Main line rail industry news – Page 1162
-
NewsBulgaria's ambitious plans hinge on reform
Krasimir Krastanov reports on a strategic plan designed to bring about modernisation of the Bulgarian rail network
-
News
Emissions laws drive diesel innovations
EUROPEAN Union regulations setting stringent limits on exhaust emissions from diesel engines used in rail traction will start to come into force on January 1. From now on engines fitted to new diesel railcars or multiple-units must meet Stage 3A of the European emissions limits for off-highway vehicles, while new ...
-
News
Finnish cut-off completed
THE LAST rail was laid on September 28 to complete the 74 km cut-off between Kerava and Lahti in Finland. Work on the project began in October 2002, and the line is expected to open for revenue operation in September 2006. Partially funded by Russia and the EU, the €331m ...
-
NewsDublin dominates Irish investment
RAIL expansion projects in Dublin and across the country form the backbone of the €34·4bn Transport 21 investment package unveiled by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Transport Minister Martin Cullen at Dublin Castle on November 1. Bringing together many existing proposals into a 10-year package, Transport 21 is expected to make ...
-
NewsNarrow-gauge tycoons revive Poland's regional lines
Originally established by railway enthusiasts, SKPL has grown into a significant commercial operator of regional services on narrow gauge networks closed by Poland's state railway
-
News
Tracklaying reaches halfway in the Lötschberg base tunnel
Contractors are hurrying to install track, communications and train control equipment in the 34·6 km Lötschberg base tunnel as the civil engineers complete their task. Test trains are due to start running in early 2006
-
NewsBangkok Airport Express to change city travel
The 28 km standard gauge link to the new Bangkok airport lies at the heart of plans to revitalise the Thai capital’s urban rail services. Andrew Grantham reports
-
News
Alstom to build 350 km/h AGV demonstrator
CONTRACTS for the first components of a seven-car ultra high speed demonstration train with distributed power have just been placed by Alstom Transport. Representing the next stage in the company's development of the Automotrice à Grande Vitesse, the AGV-7 demonstrator will be completed in 2007 and funded entirely by Alstom. ...
-
News
Trans-Asian Railway network nears agreement
This month, an intergovernmental conference in Bangkok is due to finalise a draft agreement establishing the Trans-Asian Railway network, planned as a catalyst for railway development across Asia
-
News
ERTMS drives change in the signalling market
Karl StrangSCI Verkehr GmbH INTRODUCTION of the European Train Control System and other new technologies is unlikely to bring radical changes to the signalling and train control sector over the next five years, but will start to open up the market to new suppliers, overcoming the natural boundaries caused by ...
-
News
World Speed Survey 2005: France regains rail's blue riband
Running at a start-to-stop average speed of 263·3 km/h, a single TGV between Lyon-St Exupéry and Aix-en-Provence has nudged France to the top in our 2005 world speed survey, overtaking Japan's 261·8 km/h timing between Hiroshima and Kokura
-
News
Out-of-Round Railway Wheels - Causes and Consequences
by Anders JohanssonTHIS DOCTORAL thesis uses data from full-scale experiments and numerical simulations to study defects around complete wheel circumferences, as well as local defects such as wheel flats.Tread irregularities occurring on a range of rolling stock in Sweden have been assessed using out-of-roundness measurements. These found high roughness with ...
-
News
Downer EDI profit up despite rail fall
ENGINEERINGservices group Downer EDI Ltd reported a 28% increase in profit after tax to A$104m for the year to June 30 2005. Overall turnover was up from A$3·42bn in 2004 to A$3·97bn, but the Rail division’s contribution fell from 12·0% to 9·1%.’This is our eighth successive year of earnings and ...
-
News
Passenger News in Brief
Croatian Railways has returned to service the first of its dining cars to be refurbished by TVJ Gredelj. Finished in a similar livery to HZ’s modernised first and second class coaches, it is being used on EuroCity services. Bulgaria Air passengers travelling through the airports in Frankfurt and Berlin can ...
-
News
Transport downturn at Atkins
A DOWNTURN in the rail sector adversely affected profits at WS Atkins plc during the year to March 31. Trading operating profit at transport fell 9% to £21·3m, on turnover which was down 4% to £394·4m.A fall-off in work in the second half of the year necessitated a reduction in ...
-
News
All-round inspection car
ON NOVEMBER 11 Swiss Federal Railways will take delivery of a 160 km/h track, overhead line and tunnel infrastructure diagnosis and inspection vehicle designed and built by Mer Mec.The self-propelled vehicle is to be used to measure rail profile and corrugation, track and overhead line geometry and contact wire wear. ...
-
News
Peoplemover trial
From September 15 to 23 the Wensleydale Railway is operating a trial passenger service from its present terminus at Leeming Bar to a temporary platform at Springfield Lane on the edge of Northallerton. At Leeming Bar, it connects with the regular service of four round trips a day to Redmire, ...
-
News
City News in Brief
OnSeptember 5 a consortium led by Systra of France was awarded a contract to undertake preliminary studies for a fully-automated light metro in Palermo. The first stage would run underground for 7·3 km from Oreto to Notarbartolo, serving 10 stations. Subsequent extensions would take the network to 23 km and ...
-
News
On the Wrong Line
by Christian WolmarTHE CONCLUDING chapter is titled ’how ideology and incompetence wrecked Britain’s railways’, setting the tone for this description of how British Rail was privatised and the unintended consequences which followed.The first half of the book is an updated version of the author’s Broken Rails, originally published in 2001. ...
-
News
South Africa’s cooler cabs
SPOORNET’S locomotive upgrading programme includes equipping Class 8E shunting locos with cab air-conditioning. Two prototypes units were developed by Booyco Engineering, which will supply 17 sets of equipment by the end of the year, and a total of 88 over the next four years. According to Booyco Managing Director Jeremy ...