Main line rail industry news – Page 1223
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News
De Palacio berates slow progress on freight
SPEAKING at the Community of European Railways’ annual reception in Brussels on February 17, Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio expressed alarm at the slow progress being made with turning round Europe’s rail freight businesses.’The overall situation of rail freight is really worrying. The rail market share continues to drop, quality ...
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Sidetrack
Newfoundland tunnelNEWFOUNDLAND & Labrador Premier Danny Williams has announced a C$352000 study into the feasibility of a rail tunnel linking the island and the Canadian mainland.Replacing a seasonal ferry service, electric shuttle trains would carry road vehicles through the immersed tube tunnel across the Strait of Belle Isle between Green ...
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Addis Abeba plans interurban light rail
PROPOSALS are being developed for a 100 km rapid transit link between Addis Abeba and Nazareth to relieve transport problems in the Ethiopian capital. Public transport patronage has increased by 43% since 1986, with local buses now handling more than 600000 passengers a day. Although described as light rail, the ...
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Crossing and signal lights with LEDs
THE LIFE of level crossing warning lights can be extended, and the need for maintenance reduced, by using light emitting diodes in place of conventional bulbs. The 433 Series module from Dialight has been designed for use with existing crossing equipment as well as fitting to new installations. The red-tinted ...
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Finance
Australia:The Queensland government has announced A$184m of funding to double-track the 7 km Ormeau - Coomera section of the Gold Coast line used by QR Citytrain, and extend the dual gauge by 9·5 km from Salisbury to Kuraby. A further A$63m has been allocated for additional trainsets.China:Asian Development Bank has ...
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Passenger News in Brief
On December 15 French Transport Minister Gilles de Robien, SNCF President Louis Gallois and RFF President Jean-Pierre Duport signed an agreement to make rail travel easier for disabled people. By 2007 access is to be improved at 70% of stations in France, and accommodation for wheelchair travellers on trains is ...
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Ticketing in Brief
DB and VDV have introduced City-Ticket, allowing passengers travelling over 100 km using a BahnCard to complete their journey by bus, tram and metro in 46 German cities without further payment. It is hoped to expand City-Ticket to all cities of over 120000 residents. The Ontario provincial government has allocated ...
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France tests high speed Wi-Fi
FOR A six-month experimental period Wi-Fi access is being made available to passengers on trains operating at up to 300 km/h between Paris, Bordeaux and Pau. The trial was launched in November by Clic TGV, a joint venture of 11 transport and telecoms firms and content providers.A total of 15 ...
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Ballastless track design
ON DISPLAY at the Mena Rail event in Dubai in December was a slab track design developed by two German companies, Naumburger Bauunion and ThyssenKrupp GfT Gleistechnik. The suppliers said that NBU track was suitable for speeds of up to 220 km/h and also for light rail projects.The NBU track ...
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Metros
Canada:Toronto Transit Commission has signed a C$7·9m contract for integrated software from IFS Applications to replace five maintenance and support systems.China:Coronet Rail Ltd has won an order to supply fishplates worth £100000 for the 3·5 km Yam O - Penny’s Bay light metro feeder line in Hong Kong.France:RATP has placed ...
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Pointers
Nigerian Minister of State for Transport Alhaji Mohammed Musahas has held discussions with China Civil Engineering Construction Co in Beijing over extending a Ccecc contract for technical assistance with refurbishment of the NRC network to include the management of rail operations.Russian Railways President Gennadi Fadeyev has agreed with Siemens Transportation ...
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Market
China:Nokia and Shanghai Railway Communication Equipment Factory are to supply a Tetra digital radio network to Ningqi Railway Co for use from June on the Nanjing - Qidong line now under construction.France:SNCF is planning to order 60 electric locomotives from Alstom to haul push-pull services in Ile-de-France. They will be ...
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Scientific ways to cut noise
TWO wagons which have been modified to reduce emitted noise were officially launched by Jacqueline Tammenons-Bakker, Director General, Freight Transport, at the Dutch Ministry of Transport & Public Works’ in a ceremony held in Den Haag on November 25.Noise pollution is of particular concern in the highly urbanised and densely ...
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Wagon hunting
HUNTING, the severe low-frequency lateral acceleration of a vehicle caused by wheel and rail wear, speed and track condition, can increase the risk of derailment, as well as damage a wagon’s payload. The RHD-2000 sensor has been developed to identify vehicles which are badly affected by hunting, allowing remedial action ...
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Recording geometry effectively
THE Technology Research & Development Department at JR Central has developed a small and lightweight device to give high precision measurements of rail geometry.LightRec is manually pushed along the rails on conventional and Shinkansen lines, and calculates in real time the track gauge, level, alignment and twist.At less than US$34500, ...
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Sidetrack
200 years oldFEBRUARY 21 marks the 200th anniversary of the first journey of a steam locomotive running on rails. Richard Trevithick’s 7 tonne machine hauled five wagons, 10 tonnes of iron and 70 passengers for about 15 km on a tramway at the Pen Y Darren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil ...
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Broadband sound
A TRAIN horn producing closely-confined broadband sound has been developed by Brigade Electronics. It is currently on test fitted to an Electrostar EMU based at South Central’s Brighton depot, where local residents have complained about frequent disturbance from horns.Based on the firm’s bbs-tek reversing alarm, the broadband horn meets UK ...
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Modi’in contracts let
WORK began last month on two new stations in Modi’in, which will be served by a line branching at Daniel Junction from Israel Railways’ planned fast line from Ben-Gurion Airport to Jerusalem. The US$26m contract for Modi’in Central was awarded to Shafir Engineering. The four-platform station will be built underground ...
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AGC to revitalise regional routes
SNCF has ordered up to 500 Bombardier-built AGC multiple-units to replace life-expired DMUs and EMUs on regional services. Funded by regional authorities, the family will include diesel, electric and dual-mode versions
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MF2000 to start trials this year
The first of 805 steel-wheeled cars for the Paris metro is nearing completion at Alstom's factory in Valenciennes, and operator RATP expects to take delivery of a pre-production MF2000 trainset at the end of this year