Main line rail industry news – Page 1216
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News
SNCF under fire
A BOOK entitled La Machine Infernale published by Le Cherche Midi has ruffled the feathers of everyone involved in railways in France. Written by Nicolas Beau, a journalist with the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchainé, Marc Fressoz of La Vie du Rail and Laurence Dequay, a writer for the magazine ...
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Kenya tries again
PRIVATISATION in East Africa is moving ahead, albeit slowly. Although the Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian heads of state were agreed on the desirability of a single concessionaire, Tanzania had already called for expressions of interest. Only a lone bidder came forward (RG 2.04 p72), and the process is to be ...
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Traction equipment ordered
UKRAINIAN locomotive builder GP NPK Electro-vozostroeniya has placed a €120m order with Siemens for traction equipment to be installed in 100 DS3 electric locomotives being built for Ukrainian Railways at Dnepropetrovsk.Developed jointly by the two companies, the DS3 is a mixed traffic design able to accept power at 3 kV ...
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Concession sought
OPERATION of the 781 km metre gauge Djibouti-Ethiopian Railway linking Djibouti with Addis Abeba is to be transferred to the private sector. The two governments decided last month to call for expressions of interest, and prequalification documents must be submitted by May 30.The concessionaire must set up a private joint ...
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Northrail starts as Line 2 grows
ACEREMONY was held in Manila on April 5 to mark the start of work on the long-planned Northrail project to rehabilitate the former Philippine National Railways Main Line North. Closed since 1982, the single-track 1067mm gauge line is to be rebuilt as a double-track route able to carry 350000 passengers ...
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Yarra Trams takes over
At 03.01 on April 18 Yarra Trams became the new name for Melbourne’s entire privatised tram network when the company assumed responsibility for the former National Express Swanston Trams franchise operated under the M>Tram brand.Yarra Trams Chief Executive Hubert Guyot drove the first tram, a Siemens Combino low-floor car, from ...
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Upgrading programme
AN INFRASTRUCTURE improvement programme for the Montréal metro costing C$309·4m was announced on March 22 following approval by the federal, provincial and city governments.Forming part of the Infrastructure Canada-Québec 2000 Programme, the work includes replacing 41 escalators and two moving walkways in the initial 26-station network. Other elements in the ...
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Sitram starts tracklaying
JEAN-MARIE Bockel, Mayor of Mulhouse, took part in a ceremony on March 16 to weld one of the first rails on the city’s tram network. The event was staged at La Porte Jeune, site of the future interchange between the two lines of the planned 19·75 km network.Work on the ...
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Septa retenders
AMID charges of favouritism and political interference, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority on March 19 cancelled a $236m order for 104 stainless steel commuter cars from the Rotem-led United Transit Systems consortium.Septa board Chairman Pasquale Deon blamed the potential cost of defending a lawsuit brought by Kawasaki Rail Car, one of ...
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Second Avenue project split up
Chairman of New York MTA Peter Kalikow has confirmed that the $17bn Second Avenue subway will be built in stages to make it easier to secure funding.MTA plans envisage that the first phase will have only four stations before merging with the existing BMT Broadway subway. The line would start ...
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A satisfactory start
INITIAL results have been published for Metronet Rail’s performance during the first year of the London Underground PPP. In April 2003 the firm assumed responsibility for maintaining and upgrading the infrastructure and rolling stock on nine of LU’s 12 lines. Bonuses and penalties are payable for good or poor performance.Metronet ...
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High speed backed
STANDARD & POOR’S Ratings Services published a report on March 29 suggesting that capital investment in high speed rail projects across Europe will grow rapidly over the next 10 years.Fast Track to a Borderless Europe: The Credit Dynamics of High Speed Rail starts from the European Commission’s view that ’rail ...
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Blast in Ryongchon
MYSTERY surrounds a huge explosion at Ryongchon in North Korea on April 22. Initial reports said that it had been caused by the collision of two fuel trains, but later accounts blamed the explosion on the ignition of ammonium nitrate from contact with overhead power cables.Reports suggesting that 3000 people ...
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Urban rail news in brief - May 2004
Argentina: The contract to build the 2·9 km extension of metro Line A from Primera Junta to Nazca (RG 4.04 p186) was signed in Buenos Aires on April 12. Civil works began 10 days later, with new stations expected to open at Pu? n and Carabobo in 2007 and at ...
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Safetram addresses crashworthiness of trams and light rail vehicles
An EU-funded three-year research programme to develop cost-effective structural safety improvements for trams and light rail vehicles has produced two modular bodyshell designs
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NewsReport backs Translink growth
UK: A radical increase in Northern Ireland's railway services is recommended by an independent report from Booz Allen Hamilton. Commissioned by Translink on behalf of Northern Ireland Transport Holding Co, the report's conclusions will form the basis of Translink's rail investment proposals for the 2004 Government Spending Review. The ...
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News
La Réunion plans inter-urban link
FRANCE: Lyon-based consultant Semaly has won a contract to study and design an inter-urban ’tram-train’ project on the French island département of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean. Leader of a consortium with Scetauroute, Thales and Dubus Richez, Semaly is already working on preliminary studies and expects to complete an ...
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Lower Inn valley line will increase trans-Alpine capacity
INTRO: Under a €1·35bn project to improve capacity on the Brenner axis by 2010, work has begun on a 40 km second route along the Lower Inn valley in AustriaBYLINE: Martin PellizzariBrenner Eisenbahn GmbHSPEEDING the flow of international traffic across the Alps is one of the greatest challenges facing European ...
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Passenger News in Brief
This month CityNightLine plans to introduce refurbished double-deck sleeping cars on services to Amsterdam from Zürich and München. Replacing T2S vehicles, the modernised coaches offer single and double cabins in two classes, with and without showers.Suburban rail passengers in Melbourne can now send a text message to Connex Trains requesting ...
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AMEC adapts to handover
ENGINEERING contractor AMEC Spie is reorganising its rail business in advance of the handover of its UK rail maintenance work to Network Rail on July 24 (RG 12.03 p770).Maintenance currently accounts for one-third of AMEC Spie Rail’s £350m turnover, and according to Business Development Manager Barry Atkinson the company hopes ...