Main line rail industry news – Page 1206
-
News
Sprinter makes slow progress
ON JULY 15 the board of California’s North County Transit District voted to award the main construction contract for the Sprinter diesel light rail line between Oceanside and Escondido, but at the same time increased the project’s budget by $24m and formally delayed the launch of the half-hourly service by ...
-
News
Las Vegas monorail inaugurated
REVENUE SERVICE on the fully-automated Las Vegas Monorail began at 08.00 on July 15, after a formal opening the previous day and a night of partying at the seven stations.The 6·4 km line serves the hotels and casinos on the east side of the famed Strip from the Sahara to ...
-
News
BHP Billiton raises the limits
DRIVEN by booming demand for steel in China and elsewhere, BHP Billiton expects to invest up to A$3bn over the next few years as it ramps up capacity to haul export iron ore from its mines in the Pilbara region of northwestern Australia to the docks at Port Hedland.Maintaining a ...
-
News
Series N700 trainset takes shape
CENTRAL and West Japan Railways have unveiled a mock-up of the planned Series N700 trainset being developed for the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen. JR-Central has ordered a pre-production trainset which is now under construction and due for completion in March 2005. After two years of test running, the train is ...
-
News
Infrastructure capacity study
THE Infrastructure Commission of the International Union of Railways has published the final report of the Eurailinfra project, a study evaluating the capacity of major rail corridors in Europe. The study’s methodology will be used by the UIC to draw up a European Railway Infrastructure Master Plan.Eurailinfra looked at market ...
-
News
Record traffic prompts restrictions
HAMMERED by unprecedented demand, Union Pacific has taken the drastic step of imposing restrictions on traffic in critical corridors through Iowa and Illinois, in parts of California and at key terminals.During the peak traffic period from mid-July to early November, intermodal and other shipments will be subject to an allocation ...
-
News
Madrid places mammoth orders
ON JUNE 23 the Madrid regional government announced ’the largest rolling stock contract in the history of the metro’, which will see a total of 698 cars supplied at a cost of €1·04bn. In addition to 52 wide-profile Series 9000 trainsets that AnsaldoBreda is supplying for €392m (RG 7.04 p393), ...
-
News
High speed timetable confirmed
SPANISH Development Minister Magdalena Álvarez announced on July 4 that the Córdoba - M
-
News
Darling tightens grip on spending
ANOTHER restructuring of Britain’s privatised rail network, announced by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling on July 15, will see the Strategic Rail Authority abolished next year. Responsibility for letting franchises and managing the passenger train operators will pass to civil servants at the Department for Transport.Legislation likely to be introduced this ...
-
News
Betuwe Route under fire
NETHERLANDS: On July 5 the European Rail Freight Association called for the Dutch government, the European Parliament and the European Commission to halt construction of the Betuwe Route in the Netherlands 'before it is too late and before €10bn of national and European public money is wasted with an effect ...
-
News
Metropolitano goes to law
BUENOS AIRES suburban operator Metropolitano has mounted a legal challenge to the federal government’s attempt to revoke its concession to operate the San Martín commuter route between Buenos Aires and Pilar.Neither Transport Secretary Ricardo Jaime nor Gustavo Simeonof, Head of the Contract Analysis & Renegotiation Unit, appeared at a hearing ...
-
News
Country comeback
PASSENGER trains returned on July 10 to Ararat in Victoria’s Wimmera region. Earlier, on May 2, they had returned to Bairnsdale in the state’s Gippsland Lakes tourist region.Victorian Premier Steve Bracks said at a ceremony that ’when the trains were stopped in August 1993, it almost ripped the heart out ...
-
News
No go in Bordeaux
READERS may recall that parts of the tram network in the French city of Bordeaux have a novel surface-contact power supply system known as Innorail, chosen to avoid littering the city centre with overhead wires and masts (RG 2.04 p89).There was trouble even when President Chirac inaugurated the first section ...
-
News
NZ infrastructure handed over
NEW ZEALAND's rail infrastructure returned to government ownership at 23.57 on June 30, following tense negotiations between the Treasury and Australian logistics group Toll Holdings. The 4128 km of track was bought back for the same symbolic NZ$1 as it was sold to Tranz Rail in 1993, with the government ...
-
NewsWinning the RCF battle on the production line
Faster and more frequent train services, higher axleloads and new generations of rolling stock have increased loadings on rails, particularly on curves. Improved manufacturing processes and product development are now focusing on rail head wear, internal fatigue defects and rolling contact fatigue
-
News
Metros
Canada: Vancouver transport authority Translink voted on June 18 not to proceed with development of the proposed C$1·7bn metro line to the Airport and Richmond.France: The 2·2 km extension of Nantes light rail Line 3 from Plaisance to Sillon de Bretagne was officially opened on May 28. Total cost was ...
-
News
Slow market hits Holland Railconsult
HOLLAND Railconsult BV recorded a pre-tax profit of €9m in 2003, down from €11m in 2002. Turnover fell 5·7% to €136m from €144m, and profits amounted to 6·4% of turnover, around 1% lower than 2002.The consultancy found 2003 ’a difficult year’ in the infrastructure market and reduced its workforce by ...
-
News
Bearing supplier in acquisitive mood
ROLLER bearing manufacturer SKF is ’very interested in acquisitions’ at the moment, according to Gottfried Kure, Marketing Director of the Railway Business Unit. Having acquired bearing reconditioning specialist Rolling Stock Supply & Services in Australia in 2003, the company is looking for similar opportunities to expand.SKF is realigning its strategic ...
-
News
Walking Stick boosts inspection
DEVELOPED to reduce the need to rely on engineering judgement when inspecting rails, ACFM Walking Stick is a self-contained electromagnetic probe which provides semi-automated ratings of the severity of rail defects.The Walking Stick has been developed by Technical Software Consultant and Balfour Beatty Rail Technologies, which is carrying out field ...