Main line rail industry news – Page 1085
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Sonic measuring tool
SIEMENS has built a sonic measuring tool for use at Wildenrath when approving vehicles against the European Rail Agency's TSI covering noise emissions. The key to accurately measuring the sound of a passing vehicle is ensuring that recorded noise comes from the train itself and not the track. A section ...
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DMU Eco-Mode fuels savings at TPE
TRANSPENNINE EXPRESS and Siemens Transportation Systems are extending their Eco-Mode programme, which was launched in July to improve the environmental credentials of the UK train operating company's 51-strong fleet of Class 185 Desiro DMUs. Eco-Mode focuses on reducing fuel consumption by encouraging drivers to adopt more efficient driving techniques, analysing ...
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China Railway Group flotation
STATE-owned rail infrastructure construction contractor China Railway Group raised 22·4bn yuan though an IPO in Shanghai on November 23. Ministry of Railways company China Railway Engineering Corp floated 27% of its China Railway Group subsidiary, with trading beginning on December 3. A further HK$19·22bn was raised through the sale of ...
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Major restructuring at Siemens
A MAJOR restructuring of Siemens will be undertaken during January, creating group-wide Industry, Energy and Healthcare sectors, divided into a total of into 15 divisions. The restructuring is intended to place greater emphasis on global businesses rather than regional activities, producing a less complex organisation with clearer lines of responsibility. ...
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NewsAirport casts pods in future transport role
UK: Construction is proceeding rapidly on elevated guideways for a 3·8 route-km T-shaped 'personal rapid transit' line which will connect the future Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow airport with a car park for business class passengers from 2009. The terminal is due to open a year earlier in 2008, ...
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NewsSiemens high speed train sets sail for China
THE FIRST of the CRH3 high speed trains being supplied to Chinese Railways has left Bremerhaven in Germany onboard M/S Gjertrud Maersk for the six-week sea journey to Tianjin. The 60 eight-car trains were ordered in November 2005 from a consortium of Siemens Transportation Systems and Tangshan Locomotive & Rolling ...
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Andalucía's network takes shape
UNDER ITS PROJECT to build a 128 km high speed line between Sevilla and the Córdoba – Málaga route at Antequera Santa Ana (RG 5.07 p250), the Andalucía regional government is aiming for civil works to be in progress on all route sections during 2008. Tenders have been called for ...
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Santo Domingo metro delivery
THE FIRST three-car Metropolis trainset for the metro line under construction in Santo Domingo left Alstom's factory in Barcelona on December 14. The ship delivering the train is expected to dock in the Dominican Republic in early January. Transport authority OPRET announced the award of a €92·5m contract for ...
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Pegase ready to take off
AFTER three years of research and development Faiveley Transport has launched Pegase, a roof-mounted electric traction power collection module which brings together the pantograph, auxiliary compressor, isolating equipment, lightning protection, disconnector, energy measurement and controls in an single unit. The trend towards low floor trains and larger air-conditioning units is ...
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Investment spend under pressure
ENGINEERING GANGS and contractors are hard at work across the USA, as the Class I railroads scramble to add capacity to cope with demand. With the coal, grain and intermodal sectors booming, capital investment budgets are running at record levels year after year. BNSF is adding a third track on ...
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RENFE's Christmas presents
ON NOVEMBER 19 ticket sales began for services using the Madrid - Valladolid and Antequera - Málaga high speed lines, due to open to traffic on the day after official ceremonies taking place on December 22 and 23 respectively. Preparations for the opening of these lines over the busiest weekend ...
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Joint electrical development
ZHUZHOU CSR Times Electric Co and US firm Freescale Semiconductor have established a joint microelectronic research laboratory at Zhuzhou's technical centre. Engineers from both companies will undertake product development and support at the Chinese facility, focusing on AC drives, vehicle controls and diagnostics, safety systems, onboard electrics and passenger information. ...
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Tourist train upgrade
OKTYABRSKY Electric Car Repair Plant completed an overhaul of seven coaches for Russian Railways' Alexander Nevsky tourist train at the end of October. The contract awarded in July covered a number of features which the St Petersburg plant has not fitted to a train before, including satellite communications and ...
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Assembly plant lease signed
ROTEM USA has signed a 20-year lease on a 27 000 m² building in south Philadelphia which will be used as a US headquarters and to assemble commuter rail vehicles. The Hyundai Automotive Group subsidiary will spend $10m to adapt the building, where it will produce 120 Silverliner V cars ...
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NS to pilot vital OTC
NORFOLK SOUTHERN has awarded a contract to Wabtec Railway Electronics to develop a vital positive train control system, known by NS as Optimized Train Control. A pilot project covering 357 km of route in South Carolina is expected to go live in 2009. NS has been working with Lockheed Martin ...
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Intelligence December 2007
Argentina: The government has extended for a second period of 180 days SOE's concession to operate the Belgrano Cargas network (RG 11.07 p683) on an emergency basis. A further 8·4m pesos was made available to support operations. Following the signature of an agreement between the provinces of Chaco and Santa ...
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NewsLGV expansion plans firm up
RESEAU Ferré de France has chosen three groups to compete for the PPP concession to finance and build the Sud Europe Atlantique high speed line from Tours to Bordeaux (RG 6.07 p363). The contract for the 300 km project is due to be signed in early 2009. The Bouygues group ...
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Should taxpayers fund private sidings?
More than half of the rail freight traffic in many European countries originates at private sidings. Infrastructure is expensive, but grant programmes in Switzerland, Austria and Germany have proved a cost-effective use of public money