Main line rail industry news – Page 1294
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News
Comparison processes are robust, but subjective
In its value for money review, Ernst & Young found the processes adopted by London Underground to have been ’robust’ and in overall terms ’appropriate’. But the PPP contract structure ’does not allow the presentation of an indisputable quantified assessment of value of money’, due to its 30-year term with ...
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Lightweight batteries
FRENCH battery specialist SAFT has launched a new range of compact lightweight batteries for on-board applications in LRVs and suburban EMUs. Marketed as Matrics (Mass Transit Integrated Compact Rail System), the MRX family offers a smaller and lighter alternative to rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries for emergency lighting, air-conditioning, door controls and ...
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Publications
Conventional & Dedicated High Speed Railway TransportEdited by Igor KiselevThis 320-page hardback book in Russian is the first of two volumes discussing the historical development of high speed rail services in Russia, and the future prospects for dedicated high speed lines in the country. It is aimed at railway staff, ...
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Specialist Citadis lift
MAINTENANCE depots in Montpellier and Orléans have been equipped with vehicle lifts and bogie transfer tables developed by SEFAC Industries specifically for use with Alstom’s Citadis modular family of light rail vehicles.The mobile column lift is able to raise the articulated trams as complete units. The standard design uses 12 ...
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TGV Est works get underway
ON JANUARY 28 French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot joined RFF President Claude Martinand, SNCF President Louis Gallois and Luxembourg’s Transport Minister Henri Grethen to mark the start of civil works on the first phase of TGV Est européen, 300 km of high speed line running from Vaires-sur-Marne east of Paris ...
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Transilien stock updated
PARIS COMMUTERS got a sneak preview of the future on January 16, when French National Railways’ Transilien business unit unveiled the first of 936 suburban coaches to be refurbished over the next three years. Participating in the ceremonies at the Gare de l’Est were SNCF President Louis Gallois, the Préfet ...
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Stockholm expansion plan
Greater Stockholm County Council’s Transport Planning Committee unveiled a 15-year programme of urban rail and road investment proposals on January 19. The so-called Dennis Packet is costed at around SKr100bn, but the final shape of the financing package is not likely to be settled until after the national elections in ...
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TGV powers SNCF growth
DESPITE the effects of September 11 and a slowdown in economic activity, income from SNCF’s long-distance passenger business grew by 5·9% in 2001. Stimulated by the successful launch of TGV Méditerranée, which carried 11 million passengers in its first seven months of operation, TGV revenue rose 11·4% to reach €2·7bn. ...
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STB backs DM&E link
THE US Surface Transportation Board has approved the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad’s ambitious proposal to serve the Powder River coalfield. Officially authorised on January 31, the $1·4bn project will enable DM&E to compete with Union Pacific and Burlington Northern & Santa Fe.DM&E plans to build 450 km of new ...
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Toll and Lang win NRC/FC
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Transport Minister John Anderson announced on January 31 that interstate freight operator National Rail Corp and FreightCorp of New South Wales would be sold to the National Rail Consortium Pty Ltd for A$1172m. Due to be concluded by the end of February, the deal ...
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Atocha expands
Spanish National Railways has allocated €4·5m to the first phase of works to increase capacity at Madrid Puerta de Atocha station prior to opening of the high-speed line to Lleida in 2003. This involves reconstruction and enlargement of the concourse above the platforms, where new refreshment facilities, shops and a ...
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Intelligence - March 2002
Afghanistan: Plans to build a 1815 km rail network, based on a scheme drawn up in the 1970s (RG 6.76 p204), were revived at January's International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance held in Tokyo. Australia: Freight Australia's request for the Commonwealth government to take control of access to Victoria's rail network ...
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Zambian rail links
CONSTRUCTION is expected to start soon on two 1067mm gauge lines in eastern Zambia, following the receipt of US$100m in grants from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. The long-planned 40 km link from Malawi’s Mchinji railhead to the Zambian town of Chipata will be a comparatively straightforward ...
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Solidarité in Paris
MARCH 1 sees launch by the Syndicat des Transports d’Ile-de-France of the Carte Solidarité Transport, entitling those on low-incomes and free health care to half-price travel. The card can be used to buy carnets for RATP metro, tram and bus services plus most suburban buses, and single tickets on RER ...
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LA seeks 50 light rail cars
SPEEDY delivery of 50 articulated LRVs is sought by Los Angeles MTA, together with two options for a further 33, in an invitation to bid issued last month. With traffic burgeoning on the Blue and Green lines and higher ridership estimates for the new Gold line (formerly the Pasadena Blue ...
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Australian suburb wired
MELBOURNE’S suburban electrified network was extended by 6 km from January 27, when services began running from St Albans to a new station in Sydenham. Following an official opening ceremony on January 23, the St Albans line has been renamed the Sydenham line.The A$44m electrification project began in October 2000. ...
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ITCS goes live
CHICAGO - Detroit passenger services were accelerated on January 14, when Amtrak commissioned its pilot Incremental Train Control System in southwest Michigan (RG 8.96 p496). Trains are now permitted to run at 145 km/h between New Buffalo and Kalamazoo, in the first significant increase in passenger train speeds above 127 ...
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No pneus is good pneus
WE ARE accustomed to the changes of fortune and politics that so often impede the progress of light rail schemes. The high infrastructure cost can result in a political football game between pro and anti-spending lobbies. Usually, though, once the trams are able to show off their advantages, all is ...
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Connex grows in Germany
A NEW open access freight operator emerged in Germany on January 24, when Connex Cargo Logistics GmbH unveiled one of its three Bombardier-built Class 185 electric locos at Osnabrück. The 140 km/h dual-system locos are being leased from Porterbrook, and will be operated in co-operation with NordWestCargo, a joint venture ...
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Kyushu wires
ELECTRIC services have been introduced on a secondary loop line between Kurosaki and Fukuoka, in northern Kyushu, following the completion of a wiring project totalling ´14bn. The 64·8 km route incorporates parts of JR-Kyushu’s Chikuho and Sasaguri lines, serving the former coal mining district of Chikuho.The loop diverges from the ...