Main line rail industry news – Page 1198
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RATP to run Firenze light rail
ON DECEMBER 8 Paris Transport Authority announced that its international subsidiary RATP Développement had won the concession to design, build and operate the light rail network in Firenze. The three-line network serving Firenze and the neighbouring municipality of Scandicci will eventually total 29·5 km. Construction work is already underway on ...
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C-Train still growing
FIVE LIGHT RAIL investment projects are included in Calgary’s five-year transport infrastructure programme for 2005-10, approved in November. Total cost of the package is put at C$2bn, including 35 road schemes. The light rail elements are valued at C$354m. The funding will be shared equally between the Province of Alberta ...
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Infrastructure fund launched
FRENCH transport infrastructure finance agency AFITF is to be fully operational on January 1 2005, following the publication on December 1 of its establishing decree. AFITF’s 12-strong board will have six members nominated by the government, one MP, one senator, two local politicians and two ’qualified persons’.Drawing on the dividends ...
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BA car order back on track
ON DECEMBER 10 Alstom Chairman & CEO Patrick Kron signed an agreement that will see 65 metro cars ordered for the Buenos Aires network assembled at the company’s La Plata works in Argentina. Deliveries from Alstom’s Lapa works in São Paulo, Brazil, had been suspended due to payment difficulties, and ...
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Amtrak not up to the mark
NORMAN MINETA, confirmed as US Transportation Secretary on December 9 in President George W Bush’s second cabinet, lost no time in making clear that he would work to push through controversial plans to cut the federal spend on Amtrak. The proposals would see states take more responsibility for funding if ...
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Railway Directory 2005
READERS may now purchase the 2005 edition of our industry reference work Railway Directory, compiled and edited by Chris Bushell. The 110th edition of Railway Directory provides up-to-date information and contact details for the world’s railway operators. The city railways section lists metro, light rail and tram networks, while statutory ...
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Not green enough yet
RAIL’S assumed environmental advantage (RG 12.04 p811) took a few more knocks on November 19 at a high-level conference on railways and the environment in Berlin attended by around 200 representatives from business and politics.The 22 senior railway managers from 17 European countries who were present, along with rail executives ...
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Sydney still suffering
’BLOODY ATROCIOUS’ were the words chosen by New South Wales Premier Bob Carr to describe suburban rail services in Sydney on November 22. On that day, Carr had been goaded into arranging a day of free travel on the extensive CityRail network, in an attempt to mollify commuters enraged by ...
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MTR branches out
ON DECEMBER 3 Hong Kong MTR Corp signed a formal agreement to build and operate Beijing metro Line 4, which is due to open in time for the 2008 Olympics. MTRC is taking a 49% stake in the project, as will the state-owned Beijing Capital Group; the remaining 2% will ...
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Moscow opens Expo monorail
DEMONSTRATION services began running on Russia’s first monorail on November 20, following the award of an operating certificate earlier in the month. According to Moscow Deputy Mayor Petr Aksenov, revenue service on the 8·6 km elevated line will start early in 2005. Connecting Timiryazevskaya metro station in the north of ...
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ERA at the gates of Europe
When Marcel Verslype takes office as Executive Director of the European Railway Agency on January 1, one of his earliest tasks will be to appoint the staff who will oversee the establishment of the entity which will in many ways determine the future of Europe's railways. Recruitment was in hand ...
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ERTMS: The view from Brussels
IN THE FINAL months of 2004 there was frantic activity as the European Commission strove to make progress towards the roll-out of ERTMS. Interest centred on Chapter 7 of the TSI on conventional railway lines, which covers the migration process from conventional signalling and train control systems to ETCS. According ...
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Demands on the subgrade drive GPR developments
Higher axleloads, rising traffic and route rationalisation are placing unprecedented demands on the track substructure of North American railways. In response, the industry is developing more effective substructure maintenance management techniques that include ground-penetrating radar
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Hitachi preferred for CTRL domestic trains
ON OCTOBER 27 UK Transport Secretary Alistair Darling named Hitachi as the preferred supplier of 'around 30' trainsets to operate 225km/h domestic services on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. HSBC Rail (UK) Ltd is preferred financier. The first four of the six-car trainsets are due to enter ...
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DB AG stock market listing postponed
IN OUR September edition we asked whether German Railway was fit to be privatised with a stock market listing. DB AG’s half-year results published in mid-August included encouraging figures for freight traffic with a 7% rise in tonne-km to 41·6 billion and a small increase in passenger-km to 33·9 billion.However, ...
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Working together on the front line
The government's latest restructuring proposals came as little surprise to the companies providing passenger services on Britain's privatised railway, who hope that the result will be an industry fit for the next 20 years. Robert Preston spoke to ATOC Chairman Keith Ludeman* about the white paper and its implications
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NewsUpdate from Myanmar
Due to open this month, the Thanlwin River bridge will help to complete a missing link in Myanmar's rail network. Despite international isolation, the railway continues to expand, reports Dieter Hettler, a mechanical engineer who has been involved with the delivery of diesel locomotives to Myanma Railways
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NewsEurostar on track to hit market share target
Launched 10 years ago next month, Eurostar is reaping the benefits from Section 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link with rising traffic and record punctuality. Chief Executive Richard Brown briefs Murray Hughes on Eurostar's future plans
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Freight operators must embrace the competitive spirit
BYLINE: Klaus-J MeyerSecretary General European Rail Freight AssociationINTRO: Rail’s share of the European freight market has risen to 35%, and competition between major private operators and a few state-owned companies ensures cost-effective and reliable service. Non-discriminatory access applies throughout Europe. All an illusion? Not so, according to Klaus-J Meyer, Secretary ...
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Lights pass pneumatic tests
TUNNEL lighting equipment from WRTL Exterior Lighting has been subjected to an accelerated test programme at Sheffield University’s Department of Civil & Structural Testing before being approved for use in the London tunnels of Channel Tunnel Rail Link Section 2.Two RTL3001 luminaires were subjected to 4·9million cycles of 4Hz 188N ...