Main line rail industry news – Page 1256
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News
Finance
Europe: Eurotunnel has reached cash breakeven, and is able to pay the interest on its debts. It recorded a 3% rise in operating profit during 2002 to £194m.France: Having agreed a five-year syndicated credit worth €1·5bn in December, RFF was planning to launch a 20-year bond issue worth up to ...
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Product News in Brief
Threshold Floorings is supplying Grid 200 mats with rubber infill to London Underground for refurbishment of the entrances to Elephant & Castle station.Next month Voith will begin series production of 180 drive packages for Alstom Minuetto diesel multiple-units being built for use in Italy. A pre-series T212bre turbo transmission and ...
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UIC study targets infrastructure costs
INTRO: A comparative study of infrastructure costs in Western Europe, North America and East Asia prepared for the UIC reveals that best practice can cut 40% off the average cost. The authors believe that ’vast potential’ exists for further savingsBYLINE: Dr Heiner Bente, Dr Jost Lüking and Oskar Stalder *RAILWAYS ...
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Customer care training
USA: Police officers belonging to Washington metro's Rail Anti-crime Target Squad have been sent on a crash course in customer service at Disney World, in a bid to reduce tension and prevent the escalation of minor incidents into major confrontations. All 357 officers will participate in a 6h course designed ...
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Passenger News in Brief
Austrian Federal Railways has opened first class lounges at Wien West and Süd stations. Available to members of the ÖBB frequent traveller programme plus first class, sleeping car and motorail ticket holders, the lounges offer free drinks and snacks, and office facilities. A similar lounge opens in Salzburg on March ...
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Metros
China: Hong Kong’s Executive Council has authorised the start of detailed planning for MTR Corp’s proposed HK$10bn South Island Link, including a review of alternatives to the monorail being advocated by MTR. Project Director Russell Black hopes to start work in 2005 for opening by 2010.Shenzhen Metro Corp has ordered ...
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Road rail shunter
TNT Logistics has put into service a Mercedes-Benz Unimog U400 road-rail shunter at its warehouse in Staffordshire to handle wagonloads of spare parts arriving by rail from Germany. The vehicle is equipped with automatic couplers and a front-mounted brush for site cleaning at the rail terminal or warehouse.Unimog, United KingdomReader ...
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Market
Czech Republic: CD has called tenders for the supply of 20 four-axle 200 km/h tri-voltage electric locos. Financed by Eurofima, they are due to enter service in 2004.China: Scott Wilson Railways is to carry out design for Hong Kong’s fourth cross-harbour rail tunnel, carrying KCRC’s East Kowloon line between Kowloon ...
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Industry News in Brief
Minnesota Rubber Europe is installing two multi-plate presses for micro-cellular products to double capacity at its rail sector factory at Pacy-sur-Eure in France.Following the voluntary liquidation of Bulgin Power Source, senior managers have led a buy-out by new firm Powertron Converters Ltd of DC-DC converter maker Powertron Ltd, which had ...
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Asmara reconnected
AFTER a 10-year reconstruction programme, Eritrea Railways confirmed last month that it had completed the rebuilding of its 117 km main line linking the capital Asmara to the Red Sea port of Massawa (RG 2.01 p93). A formal inauguration ceremony is planned for later this year. Including 3·5% grades on ...
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Rapid recording
THE EFFECTS on the track geometry of rail wear and sleeper movement can be measured at up to 30 km/h using DataTaker DT800. Track twist angles are measured every 3m, and transmitted to a laboratory by GSM network. Readings are compared with previous measurements to establish if the angle meets ...
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THSRC places last track contracts
TAIWAN High Speed Rail Corp awarded the last two contracts for trackwork on the 346 km high speed line between Taipei and Kaohsiung on January 23. Covering 153·6 km of main line between Panchiao and Changhua on the northern half of the route, Contracts T210 and T220 were both won ...
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Cross-border chemicals
FEBRUARY 12 saw the operation of the first private-sector freight train across the German/Polish border, carrying oil products from Leuna to the Katowice region. A joint venture of German open-access operator rail4chem and Chem Trans Logistic Holding Polska SA plans to run a regular block train for chemicals traffic to ...
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Serbian wagons for Brazil
EDUARDO Meireles, Director of Industry in the Brazilian state of Goias, signed a letter of intent on January 21 for the supply of 2300 railway wagons from a consortium including Serbia’s Kraljevo rolling stock factory and Gosa. The agreement is worth up to US$50m, and will require all capacity at ...
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Sprinter refit progresses
NEARING completion at Bombardier’s Randers works is a Sprinter EMU for Netherlands Railways, being refurbished as a prototype for a mid-life fleet refit under a 200m guilders contract awarded in July 2001 (RG 8.01 p503). The unit was dispatched to Denmark in April 2002, and is due to re-enter service ...
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Rolling pipelines across the borders
INTRO: On January 31 German open access operator rail4chem was granted safety approval to operate in the Netherlands, as part of its strategy to target international rail freight flows across Europe. Over the two years since its launch in March 2001, the company has seen its business grow to over ...
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TGV heads east
Civil works are now well underway on the first 300 km of new line between Paris and Strasbourg, due to open in 2007 when the best journey time between the two cities will be cut by almost half. Jean-Paul Masse reports on progress with the first high speed line project ...
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Freight customers demand open access with fair competition
INTRO: From March 15 the 50000 km Trans-European Rail Freight Network is theoretically open to any qualified train operator, whether publicly or privately owned. Richard Hope asked four major rail users who desperately want a competitive market what further changes are needed to achieve itTHIS MONTH sees a major step ...
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Open access brings
mixed resultsINTRO: In theory, legislation has provided Australia with one of the most open rail freight markets in the world. In reality, results have been mixed, with success inhibited by the failure of governments to provide policies to realise the full potential of open access, says Mark CarterCOMPETITION policy principles ...