Main line rail industry news – Page 1394
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Brief Encounter with Mega 3
INTRO: Richard Hope takes a ride with an innovative multi-purpose piggyback/container wagon designed for the restrictive British loading gaugeA TEST RUN from Derby to Carnforth and back, one of three carried out during February by Serco, provided an opportunity to assess the ride quality at 145 km/h of Babcock Rail’s ...
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TheTrainLine brings online booking to Britain
BRITAIN’s first online rail ticketing system went live on Thursday February 25. Tickets and seat reservations where available can be ordered with secure payment over the internet for services operated by all 25 British franchises using software developed by Virgin Trains and IT specialists Cap Gemini. TheTrainLine is part of ...
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First blast launches Gotthard base tunnel
Sedrun's access shaft was the scene of the first blasting work for the Gotthard base tunnel on February 4. Andrew Hellawell was there to witness it first hand
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Series 700 derivative will replace Doctor Yellow
INTRO: JR Central is developing a Shinkansen infrastructure inspection train able to measure track and overhead wire parameters at 270 km/hBYLINE: Seiichi IshizuChief Engineer, Technical Research & Development Division, Central Japan RailwayKNOWN as Dr Yellow because of its bright canary paint scheme, JR Central’s Shinkansen Multiple Inspection Train is a ...
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Crossfleet to maintain VCC trains
Under the terms of a £1bn contract for a fleet of new tilting and non-tilting diesel multiple-units, Bombardier Transportation has taken over responsibility for maintenance of the entire Virgin CrossCountry fleet for the rest of the 15-year franchise to 2012
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Summit pulls fragmented railway together
FOUR MINISTERS lined up to launch the National Rail Summit in London on February 25: Prime Minister Tony Blair, Deputy PM John Prescott who also heads the department covering transport, Minister of Transport John Reid, and junior transport minister Glenda Jackson. Facing them were 180 chairmen and top executives of ...
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Exhibitors bank on Asian market revival
INTRO: Singapore Expo CentreApril 14-16SINGAPORE is the host city for the Exporail (Asia) 99 trade exhibition, being staged on April 14-16 at the Singapore Expo Centre. Organised by Interfama Brooks Exhibitions, the show is taking place at the same venue as the 1999 International Symposium on Public Transit for the ...
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Profits up at Ansaldo Signal
PRESENTing its results for the 1998 financial year on March 10, Ansaldo Signal reported revenue of US$354·5m, up 11·4% from 1997. Gross profit was up 40·2% at $77·1m and net income was $6·5m or $0·32 per share. This compares with Wall Street estimates of $0·15 for 1998 and a loss ...
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Berlin seen as centre of signalling expertise
Stuttgart-based Alcatel SEL has picked Berlin as a key location for development of radio-based train control systems. According to Friedrich Smaxwil, Chief Executive of Alcatel SEL’s transport business, between DM100m and DM120m may be spent in the next five to 10 years on developing the European Rail Traffic Management System ...
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Publications
UIC Statistics 1997The latest edition of the UIC statistics covers, with a few exceptions, the period January - December 1997. Countries are grouped into areas such as EU, EFTA, Central/Eastern Europe/ North Africa and Middle East. The tables show network details such as electrification and double-track, traction, passenger and freight ...
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NewsAcela relaunches Northeast Corridor
As the first of Amtrak's fleet of high-speed trainsets for the Washington DC - New York - Boston corridor prepares to start test running at Pueblo, infrastructure upgrading is in full swing along the route.
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Asturian link completed
SPANISH narrow gauge operator Feve inaugurated a cross-city link through the Asturian capital Oviedo on February 4. Separate termini built by different private railways serving eastern and western routes have been replaced by a new cross-city route, serving metre-gauge platforms within Renfe’s broad gauge station. Total cost of the project ...
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Pandrol to be sold
ANNOUNCING its preliminary results for 1998 on March 16, British-based industrial and engineering congolmerate Charter plc revealed that it is to spin off its Pandrol Rail Fastenings subsidiary. Chief Executive Nigel Smith said ’a comprehensive strategic review focussing on the creation of shareholder value has resulted in the decision to ...
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Cross-border link
CONSTRUCTION of the 44 km cross-border link from Zalalovo in Hungary to Murska Sobota in Slovenia was due to get under way during March, for completion by the end of 2000. Part of the European Union’s Corridor V linking Italy and Ukraine, it is expected to cost HF22·5bn. Part of ...
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V/Line Freight concessioned
THE SUCCESSFUL bidder to run rail freight in the Australian state of Victoria was announced by state Premier Jeff Kennett on February 22. The Freight Victoria consortium has agreed to pay just over A$163m for V/Line Freight under a 15-year renewable lease to operate and maintain the rail network outside ...
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BNSF boosts spending
ON MARCH 8 Burlington Northern Santa Fe announced a $2·5bn capital spending plan for 1999. This is a similar amount to recent previous years, so that by the end of 1999 BNSF will have invested almost $10bn over a four-year period.Nearly a third of the 1999 programme, $812m, will go ...
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ONCFM awards signalling deal
MOROCCAN National Railways awarded a contract worth 53m euros to Alstom Transport on March 8 for resignalling work over the next four years. The contract covers 550 km from Kenitra to Oujda, which is electrified as far as Fes, and 200 km of the southern line from Sidi El ...
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RENFE to order rolling stock
SPANISH National Railways has been allocated Pts300bn for investment in rolling stock during the 1999-2003 Contract Programme, according to the Minister of Development. He told local representatives from Alstom, Siemens, Adtranz, CAF and Talgo at the end of February that the plan will encompass new funding sources, including leasing and ...
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Nacala deal
OPERATION of Mozambique's 700 km northern line between the Malawi border at Nayuci and the port of Nacala is set to be handed over to a private sector consortium on October 1. State-owned ports and railway authority CFM has selected the Sociedade de Desenvolvimente do Corredor de Nacala as preferred ...
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Eurotunnel declares net profit
Executive Chairman Patrick Ponsolle announced on March 15 that Eurotunnel had achieved a net profit of £64m in 1998. This included exceptional items from the financial restructuring, but the underlying loss was cut by almost £400m to £215m. An operating profit of £184m enabled 69% of the interest due on ...