Main line rail industry news – Page 1381
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Marie’s brave promise to boost light rail
AT A FORUM in London on July 8 the President of the Union of European Railway Industries Rolf Eckrodt and his counterpart at the International Union of Public Transport Jean-Paul Bailly signed a Memorandum of Understanding on terms and conditions for procurement contracts. Although largely symbolic, the MoU marks the ...
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£7m revamp gives Caledonian Sleepers a quality upgrade
UK: Train operating company ScotRail was expected to unveil a new livery for its Caledonian Sleeper services at the end of last month, as part of a £7m upgrading of the service announced by Managing Director Alastair MacPherson on April 1. The company currently runs two 16-car trains to ...
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High speed experts confer in London
LEADING industry figures outlined key developments in high speed and tilting train services at a congress in London on June 30 - July 2. Organised by AiC Worldwide in association with Railway Gazette International, the High Speed Rail & Tilting Train Congress attracted senior engineers and managers involved in the ...
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Software simplifies load management planning
EFFICIENT management of passenger services today is a delicate balance between increasing ridership and yield, controlling costs and maintaining quality standards. Critical issues include managing passenger loadings at peak periods, and increasing the yield from the fares structure.In Britain, AEA Technology Rail has developed software models to address these two ...
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DB and NS sign freight merger
ON JANUARY 1 2000 DB Cargo and NS Cargo will formally merge into a single business. Trading with the working title of Rail Cargo Europe, the combined operations of the two companies will form a private limited company which will later become a public limited company under German law. The ...
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Three minutes to cross the city
FRENCH Prime Minister Lionel Jospin was the star guest at ceremonies held on July 12 to mark completion of the first stage of Line E of the Paris RER network. Two days later it was Bastille day, and Parisians lured by free travel to and from the eastern suburbs stormed ...
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NS rethink
WITH expressions of interest for the operation of international high-speed services on HSL-Zuid due by August 18 (RG 7.99 p426), Netherlands Transport Minister Tineke Netelenbos revealed last month that she was now minded to allow Netherlands Railways to enter the bidding. However, this would be on condition that NS gives ...
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Postal boost
NEXT YEAR will see the strengthening of postal traffic on German Railway, with the introduction of a network of Parcel Intercity trains. On July 15 DB President Johannes Ludewig signed a co-operation accord with his counterpart at Deutsche Post Dr Klaus Zimwinkel. Also participating in the event were the respective ...
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Double-deck orders
ON JULY 16 Bombardier Transportation announced that its BN subsidiary in Belgium had won an order from SNCB to supply 210 double-deck coaches, in consortium with Alstom. The long-awaited BFr8·5bn contract requires deliveries over a two-year period beginning in May 2001. The vehicles will be assembled by Bombardier’s Atlantic Europe ...
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Eurotunnel secures 99-year concession
TWO YEARS after the British and French governments agreed in principle to extend Eurotunnel’s concession to 99 years, their action was approved by the Assemblée Nationale in Paris on June 30. The original 55-year concession granted in 1987 would have terminated in 2042. It was extended by 10 years in ...
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Rhine-Rhône route set
A PREFERRED route for the first phase of the planned TGV Rhine-Rhône line was announced on July 5. The so-called 'barreau Est' option was agreed unanimously by a committee set up to develop the project and report back to the French Ministry of Transport. The decision paves the way for ...
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ECP record run
ON JUNE 28 Australia’s BHP Iron Ore Railroad completed a successful trial with the longest and heaviest test train to operate using ECP electronic air brakes. Formed of five General Electric Dash 8 diesel locos and 240 laden iron ore wagons, the 2·5 km long train had a gross weight ...
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Monserrat back on the rack
ON JULY 12 the President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Jordi Pujol, announced that a rack railway will be built between Monistrol and Monserrat at a cost of Pts6·6bn. Construction is to get under way immediately, with opening envisaged by the spring of 2002.An Abt rack railway to Monserrat was ...
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Optic fibre links
AUGUST 1 is due to see the commissioning of a further 900 route-km of optic fibre communications links on Russia’s Volga Railway. The regional Chief Engineer A Khrapaty confirmed at the end of June that work was well under way to complete the installation of 4000 route-km by 2005.Another optic ...
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Short line sales
LAST MONTH the Mexican government awarded concessions for the operation of two more short lines, bringing the proportion of the former FNM network in the private sector to 99%.The 1545 km Chiapas and Mayab networks in the southeast will be taken over by Ferrocarriles de Chiapas-Mayab, a subsidiary of Genesee ...
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Alfa Pendular enters service
PORTUGUESE Railways launched regular operation of its Pendolino tilting trains between Lisboa and Porto on July 1, following an inaugural run on June 30. The special covered the 329 km between Porto and Lisboa Oriente in 2h 50min. Several sections were run at over 180 km/h, with a top speed ...
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JR East share sale
LAST MONTH the Japanese government started the process of floating a further tranche of shares in East Japan Railway. Despite two previous flotations, the government remained the largest shareholder with a 37·6% stake.At the beginning of July the government confirmed stock market rumours that it was to sell another million ...
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CSX to track locos by GPS
FOLLOWING a three-month pilot programme CSX Transportation has decided to equip its 2800 main line locos with a GPS tracking system, the first in North America to do so. CSX awarded a contract last month to GE Harris Railway Electronics for its Pinpoint equipment, which had been tested on 25 ...
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FCS on stream
AUSTRALIA’s National Freight Corp has started the final stage of acceptance testing for its Freight Control System, which will provide operations control and management information throughout the inter-state business. Formerly known as the Freight Management Initiative, the first stage of FCS came on stream at the end of last year ...
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Rheinland orders locos
THE Land of Rheinland-Pfalz has ordered two Class 146 electric locos from Adtranz, with an option for a further five, to work local services operated by DB Regio. The 146 is a derivative of the 80 Class 145 freight locos now being built for DB Cargo, regeared for 160 km/h ...