Main line rail industry news – Page 1386
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News
Dragados wins in Colombia
SPANISH civil engineering group Dragados announced on June 14 that it had been selected as preferred bidder for a 30-year concession to renovate and operate the 1470 km Atlantic rail network in Colombia. The group has a 60% stake in the bidding consortium, which includes Spanish National Railways, a Colombian ...
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Sustainable mobility is the goal
’ALL INDIVIDUALS need accessibility to employment, education and recreation. Achieving environmentally-sustainable mobility must include an expanded role for public transport, and requires many kinds of action. Well-managed, well-utilised public transport will make a major contribution to the quality of life in global communities in the next century.’Thus begins the Toronto ...
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Sidetrack
INTRO: Barak building bridges OVER the last few years Israel Railways has recorded a marked increase in patronage, which has been attributed in part to the risks of terrorist attacks on buses in the region. Following the election of a new Labour government in May, IR General Manager Uzani is ...
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Merger signed
ON JUNE 22 Netherlands Railways President Rob den Besten and German Railway Chairman Dr Johannes Ludewig signed an agreement in Frankfurt which seals the merger of the two railways’ freight businesses, DB Cargo and NS Cargo. German Transport Minister Franz Münterfering was present, as were DB Cargo chief Dr Eberhard ...
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Tauern fire trauma
SAFETY in road tunnels shot to the top of the agenda in Alpine countries after a fire on May 29 in the 6·4 km single carriageway Tauern tunnel in Austria killed at least five people. Over 20 vehicles caught fire after a lorry carrying varnish was involved in a collision ...
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NS clings on
NETHERLANDS Railways has retained a tenuous foothold in the bidding to run trains on the HSL Zuid high speed line linking Amsterdam and Antwerpen. The process got under way last month, with HSL Zuid releasing a consultation document and inviting NS to bid to operate domestic services on the route. ...
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Prestige brings smart cards to London
Passengers on London's metro and bus network are expected to begin using contactless smart cards in August 2002. Robert Preston spoke to London Transport Project Manager Chris Oulds and TranSys consortium Marketing Director Victoria Pender about the 17-year Prestige integrated revenue collection contract
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PKP poised to take the privatisation plunge
Jan Janik, President of the Management Board and Director General of Polish State Railways, discussed with Murray Hughes in Warszawa how he is preparing the network for a rapid process of transition, first to a restructured business-led railway and then truly into the private sector.
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INTELLIGENCE
CAPTION: Test running is under way on the Hudson-Bergen light rail line in Jersey City, using two pre-production vehicles supplied by Kinki Sharyo of Japan. The firm is now assembling the production cars at a plant in Harrison, New Jersey, as part of a US$1bn DBOM concession from NJ Transit, ...
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INTELLIGENCE
With the timetable change on May 30 - a year later than planned - operation of the 57 km Volmetalbahn linking Dortmund, Hagen, Brügge and Lüdenscheid becomes the responsibility of the Dortmund Märkische Eisenbahn, founded in 1997 by Dortmunder Stadtwerke (75%) and bus company Märkische Verkehrs Gesellschaft (25%).To serve ...
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Aluminium Trakrat
Group Engineering has unveiled an innovative utility vehicle for track maintenance gangs. Trakrat’s novel design features include lightweight aluminium construction, a bucket seat for the driver and a well-cushioned longitudinal seat for up to six passengers. The high seating position, vibration dampers and triple-disc braking ensure a comfortable ride compared ...
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British operators step up services
Midland Main Line’s high-profile service expansion is just one of a number of major improvements in frequency being rolled out with the summer timetable, beginning on May 30. MML will deploy its Class 170/1 Turbostar DMUs from Adtranz to double its London - Derby/Nottingham service to half-hourly, and add through ...
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Stuttgart goes AC motored
THE first of 23 DT8.10 Stadtbahnwagen A articulated LRVs for Stuttgarter Straßenbahn AG was handed over by Adtranz and Siemens on April 16. The air-conditioned all-steel vehicles are a derivative of the standard-gauge design which SSB has been ordering since 1984, and will bring the fleet to 114 cars.The cars ...
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Still up in the air
COMPETITION to obtain federal funds towards magnetic levitation projects is hotting up again in the USA. Congress has appropriated initial funding of $12m to kick start three or four schemes, and 10 applications have been sent in so far - not that $12m will go very far. One proposal covers ...
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Duma ruling
FUNDING shortages in Russia are starting to affect the metro networks in major cities. So serious has the situation become that hearings were recently held in the Duma, where members heard that operating costs this year require funds totalling 4·27bn roubles, although the state budget only allocates 850m roubles. The ...
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Finance
Brazil: Banco Santander Noroeste is to lease 50 locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems of the USA to Ferronorte. The acquisition is being financed by a US$88m long-term loan from US Exim.Czech Republic: The government has raised its budget for upgrading the Decin - Praha - Breclav corridor to KC36·5bn. ...
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Tagus troubles
AS PREDICTED last month, no celebrations were held in Lisboa on April 25 to mark the launch of cross-Tagus rail services. Testing was still under way early last month on the cross-Tagus route, and the double-deck EMUs (below) built for the service to be operated by concessionaire Fertagus were only ...