Main line rail industry news – Page 1267
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News
West Coast upgrade cut back as costs soar
BRITAIN’S troubled West Coast Main Line upgrading programme suffered another setback on October 9 when the Strategic Rail Authority issued for consultation a document confirming that Virgin would not be able to run its fleet of 53 Pendolino tilting trainsets at 225 km/h until some indefinite future date when the ...
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Cinderella becomes a Princess
WHATEVER pain Virgin may be suffering over its Pendolinos on the West Coast main line, its other franchise achieved a notable milestone with the start of the winter timetable. From Monday September 30, weekday services run by the Virgin CrossCountry (VCC) franchise jumped to 215, more than double the 90 ...
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Madrid - Lleida opens next year
THE FIRST 450 km of the Madrid - Barcelona high speed line is due to open to traffic on January 1 2003, following an official opening ceremony that the Ministry of Development is planning to hold on December 20 or 21. Pending the arrival of its new Siemens and Talgo ...
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Iberian cross-border accord
ON OCTOBER 3 after an inter-governmental summit in Valencia, the transport ministers of Portugal and Spain announced that tenders would be called early next year for studies to determine the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of a high speed line from Madrid to Lisboa and Porto. The contract will be ...
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ICF banks on X.net expansion
THIS MONTH sees 12 more services added to Intercontainer-Interfrigo’s embryonic X.net hub-and-spoke network based at Herne on the Wanne-Herner Railway in Germany’s Ruhr district (RG 7.02 p354). New destinations for X.net traffic include Sopron in Hungary, and Hirtstals and Frederikshavn in northern Denmark. Since start-up on September 1, X.net has ...
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Brussels grows
BRUSSELS public transport operator STIB confirmed on September 19 the service pattern which will be adopted when the current round of metro extensions is completed. The Métro 2005-10 plan approved by the regional government envisages four self-contained services, with two on each route.Next year will see Line 1 extended southwest ...
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LIRR and MNCR to merge
A FAR-REACHING restructuring of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority was announced on October 9 by MTA Chairman Peter S Kalikow. Subject to approval by the state legislature, the changes will be phased in over two years. Establishment of five subsidiary companies is the start of a campaign to make ...
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Mexican car order
ON OCTOBER 15 Mexico City’s metro operator STC formally confirmed a US$478m contract for a new fleet of AC-motored trains. They will operate on Line 2, which is now carrying approximately one million passengers a day. The deal was announced on October 11, and Notice To Proceed was expected by ...
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Caracas extends
CONSTRUCTION of the next phase of Caracas metro Line 3, from El Valle south to La Rinconada, is set to get underway next year, following the award of a US$240m turnkey contract to the Frameca consortium on September 30.Frameca (France Métro Caracas) is led by Spie subsidiary SGTE, with Alstom, ...
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Highliner renewal
MEETING on October 11, the board of Chicago commuter rail operator Metra approved plans to buy new double-deck EMUs, to start the replacement of the former Illinois Central Highliner gallery car EMUs on the electrified line from Randolph Street to University Park.The 26 stainless-steel cars will be assembled by Super ...
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Pointers
The Norwegian government is expected to start tendering the provision of local rail services next year, in a bid to cut the NKr1·3bn annual cost. Early candidates identified by the Ministry of Transport & Communications include the Gjøvik, Bratsberg and Bergen - Foss services. Connex is due to take over ...
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News
Determination at Hitachi
BACK in 2000 Hitachi decided to explore the opportunities for securing a share of the UK’s rolling stock market. At the time there was much excitement about the need to replace MkI rolling stock by a legally-imposed deadline of December 2004, with a requirement for around 1600 EMU cars. Casting ...
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Westward ho!
REVERED father of Britain’s Great Western Railway and broad gauge proponent Isambard Kingdom Brunel would surely have applauded. But when on October 17 First Great Western announced a six-month study to assess the prospects of a dedicated high speed line between London and the west of England, the Strategic Rail ...
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EIM justifies the break-out
WHEN A GROUP of European infrastructure companies decided in December 2001 to leave the Community of European Railways and establish a separate lobbying group known as the Association of European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM), the move was seen in many quarters as a serious rift among Europe’s national railways. Taking ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Argentina: On September 26 Metropolitano inaugurated 10·4 km of 25 kV 50Hz AC electrification between Glew and Alejandro Korn south of Buenos Aires (RG 5.02 p238), undertaken at a cost of US$3·45m. Work to electrify the Temperley - Florencio Varela route was due to begin last month.Czech Republic: On October ...
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Tram networks to reintegrate
AS FORECAST last month (RG 10.02 p605), Melbourne is about to turn the clock back and put a single operator in charge of the world’s third-largest tram network. National Express Group Australia, operator of M>Tram, revealed on October 17 that it was negotiating to sell M>Tram to Yarra Trams, a ...
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European Commission clears London Underground PPP
ON OCTOBER 2 the European Commission announced that it had decided not to raise any objections to the Public-Private Partnership for London Underground. The commission was of the opinion that the PPP contracts and the payments to be made to the Infracos 'do not constitute state aid', as they were ...
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‘In five years it will be necessary to think very differently’
Two years after it came into existence, Italy’s state-owned train operator has laid the groundwork to cope with liberalisation in its domestic market. Trenitalia Chief Executive Roberto Renon outlined his vision to Chris Jackson
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Malagasy railway concession awarded
MADAGASCAR: Comazar Group subsidiary Madarail has been awarded a 25-year concession to operate the northern network in Madagascar from January 1 2003. The agreement was signed on October 10 by Minister for Privatisation Horace Constant and Comazar’s Managing Director Eric Peiffer. The concession can subsequently be extended every 10 years. ...
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WC technology develops
Microphor has introduced a water-saving, air-assisted flush toilet for applications where water conservation is important. Microflush models LF-810 and LF-820 require less water per flush than other designs available from Microphor. This extends the time interval between servicing, thus allowing the vehicle to be in operation longer.A cost-effective alternative to ...