Main line rail industry news – Page 1186
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Replica line has the technology
TRAINING company Rail Tech Group has created an indoor replica of a section of typical modern railway infrastructure which is being used to provide courses for signalling engineers. The lengths of track in Rail Tech’s Ipswich training centre simulate a compressed 1·6 km of line, and are equipped with a ...
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Siemens depots plan ahead
QUEST event simulation software is being used by Siemens to test proposed designs for train maintenance depots for the optimal use of staff and equipment.Dassault Systèmes subsidiary Delmia UK studied what Siemens required from the computer models used to plan activities in its depots. Finnish consultancy Delfoi then implemented the ...
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Tibet to get high-altitude trains
CHINA’S Ministry of Railways has ordered 361 passenger coaches designed for use at high altitudes. Due to enter service from June 2006, they will be used on trains to Lhasa from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.The €213m order was placed at the end of February with the Qingdao-based Bombardier Sifang Power ...
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Midway and O’Hare expresses planned
CHICAGO Transit Authority invited proposals on February 16 for consultants to assist with developing dedicated Airport Express services which would use existing metro lines to link the city centre with the region’s two principal airports. Bids were due by March 11. CTA envisages the construction of a dedicated in-town Airport ...
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Ballastless track meets design challenges
APART from a 6 km section close to the Belgian border where ballasted track is used, HSL-Zuid will have ballastless track throughout. On the basis of an evaluation of track types using a direct fastening system as a reference (RG 12.00 p819), Infraspeed BV chose the Rheda 2000¨ design as ...
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High-output machines speed track renewals
WORK is due to start in early May on a programme of track renewals covering around 100 km of the ProRail network. The contract was awarded to the contractor Spitzke Spoorbouw BV, a subsidiary of the German Spitzke group.The work forms part of the Nefit Noordoost programme to renew sleepers ...
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Simulating the world’s railways
CORYS Training & Engineering Support Systems is supplying train simulators to railways across the world from its base in Grenoble. The company has recently completed the modification of a cab simulator used to train Acela Express drivers to represent four additional types of vehicle, covering the majority of Amtrak’s fleet.The ...
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NS reform makes progress at last
UNDER the Railways Act 2003, concessions for operation of the trunk passenger network and for management of the national railway infrastructure are about to come into force with Netherlands Railways and ProRail. Both will be backdated to January 1, the date on which the formal ownership of NS was transferred ...
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European procurement turns professional
INTRO: Analysis of purchasing policies and benchmarking are helping to improve the procurement strategy of European rail operators and infrastructure companiesPHILIP van Beek, Head of Purchasing at Netherlands Railways, has a clear objective in his other role as Chairman of the European Railways Purchasing Conference. Simply put, it is to ...
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Dutch show attracts growing interest
INTRO: The fifth Rail-Tech Europe is being held at the Royal Dutch Jaarbeurs trade fair in Utrecht on April 4 - 7 WITH THREE high-profile new lines under construction and intense debate over the progress of the railway reform process, rail is a hot topic in the Netherlands at present. ...
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Barcelona works start
ON MARCH 3 Dragados and Tecsa began work on a €29·3m contract that forms the first part of a €220m programme to increase capacity at Barcelona Sants station in preparation for the arrival of high speed services (RG 9.04 p522). The first phase includes the construction of new through track ...
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Thai double-tracking advances
STATE RAILWAY of Thailand expects to start calling tenders in May for double-tracking of five main lines totalling 757route-km at a cost of US$1·5bn.According to SRT Governor Chitsanti Dhanasobhon, the investment forms part of a programme to improve freight train competitiveness and will see maximum axleloads increased from 15 to ...
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Plan Fret aid package approved
FINANCING arrangements for the restructuring of French National Railways’ loss-making freight business were approved by the European Commission on March 2. The three-year restructuring plan, which includes productivity and performance improvements, is intended to restore Fret SNCF to profitability by the end of 2006 (RG 3.05 p141). It was referred ...
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East-west box test
BIDDING to win more freight traffic between China and Europe from ocean shipping, a trial container train was run from Hohhot to Frankfurt last month.Dispatched from the Inner Mongolian city on March 1, the train arrived in Frankfurt-am-Main on March 17 after a 9814 km journey. The westbound train carried ...
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Sishen upgrade deal agreed
SOUTH AFRICAN transport holding group Transnet signed Heads of Agreement last month with mining company Kumba Resources, paving the way for upgrading of the Sishen - Saldanha iron ore line. Announced by Transnet CEO Maria Ramos on March 7, the agreement follows intensive negotiations since August 2004 (RG 3.05 p121). ...
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High speed loco accord
RUSSIA: Plans to order dual-system electric locos for high speed passenger trains were announced by Russian Railways President Gennady Fadeyev on March 2. On the same day RZD and Russian locomotive builder Transmash Holding signed an agreement with Bombardier Transportation covering a pre-series build of 12 EP10 locos. To be ...
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DMU heads north
NAMIBIAN President Sam Nujoma and around 600 high-level guests participated in a ceremony on March 12 to inaugurate Oshivelo station on the N$90m northern extension from Tsumeb to Oshikango. The naming ceremony for Dr Sam Njoma station reflected rapid progress with tracklaying. The Namibia Rail Contractors joint venture has been ...
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Signalling contracts
ITALIAN infrastructure manager RFI has awarded two contracts totalling €180m to Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviaro for resignalling work on the national network.The larger contract, valued at €136m, covers the installation of SCMT automatic train protection and supervision equipment on routes in the Genova, Milano, Verona and Napoli regions. ASF will supply ...
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Darling starts Trent Valley quadrupling
UK TRANSPORT Secretary Alistair Darling participated in a ceremony at Lichfield on February 22 to mark the start of work to quadruple a 19·3 km section of the West Coast Main Line between Tamworth and Armitage.Network Rail has set up a dedicated team to manage the two-year project, now costed ...
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Civils and signals block speed-up on world's fastest line
PRESENTING a report to the Spanish Parliament on difficulties encountered with the Madrid - Lleida section of the Madrid - Barcelona high speed line, Development Minister Magdalena Álvarez said last month that the assessment confirmed 'the impossibility of operating the line with the features for which it was designed and ...