Main line rail industry news – Page 1228
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News
Dubai metro will be automated
SPEAKING at the Mena Rail conference at the Dubai World Trade Centre on December 9, Dr Abdelqader O Elshabani, Technical Co-ordinator for the Dubai Rail Project in Dubai Municipality’s Planning & Survey Department, confirmed that the planned urban rail network will use driverless technology with platform screen doors. Trains would ...
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... as Spoornet goes back together
IN MAY last year the South African government appointed Dolly Mokgatle as Chief Executive of Spoornet. The 20070 km network she found was not in good shape, and in November she decided how she would start to turn the business round.Spoornet had moved into the red in 1998-99 with a ...
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Pyrenees link closer to start
AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT confirming the compulsory purchase of 170000m2 of farmland at La Jonquera was published by the Spanish Ministry of Development on December 4. The land will be required for the southern portal and access to the 8·2 km twin-bore cross-border tunnel that forms part of the new Figueres ...
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ÖBB to be broken up ...
STRIKES THAT brought services on the Austrian Federal network to a halt during November in protest at the government’s plans to reform the national railway proved to be of no avail. Legislation that will force through a complete restructuring of ÖBB was passed by parliament on December 4, and railway ...
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ORR sets NR spending limits
NETWORK Rail must be allowed to spend £22·2bn on operating, maintaining and upgrading the UK’s national network over the next five years, Rail Regulator Tom Winsor ruled on December 12. His decision follows research and consultation by the Office of the Rail Regulator, and provides around £10bn less than NR ...
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Car orders placed
PHOENIX light rail promoter Valley Metro Rail has selected Kinki Sharyo to supply 36 cars to operate the 32·3 km route at a cost of $115m. They will be 27·4m long, with partial low floors, and designed to operate in trains of up to three units. The deal includes options ...
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Météor and Line E extended
TWO SHORT but significant extensions to the Paris urban rail network were officially inaugurated on December 16.The first sees the automated Météor metro Line 14 opened five years ago extended by 487m from Madeleine to St-Lazare at a cost of €128m. As well as providing interchange with SNCF suburban services, ...
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Connex picked in Auckland
JULY 1 will see TranzRail hand over operation of Auckland’s commuter trains to Connex under a deal announced on November 26. Connex was selected as preferred contractor ahead of rival bids from Stagecoach and Serco, and the contract is due to be signed by Auckland Regional Council this month.Auckland’s two ...
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Mandura bidders
RAILLINK JV has been named preferred bidder for the contract to fit out the 70 km New MetroRail line in Western Australia connecting the state capital with urban developments along the southern coast between Rockingham and the resort of Mandura (MR03 p44).Announcing the decision on December 9, WA Planning & ...
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End of the phoney war
QUEENSLAND RAIL’S subsidiary Interail has launched a regular container service between Casino in New South Wales and the Port of Brisbane, QR Chief Executive Bob Scheuber told the AusRail conference on November 17. Referring to the imminent arrival of Pacific National on the QR network, Scheuber emphasised that the ’phoney ...
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Line 4 foreshadows urban expansion
SPEAKING at the Central & Eastern European Rail summit on November 27, Deputy Director-General for Economics of Budapest Transport Tam
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Larkhall approved
PASSENGER trains are set to return to the Lanarkshire town of Larkhall in October 2005, following a final go-ahead for a £35m project. Scottish Transport Minister Nicol Stephen confirmed on December 5 that the Scottish Executive would lift its funding contribution from £16m to £25m, reflecting increases in the projected ...
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RailNet goes alone
JANUARY 1 2004 sees the transformation of RailNetEurope into a free-standing non-profit organisation, with its own offices in Wien, following a decision by the steering committee on December 3. RNE was set up by the European Infrastructure Managers group as a forum to establish co-operation for allocation of international freight ...
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ZR upgrade funded
WHAT IS believed to be the first African concession in recent times where the private sector has secured bank finance to upgrade rail infrastructure achieved financial close on December 3. This cleared the way for a joint venture of New Limpopo Project Investments and Spoornet to take over management of ...
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More open access
IN A report on November 25 former head of Banverket Jan Brandborn proposes open access throughout Sweden, including routes where SJ AB or regional authorities enjoy a monopoly on passenger services. Rikstrafiken, the authority that administers subsidies to some national routes, would be given greater responsibility, including management of a ...
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Jerusalem in under 30min
FUNDING for the long-planned high speed line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and other major projects was allocated in Israel's budget for the next five years announced on December 1; for the first time the rail spend this year (US$800m) will exceed that allocated for roads (US$780m). On ...
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Operators rail at footing the ETCS bill
IN TECHNICAL terms, the European Train Control System can be implemented. In financial terms, it can be funded. But it cannot be financed by the railways alone. This was the message to emerge at last month’s ERTMS conference in Leipzig.A UIC report entitled ’Implementing the European Train Control System’ suggests ...
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Letters
Intransigence holds up freight progressSir - You report that Eurotunnel has applied to the French transport ministry for a licence to operate trains in France (RG 11.03 p724), and also that SNCF is reorganising its freight business to be more commercial (RG 12.03 p765). But you make no mention in ...
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Exposing the real infrastructure cost drivers
INTRO: Why are life-cycle infrastructure costs five times lower in the USA than in the Netherlands, but are 50% to 200% higher in Japan and Hong Kong? Jan Swier* shows how these huge cost differences can be explained, allowing them to be predicted more accuratelyOVER THE LAST 10 years, Netherlands ...
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West Rail opens to passengers
FULL COMMERCIAL service on Hong Kong's West Rail was due to start at 14.00 on December 20, after a formal opening ceremony had taken place that morning at Kam Sheung Road station. KCRC Chairman Michael Tien announced the opening date on December 12 following six weeks of fault-free ghost ...