Main line rail industry news – Page 1366
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News
China adopts AEI
THE CHINESE Ministry of Railways has decided to adopt radio-frequency transponder tagging for automatic vehicle identification, compatible with the standards adopted by the Association of American Railroads and the UIC.On January 28 the Dallas-based Amtech Systems division of Intermec Technologies announced that it had won an initial contract from MoR ...
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Short line merger
US-BASED short line group RailAmerica confirmed on February 4 that it had completed the US$325m acquisition of RailTex Inc announced in October 1999. Under terms approved by both sets of shareholders on February 1, RailTex shareholders will receive $13·50 in cash and 0·66 of a share of RailAmerica stock for ...
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Thriving lessor
SAAF Rail Assets Management Co, set up in October 1998 as part of the restructuring of Romanian State Railways, has quickly established itself as a business to be reckoned with in the rolling stock leasing market. Starting out with surplus CFR stock, it is hoping to turn over US$2m a ...
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Finance
Argentina: SUBA and Electromac have purchased a 51% stake in Trainmet for US$28m, and are looking to increase Trainmet’s half share in Metropolitano which operates the Roca, San Martín and Belgrano Sur commuter routes in Buenos Aires. The other 50% of Metropolitano is held by construction group Ormas.Australia: BHP has ...
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Amtrak’s figures challenged
ALTHOUGH the Amtrak Reform Council said its annual report published on January 28 was ’not in any sense a finding’, it immediately generated controversy. Approved on an 8 to 3 majority vote, the report disputes Amtrak’s assertion that it is on schedule to be free of taxpayer subsidy by the ...
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Smart cards encircle the Bay
INTRO: San Francisco’s public transport operators have launched a programme to introduce contactless smart card ticketing which will ultimately cover 24 metro, tram, ferry and bus networks. Julian Wolinsky looks at the technology and at the planned expansion into electronic purse functions LATER this year, passengers using selected public transport ...
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Success builds on solid foundations
INTRO: Switzerland’s major programme of infrastructure upgrades is being implemented on the basis of market-driven projects, carefully tailored to contribute to an overall improvement in the speed, capacity and ease of use of the rail network. Paul Moser, SBB’s Manager, Major Projects, revealed to Reinhard Christeller why the SFr7·4bn Bahn ...
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Ballast recycling eases logistics of track renewal
ON JANUARY 17 track maintenance contractor Wiebe & Swietelsky took delivery of what its supplier claims to be the largest track renewal and formation rehabilitation machine in the world. Within two weeks the company had set it to work on a 2 km section of track near Bonn in Germany. ...
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Athenians celebrate metro’s arrival
INTRO: The first sections of the long-awaited Athens metro were officially inaugurated on January 28. Artemis Klonos joined the crowds at Syntagma SquareCEREMONIES were held in Athens on January 28 to mark the inauguration of the Greek capital’s metro network. Amongst the participants at the event were the President of ...
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Smart card questions move from technology to applications
The 5th UITP fare collection conference in Bologna on February 2 - 4 signalled a turning point in the prospects for widespread use of smart cards. No longer were delegates asking if the technology was ready; now the key question is the best management and operating structure to meet individual ...
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Maintenance software
GERMAN Railway’s inter-city business unit DB Reise & Touristik AG has decided to equip 11 of its principal rolling stock servicing depots with simulation and support software from Stuttgart-based Flexis GmbH. The Rail Maintenance Planning System allows operators to optimise shunting sequences and materials supply as the trains pass ...
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Industry News
Canada: The provincial government of Nova Scotia has retained Ernst & Young to sell the assets of Sydney Steel Corp. This follows the termination of an agreement to sell the company to Rail Associates Inc of the USA for C$30m.Germany: On January 27 the Rail Vehicle Systems Division of Knorr-Bremse ...
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First North Western launches Class 175
UK: First North Western unveiled the first five of 27 Class 175 diesel multiple-units at its newly-built depot in Chester on February 4. Part of Alstom’s Coradia family, the trains will enter commercial service in May on routes from Birmingham and Chester to Holyhead and Manchester to Llandudno. Later they ...
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Publications
Météor: Le Métro du FuturThis colourful booklet in French with English translations provides a potted history of the development of Paris metro Line 14. It traces the background to the line, and explains in more detail the modular train control systems, which have since been adopted as the basis for ...
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Wires to Boston at last
US NATIONAL passenger operator Amtrak inaugurated electric operation between Boston and New Haven on January 31 with the introduction of its Acela Regional service. The first southbound electric train was scheduled to depart from Boston at 06.15, but left 20min late owing to a fouled pantograph; arrival at New York’s ...
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PEOPLE
In the new Croatian government formed at the end of January, Alojz Tusek was named Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport & Telecommunications in succession to Ivan Pavlovic.On February 14 Mike Kinski resigned as Chief Executive of British-based bus and rail operator Stagecoach Group. He is to be replaced by the ...
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Eurotrain fights back in Taiwan tussle
ON FEBRUARY 10 Eurotrain lodged an appeal with the High Court in Taipei in a further round in its battle to obtain the contract to supply electrical and mechanical equipment for Taiwan’s high speed line from Taipei to Kaohsiung. On December 28 Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp had announced ...
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Nacala concession signed
ON FEBRUARY 10 representatives of Mozambique’s national railway & port administration CFM and a consortium led by Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp initialled the formal concession contract covering operation of the country’s Nacala Railway for the next 15 years. Subject to final approval by the government, the consortium expects to take ...
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PR board abolished
PLANS to restructure Pakistan Railways have been announced by the government. As an interim measure, the PR board has been disbanded, and its functions assumed by the Ministry of Railways. A new 15-member advisory board is to be formed, including the PR General Manager, Finance Director, the Managing Directors of ...