Main line rail industry news – Page 1320
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Sidetrack
Stop thiefCRIMINALS using stolen credit cards on the New York subway are being trapped by the automatic ticket barriers. When a stolen credit card is used to buy a MetroCard ticket, the bank alerts the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.MTA then tracks where the ticket is used, thanks to information held on ...
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Modular toilet
JONES Garrard Products has produced an innovative train toilet module, designed to meet the latest British rolling stock disability requirements. A prototype is currently being demonstrated to potential customers.The toilet module is designed to be installed as either a fully-assembled unit or supplied as a clip-together flat-packed kit. This flexibility ...
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Finance
Australia: The Victoria state budget has allocated A$14m over two years to extend suburban electrification from St Albans to Sydenham and build a new station.The NSW budget has allocated A$1bn in extra funding for the railways over the next four years. There is A$320m for track maintenance, A$147m for signalling ...
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Chinese inspect screen doors
ON MAY 24 the Chippenham plant of Westinghouse Brakes (UK) Ltd was visited by a delegation from the Chinese city of Guangzhou, led by Mayor Lin Shusen and including Guangzhou Metro General Manager Lu Guanglin. Under a contract worth £12m, Westinghouse and its local partner Guangzhou Otis Elevator Co Ltd ...
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Industry in Brief
Alstom has acquired the British train maintenance and refurbishment business Railcare Ltd, which was formerly owned by Siemens and Babcock International. The 680 staff at three sites will be integrated into Alstom Transport Service.MAN B&W Diesel Ltd is to reorganise its engine and after-market businesses in Britain. A Medium Speed ...
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Amtrak on the Stygian shore
ENTHUSIASM expressed by Amtrak for high speed rail corridors across North America in the wake of the Acela Express launch is to be welcomed. On p460, Barbara Richardson suggests that there is considerable support for the concept at both federal and state level. But any amount of optimism cannot mask ...
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Metros
Australia: NEG has introduced the M>Train and M>Tram brands for its Bayside Trains and Swanston Trams franchises in Melbourne.Czech Republic: Subterra has won a KC1·4bn contract to build a new tram route between the Praha suburbs of Hlubocepy and Barrandov.France: Val d’Europe station opened on June 8, giving the ...
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Market
Australia: Acting Commissioner of Railways for Western Australia Reece Waldock confirmed last month that two bids are being evaluated for 117 EMU cars to work the South-West Metropolitan Railway to be built between Perth and Mandurah (RG 12.00 p791). Alstom is bidding with United Goninan against Bombardier.Bangladesh: BR has purchased ...
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Valencia funds airport link
THEREGIONAL government of Valencia is to spend Pts8bn on extending FGV metro Line 3 from Mislata to Manises Airport. The new tunnel section is expected to open by 2005 at the latest, putting the airport within 15min of the city centre.A new department has been created within FGV to manage ...
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Soyabean grease
ENVIRONMENTAL Lubricants Manufacturing and Portec Rail have launched a high-performance lubricant based on soya beans, for rail curve and grinding applications. SoyTrack is the result of research at the University of Northern Iowa, and has the column strength and resistance to rain of petroleum-based lubricants. It has the advantage of ...
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Compact tacho
Bombardier is using a new design of hand-held tachometer to measure diesel engine components during maintenance work at Crewe. The Compact CT6 Tachometer has a magnetic probe to measure cooler group fan speeds without the need to remove safety covers. A piezo-electric quartz crystal pressure sensor strapped to a fuel ...
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ScanRail sold to WS Atkins
CONDITIONAL contracts have been exchanged for WS Atkins to acquire ScanRail, the transport and engineering consultancy division of Danish rail infrastructure authority Banestyrelsen. The companies expect to complete the deal in July. The majority of ScanRail’s work is in Denmark, and its 300 staff are based in Århus and København. ...
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Sleeper inspection
DATA on sleeper condition can be recorded and analysed with TieInspect, produced by Zeta-Tech Associates. TieInspect consists of a palm top computer linked to an eight-buttoned handheld input device. This is used to enter data about sleeper condition, type and location for later transfer to a database. Reports can then ...
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Passenger News in Brief
Direct Tehran - Almaty passenger services began on April 1. A weekly train leaves Tehran on Sunday, returning on Thursday, and takes two days to make the trip. In future, Kazakhstan Railways hopes to extend the service to Urumqi in China.British operator First North Western has introduced at-seat entertainment on ...
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Wagon servicing precinct
GEMCO Rail Pty Ltd is to invest A$5·75m in a ’one-stop shop’ wagon maintenance facility in Forrestfield, Perth. After it opens in September, Managing Director Jim Ireland sees the facility becoming a ’railway service precinct’, with other companies leasing space at the site.Linked to Western Australia’s standard and 1067mm gauge ...
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Underfloor transmissions
VOITH Turbo has introduced two hydrodynamic transmissions for underfloor power applications. The T111bre has integrated reversing gear and hydrodynamic retarder, and is suitable for transmission input power up to 300 kW. It is aimed at the light rail market, where it can be fitted close to a bogie to permit ...
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Products in Brief
Fibreglass Grating Ltd has supplied a range of anti-slip chemical-resistant floor gratings for work areas and walkways in manufacturing plants and maintenance workshops.Ebo Systems has supplied over 52 km of GRP cable tray to support optic fibres in the Channel Tunnel service tunnel. The trays lock together without bolts, are ...
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Pointers
n Indian Railway Construction Co is expected to be awarded a US $1·8bn, five-year contract to double-track and electrify KTM’s Ipoh - Padang Besar line in Malaysia, part of a counter-trade deal being negotiated by Minister of Primary Industries Dr Lim Keng Yaik involving the sale of palm oil to ...
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NewsAcela Express heads Amtrak expansion drive
The initial success of Acela Express trains between Washington DC, New York and Boston is helping to swing US political opinion behind new legislation to fund investment in high-speed rail across the country
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Indiana Rail Road shows how to grow regional business
INTRO: The last decades have seen numerous unprofitable secondary and branch lines spun off to regional and short line operators. The Indiana Rail Road demonstrates how labour flexibility, innovative technology, and close attention to service can turn once marginal routes into successful regional railways, reports William DMiddleton ESTABLISHED IN 1986, ...