Main line rail industry news – Page 1304
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News
Pointers
n Chinese Railways expects to order 4500 new locomotives over the period of the 10th five year plan (2001-05), of which 75% will be electric. Dalian Rolling Stock Plant is expected to build 20 SS4 electric locos in 2001.n The Indonesian Communications Ministry has announced plans to construct 190 km ...
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Loco renewal spearheads freight drive
INTRO: As Fret SNCF prepares to double its annual traffic, new electric and diesel locos will be delivered at the rate of five a month. Chris Jackson reports from BelfortOVER THE next five years, French National Railways’ freight business is planning to invest almost Fr8bn in over 600 new locomotives. ...
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Nippon Sharyo shares in US commuter car deal
JAPANESE rolling stock supplier Nippon Sharyo clinched an important deal in December when it was awarded a role in a contract with Sumitomo Corp of America to supply 250 bi-level cars to Metra, Chicago’s operator of commuter services. The US$398·6m procurement funded from the Illinois FIRST public works investment programme ...
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Eritrea's rail renaissance takes an international dimension
As work to re-open the route between the Eritrean capital Asmara and the port of Massawa continues, studies for a new line across the border from Kassala in Sudan are now under way. Peter Badcock reports
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NSB’s regional EMUs on trial
INTRO: Norwegian State Railways is testing the first of a fleet of EMUs for regional services. Built in Italy, they have pairs of linked single-axle trailer bogies between the cars. Harry Hondius MSc reportsNOW ON TRIAL with Norwegian State Railways are the first of 32 four-car EMUs for regional services. ...
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Regional reforms could breach SNCF’s monopoly
INTRO: Jean-Paul Masse examines legislative changes in France that empower the regions to fund regional railservices directly and take their own investment decisionsON JANUARY 1 2002 an act will come into force that will change the way regional transport is organised in France. Despite its significance, the act has remained ...
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Lightweight structures meet tougher crashworthiness standards
INTRO: Aluminium alloy is now the preferred material for passenger coach bodyshells, but recent high-profile accidents have led to concern about its performance in high impact collisions. Both steel and aluminium bodies can meet today’s crashworthiness specifications, but in a high energy collision serious damage cannot be avoidedBYLINE: Simon Leutenegger, ...
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European standards
Crashworthiness requirements for rail vehicles have been proposed in a draft for Part 2 of European standard prEN12663. Based on common accidents and associated risks, the draft provides a framework for determining the crash conditions that bodyshells should be designed to withstand and defines passive safety features to meet the ...
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Publications
Modelling and Simulation of General Train/Track Interaction by Clars AnderssonAn existing state-space numerical method to simulate vertical dynamic interaction between a rolling train and a railway track has been improved and extended. The extensions add three new features to the dynamic system, these being a non-linear railpad model, flexibility of ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Australia: Hamersley Iron has taken delivery of 132 iron ore wagons from Bradken; 106 more will arrive in February. Goninan is currently commissioning three General Electric Dash-9 locos at Dampier.Brazil: CPTM has begun preliminary studies for a US$200m privately-financed rail link between São Paulo and Guarulhos Airport, 4 ...
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Line 6 opened
THIS MONTH is due to see the opening of the final four stations on Seoul metro Line 6. These remained uncompleted when services began on the final section of the line on December 15. Fitting out and commissioning of the four stations was delayed when contractor Shinhwa Construction went bankrupt ...
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Passenger News in Brief
Swiss Federal Railways is to build a new Customer Contact Centre at Brig to merge the operations of 10 local offices spread across the country. Around 60 staff dealing with telephone enquiries and ticket renewals will transfer this year, increasing to 250 by the completion of the project in 2005.New ...
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Weight and comfort dominate seating strategies
INTRO: Quality improvements by rival modes are leading to growing demand from passenger train operators for higher standards of comfort. Marrying this pressure with the need to keep down vehicle weight is spurring innovation among seat manufacturers and component suppliersGREATER COMFORT, more space for passengers, lighter weight and lower cost ...
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Opening in sight for TGV Méditerranée
WITH French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot at the controls, TGV Réseau set No 531 achieved 354 km/h during a test run between Aix-en-Provence TGV and Valence TGV on January 17. SNCF President Louis Gallois and RFF Director General Jean-François Bénard were also present to mark the start of commissioning trials ...
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Rolling stock woes threaten industry turnround
NEWS REACHES us that German Railway’s Class VT611 tilting DMUs were once again withdrawn during December following a series of technical problems with the two-car sets in Rheinland-Pfalz. We have commented previously on the unfortunate tale of the VT611, which has seen the 50-strong fleet pulled in and out of ...
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Chinese projects start to roll
PROMINENT AMONG the headline projects in Chinese Railways’ 2001-05 five-year plan is construction of the 1300 km Beijing - Shanghai high speed line, although a choice between maglev and steel wheel technology has still to be made (RG 1.01 p19). While this 100bn yuan scheme may attract most publicity, many ...
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people
Alexand D Rusak has been named Head of Locomotives at Russian Railways, succeeding Vladimir N Pustovoi who becomes a Vice-Minister of Railways. The appointment of Sergey N Gapeev as a Vice-Minister (RG 1.01 p15) has been confirmed. Mikhail P Akulov becomes President of RZD’s SouthEastern Railway in place of I ...
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Shinkansen programme revived
THE Japanese government has decided to accelerate the current programme of high speed line construction as part of measures to aid the country’s economic recovery. Budget plans for the financial year starting on April 1, agreed in December, envisage a start of work on the outstanding sections of two long-planned ...
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SJ picks Duplex
jUST 15 DAYS after it came into existence on January 1, Swedish passenger operator SJ AB ordered a fleet of double-deck EMUs from Alstom. The 200 km/h units will operate inter-regional services from Stockholm to Uppsala, Västerås, Eskilstuna and Nyk