Main line rail industry news – Page 1133
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News
Line 4 low bidder
THE METROQUATRO consortium is reported to have submitted the lowest bid for the public-private partnership to equip, operate and maintain metro Line 4 in Sâo Paulo. Bids were opened on August 10 following several delays including a legal challenge to the PPP concept by the metro workers’ union. Subject to ...
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Kolkata airport rail link opened
INDIA’S first airport rail link was inaugurated at the end of July, when Kolkata Circular Railway services were extended from Dum Dum to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Airport.Construction of the airport branch was approved in December 2002 by former Railways Minister Nitish Kumar. Out-turn cost is put at Rs870m, against ...
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Bush backs commuter rail
GOVERNOR Jeb Bush announced on August 2 plans to develop commuter rail services in central Florida under a complex deal totalling almost $1bn.The plan calls for development of a north-south route through Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties to relieve congestion on Interstate 4. Half of the $475m cost will ...
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Kawasaki wins M-8 order
NEW YORK Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Connecticut State Bond Commission have selected Kawasaki Rail Car Inc to build a new fleet of dual-voltage EMUs for Metro North’s New Haven Line. Under the $522m base contract, Kawasaki will design and manufacture 210 M-8 cars, with an option for another 170 ...
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St Louis Cross-County line opens
AUGUST 26 was due to see the formal opening of the 12·9 km Cross-County light rail line in St Louis, with Metro President Larry Salci and other VIPs joining a festival near Shrewsbury station. This was to be followed by two days of free rides before the start of revenue ...
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The engine of change
THROUGHOUT their 200-year history, railways have been drivers of change, be it economic, political, social or military. It is probably no understatement to suggest that our railways have played a fundamental part in shaping the modern world. Although rail no longer dominates the land transport sector, the mode still has ...
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Maracaibo metro on show
RESIDENTS in the second-largest Caribbean city had their first look at their new metro network when the first trainset for the Maracaibo metro was unveiled to the public on August 2.Siemens is supplying seven three-car sets derived from the latest Praha design, but equipped with air-conditioning and overhead power supply ...
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Questions remain over THSRC start-up
TEST running on Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s 346 km line between Taipei and Kaohsiung is being stepped up as the revised October 31 deadline for completion creeps nearer.Demonstration runs for politicians and journalists have been staged, but information about planned service levels, fares and timings remains vague. It is ...
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Elastomers offer easy upgrade
TANK wagons carrying hazardous cargoes will need to be fitted with crash buffers by 2010, the next step in a European process which began with the introduction of UIC standards mandating the use of the energy-absorbing buffers on tank wagons built after January 1 2005.To meet the need to retrofit ...
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Obasanjo commits to regauging plan
’NO NATION has achieved holistic development without a coherent, integrated, efficient and reliable transportation system’, explained Nigerian President Olusegum Obasanjo on August 9, setting out his vision for the revitalisation of his country’s 3500 km rail network in a special radio broadcast.The Bureau of Public Enterprises has already commissioned CPCS ...
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Slowdown will be counter-productive
THE Ministry of Transportation in Jerusalem has instructed Israel Railways to reduce the maximum speed on the national network from 140 km/h to 120 km/h and on some lines to 105 km/h.The ruling has nothing to do with the unscheduled arrival of Hizbollah rockets on ISR tracks but stems from ...
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Royal start on line to Nador
KING Mohammed VI of Morocco presided at a ceremony on July 5 to mark the start of construction of a 117 km line from Taourirt to Nador.Due for completion in 2008, the railway is expected to carry 500000 passengers a year together with 1·5 million tonnes of freight. Stations will ...
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Ink and InnoTrans
’VOSSLOH in motion’ is the slogan adopted by the companies of the group, who are exhibiting on three different stands. While the highlight of Vossloh’s InnoTrans presence will be the Euro4000 diesel-electric loco (RG 7.06 p402), other products of interest will also be on show in Berlin.These will include a ...
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More money for Recife
BRAZIL'S FEDERAL Ministry for Cities announced on August 10 that it was releasing a further tranche of funding worth R$30m for Recife's urban rail network. The ministry has agreed to provide a total of R$78m, of which R$38m was released last May. Operator Metrorec is hoping to open the South ...
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NewsTram-train proposed for Cádiz
A DRAFT agreement for construction of a 13·6 km tram-train route connecting the city of Cádiz with the neighbouring communities of San Fernando and Chiclana de la Frontera has been sent to the two municipalities by the Andalucía regional government. The project has been costed at €140·5m excluding electrification, ...
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Football fever fuels DB traffic boom
Buoyed up by booming business, DB AG's passenger operations are on a roll in the afterglow of the football World Cup. Board Member for Passenger Operations Dr Karl-Friedrich Rausch briefs Murray Hughes in Berlin
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East African concessions make progress
AFRICA: This month is due to see the transfer of operations on Tanzania Railways Corp's 2707 km metre-gauge network to Rites under a 25-year concession. The transfer is being partially funded by the World Bank and African Development Bank. Tanzania's Minister for Infrastructure Basil Mramba explained in Dodoma on August ...
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NewsWaterloo & City on schedule for September 1 re-opening
London Underground's PPP contractor Metronet reports good progress with its programme to upgrade the 2·4 km Waterloo & City Line, which has been closed to traffic since April 1. Track relaying and signalling enhancements will cut journey times and increase capacity between Waterloo and Bank
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Air cargo trial will pioneer hub-and-spoke operation
Andrew Sharp, Director General of the International Air-Rail Organisation, looks at plans to operate high speed freight services to and from Leipzig/Halle airport
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Dieter
In an effort to attract gamblers to their casinos in Atlantic City, Borgata, Caesars and Harrah’s have agreed to finance the operation of weekend New Jersey Transit passenger services from New York.The casinos will pay $15m for the acquisition of eight double-deck coaches and will provide a $4m annual ...