Main line rail industry news – Page 1327
-
News
Over 200 exhibitors at UITP show
THIS MONTH sees the 54th International Union of Public Transport Congress take place at London’s Earls Court exhibition centre from May 20 to 25. In conjunction with the Congress and the technical visits, well over 200 companies from across the world will be participating in the Mobility & City Transport ...
-
News
Radio agreement
SIEMENS Transportation Systems and Austria’s Kapsch AG have signed an exclusive agreement to jointly produce and market next generation GSM-R mobile termination units and cab radios.Developed from existing products, the equipment will include General Packet Radio Service data and voice communications functionality. It will meet the requirements of ERTMS radio-based ...
-
News
ETCS/ERTMS test sites across Europe
THERE are 12 locations where ETCS/ERTMS components and systems are being tested, and 10 countries have made a commitment to implement it at Levels 1 and 2. No railway is as yet committed to Level 3, although it is expected to be rolled out for application on high speed lines ...
-
News
Touch-screen ticketing
ON March 26 the first of 600 new ticket vending machines entered service at Amsterdam Centraal. Offering both single and return fares, the Ascom Autelca machines can sell 80% of ticket combinations, accepting payment by smartcard only. Maximum transaction time of the euro-compliant machines is 25 sec, faster than ...
-
News
Japanese form bidding alliance
KAWASAKI Heavy Industries and Hitachi are forming an alliance to bid for rail business worldwide. The two set up a joint order processing centre in April.Combining Hitachi’s background in railway systems with KHI’s rolling stock and construction experience, the companies will jointly take orders to develop their rail businesses, in ...
-
News
Publications
Competition, Regulation & the Privatisation of British Rail by Jon ShawPart of the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers Transport Geography Research Group’s Transport & Mobilty series, this 244-page monograph reviews the process of rail privatisation in Great Britain, covering the ideology, the different models considered, and the actual processes ...
-
News
EMA camera identifies rail defects
GAUGE corner cracking and other forms of rolling contact fatigue can be detected using a field gradient rail inspection camera developed by Newt International. The Lizard camera presents television-like pictures of flaws in the rail (or other engineering structures) and uses an odometer to record defect locations. It can see ...
-
News
Inchon signalled to handle growth
INTRO: Line 1 of Inchon Rapid Transit Corp’s network carried over 57million passengers in its first year of service. Use of some of the most up-to-date signalling equipment with ATP and ATO allows 2min headways and contributes to high levels of reliabilityBYLINE: Jung-Ho Lee and Ernst Ploog*SERVING a major port ...
-
NewsExpress Rail Link Desiros take to the rails
Two types of Desiro EMU are being constructed for use on Malaysia’s Express Rail Link and Commuter Rail Service
-
News
Rails to conquer the Tibetan plateau
INTRO: Construction of a railway to Lhasa was started in 1958, but halted in the early 1980s until technical challenges could be overcome. Two decades later, Chinese Railways is poised to start work on an 1100 km railway through some of the world’s toughest terrainBYLINE: Wang Teh Lei and Xu ...
-
News
Halving intermodal times across the Brenner
INTRO: Acting on the initiative of a customer, the national railways of Germany, Austria and Italy aim to halve transit times for intermodal traffic between München and Verona. Until a few years ago swap bodies took 12 h to make the trip, but timings have been cut to 8h, with ...
-
News
Measuring tunnel clearances faster
BYLINE: Dipl-Ing Bernhard MetzgerPlasser Measuring SystemsAN ACCURATE knowledge of loading gauge clearances is critical if a rail operator is to be certain that loads can be carried safely. But over time the clearance along a line can change for several reasons. The track can move out of position, perhaps being ...
-
News
OverNight Express marries passengers with freight
INTRO: An innovative international service has been operating between Amsterdam and Milano for almost a year, and further routes are under discussion. Richard Hope finds that Netherlands Railways sees considerable potential for expansionCOMBINING time-sensitive freight with overnight sleeper trains has proved to be a commercially successful formula between Amsterdam and ...
-
News
Bogie builders tackle European 25 tonne challenge
FACING pressure to improve productivity and increase the competitiveness of their rail freight operations, several European railways are looking at the scope to raise axleloads beyond the classic 22·5 tonnes laid down in the current UIC standards. British Rail adopted a 25·5 tonne limit many years ago for its then-isolated ...
-
News
West Rail will come in under budget in 2003
INTRO: The largest expansion programme ever undertaken by Kowloon - Canton Railway Corp is well under way, with West Rail Phase 1 now 40% complete. Construction of two extensions to the East Rail route from Kowloon to Lo Wu began in FebruaryBYLINE: James BlakeSenior Director, Capital ProjectsKowloon - Canton Railway ...
-
News
SBB Cargo acts to secure a European future
BYLINE: Daniel NordmannDirector, SBB CargoON AUGUST 1 SBB Cargo moves its headquarters from Bern to Basel. Pulling out of the Swiss capital to start afresh in a new venue symbolises a programme of major change for SBB Cargo. The programme was announced on April 4 and followed a strategic review ...
-
News
Challenges and opportunities change the face of urban transport
MOBILITY IS about more than just getting from one place to another. Today it is considered part of our quality of life, and nowhere is this more apparent than in major cities and their suburbs. It is also here that public transport plays a particularly important role, with rail and ...
-
News
Bombardier cleared to buy Adtranz
ON APRIL 3 the European Commission approved the acquisition of DaimlerChrysler subsidiary Adtranz by Bombardier of Canada. The transaction is expected to be complete by May 1.As part of the approval process Bombardier Transportation was required to meet several conditions set by the Commission. It must sell its 26·5% share ...