Main line rail industry news – Page 1375
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News
Publications
Jane’s Urban Transport SystemsNow edited by Tony Pattison, the 1999-2000 edition of this heavyweight annual continues in its traditional style covering the world’s rail and road public transport. 388 pages are dedicated to the world’s major cities from Aachen to Zürich. The remainder of the book’s 660 pages cover manufacturers, ...
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Inside INDUSTRY
BYLINE: Merger vote postponed Westinghouse Air Brake Co of the USA announced on August 20 that it had decided to postpone a meeting scheduled for August 23, called for shareholders to vote on the company’s proposed merger with MotivePower Industries (RG 7.99 p465). According to WABCO, the meeting was postponed ...
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The spirit of your city
INTRO: Alstom Transport’s Citadis low-floor tram family was unveiled at La Rochelle on September 2. Chris Jackson took a rideON A WARM sunny afternoon, a dark blue low-floor tram decorated with seagulls is being put through its paces on the Alstom test track in the French port of La Rochelle. ...
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Wisconsin moves into Jordan
Tonnage carried by the Aqaba Railway is expected to triple by 2002 after a Raytheon-led consortium takes a 25 year lease AUGUST 18 saw the signing of an agreement under which management and operation of the 292 km Aqaba Railway in Jordan will pass to a consortium that includes Wisconsin ...
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Lounges target business market
IN THEIR continuing efforts to increase ridership as subsidy levels decline, Britain’s inter-city train operators are paying particular attention to the lucrative first class market by offering improved facilities for business travellers. Virgin Trains, holder of the West Coast franchise, opened new first class lounges at Manchester Piccadilly and Stoke-on-Trent ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Australia: Tradegate ECA is developing an internet-based RailHub to provide automated consignment tracking and data management for the interstate rail network and associated feeder operators.Australian Rail Track Corp has lifted speeds on the Melbourne - Adelaide corridor from 80 to 115 km/h following an A$20m upgrading programme.Queensland Rail carried over ...
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PEOPLE
On September 14, the Chairman of the German Railway Supervisory Board, Dr Dieter Vogel, announced that Hartmut Mehdorn will be taking over as Chairman of the DB Management Board with effect from January 1. Formerly Chairman of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, he will succeed Dr Johannes Ludewig. At the same time, ...
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Steel sleeper breakthrough
Up to now, steel sleepers have typically been used in developing countries where speeds are modest, the climate is dry, wood is vulnerable to termites, and track circuits are short if they exist at all. Steel is normally more expensive than wood or concrete, and the perception has been that ...
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Green policies still uncertain
NOT FOR the first time, environmentalists are wringing their hands over the fate of the earth. The GEO-2000 report compiled by the United Nations Environment Programme and published on September 15 is up for discussion at an international convention in Bonn this month - and it will make gloomy reading. ...
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Railion stalks logistics role
DIRECTOR of DB Cargo Dr Eberhard Sinnecker and his Dutch counterpart Ed Smulders unveiled on September 16 in Duisburg the name Railion for the future merged rail freight company known until now as Rail Cargo Europe. The name will apply from January 1 2000, when the merger becomes effective. Owned ...
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Tazara sale moves closer
TRANSPORT Ministers in Tanzania and Zambia have agreed in principle to award concessions for the rehabilitation and operation of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, subject to formal approval by the two governments. The agreement was reached on August 29 at a meeting in Ndola of the international council of ministers which oversees ...
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UP celebrates triple tracking
ON AUGUST 24 Union Pacific announced that it had completed the triple-tracking of its original main line across Nebraska between Gibbon and North Platte. Upgrading the 174 route-km to accommodate up to 140 trains per day running at 113 km/h has cost $327m.UP’s Central Corridor is a key link between ...
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BB21 contracts
ONSEPTEMBER 1 Netherlands Railways’ infrastructure unit Railinfrabeheer awarded contracts totalling 90m guilders to Alstom Signalling and Adtranz Signal for development of its planned BB21 train control system. The three-year project will cover the design and installation of pilot equipment. BB21 will meet ERTMS/ETCS Level 2 and Level 3 specifications (RG ...
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Heathrow link
A £170m plan to build a line between the proposed Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow Airport and Railtrack’s Southern Zone at Staines has been endorsed by British Airways, airport operator BAA and Railtrack. The three signed a Memorandum of Understanding on September 13 to launch operational and environmental investigations, which ...
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Corridor IV upgrade approved
THE CZECH government has approved the upgrading of CD’s north-south Corridor IV as part of its transport development strategy for 2000-10. The Decin - Praha - Horni Dvoriste route is to be rebuilt by 2005, taking priority over Corridor III linking Cheb, and Petrovice u Karviné (RG 6.95 p379).Over the ...
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Shenyang line starts
CHINESE Railways formally started construction on August 24 of the dedicated passenger railway between Qinhuangdao and Shenyang. The 422 km double-track line is due for completion in 2002, and will release capacity on the existing line for heavy freight trains.The Shenyang line is designed for 160 to 200 km/h, but ...
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TER autorails arrive
NOVEMBER 28 will see the start of revenue operation with French National Railways’ first Class X73500 lightweight diesel railcars. The ’Autorail TER’ units are due to enter service on the Strasbourg - Molsheim - St Dié line in Alsace. They will also replace bus services between Tours and Chinon in ...
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CVRD to buy FCA
LAST MONTH Brazilian mining group Companhia Vale do Rio Doce announced that it had reached agreement to take over Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica, in which it already holds a 12·5% stake. With the backing of its parent steel conglomerate CSN, which also owns 12·5%, CVRD will pay R$218m for the 75% stake ...
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CSXT restructures
FOUR Service Groups are to take over responsibility for commercial and operating functions at CSX Transportation under a major reorganisation announced by newly-appointed President Ronald J Conway on August 11. Designed to ’promote customer focus and speed the decision-making process’, the groups will be focused on the railway’s principal product ...
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First capacity review by SSRA
THE WEST Midlands region surrounding Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city after London, has been selected for the first network capacity review to be undertaken by the ’shadow’ Strategic Rail Authority. Pending legislation to establish the SRA formally, staff of the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and the British Railways Board ...