Main line rail industry news – Page 1279
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News
CAF expands US arm
SPANISH rolling stock builder CAF has opened a new technical development centre at Elmira Heights, New York, which will work closely with its North American manufacturing plants at Hunt Valley, Maryland and Sacramento, California. The centre will also support the company’s contract to supply 28 new light rail cars for ...
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SBB updates
SWISS Federal Railways is to modernise 619 regional stations in a SFr340m investment programme. Working with the cantonal governments, 80 stations will be refurbished by the end of this year, and the rest by 2006. The first station to be completed is Muntelier, near Murten, which was done in June. ...
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Passenger News in Brief
The Federal Transit Administration has started a review of US transit operators’ websites, looking at content and usability. Its report will be published later this year.From May 31, virtually all DB Nachtzug overnight services include a couchette compartment accessible by wheelchair passengers.The rebuilt Akko station in Israel was opened on ...
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Mott joins Franklin
ENGINEERING consultancies Mott MacDonald and Franklin + Andrews announced a merger on May 16. The companies will trade under their own names within the Mott MacDonald group.Franklin + Andrews is focused on consultancy and project management. Mott MacDonald’s skills include design engineering and experience with privately-financed projects. The two companies ...
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Echoes of Armagh
FLAGS in Mozambique were lowered to half mast on May 26 as the country began three days of official mourning following a disastrous runaway incident on the previous day. At around 05.00 a mixed train bound for Maputo from Ressano Garcia was on a grade near the town of Moamba, ...
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Dynamic stabilisation keeps geometry in shape
INTRO: Long-term trials carried out jointly by German Railway and Plasser & Theurer have shown that dynamic track stabilisation reduces the rate at which track geometry deterioratesBYLINE: Dr Bernhard LichtbergerHead of Research & TestingPlasser & TheurerIN A LONG-TERM trial carried out with German Railway on a main line near Regensburg, ...
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Letters
SJ still exclusiveSir - In your article ’Mixed signals at Paris conference’ (RG 4.02 p177), you report that ’Sweden now contracts out all local services and subsidised long-distance corridors; with the disappearance next year of the exclusive right for state-owned SJ AB to run profitable inter-city routes, there will effectively ...
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Swiss to test asphalt substructure
TWO OR THREE trial sections of asphalt-based track are to be laid in Switzerland. Leading the project is Swiss Track Systems, a grouping of companies set up to promote use of asphalt track in Switzerland.The group is led by local company Aeschlimann AG, whose partners are Cellere AG, also from ...
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Low noise track meets environmental concerns
INTRO: New forms of track are being developed with the objective of reducing railway noise at its source. Different techniques are required to tackle airborne noise radiated by the rail and low-frequency ground vibration, and it is often necessary to balance noise reduction against mechanical performanceBYLINE: David Thompson and Chris ...
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Frame-sleeper track promises a longer life
INTRO: Tests at three sites have confirmed that frame-sleeper track has high lateral resistance and a lower ballast settlement rate than conventional sleepers, but more work is needed to confirm the predicted reduction in maintenance costsBYLINE: Dipl-Ing Dr Techn Klaus RiessbergerHead of Railway Department, Technical University of GrazFIRST DEVELOPED in ...
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Relaying mechanised in Shanghai
INTRO: Among the latest track renewal machines delivered by Matisa is a P95LS for use in ChinaBYLINE: Jo
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Master Plan will add capacity
INTRO: Earlier this year Vietnam’s Prime Minister authorised a 160921bn dong programme of investment that will expand and modernise the DSVN network by 2020MAJOR upgrading of existing routes and construction of new lines feature prominently in Vietnam Railways’ Master Plan. With Prime Minister Phan Van Khai’s seal on the document, ...
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Easy to open windows
TOUCH-sensitive hopper windows for railway vehicles have been developed at Sheffield Hallam University with less-able users in mind. A passenger simply presses the damped-cam window to open it, and presses again to close it. The design incorporates embossed Braille instructions, and unlike existing windows requires minimal pressure to use.Inventor Margaret ...
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Publications
2002 Public Transportation Fact Book The 53rd edition of this annual APTA publication contains statistical data on all aspects of the public transport industry in the United States, with additional information covering Canada. This 204 page book includes details of financial information, operating statistics, safety and crime, modes of travel, ...
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People
Following last month's general election in France, Gilles de Robien has been confirmed as Minister of Public Works, Transport, Housing, Tourism & the Sea. Dominique Bussereau is Secretary of State for Transport & the Sea. Radwan Bounasserdin has taken over as President & General Manager of Lebanon State ...
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Messina bridge go-ahead
ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced on June 6 that work on the long-planned bridge across the Straits of Messina between Sicily and the mainland is to go ahead. ’This time we’re going to do it, I promise you’, he insisted. Work is expected to start within three years, and ...
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Turn up the heat
CKS Holdings Ltd is supplying rugged industrial computers to control gas-powered point heaters made by Netherlands-based Pintsch Aben BV.Burning natural gas or propane, the heaters are being used by railways in Switzerland, Russia and the Netherlands. Each computer can control up to 10240 burner pipes. Because they are mounted in ...
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AGV in need of a customer
HAVING completed its task in May, Alstom's Elisa test train formed of two experimental AGV cars married to part of a TGV Réseau set is being dismantled while the results are analysed. AGV stands for Automotrice à Grande Vitesse, and Project Director Georges Palais told us on the final trip ...
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RZD accelerates the pace of electrification
INTRO: Electrification of the final two sections of the Trans-Siberian main line ranks among several major wiring projects nearing completion under a Russian Railways investment programmeAFTER A LONG period during the 1990s when financial problems prevented much investment in the Russian Railways network, electrification is once again a priority in ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Albania: The Railway Directorate expected to start work last month on the reconstruction of the Shkoder - Hani I Hotit line, which was damaged during riots in 1997. A contract has been awarded to the Alba Via company following the allocation of 200m leks for the work in the government ...