Main line rail industry news – Page 1419
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Marketplace
Brazil: São Paulo Metro has called tenders for a rail grinder.Chile: EFE has purchased an additional five Class 440 EMUs from RENFE of Spain at a cost of Pts1·4bn, for delivery by the end of this year.Czech Republic: Liberec Transport Authority has ordered six RT6S low-floor trams from CKD Praha ...
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Miami airport rail link opens
Tri-Rail opened a commuter rail station at Miami International Airport on April 27, following its dedication by US Transportation Secretary Rodney E Slater on April 9. The project cost $18m and included 1·6 km of track linking the existing line to the airport. A 4min ride on a bus shuttle ...
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Sidetrack
INTRO: Convergence achievedWHILE Europeans wrestle with impending monetary union, the railway supply industry appears to have already met convergence criteria. GEC Alsthom - soon to become just ’Alstom’ - and Siemens are co-operating on the Eurotrain project (p411). However, Dieter suggests a way that the gauge-changing Talgo might be incorporated ...
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LETTERS
INTRO: Infrafer’s businessSir - We would like to point out some important corrections to the article on Algeria by Dr Kadi Abdelsselam in Rail Business Report 1998.The article states that Infrafer is a subsidiary of the Algerian Railways (SNTF). While Infrafer was originally spun off from the SNTF in August ...
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Point heater monitors
BOWARD Computer Services has supplied a telemetry system to Railtrack to monitor point heaters between London and Birmingham on the West Coast main line. A total of 74 Mitsubishi programmable logic controllers, controlling 60 point heating systems and 14 standby generators, report to a central monitoring computer in Birmingham which ...
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Passenger numbers increase in North America
VIA RAIL Canada’s annual report, released on April 22, revealed increased ridership and reduced government subsidy for 1997. Passenger revenue increased to C$179m, 7% higher than in 1996, while government funding fell to C$229m, of which C$196m was for operating expenses; operating subsidy should drop further to C$178m this year.Amtrak’s ...
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FRA revises emergency rules
ON APRIL 29 the US Federal Railroad Administration released an Emergency Preparedness Final Rule, requiring all passenger operators to develop emergency response plans to minimise risks following an accident.Employees must receive special training including use of onboard emergency equipment and instruction on liaising with police and fire departments along their ...
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Finance
Australia: The Victoria state budget for 1998-99 has allocated A$37·5m to relocate tram tracks in Melbourne as part of the Federation Square project, and A$34·8m for improving rail safety facilities. A total of A$10m has been allocated to track renewal on the Geelong - Warrnambool route.China: The French government has ...
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Thameslink every 15min
BRITISH Train Operating Company Thameslink Rail relaunched its cross-London service as two distinct service groups with the summer timetable on May 24, with a simplified 15min interval service pattern for most stations outside peak hours. Bedford - Brighton services via Gatwick Airport have been branded City Flyer, and Luton - ...
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Ultrasonic level crossing safety
TRIALS have shown that road vehicles which have stopped on level crossings can be detected by ultrasonics. Stationary or stalled vehicles cause a quarter of the 350 level crossing accidents which occur each year in Japan, and automatic detection linked to signals could avoid or mitigate many of these incidents.Since ...
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Incentro order
On April 20 the French city of Nantes announced a contract worth ’under Ecu50m’ for 23 all-low-floor trams to the Adtranz Incentro design, with an option for four more. The first order for the ’modular product platform’, delivery is scheduled for the first half of 2000.The chosen configuration is 36·4m ...
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Best practice wins the passengers
INTRO: Continuing growth in air traffic is offering the rail mode more opportunities to develop high quality links to airports. With several launches this year and more in 1999, railways are taking advantage of their ability to provide fast and comfortable service. Freight links too are poised to take off ...
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London terminus offers bike hire
BRITAIN’S first dedicated on-station cycle hire and storage facility was opened in London at Victoria station on April 21 by Transport Minister Glenda Jackson, who was joined by Railtrack Commercial Director Richard Middleton and Clive Long, Managing Director of Bike `N’ Rack.Commuters arriving at Victoria can either hire or collect ...
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Wisconsin sets the pace in Europe and Australasia
INTRO: Ed Burkhardt’s vision of how rail can win freight and make profits is capturing enthusiastic converts in some unlikely places, as Richard Hope discovered ED BURKHARDT is unique. That often overworked adjective is justified by the fact that nobody else has hands-on experience of carrying freight profitably by rail ...
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INSIDE INDUSTRY
China: Siemens, Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Plant and the Zhuzhou Research Institute of Electric Locomotives are to invest 300m yuan in a joint venture, Zhuzhou Siemens Traction Equipment Co, to build up to 60 AC locos a year. The Austrian government is to provide start-up fundingEurope: After GEC Alsthom’s flotation on ...
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Developers hold the key to recovery
INTRO: Even after a long period of apparent decline, rail still enjoys significant potential to help solve the transport problems of the Philippines. Michael Reilly reports on initiatives to develop the national network and mass transit using private and public fundingYears of neglect and gross mismanagement have taken their toll ...
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Görlitz launches third ICE generation
WELL OVER 1500 people were present at an emotional ceremony on April 3 in the DWA works in Görlitz to mark completion of the first two series-built end cars for German Railway's 230 km/h ICT tilting train fleet (RG 5.98 p279). The Görlitz factory had turned out the legendary Fliegender ...
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Gardermobanen prepares to open in October
ALL BEING well, Oslo’s 48 km rail link to the new twin runway Gardermoen airport will open in October 8. Airline traffic is expected to reach 11·7 million in 2000 and 16·8 million in 2010, with 50% of passengers travelling by train. Some doubt remains about the rail link’s opening ...
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Ballast cleaners handle higher volumes
TRACK MAINTENANCE engineers from Russia, Bulgaria and Austria are gather beside a siding in the outskirts of the Austrian city of Linz. In front of them stretches a combination of track maintenance machines gleaming in fresh yellow paint.Focus of interest is an RM801 ballast cleaner just completed in Plasser ...