Main line rail industry news – Page 1264
-
News
Pioneer of separation finds the experiment could unravel
EVEN THE most ardent supporters of separating infrastructure and operations must surely be wondering about their policy following revelations in early December that serious financial problems were affecting the passenger business in Sweden. It was here in 1988 that the first moves were made towards separation when Swedish State Railways ...
-
News
Block trains revised
GERMAN Railway’s freight arm DB Cargo is relaunching its unit train business from January 1, in an attempt to fight back against the growing number of open access carriers now operating in Europe. The package was announced on November 25, having been drawn up in detail following DB’s decision to ...
-
News
INTELLIGENCE
Australia: A ceremony was held at Dunmarra on December 13 to mark the final weld linking together rails laid southbound from Katherine and northbound from Tennant Creek on the Alice Springs - Darwin railway.Public consultation is underway for construction of the direct Perth - Mandurah line, following the passing of ...
-
News
Gijón tunnel
AS PART OF THE Metrotrén Asturias project (RG 1.02 p9), the Spanish Ministry of Development is to call tenders for the construction of a 3·54 km tunnel under the centre of Gijón. Starting at a depth of 20m below the existing Renfe terminus, the tunnel will run to Viesques with ...
-
News
Dinant - Athus electrified
On November 20 Belgian National Railways officially reopened the 130 km Dinant - Athus line to freight, after an eight-year programme of reconstruction and electrification. The line speed has been raised to 120 km/h, offering a 28min journey time saving for passenger trains worked by Class 41 DMUs. The line ...
-
News
EIB lends Bretagne €110m
EUROPEAN INVESTMENT Bank Vice-President Francis Meyer and Josselin de Rohan, President of the Bretagne regional council, signed an agreement on November 15 that will see EIB provide €110m to fund new rolling stock and infrastructure upgrades. Using the first EIB loan to a French region since they assumed responsibility for ...
-
News
Zhuhai closer
WORK IS expected to get underway this year on a 139·8 km railway serving the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone in southern China. Costed at 21bn yuan, the line is being promoted by the Guangdong Provincial Development Planning Commission, which completed a detailed feasibility study in December. Construction work is expected ...
-
News
Sheppard line opened
TORONTO Transit Commission’s first new heavy metro line for 36 years opened for revenue service on November 24, following official dedication ceremonies at Don Mills station two days earlier. The inaugural train was operated by Kevin Brown, whose late father Ed drove Toronto’s first subway train in 1954 and also ...
-
News
Zürich Phase III funded
THE BOARD of Swiss Federal Railways voted on November 29 to allocate SFr115m towards the third phase of the Zürich S-Bahn expansion programme. The canton of Aargau has already approved its share of the SFr202m project cost, and the balance will come from the cantons of Zürich, Thurgau and St ...
-
News
More money for UK light rail
ANNOUNCING on December 10 transport funding allocations to local authorities in England outside London for 2003-04, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling confirmed that a package of £520m had been agreed for extending the Manchester Metrolink light rail network to Oldham, Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Airport. Total cost is £820m, of which ...
-
News
Persistance may yet pay off
AEA Technology Rail is expected to complete shortly the installation of a Hitachi dual-voltage traction package in a British four-car Class 310 EMU at its premises in Derby. Equipment includes a transformer, IGBT inverter and four traction motors with a nominal rating of 270 kW. The train will include a ...
-
News
PPP bidders indemnified
THE LONG-RUNNING battle between the government and London’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone, over the Public-Private Partnership for London Underground’s infrastructure took another twist on December 4. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced that the preferred bidders for the three infrastructure companies (Infracos) and their financial backers would be offered ’an indemnity against ...
-
News
Faster to Malpensa
FERROVIE Nord Milano has taken a further step towards its goal of a 30min journey time for the Malpensa Express airport service. Contracts were awarded at the end of November for relocation underground of the route at Castellanza and associated works to complete double-tracking between Saronno and the airport junction. ...
-
News
Cost-cutting and more subsidy are back on the agenda
THE WINDOW of opportunity for major long-term investment in the UK’s railways is closing fast. The string of badly-needed infrastructure projects that would relieve bottlenecks and expand the business is being pushed aside - we understand that the Strategic Rail Authority’s updated Strategic Plan due this month is unlikely to ...
-
News
Separation benefits
IN CONTRAST to the separation of infrastructure and operations prevalent in Europe, a slightly different kind of split is planned in Israel. Under an agreement reached by the economic committee of the Knesset, within the next six months Israel Railways Ltd may be established as an independent state-owned company separated ...
-
News
Norfolk Southern spends
A $798m capital improvement budget for 2003 was announced by Norfolk Southern on December 9. Over the last three years, the annual NS capital spend has ranged from $705m to $806m. The largest slice in 2003 is earmarked for infrastructure, with $383m to be spent on rail, sleepers, ballast and ...
-
News
Break-up delayed
PLANS TO restructure Austrian Federal Railways have been gestating for years, but until now no transport minister has been prepared to grasp the nettle. In mid-December plans surfaced for a dramatic restructuring programme, together with suggestions that it could be rushed through parliament before Christmas so that the first stage ...
-
NewsSubway contract won with help from Brazil
Alstom signed a contract on October 31 to supply MTA New York CityTransit with 660 cars to the R160 design. Options could add another 1040 cars
-
News
Balancing the risks in København
Bids were received last month for construction of Phase 3 of the København Metro. Andrew Grantham finds that the tendering process has drawn on the experience of the many different parties involved in the first two phases of the project
-
News
Growing fuel
INDIAN Railways' Research Design & Standards Organisation is to carry out testing of locomotives fuelled by biodiesel. Plans to sign a memorandum of understanding with Indian Oil Corp were announced in December, paving the way for a research programme using stationary locos at the RDSO test centre inBenares. Only minor ...