Main line rail industry news – Page 1388
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Benefits justify higher BHP axleloads
INTRO: Innovative management and a commitment to research have halved the cost of hauling iron ore to Port Hedland in Western Australia in the last five years. A key lever has been less variable loading that sees axleloads now nudging 37 tonnes, with 40 tonnes in prospectBYLINE: Mike Moynan, Alex ...
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Track engineers seek cost-saving innovations
INTRO: Increasing use of electronics has paved the way for suppliers of maintenance equipment to improve track quality and availability, and at the same time reduce costs. David Burns previews the VDEI exhibition taking place in Wien from June 1 to 3IN COMPARISON with many other industries, the railway business ...
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Europe’s rail freight at stake
FRENCH National Railways’ policy to go for passenger volume in 1998 was probably correct. Wooing back inter-city passengers by a combination of simpler, more attractive fares and more regular-interval services has paid off, with Grandes Lignes revenue up by nearly 10% and the number of journeys 5·3% higher than in ...
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Metro Report 1999
SUBSCRIBERS will receive with this issue a copy of Metro Report 1999, our annual snapshot and overview of the latest developments in urban railways worldwide. Articles contributed by chief executives from metro and urban rail operators describe investment plans and programmes in cities ranging from Ankara to Taipei.Also in Metro ...
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HKL studies western metro
HELSINKI City Transport has started discussions with the neighbouring city of Espoo for a possible western extension of its metro beyond the present terminus at Ruoholahti. This would serve the rapidly-growing residential areas in southern Espoo, which have a population of around 280000 and are expected to grow significantly by ...
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Pilbara ore lines ride out Far East recession
THOUGH IRON ORE prices were slashed by more than 10% in February, and export volumes fell last year, the three companies in the Pilbara region of Western Australia which together operate the world’s most competitive and efficient heavy haul railways are continuing to expand their potential output. Their expectation is ...
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Reform underpins rail development
INTRO: Technical innovation to upgrade equipment and operating practices is being combined with organisational restructuring to prepare Russian Railways for the challenges aheadBYLINE: N E AksyonenkoMinister of Railway TransportRussian FederationRAIL IS THE BACKBONE of Russia’s transport system. It remains the most reliable and least expensive mode, meeting the country’s demand ...
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Counting sensors
RENFE’s Suburban business unit has installed the Cuper passenger-counting system developed in conjunction with Eliop on 10 EMUs operating in Madrid. The number of people boarding and leaving a train is counted using pressure sensors installed on the fixed step of each passenger door. An on-board processor locates the train ...
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Dolly trolley
ON SHOW at the Hannover trade fair this year was a skate designed for dealing quickly with a damaged wheelset. Termed Dolly, the skate is intended to allow a vehicle with a defective wheelset to be moved rapidly to a workshop or depot for repair.A hydraulic jack is used to ...
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Auto-local tickets
Schlumberger has completed roll out of 165 ticket vending machines at stations across Denmark. The light-flow-ticket machines allow passengers to use cash, credit cards or electronic purse payment to buy tickets, but have low running costs. DSB is able to manage them remotely using a communications link over the public ...
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Four shortlisted for HSL Zuid
ON MAY 6 the HSL Zuid project office at the Netherlands Ministry of Transport, Public Works & Water Management announced that four consortia had been shortlisted to construct and maintain the Amsterdam - Antwerpen high-speed line. The government is to fund the civil engineering works and a private-sector Infrastructure ...
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GE to upgrade Indian diesels
INDIAN Railways is negotiating a technology transfer agreement with General Electric of the USA for upgrading its fleet of 3000 WDM2 diesel locos, built to an Alco design of the late 1950s. This month IR is due to put into service the first of 20 diesels being supplied by General ...
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Transpatagonian decree issued
THE ARGENTINE government issued a decree in April confirming that construction of two long-planned rail links would be ’in the public interest’. This paves the way for the Secretary of Transport to offer concessions to build and operate the Transpatagonico line and the Transandino del Sur corridor linking Bahía Blanca ...
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West Coast deal
ON MAY 11 British bus and rail operator Go-Ahead Group confirmed that the three-company consortium of which it is a member had reached agreement with the Swedish government to run inter-city services on the West Coast route between G
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African concessions at risk
CONCESSIONS to operate three rail corridors radiating from the Mozambique capital Maputo are in jeopardy; CFM’s chief negotiator Miguel Matabel said in April that negotiations had collapsed because the latest offers were ’not good enough’. Last year CFM selected a Spoornet-led consortium to take over the Maputo - Ressano Garcia ...
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High-speed contribution
SPANISH Secretary of State for Infrastructure Albert Vilalta told the Parliamentary infrastructure committee on April 30 that 30% of the cost of building the high speed line from Madrid to Barcelona and the French border would be met by charging access fees for the first 20 years of operation. In ...
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Kuala Lumpur airport link contract signed
MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur airport rail link concessionaire Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd formally awarded on May 6 an Engineering, Procurement & Construction contract for construction of the 57 km line (RG 12.98 p826). The contract was signed by ERLSB Executive Chairman Dato' Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh and representatives of the ...
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Ticino - Malpensa accord
MEETING in Lugano on May 4, representatives of Swiss Federal Railways, Italian State Railways, the Swiss canton of Ticino and the Italian province of Lombardia agreed to develop a cross-border rail link between the Gotthard and Simplon corridors. An international committee has been set up to manage the project and ...
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Germans to wire Harbin - Dalian
CHINA’s Ministry of Railways and the China National Machinery Import & Export Co signed a contract on May 12 with representatives of Adtranz and Siemens for electrification of the 950 km Harbin - Dalian trunk line. Installation of the 25 kV 50Hz equipment is due for completion in mid-August 2001, ...
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RoadRailer grows
JUNE 7 is due to see the start of North America’s first dedicated RoadRailer refrigerated service west of the Mississippi river. Burlington Northern Santa Fe has formed a partnership with Mark VII Transportation Co to operate the Ice Cold Express; a 65-unit train which will run once a week in ...