Main line rail industry news – Page 1314
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News
British infrastructure show grows
OVER 200 organisations are expected to attend the Infrarail 2001 exhibition in London. Serving the British railway infrastructure market, leading players in the business will be at the Wembley Exhibition Halls from September 18 to 20.Infrastructure spending in Britain is running at high levels, with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, ...
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Just-in-time tracklaying poised to set records
INTRO: A demanding schedule has been set for installing track and M&E equipment on the first section of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Murray Hughes visited the tracklaying base at Beechbrook Farm near AshfordVISITORS to Britain arriving by Eurostar consistently express surprise at the slow pace of travel between the ...
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Instability stalls upgrading plans
INTRO: The dire state of Railtrack’s finances has delayed many ambitious proposals for investment in network expansion, reports Chris JacksonTHE SACKING on August 1 of Railtrack’s Chief Operating Officer Jonson Cox reflects the state of turmoil within Britain’s rail infrastructure company. Newly-appointed Chairman John Robinson told shareholders at the Annual ...
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Extension not competition as franchise replacement stalls
INTRO: With Railtrack unable to commit to major schemes which have proved difficult to finalise, government policy has switched from letting new 20-year franchises through open competition to negotiating two-year extensions, writes Robert PrestonCONFIRMATION that the government had lost patience with the slow pace of franchise replacement came on July ...
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Slab track evolves to meet operators’ expectations
BYLINE: David RhodesDirector, Technical Development, Pandrol LtdINTRO: A better understanding of the whole-life costs, plus innovative technology to deal with noise and vibration, are persuading track designers to adopt low-maintenance ballastless trackforms more widely NON-BALLASTED tracks on concrete bases are seeing increasing use, especially on urban transit and high speed ...
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Freight growth checked but prospects still bright
INTRO: After a year that combined massive rail disruption with lower taxes on heavier lorries, Richard Hope asked the Strategic Rail Authority’s Executive Director, Freight, Julia Clarke, to assess prospects for hitting the government’s target of 80% more tonne-km by 2010BYLINE: Julia ClarkeExecutive Director, Freight, Strategic Rail AuthorityDESPITE MOUNTING evidence ...
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Peoplemovers extend the metro’s reach
INTRO: Larry Fabian* reports from the 8th international conference on automated peoplemovers in San Francisco BYLINE: * Lawrence J Fabian is Director of the public transport consultancy & lobbying group Trans.21IMAGINE A significantly higher level of public transport service: environmentally-friendly metros with trains every minute or two, all day long, ...
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Developing wheelsets for 30 tonne axleloads
BYLINE: Roger Lundén, Johan Marais and Stefan Schrader *BYLINE: * Roger Lundén is Director of Charmec, and Professor at the Department of Applied Mechanics at Chalmers University of Technology in G
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Improved inverter performance
HYUNDAI has developed a digital variable voltage and frequency inverter to control the slipping of wheels with parallel traction motors.Wheel slippage can lead to increased engine speed, generating more power and resulting in over-voltage in the induction motor. Voltage detection systems can be used to trigger power reduction, but these ...
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Dear Leader on the slow train
KIM JONG-IL, the reclusive leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, made a rare state visit abroad in August, travelling to Moscow by train. An official announcement of the trip was made minutes before his armoured train crossed the border into Russia. Police guarded the tracks, and passengers were ...
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Industry seeks ways out of a jungle of uncertainty
Industry seeks ways out of a jungle of uncertaintyINTRO: Set up to inject long-term thinking into a fragmented industry, Britain’s Strategic Rail Authority has just seen the fruits of its labours torn up by a government desperate to find a quick political fix for the troubled national rail network. The ...
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Suppliers fear fresh order hiatus
INTRO: Confusion reigns in Britain’s passenger rolling stock market in the wake of the government’s decision to switch to short franchise extensions. Apart from EMUs needed to replace MkI rolling stock condemned to go by the end of 2004, prospects for fresh orders have almost dried up, says Roger FordNEARLY ...
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Connex still expanding
WEST COAST Railway, which operates passenger trains between Melbourne and Warnambool in Victoria, has a new partner. Last month Connex, owned by the French Vivendi group and already operator of Hillside Trains in Melbourne, took a 50% stake in the company. This has implications for several operations in Australasia, not ...
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DB moves to market pricing
FROMSeptember 2002, German Railway will introduce a revised fares structure similar to airline practice, with discounted prices offered for long-distance tickets booked in advance. To qualify for the lower price passengers will have to make fixed reservations, enabling DB to set and enforce quotas for each type of ticket. Return ...
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Tide on the turn in the Cape
SPOORNET’S financial results for the year which ended in March show an impressive turnround, with ’net profit’ rising from R84m a year earlier to R605m on turnover of R10bn. Announcing this in late July, Spoornet attributed the improvement to cost savings and better service to customers, with tonnes carried up ...
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Mineral traffic boosted
THE Cardiff-based minor works subsidiary of construction group John Mowlem & Co, Hocking Rail, has been awarded a fourth contract for work on Ghana Railway Corp’s western main line serving the port of Takoradi. The US$80000 deal follows three previous projects to assist with track rehabilitation and the acquisition of ...
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Coal line revived
QUEENSLAND’S state government is expected to approve revised proposals for a railway between coal mines near Brigalow in the Darling Downs and Tarong, where a second power station is to be built (RG 1.99 p6). The original planed route has been revised to take account of local issues, and land ...
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Tajiks to fund rail expansion
THE GOVERMENT of Tajikistan announced at the end of July that it was to boost funding for the state rail network. TJD will be awarded an additional 600000 somonis for development this year, and 11·3m to pay off debts owed to neighbouring Uzbekistan Railways, which currently provides the only links ...
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Alameda Corridor East
CALIFORNIA Transportation Commission has appropriated $153m to start construction of a second grade-separated freight corridor in the Los Angeles Basin. Running 56·3 km from East Los Angeles to Pomona, ’Alameda Corridor East’ will act as an extension of the 32 km Alameda Corridor between the city centre and the ports ...