Main line rail industry news – Page 1413
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Optic fibre links
INDIAN Railways has announced plans to modernise its telecommunications network as a partnership with the private sector. Optic fibre cables will be laid on the trunk routes under a series of build-own-operate-lease concessions which will allow IR and its partners to market spare capacity to telephone companies and internet service ...
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Balkan bids called
TENDERS are due by August 17 for construction of the 25 km Slovenian section of the Murska Sabota - Hodos - Zalalovo link to Hungary. Formally approved by the two governments last year (RG 7.97 p432), the 44 km link will be partially funded from the European Union’s Phare programme. ...
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Cellnet comms car
A COACH on Virgin West Coast’s Manchester - London route has been fitted out by Cellnet as a trial ’Communications Carriage’. It provides First Class ticket holders with access to a wide range of information technology services.The objective is to make it easier for passengers to work during the journey. ...
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SNCF makes connecting flight
SNCF and United Airlines have formed a partnership to convey Lyon - USA air traffic by TGV to and from Charles de Gaulle airport under a code-sharing agreement. A coupon issued with the air ticket is exchanged for a rail ticket before travel, and members of United’s frequent-flyer scheme are ...
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Darwin highlights federal policy vacuum
IN A BLATANT electioneering move, Federal Prime Minister John Howard gave a ringing endorsement on June 23 to the A$9bn proposal by Australian Transport & Energy Corridor Pty Ltd and Abigroup Ltd to build a new railway from Melbourne to Darwin via Toowoomba, 150 km inland from Brisbane (RG 5.97 ...
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Unbinding Prometheus - systems integrators in search of profitability
INTRO: Andrew F Saxe* takes an incisive look at the performance of the major railway suppliers in the last yearWHEN IT rains it pours. The railway supply industry was still slogging through another year of restructuring when news broke on June 3 of the catastrophic ICE accident at Eschede in ...
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Palm-top help
DB has issued inspection staff with Psion Workabout hand-held computers running software developed by Mobile Systems & Solutions to improve monitoring of train cleaning contractors.The results of 10 or more checks on each of a number of different trains is keyed-in during inspection, and directly downloaded each day - avoiding ...
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Sunrise Express
INTRO: JR West, in co-operation with JR Central, has introduced a novel design of EMU on overnight services from Tokyo to Izumoshi and Takamatsu. These innovative trains offer a range of stylish accommodation varying from hotel quality bedrooms to simple bunksBYLINE: Masayasu MatsuokaChief ManagerRolling Stock DepartmentWest Japan RailwayON JULY 10 ...
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Prescott puts public transport first
BRITAIN’S long-awaited White Paper, unveiled by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott on July 20, heralds a major shift in transport policies: from fragmentation to integration; from car to train, bus, cycling and walking; and from road to rail freight. It does not reverse privatisation, but it does set out to ...
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Access charging directive promises hotter debate
PROMOTERS of open access regimes are chipping away relentlessly at the barriers put in place by European railways. Championed by European Commssioner for Transport Neil Kinnock, they are determined to see the walls come down. Their cause may be helped by divisions within the railways’ camp, but those entrenched in ...
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Alstom unveils modular diesel family
ON June 18 at Alstom Transporte’s Albuixech plant outside Valencia, Israel Railways Director General Amos Uzani took delivery of the first of eight 3000hp Co-Co GA-3000 diesel-electric locomotives. Expected to leave Spain for Israel within a month, the freight locomotive was to join the first seven of ten 3000hp Bo-Bo ...
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Integral GRP car body on trial in Dortmund
WORKING with Dortmunder Stadtwerke and Duewag, Siemens Verkehrstechnik has developed a 10m GRP centre section for a Stadtbahn B80C/6 car. The objective is to reduce weight by around 25%, leading to energy savings and lower life-cycle costs.Test Car 343 is the last of 12 to receive a centre section, which ...
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Banverket pursues upgrading strategy
INTRO: Bo Bylund has successfully recrafted the structure of Sweden’s national infrastructure authority. Now he wants to take Banverket forward from the nightmare of the Hallandsås tunnel problems to deliver improvements which will help reinforce rail’s competitive positionTHIS YEAR marks two important steps for Banverket. The first came on January ...
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Passenger aspirations drive seat design
Seating manufacturers are exploring design solutions to give passengers both the comfort and facilities they need. Lighter, stronger, cheaper and more flexible are the operators’ demands, whilst passengers want to be pampered during the journey. Although the advent of compact in-seat entertainment equipment has made it possible to keep passengers ...
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Banestyrelsen sets investment plans
INTRO: Changing domestic and international requirements are moulding plans to build a ’better railway’. Andrew Hellawell asked Thomas Ostenfeld, Director of Sector Planning, and Leif Lilja, Project Manager for the Ringsted new line, how investment is being focused on projects generating the best returnWITH A YEAR’S head start, DSB’s Storeb
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MARKETPLACE
Argentina: Ferrocarril General Belgrano SA has called bids for renewal of 100 km of track, including material supply.Australia: Bowditch & Partners has won a n A$300000 contract to provide earth-moving plant to the Railway Services Authority of NSW. The five-year deal covers the northwestern part of the state.Bangladesh: Wagon Pars ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Argentina: Ferrocarril General Belgrano SA has contracted out locomotive maintenance and depot operations to Co-operativa Talleres Alta Córdoba.Metropolitano was to begin track renewal between Libertad and Aldo Bonzi on its Belgrano Sur network, following completion of the Libertad - Marineros del Crucero General Belgrano section. Work between Buenos Aires and ...
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rail forum europe
CONFERENCE organiser AiC Worldwide has formed rail forum europe to develop a programme of industry events aimed at promoting the exchange of information and developing best practice among Europe’s railways. The events will include conferences, seminars, exhibitions and training courses and members will be offered discounts and briefings.The advisory board ...
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Houston battleground hots up again
UNION PACIFIC has another fight on its hands. On July 8 a coalition of shippers, industries, railways and elected officials filed a request with the Surface Transportation Board that seeks to end UP’s near monopoly in the Houston region. The plan is one of several deposited with the STB aimed ...
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Tribasa grouping takes Sureste
THE MEXICAN government on July 1 awarded a 50-year concession to Triturados Basalticos y Derivados SA to operate the 1 479 km Ferrocarril Sureste in the southeast of the country. Also included in the package is an option for the Mayab line, connecting Coatzacoalcos with Merida in Yucatan (RG 4.98 ...