Main line rail industry news – Page 1371
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News
Sleeper express
NETHERLANDS Railways’ newly formed international passenger business NS Internationaal is to launch a new overnight service with the May 2000 timetable change. A six-times-a-week service will link Amsterdam and Milano, conveying both sleeping cars and premium freight traffic. Leaving Amsterdam at 18.00, it is due into Milano at 07.50. The ...
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Crash test
SAFETY experts gathered at the Pueblo premises of Transportation Technology Center Inc on November 18 to witness a collision between a former Septa Budd Silverliner car and a concrete wall. The impact occurred at a speed of 56 km/h.Inside the vehicle were specially instrumented seats of different designs populated by ...
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Metros
Brazil: Stage I of the Salvador metro (RG 11.99 p691) is to be built by a consortium of Siemens and local companies Camargo, Corrêa and Andrade Gutierres.Italy: A guided transit system based on Adtranz AGT technology has opened at Roma’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport. Two two-car trains link the main ...
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Product NEWS
Chinese seek faster rerailingFACED with only 239 breakdown cranes to cover a network of over 62000 route-km, Chinese Railways has been stretched to cover rescue and rerailing operations after minor derailments. Many of the cranes are rated at less than 1 000 kN, and are limited to 40 km/h when ...
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NewsRailtex 99 review
RAILTEX: We present a selection of news and products from the Railtex 99 exhibition held in London on November 30 - December 2
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Industry News
Bulgaria: CKD Dopravni systemy of the Czech Republic is seeking to establish a joint venture in Sofia to manufacture trams for the Balkan market. The company is currently delivering 17 T6A2 tramcars to Sofia Tramway.Great Britain: CEDG Ltd, the former British Rail Civil Engineering Design Group purchased by British Steel, ...
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News
Santos privatises port railway
Codesp, the São Paulo State Docks Company, has agreed to transfer operation of its 200 km network serving the port of Santos to four of Brazil’s private freight operators. A joint venture of Ferroban, Ferronorte, MRS Logística and Novoeste was to expected take over 250 Codesp staff and a fleet ...
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Corridor progress
The Spanish cabinet has given its approval for contracts to be let for double-tracking 18 km between Vandellós and Tarragona, as part of the Mediterranean Corridor programme to cut the Valencia - Barcelona journey time to 2h 15min. Work includes a 1780m tunnel and a new station to serve Vandellós ...
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Painful birth of the intelligent railway
INTRO: Roland Heinisch, Director for Research & Technology at German Railway, is renowned for the number of innovative ideas he has introduced there. In this discussion with Murray Hughes he suggests that tomorrow’s railways will make far more effective use of IT to manage operations, safety and maintenanceTHERE was perhaps ...
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Railways in the first decades of the 21st Century
INTRO: With the industry recently undergoing changes that few would have expected, it is perhaps foolhardy to predict the future of railways in any detail. But five broad ideas are likely to influence developments in the opening decades of the new centuryBYLINE: Louis S ThompsonRailways AdviserThe World Bank IN THE ...
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Transforming freight into long-term profits
INTRO: Railways can and must carry freight commercially if they are still going to be useful in 2030, and that means rewarding private investment in modern equipment and sound infrastructure. It can be done, but many governments don’t know how to make it happen BYLINE: Edward A BurkhardtPresident, Rail World ...
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Rolling stock innovations will bring commercial benefits
INTRO: Reliable information, quiet, attractive interiors and better ride quality are among the expectations of tomorrow’s passengers. Technical innovations offer commercial benefits, but they will only succeed if they are supported by a robust business caseBYLINE: David RollinManaging Director, Interfleet Technology LtdWHAT BETTER time to take stock of the rail ...
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Sidetrack
Red for dangerThefts of diesel have become such a problem that cash-strapped Zambia Railways has resorted to dyeing its fuel red to deter thieves. A public notice in the Times of Zambia announces that ’Anybody found in unauthorised possession of the red fuel will be deemed to have stolen it ...
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ECO backs Asian links
THROUGH freight and passenger trains between Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are due to start next year, with the backing of the Economic Co-operation Organisation which groups 10 Central Asian countries. Meeting in Lahore, six of the transport ministers agreed to launch an Almaty - Toshkent - Mashhad - ...
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NJ Transit starts commuter renewal
NEW JERSEY Transit’s board has confirmed an order for 230 push-pull commuter coaches valued at $233m. The first phase of a major re-equipment programme began on November 10 when Alstom Transportation Inc was selected to supply the Comet V fleet.The initial batch of 130 vehicles includes 50 driving cars and ...
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Boom time
Spectacular growth in passenger traffic is forcing Israel Railways to shop around for quick fixes to raise capacity. Since the launch of a new timetable last March offering more trains and shorter journey times, traffic has been growing steadily with 35% more trips made in the first 11 months of ...
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Russians reaffirm faith in rail
Addressing the ’Congress of Transport on the Threshold of the New Century’ in Moscow on December 6, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin went to some trouble to assure delegates that the national rail network ’is and will remain the backbone of Russia’s transport system’. He told them that to prevent ...
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Passenger trains can be good business
INTRO: Carrying commuters and inter-city passengers as a profitable venture looked all but impossible 30 years ago, but several companies are committed to achieving it in this decade. Chris Green spelled out to Richard Hope the conditions for successBACK IN THE 1960s, when motorway construction was at full throttle throughout ...
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ETCS ready to go, but operators shun Level 3
’WE ARE STARTING to leave technical matters behind and move to commercial developments.’ This was the message with which Chief Executive Philippe Roumeguère opened UIC’s seventh annual conference on ERTMS/ETCS and GSM-R in Paris on November 25. Some 450 delegates were present. Certainly, the good news was mostly on the ...