end of 2008, the ...

  • News

    People

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    Enrico Grillo Pasquarelli, Head of Inland Transport in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy & Transport, has taken on additional responsibility as Acting Head of the Rail Transport & Interoperability Unit pending appointment of a replacement for Jean-Arnold Vinois who stepped down in April.Hervé de Treglodé has been appointed to ...

  • News

    Tomorrow’s mini-metro takes shape

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    NEOVAL is the name of France’s future mini-metro. Nominated on April 27 as one of six headline research projects to be funded by the Agence de l’Innovation Industrielle, NeoVal will be the successor to the rubber-tyred VAL system first developed in Lille in the late 1970s and early 1980s.AII was ...

  • News

    Stress at Metronet

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    SOME London Underground services were badly disrupted on several days last month by the sudden imposition of 32 km/h speed restrictions around lunchtime. It happened for the first time on May 4, a rare day of unbroken sunshine over the city which saw air temperatures reach 25íC, and even 27íC ...

  • News

    Port link upgrade

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    AUSTRALIA’s Federal Transport Minister Warren Truss and his Victoria counterpart Peter Batchelor inaugurated work on the A$120m Dynon Port Rail Link on April 21.The project includes replacement of the existing single-track mixed-gauge line into Melbourne docks by a double-track line further west, with overbridges to replace the Footscray Road level ...

  • News

    Moscow ring line

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    CONSTRUCTION of the first stage of an outer metro ring line around the Russian capital will get underway in mid-2007, according to Moscow Metro President Dmitri Gayev. He said on May 12 that a second ring line was needed urgently to relieve overcrowding on the existing lines. He envisages that ...

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    News

    Interconnector study starts

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    IARNRóD éIREANN announced on May 12 that it was starting work on the ambitious plan to build a cross-city suburban rail tunnel under the heart of Dublin. Bids have been invited from consultants to assist with detailed design of the 5·2 km Interconnector, which will run from the ...

  • News

    Planning in Intelligent Systems

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    Book review

  • News

    Huancavelica upgrade

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    PERU’s MINISTRY of Transport & Communications has selected Ferrocarril Central Andino to undertake an upgrade of the 914mm gauge Huancayo - Huancavelica Railway that will include conversion to 1435mm gauge. To be completed within 480 days, the US$18·1m project is to be funded by the government, with US$14·9m provided by ...

  • News

    Ressano Garcia line ready this year

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    REHABILITATION of the 90 km line from Maputo to the South African border at Ressano Garcia is to be completed by the end of this year, according to Mozambique’s Minister of Transport & Communications Antonio Munguambe. Addressing a conference to promote the ’Maputo Corridor’ at the beginning of May, Munguambe ...

  • News

    Eritrea using local resources to revitalise its railway

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    Like the train's steep and winding climb up the escarpment from sea level to 2394m, progress on rehabilitation of the Eritrean Railway is slow but steady

  • News

    Czech private inter-city plan

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    SOKOLOV-based open access operator Railtrans has announced plans to run its own passenger trains between Praha and Ostrava in northern Moravia from the December 10 timetable change. There will be a single stop at Olomouc on the 358 km trip. Paths have been requested from SZDC, and Railtrans expects to ...

  • News

    ETCS is really rolling out, but the costs are still too high

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    MORE MILESTONES are passing in the development and deployment of ETCS/ERTMS. From May 19 trains began running at 250 km/h on the Madrid - Lleida section of the Madrid - Barcelona AVE line using Level 1, while from July 2 Swiss Federal Railways goes live with Level 2 on the ...

  • News

    Spoornet focuses on improving its core freight operations

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    South Africa's state-owned railway Spoornet has embarked on a five-year programme to improve performance and profitability, which will help to support the government's Accelerated & Shared Growth Initiative. Chris Jackson asked Vice-President Molotwane Likhethe how this will be achieved

  • News

    Contracts placed

    2006-06-01T10:00:00Z

    DELHI Metro Rail Corp confirmed on May 1 that it had awarded contracts for all six projects in Phase II of the Indian capital’s metro network, and said work was expected to get underway on all of them shortly.Construction has already started on the 6·4 km northern extension of Line ...