Main line rail industry news – Page 1286
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News
DMU order signed
ROMANIAN passenger rail operator CFR Calatori has confirmed its order for 120 two-car diesel multiple-units to be supplied by Siemens Transportation Systems. Under the terms of a provisional agreement signed in July 2001 (RG 8.01 p533), the first vehicles are due to be delivered in November this year. Siemens announced ...
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Rolling stock evolves to meet the demands of a competitive market
The arrival of a vigorous market economy means that Chinese Railways is facing growing competitive pressures. This is forcing the pace of change in the design and development of traction and rolling stock as the strategic emphasis swings towards a commercially profitable railway
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Rails across the roof of the world
INTRO: Unprecedented challenges face the engineers building the Golmud - Lhasa railway across the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Over 85% of the route lies more than 4000m above sea level, where permafrost demands special construction techniques and the rarified atmosphere affects both men and machinesBYLINE: Hou Wen-weiChief Editor,China Railway ScienceXINING, the provincial ...
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Nanjing orders Metropolis
ON APRIL 16 Nanjing Metro ordered a fleet of 20 six-car metro trainsets from Alstom Transport, in partnership with Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Works. They will operate on the 16·8 km north-south Line 1 from Zhangfuyuan to Sahshanjie, due to open in June 2006. Signed in the presence of Mayor ...
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Euregiobahn pushes the boundaries
TECHNICAL, political and administrative frontiers are also barriers to the success of international passenger services. So it is interesting to follow the progress of German Railway subsidiary Regionalbahn Rheinland GmbH. The company has teamed up with several partners in the Rhein-Maas region to develop a network of local services, linking ...
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Roca bucks the trend
WITH the national economy effectively bankrupt, we reported in RG 2.02 (p61) that Argentina’s railways were in big trouble. Suburban operators Metropolitano and Ferrovías have both filed for bankruptcy protection. The government provided a cash injection to Fepsa in March to pay the wage bill and save the dismissal of ...
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Metrorail misery continues
DISSATISFACTION with South Africa’s Metrorail commuter operations appears to be growing (RG 4.02 p174). Pretoria - Johannesburg services were halted for 5h on April 3 when commuters, angered by timetable changes, blockaded the tracks at Bosman Street station, adjacent to Pretoria’s main station. A week later several coaches were set ...
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Standard gauge trojan horse
QUEENSLAND Rail, physically separated from Australia’s standard gauge interstate network by its own 1067mm gauge, is poised to enter the national freight market. In March the newly-established subsidiary QR National bought New South Wales operator Northern Rivers Railroad, which it plans to run under the trading name Interail.With record traffic ...
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Money shortage
More progress is in sight with rehabilitation of Nigeria’s 3505 km network. One hopeful sign is the appointment of Canadian consultants to help with staff training, and possibly with business management in the medium or long term. In the immediate future Nigerian Railway Corp will implement a programme to automate ...
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Open access is crucial to international freight revival
INTRO: From March 2003 the 50000 km Trans-European Rail Freight Network should be fully open to international freight train operators, whether state or privately owned, and by 2006 the EC hopes to see competition on all routes. Jean-Arnold Vinois told Richard Hope why open access is now seen as absolutely ...
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UIRR members want open access too
INTRO: Europe’s combined transport companies have suffered a dramatic increase in delays during the last three years, stunting previously robust traffic growth, but they get no compensation from the national railways. UIRR Director General Rudy Colle backs the EC’s efforts to promote competition as one way out of this impasseTHE ...
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NewsKuala Lumpur's airport in the city opens for business
The 57 km standard gauge rail link serving Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Malaysia’s new administrative capital opened last month. Andrew Grantham sampled the ride
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AEAT Rail grows
IN WHAT IT describes as ’the largest single-office letting in Derby for more than 25 years’, AEA Technology Rail will move its head office to Jubilee House this month. The 6500m2 building will house over 400 staff out of a total complement that has grown from 300 to over 900 ...
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Tunnel icing prevented
GEOTHERMAL energy is being used to prevent ice formation in Chinese railway tunnels, as a cost-effective alternative to insulated lagging. The heat pipe technology has been developed by Chen Zhaoming and Li Yuanjun at the Taiyuan Railway Research Institute of Science & Technology.With winter temperatures averaging around -5í C, ice ...
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NewsModalohr tests the market
Against a background of increasing concern over the safety and environmental impact of road freight using the Alpine crossings, the feasibility of carrying trailers by rail between France and Italy is to be tested using swing-tray wagons. As the first trial bores are dug for a new Mont Cenis base ...
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Publications
Rail Map of Europe, 13th EditionThe Thomas Cook map of Europe’s passenger rail routes has been revised and updated to mid-2001. The main map shows the area from the Atlantic in the west to Moscow and the Crimea in the east at 1:4000000 scale. On the reverse of the sheet ...
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Base tunnel progress
A CONSORTIUM of Eiffage TP, GRA and Condotte d’Acqua has been awarded an €82m contract to dig a 4 km pilot bore from Villarodin-Bourget near Modane, which will be used to gain access to worksites on the Mont Cenis base tunnel between France and Italy. Blasted out of the rock, ...
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Franchise renewal creeps forward
WHILE the future of Britain’s rail infrastructure remains uncertain, the Strategic Rail Authority is slowly pushing on with re-letting the short term passenger train operating franchises which are due to expire in 2003-04. Final bids were submitted on April 3 for the new Trans Pennine Express franchise to provide inter-city ...
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Customer service academy opened
RICHARD Bowker, Chairman of Britain’s Strategic Rail Authority, opened Midland Mainline’s Customer Service Academy in Derby on April 5. The three-storey building houses training facilities for drivers, train managers, catering staff and booking office personnel.Ian Buchan, Chief Executive of National Express Group’s Rail Division, owner of Midland Mainline, said that ...