Main line rail industry news – Page 1379
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News
Border accords
UPGRADING of the 371 km Praha - Nürnberg corridor is to be completed by 2002, under the terms of an accord signed in the Czech capital on July 13. CD General Manager Dalibor Zeleny and DB Chairman Johannes Ludewig agreed to electrify and resignal the route and modify the alignment ...
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Russian locos enter service
TWO advanced designs of electric locomotive have been approved for regular service on Russian Railways, following the completion of commissioning trials. The occasion was marked by a ceremony at the Shcherbinka test centre attended by Minister of Railways V I Starostenko (third from left) and Vice-Minister Kondratenko (right). The two ...
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KTZ monopoly to be ended
THE GOVERNMENT of Kazakhstan has approved draft proposals for the restructuring of the national railway network and the introduction of competition for support services. Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) General Director Ablai Myrzakhmetov announced at the beginning of August that the ’demonopolisation’ process would be phased over the next four years.Noting that ...
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Aqaba closer
FORMAL signing of a 25-year concession to operate and expand Jordan’s 1050mm gauge Aqaba Railway was expected towards the end of last month, following the approval of the deal by the country’s cabinet on August 8.A consortium led by Wisconsin Central International and Raytheon Infrastructure was selected last November as ...
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Slovak loan agreed
ON JULY 23 the European Investment Bank confirmed the award of a 200m euros credit for Slovak Republic Railways. To be guaranteed by the Slovak government, the money will help to fund five major investment projects drawn up by ZSR General Director Andrej Egyed (RG 7.99 p459).Around 120m euros will ...
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Seoul moves from 8 to 9
BARELY TWO WEEKS after the inauguration of the final section of metro Line 8, the Seoul City Government announced that work would start on the long-planned Line 9 in 2001. Despite the region’s recent economic problems, construction is pushing ahead on Line 6 and the second stage of Line 7 ...
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Island LRT
PROPOSALS have been invited for the restoration of rail services to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, on the basis of a design-build-own-operate-transfer concession. The government is concerned about increasing road congestion in the Port Louis - Curepipe corridor, but earlier tenders for a 27 km light rail line ...
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Manila upgrade approved
THE PHILIPPINES government announced on July 26 that it had approved a P7·6bn expansion package for Manila’s light rail Line 1. The target is to boost capacity from 27000 to 40000 passengers/h in each direction. This will involve improvements to the signalling and power supplies plus the purchase of 12 ...
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SkyTrain deal
ON AUGUST 3, Bombardier Transportation confirmed that it had been awarded a C$205m contract for design and supply of electrical and mechanical systems for the 21 km SkyTrain Line 2 in Vancouver. Rapid Transit 2000 Ltd had already awarded the company a C$165m contract for 60 ALRT MkII cars last ...
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Moscow tries commuter expresses
MOSCOW Railway commuters between Vladimir and the Russian capital are flocking onto the latest design of EMU to emerge from the Demikhovo rolling stock plant (left). On July 31 MR President Gennadi Fadeev and Railways Minister V I Starostenko launched the city’s third express commuter service using a build of ...
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Madrid approves Metro Sur
PUBLIC CONSULTATION began in July for the route of a 40 km metro loop serving the rapidly expanding southern suburbs of the Spanish capital. Madrid Region’s Councillor for Public Works Luis Eduardo Cortés explained the definitive route alignments for the Metro Sur project. This is to serve the satellite towns ...
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More West Rail contracts let
ON JULY 27 Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp announced a further six contracts for West Rail phase I, totalling HK$5·4bn. Four are for civil works, one for railway systems and one for design.Kier-Zen Pacific JV is to build Mei Foo station for HK$1·2bn, whlist Tin Shui Wai station and the light rail ...
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Line C revived
THIS MONTH is due to see the handover to Roma’s Sistema di Transporti SpA of detailed engineering designs for the first 12 km section of metro Line C. Project design for the route linking the Line A interchange at San Giovanni to Torrenova, where it would meet the Cotral suburban ...
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Metros
Austria: Tenders are to be issued this year for work on the first section of a 10 km U-Bahn line from Praterstern across the River Danube to Stadlau and beyond. Completion is expected in 2008.Germany: The first dual-gauge track has been laid in Braunschweig. Conversion of the 1100mm gauge tram ...
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PEOPLE
Barry Murphy has been appointed as Chairman of Australian Rail Track Corp.Cynthia M Sanborn has been named Vice President & General Manager of CSX Transportation’s Florida Business Unit, replacing Paul D Sandler who has become Senior Vice-President, Corporate Services (RG 8.99 p496). Dr Francis Small has been appointed Vice-Chairman of ...
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Letters
Wrong tacticSir - The exposé of how Wisconsin Central shareholders unceremoniously fired Ed Burkhardt (RG 8.99 p481) is yet another example of what is wrong with the great god privatisation. This sordid tale of stockholders dumping good executives because they were using earnings to improve and expand the property has ...
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Sidetrack
Make it easyFRENCH National Railways has made much play recently of the introduction of regular-interval timetables on TGV routes to Lille, Lyon and western France. How nice to see that good ideas eventually win their converts, even if it is a decade or two after everyone else.Not of course that ...
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Railtrack faces massive fines
Britain’s recently appointed Rail Regulator, Tom Winsor, announced on August 19 that he expects to sign in October an Enforcement Order requiring Railtrack to cut the delays which it causes to passenger trains by 12·7% during the year ending March 31 2000. This would be the first such order served ...
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Paper plans
CALIFORNIA High Speed Rail Authority voted on July 21 to develop a 1100 km network of high speed lines. Split into 12 segments, the network would link San Francisco with San Jose, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, Los Angeles and San Diego. Having defined alignments for all routes apart from Los Angeles ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Argentina: 11 companies have expressed interest in operating freight and passenger services on the northern section of the Belgrano Railway, under a 30-year concession from the province of Salta (RG 7.99 p415). A decree to confirm transfer of the Belgrano to Unión Ferroviaria until 2029 was expected to follow an ...