Main line rail industry news – Page 1233
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News
IR looks at Suez landbridge
NEXT MONTH is due to see the publication of a report into the feasibility of a rail freight corridor between Eilat and the Mediterranean port of Ashdod. On August 20 Israeli Transport Minister Avigdor Liebermann announced that creation of 'a landbridge alternative to the slow and costly Suez Canal' had ...
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Pointers
Rio Tinto subsidiary Hamersley Iron has almost completed a feasibility study to determine whether its mines, railway and port at Dampier can be upgraded to produce 114 million tonnes of ore a year. Robe River Iron Associates, also owned by Rio Tinto, now expects the West Angelas mine opened last ...
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Compiling the tables
Not all the trains in the tables run every day, but all have been scheduled to run regularly at some time between June and September 2003. Many European countries still schedule additional trains during July and August, and may temporarily suspend others. The schedules in this review represent, as far ...
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Metros
Canada: The government has announced a contribution of up to C$25m towards the construction of a planned 10·3 km peoplemover to transport tourists at Niagara Falls.Union Switch & Signal is to supply NS-1 relay-based signalling for the 5·2 km extension of AMT Montréal metro Line 2 to Laval in 2006.Czech ...
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Market
Czech Republic: CD has ordered 11 saloon and 15 compartment coaches and spare parts worth €43m from Siemens for use on cross-border trains. The 200 km/h air-conditioned vehicles are to be delivered from 2005.France: Alstom has signed a €25m three-year contract to maintain cooling units in TGV power cars, with ...
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Tracks on track
Plant hire firm BCL has placed an order for 10 Komatsu PC128US tracked excavators converted for road-rail use by Rexquote.The Komatsu base machine is designed so hydraulic rail bogies can be fitted for travel to a worksite, where normal working is carried out using the vehicle’s tracks, minimising soil and ...
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Getting a grip
LIFTING the concrete slabs which make up cable troughing frequently installed alongside railway tracks can be made easier using a scissor-action tool developed by J Muscroft Engineering. ’It grips concrete slabs at each end and allows two operators to lift the slab via handles, enabling operators to keep their backs ...
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Passenger News in Brief
A 6000m2 shopping mall and walkway at Basel SBB station was opened on August 21. Officially inaugurated on September 12, Railcity Basel improves access to the platforms and has a range of retail outlets.India’s Central Railway has introduced automated ticket vending machines at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji station.Implementation of the Lennon ...
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Getting out
The provision of emergency escape routes is a growing consideration in carriage design, with analysis of passengers’ responses to incidents showing it is an important factor in the aftermath of a serious incident. AEA Technology Rail has developed sliding vestibule doors which include a simple mechanism to allow passengers to ...
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Magnetic detectors
E-AWS has been developed to remove the need for Automatic Warning System receivers to be switched between high and low sensitivity as trains move between areas with differing or no electrification systems. The solid state magnetic detector used by E-AWS covers the full range of receiver-to-magnet sensitivities, eliminating the need ...
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Reforms to meet the prospect of competition on the tracks
INTRO: Over the past two years, Norwegian infrastructure authority Jernebaneverket and state railway NSB have been restructuring ready for the advent of competition on the national network. Chris Jackson spoke to the principal players ’I EXPECT to see new operators on the network within the next year.’ As Director General ...
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NSB focuses on customer satisfaction
WITH THE launch of the summer timetable on June 15, NSB abandoned the three marketing brands that it had launched in 1999 - Signatur for long-distance services, Agenda for medium-distance inter-city and Puls for local suburban trains. In future, all operations will revert to the core NSB branding. The change ...
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Suburban quadrupling heads infrastructure programme
INTRO: Construction of new tracks through the western suburbs of Oslo will relieve the biggest bottleneck on the Norwegian networkDEEP IN THE hills to the southwest of the Norwegian capital, contractors are hard at work boring rock tunnels 2·7 km and 3·6 km long. They will form part of the ...
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Brake and wheel design can cut train noise
INTRO: Reflecting increased concern over the environmental impact of railway operations, noise limits for new vehicles are being introduced by the European Union. Recent research has focused on wheels and braking systems as well as the trackBYLINE: Dr David Thompson and Dr Chris JonesInstitute of Sound & Vibration Research, University ...
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Sharing knowledge is essential to secure the future
INTRO: With international delegates in attendance from all sectors of the railway industry and academia, the World Congress on Railway Research provides an opportunity to network with colleagues and industry peersBYLINE: Len PorterChairman, WCRR 2003 Organising CommitteeTHE ORGANISING Committee is proud to host the 6th World Congress on Railway Research, ...
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World Speed Survey 2003: Promises, promises!
In his biennial survey of the world's fastest start-to-stop timings, Dr Colin Taylor finds Germany has moved up the league table, but that many aspirations noted in the 2001 survey have yet to bear fruit
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JR-East seeks supremacy in the long-distance market
INTRO: With plans in hand to extend the Tohoku and Hokuriku Shinkansen, JR-East has calculated that to compete with the airlines it must raise the current maximum speed from 275 km/h to 360 km/h, prompting research into noise reduction, bogie stability and ride comfortBYLINE: Takashi Endo Director, Advanced Railway System ...
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Wheel and rail roughness both play their part
BYLINE: Ulrik Danneskiold-SamsøeChairmanØdegaard & Danneskiold-Samsøe A/SROUGH wheels rolling on smooth rail or vehicles with reprofiled wheels or new brake blocks running on rough rail give a combined roughness level which has a significant impact on the level of noise produced (Fig 1). Readings taken during the recent commissioning of EMU ...