Main line rail industry news – Page 1254
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News
Highspeed Train Europe takes shape
INTRO: Ralf Roman Rossberg reports from a seminar in Berlin on plans to develop a common design for tomorrow’s high speed rolling stock, but fundamental design decisions have yet to be madeWITH THE EXCEPTION of the Thalys and Eurostar fleets, nearly all of Europe’s high speed trains were designed and ...
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Tehran - Mashhad finished
IRANIAN Railways announced on March 5 that it had commissioned the second track on its 926 km main line between Tehran and Mashhad. The route has become a key corridor between the Persian Gulf and the Central Asian states following the opening of the Mashhad - Sarakhs link. The line ...
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Engineers report profits
A PRE-TAX profit of £105·2m was reported by Amec plc for the year ended December 31 2002, on a total turnover of £4·3bn. This was down from the 2001 profit of £130·5m on turnover of £4·5bn. Transport contributed £1bn to turnover during 2002, with rail the leading growth element in ...
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NS adopts standard pointwork
INTRO: A range of standard high performance turnouts and crossings being introduced across the Dutch network uses ’plug-and-play’ technology to reduce possession time and ensure rapid availability after installationWITH two new lines under construction and several major upgrading projects in hand, track renewal has become a significant issue on the ...
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PEOPLE
Having first taken up the post in 1996, Louis Gallois has been reappointed as President of SNCF for a third term, lasting five years. He represents the state on the SNCF board, together with Christian Brossier, Jean-Didier Blanchet, Bruno Bézard, Pierre-Mathieu Duhamel, Nicolas Jacquet and Didier Bureau. Jacques Maillot represents ...
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Publications
Rail Freight Handbook 2003This A4 softback annual provides a comprehensive listing of the many organisations involved in Britain’s rail freight industry, including operators, infrastructure providers, customers and political organisations. Introductory articles by authors including Rail Regulator Tom Winsor and Network Rail Deputy CEO Ian Coucher look at issues affecting the ...
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Malmö tunnel approved
THE SWEDISH government announced on March 6 that it had approved construction of the Citytunnel link in Malmö. As well as confirming detailed plans for the 17 km cross-city route, the decision paves the way for the calling of tenders for civil engineering work. The link will connect Malmö Central ...
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Siemens wins Zürich order
SWISS FEDERAL Railways has ordered 35 double-deck EMUs from Siemens Schweiz AG for the next phase of the Zürich S-Bahn network, at a cost of SFr447m. The first unit is scheduled for delivery in October 2005, and all should be in traffic by January 2008. The air-conditioned four-car sets will ...
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Lint orders
GERMAN Railway subsidiary DB Regionalbahn Westfalen has ordered 28 two-car Lint 41 diesel railcars from Alstom LHB, under a €60m contract which includes the refurbishment of 19 existing VT 640 single-car units. From December 2004 a batch of 21 units designated VT 648.1 will operate the Sauerland routes from ...
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Line 9 gets CBTC
BARCELONA Line 9 is to be equipped for fully-automatic driverless operation using communications-based train control. On March 6 the regional government’s construction authority GISA signed a €72·5m contract with a consortium of Siemens Transportation Systems and Invensys subsidiary Dimetronic SA.Due to open in phases between 2005 and 2008, the 41·4 ...
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Zambia Railways concessioned
ZAMBIAN Finance Minister Emmanuel Kasonde and the Chief Executive of New Limpopo Bridge Projects Investments Eitan Dvir signed a concession agreement in Lusaka on February 14, under which a South African-led consortium will upgrade and operate the Zambia Railways network over the next 20 years. The consortium of NLBI, Spoornet ...
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Europe tiptoes towards higher axleloads
TRACK ENGINEERS, commercial experts and industrial specialists met in Paris at a conference organised by the European Rail Research Institute on March 11-12 to try and answer the question ’heavy haul - the solution for Europe’s future?’. The event was an opportunity for heavy haul experts from North America and ...
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ÖBB takes a hard look at intermodal
ANXIOUS TO ensure the long-term future of its intermodal business, Austrian Federal Railways has instigated a research and development programme aimed at cutting the costs of terminal handling. Much of the potential for savings resides in moving containers more efficiently through terminals, eliminating delays and reducing the cost of transferring ...
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QR expands coal business
ON MARCH 14 Queensland Rail announced an A$41m contract for Siemens to rebuild three prototype Class 3100/3200 electric locos to provide ’a quantum leap in haulage capacity’ on coal trains. Siemens will design and supply electrical components, with the conversion to be undertaken by United Goninan North Queensland in Townsville. ...
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GE plant accord
GENERAL Electric Transportation Systems confirmed on March 7 that it was planning to build a diesel engine factory near St Petersburg. Director of Locomotive Programmes Douglas Rockwell said the company was negotiating to supply 765 engines to Russian Railways over the next five years. He expected an agreement with the ...
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RSSB launched
AMENDMENTS to the UK’s railway safety case regulations were laid before Parliament on March 10, paving the way for the establishment of a new Rail Safety & Standards Board with effect from April 1. RSSB will replace the existing Railway Safety organisation, which was a subsidiary of Railtrack acting on ...
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Sumatra scheme proposed
THE INDONESIAN province of Riau has announced plans for a 1350 km network in northern central Sumatra. The province has allocated US$1·1bn, and commissioned a feasibility study.First phase would be a 225 km line from the terminus of the existing 1067mm gauge North Sumatra railway at Rantau Prapat to Riau’s ...
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Locos sold
AUSTRALIAN open access freight operator Silverton Rail announced last month that it had purchased 99 locomotives and 372 wagons from Pacific National. The locos form the bulk of the locos which PN was required to sell following the merger of National Rail and Freightcorp (RG 9.02 p455).Silverton has bought nine ...
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Mid-Coast trolley
SAN DIEGO Metropolitan Transit Development Board voted on February 27 to build a further light rail line, serving the La Jolla area north of the city. The 17·2 km Mid-Coast line will start at the Old Town Transit Center and run north to the University of California-San Diego campus and ...
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Salzburg plans U-Bahn
AS PART of its bid to host the Winter Olympic Games in 2010, the Austrian city of Salzburg unveiled on March 7 a plan to develop a U-Bahn over the next six years. The idea is to extend the existing Lokalbahn from Lamprechtshausen, which now terminates beneath ÖBB’s main station, ...