Main line rail industry news – Page 1260
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Railned and RIB merge as ProRail
WITH EFFECT from January 1, the three separate organisations with responsibility for rail infrastructure in the Netherlands have been merged to form a single infrastructure operator, known as ProRail. The move was proposed at the end of 2001, as part of the government’s strategy to simplify the railway structure (RG ...
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Reading to move in-house
NETWORK Rail announced on January 13 that it will take over responsibility for inspection and day-to-day maintenance of infrastructure in the Reading area from Amey, after the current contract worth around £50m a year expires on March 31. Agreement has been reached for the Great Western Zone to assume the ...
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Central Railway heads for the heights
INTRO: Three years after privatisation, new locos and more efficient operating practices have raised freight traffic on Peru’s Central Railway by 57%. Limited passenger services have returned, and further freight growth is in prospectBYLINE: Jack A RobersonGeneral ManagerFerrocarril Central AndinoTHE EUPHORIA which greeted the wave of privatisation in Latin America ...
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Three-system Pendolino emerges at last
Next month is due to see the roll-out of the first Class 680 tilting inter-city trainset for Czech Railways, after a decade of chequered progress which saw production switched from Praha to Savigliano. Chris Jackson spoke to Alstom Ferroviaria's Projects & Marketing Director Pier Prina Mello and Project Manager Federico ...
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Tüvasas develops indigenous DMUs
INTRO: Rolling stock supplier Tüvasas is starting work on a prototype three-car diesel multiple-unit, which will be followed by a fleet of 168 vehicles over the next five years to operate regional services on Turkish State RailwaysTHIS MONTH sees the start of fabrication work for the first 160 km/h diesel ...
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Transition to a market economy brings tough challenges
INTRO: Decision makers in China face difficult choices as they chart a path towards a railway structure able to meet the needs of a market economy. The government and the Ministry of Railways are determined to begin the process of change before being forced to do so. Key objectives are ...
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Detecting Dutch wheel defects
GOTCHA is a compact wheel quality measuring system which works by analysing rail deflections caused by passing trains. Using two optic fibre sensors mounted under each rail, Gotcha is able to automatically identify eccentricity, flats and other quality parameters for individual wheelsets. The use of optic fibres prevents problems with ...
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Desiro UK's big sister emerges
INTRO: Later this year the first of 45 five-car EMUs being built for UK franchisee South West Trains will be delivered by Siemens Transportation Systems. Designed to operate long-distance commuter services between London and south coast towns up to 230 km from the capital, they are expected to ...
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CargoMover takes on the lorry
INTRO: Chris Jackson reports from Wegberg-WildenrathA VISION of fully-automatic freight trains roaming the rails of Europe was outlined by Siemens Transportation Systems’ incoming Group President Hans Schabert when he unveiled the company’s CargoMover prototypes at the Wildenrath test centre on December 18. The two vehicles are the fruits of a ...
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GE launches Evolution prototype
IN A CEREMONY on December 23, General Electric Transportation Systems rolled out a prototype of its Evolution Series diesel-electric locomotive at the Lawrence Park plant in Erie, Pennsylvania. The loco is designed to meet tighter Environmental Protection Agency standards coming into force from 2005, while using 3% less fuel than ...
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Pendolino to attack the London - Manchester market
INTRO: Virgin Trains showed off its Class 390 Pendolino on December 16 with a high speed run from London to Manchester and back. Murray Hughes wason boardON JANUARY 27 Virgin Trains planned to launch its first Pendolino Britannico in revenue-earning traffic between London and Manchester. Virgin had originally intended its ...
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Delhi opens first metro line
THE INITIAL section of elevated metro in the Indian capital was formally inaugurated on December 24, running for 8·3 km between Shahdara and Tis Hazari. The line was opened by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was accompanied by his deputy L K Avani, Urban Development Minister Anath Kumar, and ...
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Wiring bids
NEXT MONTH is due to see a call for tenders for electrification work on Israel Railways, according to General Manager Yossi Snir. On December 30 he announced that the master plan for electrification would be published in February, setting out details of which routes will be wired first. He ...
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Porto LRT opens
JANUARY 1 saw the start of revenue operation on the first line of the Porto light rail network, with the inauguration of 9·3 km of the Blue line between Matosinhos and Trinidade. A limited demonstration service had been offered on part of the route from June 29 until November 17 ...
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Swedes test high speed on-board internet access
ON JANUARY 30, a Swedish high speed train will become the first in the world to offer passengers real-time internet access on the move. One Linx X2000 tilting trainset operating between Göteborg, Malmö and København has been fitted with a wireless communications network which can also support passenger information and ...
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High speed plans take shape
While a demonstration run with the Pudong airport maglev line in Shanghai on December 31 hogged the headlines at the turn of the year, Chinese Railways is making steady progress with development of conventional steel-wheel technology for high speed applications
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A$56m funds model railway
WORK has started on an ambitious research programme to develop a national repository for computer modelling and simulation tools for the Australian rail industry. Funded by an A$56m partnership between the federal government, rail industry and universities, the Co-operative Research Centre for Railway Engineering & Technologies will be based at ...
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Malaysian export ambition
MMC Metal Industries plans to enter the Asian passenger rolling stock market, according to Chief Executive Officer Lew Chin Hoi. The company hopes to build metre-gauge vehicles in Malaysia for export to Myanmar and Vietnam. ’Most of the Asean countries use metre gauge, and this creates a niche for us’, ...
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Italian investment keeps growing
INTRO: Holding company Ferrovie dello Stato expects to see capital investment grow at 20% a year between now and 2005. Angelo Scorza reports ANOTHER MAJOR investment programme for the Italian rail network was announced by FS President & Managing Director Giancarlo Cimoli on December 13. ’We have invested €5·4bn in ...
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Crucial reform bills stalled
FOUR BILLS to transform the structure of Russia’s railways were approved by the Russian Duma on December 24, but three days later the reform package was stalled when one of the four was rejected by senators in the Federation Council (the upper house). This puts in doubt the scheduled signing ...