Main line rail industry news – Page 1293
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Freight locos uprated
LAST MONTH was due to see the roll-out from German Railway’s Chemnitz works of the first reconditioned Class V290 diesel locomotive for DB Cargo. Over the next six years, 398 locos of Classes V290 and V294 are to be repowered. Voith Turbo has modified two L206rs transmissions with high-capacity gears ...
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Drawbar gear
RAIL operators using North American standard couplers have the choice of two new DrawGuard drawgear springs introduced by Miner Enterprises for drawbar-connected wagons.The lightweight all-steel DrawGuard FS is designed for heavy duty applications, with a double-coil spring enclosed in a high-strength steel housing, The 150 kg unit has a maximum ...
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Rugged workshop MMI
FRENCH equipment automation specialist Centralp has launched a new 15 inch LCD screen for use as an industrial man-machine interface. The Axtpanel-15 complements the company’s existing 10 and 12 inch designs, which are widely used on machine tools and workshop equipment.The display module comes in a rugged hardened-steel enclosure, with ...
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Glatttal light rail go-ahead
TENDERING is expected to get underway shortly for construction of the planned Glatt Valley light rail network serving Oerlikon, Kloten and Wallisellen to the north of Zürich. At the end of January the federal and cantonal government approved a SFr555m public contribution towards the infrastructure works. Up to SFr80m will ...
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International joint venture refurbishes first loco
RUSSIAN locomotive refubishment joint venture KRP Invest has completed the overhaul and upgrading of the first of 800 electric locos for Russian Railways, under a US$1bn contract signed in December 2000 (RG 2.01 p85). The Yaroslavl-based firm is scheduled to refurbish 100 locos this year.KRP Invest is 49·9% owned by ...
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Russia marries structural reform to higher investment
INTRO: Legislation currently being drafted will separate the Russian Railway Company from the Ministry of Railway Transport, which retains regulatory functions. More changes will follow, but for now the priority is to overcome a huge backlog of under-investment dating from the Soviet era, particularly inmotive power and rolling stockBYLINE: Victor ...
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Car carriers fit tighter gauge
BRITISH intermodal operator Freightliner has introduced a new design of car-carrying flat wagon, known as Autoflat. To be operated by Autoliner, the automotive arm of Freightliner Heavy Haul Ltd, the vehicles are designed to handle the increasing height and width of domestic road vehicles within the restricted UK loading gauge. ...
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Screen display controls
NET Display Systems has developed Public Area Display System, a software package for controlling passenger information displays connected by LAN or internet. The computers can operate arrival and departure information, paging and emergency data, and display multimedia advertising. Plasma screens can display text, pictures and complex video presentations. PADS can ...
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International best practice takes root in Europe
INTRO: The first privatisation of a former Soviet railway sees the Baltic Rail Services Consortium bringing international experience and best practice to Estonia. Investment and management changes are transforming the outlook for Estonian Railways’ transit freight businessBYLINE: Ed Burkhardt and Henry Posner III*BIG-TIME RAILROADING has long been the name ...
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Sniffer dog goes to pot
MILLIE, a black Labrador dog employed by the US Customs Service to sniff out illegal drugs, was taken for a ride on San Francisco’s BART trains recently. The aim was to demonstrate how the service’s working dogs interact with passengers in a friendly and passive manner.Things then took an unexpected ...
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Industry News in Brief
Shares in steel producer Arcelor, formed through the merger of Aceralia of Spain with Arbed of Luxembourg and Usinor of France, were due to begin trading on the Paris stock exchange on February 18 at an opening price of €13·63. Arcelor shares are also to be listed on the Brussels, ...
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Rail recovery trains completed
Jarvis Rail has completed three Rail Recovery/Delivery Trains at its York workshops. They are to be used to retrieve and deliver rail in a £12m, five-year contract with Railtrack’s National Logistics Unit. Fitted with eight electric 1·25 tonne cranes operated by a single remote control unit, each train can handle ...
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PEOPLE
Vadin N Morozov has been appointed First Vice-Minister at the Russian Ministry of Railway Transport, succeeding A V Tselko who becomes President, West Siberia Railway. Vladimir I Yakunin has become a First Vice-Minister, succeeding A S Misharin who becomes a Vice-Minister. E Vinogradov has left his position as Vice-Minister. Vladimir ...
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Radiolignes keeps SNCF passengers in the picture
ON JANUARY 30 French National Railways launched its Radiolignes service for main line passengers. By dialling a single telephone number, passengers can listen to a summary of train running performance for TGV and other inter-city trains across the SNCF network, followed by details of timekeeping by region, route or specific ...
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Desiro UK demands a pit stop approach
INTRO: As part of its £1·5bn contract to supply 785 Desiro UK EMU cars to South West Trains, Siemens will be responsible for maintenance of the fleet for 20 years under a complex performance regime. Key to this task will be a purpose-built maintenance depot now taking shape near ...
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Super Voyager completes tilt trials in France
A Virgin Trains Class 221 tilting trainset was put through a stiff programme of trials on SNCF's corkscrew line between Brive and Cahors. Murray Hughes reports from the test site
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Goninan to maintain TKE fleet
AUSTRALIAN engineering services company United Group announced on January 22 that it had been awarded a seven-year contract to maintain and service the rolling stock for Hong Kong MTR Corp’s Tseung Kwan O Extension (RG 2.02 p93). The deal is valued at over A$40m, and lifts the proportion of United’s ...
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TransRussia 2002 focuses on transit corridors
INTEREST in the potential of Russia’s Trans-Siberian rail landbridge is growing considerably, and the topic will be one of several up for debate at TransRussia 2002, the seventh International Transport & Logistics Conference being held on March 25-26 at Moscow’s Renaissance Hotel. Speakers at the plenary session will include newly-appointed ...
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Trans-Siberian upgrades for a new century
BYLINE: Boris LukovDeputy General Secretary,International Co-ordinating Council on Trans-Siberian TransportationIN JULY 2001, celebrations were held at the Kremlin palace in Moscow to mark the centenary of the legendary Trans-Siberian Main Line. Running for 9988 km from the capital’s Yaroslavl station to the Pacific port of Vladivostok, the world’s longest railway ...
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NECMS keeps Acela rolling
DESPITE the uncertainty over the future of US passenger services, Amtrak is continuing to expand the number of high speed trains in its Northeast Corridor. Further Acela Express diagrams were introduced on January 28, giving 13 trains/day each way between Washington DC and New York, and nine per day each ...