Main line rail industry news – Page 1126
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News
East Coast to be re-franchised
EXPRESSIONS of Interest to operate the UK's InterCity East Coast franchise were invited by the Department for Transport on December 15. Submissions are due by January 15, with the aim of having a new operator in post within 12 to 18 months. As an interim measure, existing operator GNER will ...
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Ayalon quadrupling
ISRAEL’S TRANSPORT ministry has asked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to define as a project of national importance a US$465m plan to quadruple the Ayalon Corridor cross-city rail link through Tel Aviv.The third track on the 22?km route between University and Lod is due to enter service on January 1, adding ...
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Ministers back multimodal service
ANNOUNCING THE results of a joint study on December 4, French Transport Minister Dominique Perben and Minister for Environment & Sustainable Development Nelly Olin backed rail and maritime development in the Rh?ne valley and the ’Langeudoc arc’, rejecting plans to expand the A7 and A9 motorways.The ministers expect to launch ...
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Wires to Tanger
MOROCCAN railway administration ONCFM has awarded two contracts to Cegelec totalling €20m for electrification work on its two lines to Tanger. Signed in Paris on December 11, the first covers the erection of 150 track-km of 3 kV DC overhead line equipment between the junction at Msaada, near Sidi Kacem, ...
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Renfe must break even by 2010
UNDER THE terms of a 2006-10 contract-programme signed with the government on November 28, Spanish national operator Renfe has been set the challenge of ensuring that all of its divisions are breaking even within five years. From 2010 it is intended that Renfe will sign separate agreements with local authorities ...
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Saudi Binladen Group wins North-South Railway work
SAUDI Binladen Group confirmed on November 27 that it had been awarded the main construction contract for Saudi Arabia's 2 000 km north-south mineral railway, which is due to be completed by 2011. Eight consortia submitted bids for the work tendered by the Public Investment Fund, which is part of ...
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Uruguay launches parallel PPPs
URUGUAY’S MINISTRY of Transport & Public Works was due to open on December 18 for a period of one month a data room for companies preparing to bid for contracts to upgrade and maintain 962?km of the national rail network.Bidders will be expected to price for receiving 67% of the ...
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Infrared at speed
Following two and a half years of development, FLIR Systems has developed an infrared thermographic camera capable of processing images taken from a train travelling at line speed. This advance should enable engineers to undertake thermal imaging of infrastructure without recourse to time-consuming and costly possessions. The ThermoVision SC6000HS can ...
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Three-dimensional lasers
Laser profile sensors are being employed in Russia by Infotrans to measure track wear. The sensors, developed by Micro-Epsilon, are used on Infotrans' inspection train to assess the state of RZD's track. The sensors build on existing track measurement technology by enabling profiling at speed as the inspection train passes. ...
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Peaceful sleepers
SBB is to test concrete sleepers with a rubber base as it undertakes track renewals between Pratteln and Kaiseraugst. The trial of the sleepers is taking place alongside routine track replacement on the line, with 130 m of rubber-based concrete sleepers due to be laid. SBB hopes that the sleepers, ...
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News
Arosa Coaster
GUESTS at the Grand Hotel Tschuggen in the Swiss town of Arosa will shortly be able to travel on the first production version of Mountain Coaster, an automated peoplemover supplied by Austrian firm Coaster AG.Coaster has operated a 300?m test track since 2002, demonstrating that the central rack rail allows ...
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News
Phone reader
SWIFTPASS has launched a handheld scanner which reads barcodes displayed on mobile phone screens as well as paper tickets. The 'tickets' do not need to be accurately aligned, and the display is readable in low light. Wi-fi links allow for real-time validation, and immediate feedback of information to operators. ...
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Getting smarter
WMATA has awarded Cubic Transportation Systems an $11?6m contract to upgrade Washington DC’s rail, car park and bus payment systems to accept a common smart card and provide centralised transaction processing and reporting. Tri-Reader contactless readers will be installed at stations and car parks to expand acceptance of the SmarTrip ...
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Moving People, moving cities
THERE IS A strong and reciprocal link between urban public transport and the cities and regions that it serves neither can be truly successful without the other. Cities need public transport to thrive, but transport systems can only be successful if they form an integral part of urban fabric. To ...
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News1520 partners debate co-operation
Common technical specifications and improved border procedures will help the railways of Central Asia to work closer with their Russian neighbours to capture growing international business. Chris Jackson reports from Almaty
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News
Reform is not the answer
ZIMBABWE: ’The Zimbabwe railway continues to be critical for the growth of regional and international trade’, reports the World Bank following a recent study of the country’s transport infrastructure. At the centre of international routes linking the DRC and Zambia with Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa, National Railways of Zimbabwe ...
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High speed: TGV POS prepares to enter service
In readiness for the opening of TGV Est next June, Alstom is delivering multi-system TGV POS power cars equipped for operation in Germany and Switzerland. The latest addition to the TGV family features a powerful new transformer and regenerative braking. Laurent Charlier reports from Belfort
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Netherlands: Hanze Line construction ready to start
This winter work will begin on the Hanze Line, a 50 km link shortening the route from Amsterdam to the northern Dutch provinces. Peter Badcock describes the project, which under current government strategy will be the last new-build railway until 2020
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High speed: TGV Est set to hit the headlines in June
THE STAGE has been set for another chapter to be written in the 25-year history of France's TGV network. When the first 300 km of TGV Est between Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt opens on June 10, Strasbourg and around 20 other major towns and cities in eastern France will be connected ...