Main line rail industry news – Page 1300
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News
e-express arrives on Westbahn
November 2 saw the introduction of a new catering concept on inter-city services between Wien and Salzburg. Insisting that it is essential for the catering service to ’catch up’ with passenger expectations, ÖBB Executive Board Member Ferdinand Schmidt said the ’e-express’ concept would offer high-quality menus. Passengers can now order ...
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Finance
Australia: New South Wales Premier Bob Carr announced on November 14 that A$80m would be allocated for track and bridge upgrading on rural lines in the north and west of the state, from money budgeted but not spent on the Olympic Games.Estonia: International Finance Corp has approved a US$50m loan ...
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Products in Brief
Aperio has carried out impulse ground penetrating radar inspection of ballast thickness and condition at Frampton Mansell for Railtrack. A two-man team inspected 200m of track overnight, producing a series of longitudinal profiles of ballast settlement and contamination. The data was used to analyse the ground condition to a depth ...
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SNCF tries silent freight train
IN HIS CLOSING speech to WCRR 2001, SNCF President Louis Gallois urged delegates to develop a freight train with quiet brakes, as he was ’constantly harrassed’ by complaints from people living near marshalling yards.Indeed, SNCF’s own research budget includes funds for a project to reduce the noise of freight trains ...
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Metros
Canada: Testing is underway on 8 km of the Vancouver SkyTrain Millennium line. The first section will open early this year, with the remainder in the summer.China: Hong Kong MTR Corp has opened a cross-platform interchange between the Island and Kwun Tong lines at North Point station. It is intended ...
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Road-rail vegetation units
Two Mercedes-Benz U1650 Unimogs with three-way tipper bodies have been adapted by Two-Way Technology for vegetation control work with Avondale Environmental Services. It has a three-point linkage which can be used with the rear rail guidance, and a removable rear spray designed to minimise drift. Two-Way Technology, United KingdomReader Enquiry ...
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Web-damped rails
NOISE reductions of up to 12dB can be achieved by the use of rail damping in curves and at other critical locations. Vossloh has developed a sandwich damping system, in which rubber strips are glued to each side of the web and protected by a steel cover. Strips and covers ...
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Pajares project
Spain’s Ministry of Development has instructed high speed line authority GIF to proceed with outline design of a new high speed alignment to avoid the steeply-graded crossing of the Pajares pass on the León - Oviedo route. Costed at €1·56bn, the new line would run from a point south of ...
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IR seeks food plaza operators
INDIAN Railway Catering & Tourism Corp has been set up to manage catering provision on trains and stations. The railway subsidiary will provide space, power and water for ’food plazas’ at 19 stations, but the catering outlets are to be built and operated by private companies.Companies interested in bidding to ...
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AGC deal signed
FRENCH National Railways President Louis Gallois signed a €1·65bn contract with Bombardier President Robert Brown on December 13 for the supply of up to 500 high-capacity regional multiple-units designated AGC (Autorail à Grande Capacité). The 160 km/h fleet will include diesel-electric, electric and electro-diesel versions, with capacity ranging from 160 ...
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Metrotrén underway
Spanish Development Minister Francisco Álvarez-Cascos has laid the first sleeper for the doubling of FEVE’s El Berrón - Pola de Siero route, part of the €344·8m Metrotrén project to create a suburban network serving Oviedo, Gijón and neighbouring towns in Asturias. A total of 65·6 km of FEVE’s metre-gauge routes ...
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Industry News in Brief
Global Railway Industries has signed a letter of intent to acquire track component maker G&B Specialties Inc for US$11m.Nortrak has opened a fourth trackwork manufacturing plant at Irondale, Alabama.UK-based suspension components supplier Trelleborg Industrial has started work on the construction of a £10m factory on the outskirts of Leicester. Opening ...
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Geotextile site
ENGINEERS and contractors can now obtain impartial information about geosynthetic textiles, which are used to stabilise embankments, for subgrade soil separation and drainage. The Vinci-Quality website offers international access to a panel of 30 independent geotextile experts. Questions about geosythetics can be sent to the panel, who provide free advice ...
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Lightning protection
AS ON-TRAIN electrical and electronic equipment has become more complex and integral to the design and operation of modern rolling stock, protection against lightning strikes becomes ever more critical. The latest SB-230 Rail Equipment Surge Protector from Lightning Eliminators & Consultants can absorb peak voltages of 2 kV at 80kA, ...
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Geogrids bridge unstable land
A multi-layer geogrid supplied by Huesker is being used to stabilise a high speed junction site at Gröbers between Leipzig and Halle. The junction is located over a disused coal mine, but information on the position of the 30m deep mine tunnels is not available.A 1 km strip of land ...
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Dynamic Tamping Express on show in Köln
On November 29 Plasser & Theurer demonstrated its09-3X Dynamic Tamping Express to WCRR delegates in Köln. The machine combines a continuous-action three-sleeper tamper with a dynamic track stabiliser, allowing track to be returned to use after a single possession in a condition where controlled ballast settlement has taken place after ...
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‘We need to find a more stable solution’
INTRO: Legislation before the Netherlands parliament will pave the way for the formation of a state-owned infrastructure company and the award of long-term operating and infrastructure management concessionsTHIS MONTH the Dutch parliament is due to debate a new law which will fundamentally alter the structure of the country’s rail network. ...
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Interstate standards coming into line
DESPITE the paucity of Federal funding available, Australia has moved a step closer to achieving uniform standards of speed and axleload on interstate corridors, thus helping freight operators to compete with road. Australian Rail Track Corp announced on December 2 that the two routes for which it is responsible in ...
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Towards a total journey design
INTRO: As Netherlands Railways struggles to implement its service recovery plan, attention is focusing on investment in stations and trains to improve the quality of customer service’AS A COMPANY, we have a major challenge’, admits Anton Valk. As Managing Director of the International Business Group at Netherlands Railways, he is ...
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Low-maintenance point operation
INTRO: After successful trials with a prototype maintenance-free point actuator, two production units were installed on Railtrack’s Southern Region. Following full product acceptance, further applications are now underwayCONTRACTUAL relationships between train operator, infrastructure manager and maintenance contractor are increasingly focusing attention on punctuality and performance requirements. In turn this is ...