Main line rail industry news – Page 1159
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News
Canadian wi-fi goes ahead
VIA RAIL has announced it will provide wi-fi on all trains operating in the Québec - Windsor corridor by November 2006. Parsons is funding the US$2·3m five-year project under a revenue-sharing arrangement with no risk for VIA, and the company will install equipment on 150 coaches, 22 stations and ...
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Spares services
BOMBARDIER is expanding its North American rail services business to encompass the supply of spare parts for passenger rolling stock from other manufacturers, a market which it values at US$500m annually.President of Bombardier Transportation, North America, William Spurr said part of the company’s life-cycle approach to fleet management is to ...
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Nice tram batteries
TRAMS will be able to run for a short distance through Nice without overhead electrification, using power from onboard batteries to be supplied by Saft.The €2m order to supply high-power Ni-MH batteries was placed with Saft by Alstom, which is building 20 Citadis trams ready for the opening of the ...
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Rail Freight: A Guide for Community Groups and Rail Partnerships
INTRO: PublicationsTHIS ’beginner’s guide to rail freight’ from the Association of Community Rail Partnerships is intended to offer a guide to ways in which communities can help to get freight traffic onto rail, translating a ’vague idea into a practical project’.The 48-page booklet is aimed at non-specialist readers, particularly those ...
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Dutch broadband trials
NOMAD has signed a deal with Netherlands Railways, mobile and fixed line telephone operator KPN, television company RTL and content provider Heuvelman to test wireless broadband access onboard a train operating between Haarlem, Maastricht and Heerlen.Updated travel information and news will be supplied to the train at each station ...
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Demountable access platform
THREE-MAN access platforms designed and built by LH Access Technology can be demounted from Mercedes-Benz Unimog road-rail vehicles when not in use, allowing the host chassis to be used with alternative equipment.The platform has a working height of 10m with a reach of 7m; it can carry up to 350 ...
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Whistle blowing
INTRO: SidetrackNATIONAL Railways of Zimbabwe has launched a whistle-blowers’ fund, which will pay 2% of the value of recovered property to anyone providing information about theft from the company.Public Relations Officer Fanuel Masikati said rewards will be ’given to the first person giving information of theft or other criminal or ...
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Vented boxes
SCF Containers International has supplied an Australian freight operator with 150 vented side-door 20 ft containers for use on intermodal train services. ’These containers are the first that SCF has delivered with our unique patented waterproof vent design providing a much better travelling environment for certain types of freight’, said ...
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Talgo ends Finnish wagon production
K INDUSTRIER has reached an agreement to take over Talgo Oy’s freight rolling stock products. Financial details were not disclosed for the deal, under which wagon sales and production will be moved from Finland to Malm
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Leader goes ahead this year
NORFOLK Southern announced on December 5 that, following two years of testing, it had agreed to deploy New York Air Brake’s Leader onboard computers across its locomotive fleet. Leader provides drivers with real-time data on optimal driving techniques to suit the train’s length and weight and the gradients and curvature ...
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Córdoba - Málaga contracts
SPANISH construction authority GIF has awarded a consortium of Alcatel España, Alcatel Integración y Servicios and Dimetronic a €210m contract to install and maintain signalling and telecommunications on the Córdoba - Málaga high speed line. Including provision of GSM-R, the contract has been divided into three route sections, the largest ...
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Products in Brief
Following an international comparison of available packages, London Underground has selected the Crews transport resource management software from Siscog to plan and optimise the work of its drivers. Siscog, PortugalOnboard entertainment and passenger information systems can be driven by the F14 single board computer for Compact PCI systems. Based on ...
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Mixed signals on access charges
INTRO: Cost recovery levels and political priorities favouring passenger over freight traffic have a strong influence on infrastructure access charges. Freight markets need simple single-part charges to grow, whilst some passenger markets would benefit from the efficiency of two-part tariffsBYLINE: Lou Thompson and Stephen Perkins*INFRASTRUCTURE separation is a key plank ...
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Freight operators see good prospects if the market is truly open
Formation of the European Bulls alliance in January 2005 has helped its five partners to expand their open-access freight operations, but many political and technical barriers remain to be broken down before Europe can reap the benefits of a liberalised rail freight market
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Investment ramps up to overcome technical obsolescence
The Polish rail network requires considerable investment to improve the condition of both infrastructure and rolling stock. Andrzej Harassek finds that EU funding is allowing more projects to start, and high speed line plans are being revived
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EIB's funding portfolio backs TENs and upgrading projects
Ivan Pilip, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, argues that better rail links are crucial for integration of the new member states into the European Union. In this interview with Murray Hughes, Pilip puts the focus firmly on upgrading and rehabilitation, although funding for rolling stock is growing in importance
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People
Roger Nober, Chairman of the US Surface Transportation Board, has announced his resignation with effect from January 3. Bremer Stra§enbahn CEO Georg Drechsler has been elected Chairman of the UITP Light Rail Committee, succeeding Raymond Hue of Rouen. Head of Public Transport at Dubai Municipality Abdul Aziz Malik ...
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Intelligence January 2006
Australia: QR's pre-tax profit for the year to June was up from A$191m to A$287m. Freight traffic was up 8·4% to 175 million tonnes, with QR winning all the coal contracts it bid for in Queensland, and taking 13% of the market in NSW. Brazil: A pre-feasibility study by the ...