Main line rail industry news – Page 1424
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News
INTELLIGENCE
Argentina: Trenes de Buenos Aires was due to begin a station refurbishment programme on the Mitre commuter network at the start of April. This includes the installation of automatic fare collection equipment, after its introduction to TBA’s Sarmiento route in January.Ferrosur Roca and Ferrocarril del Pacífico of Chile have introduced ...
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Two contracts for Line H
THE Buenos Aires city government expects to call tenders towards the end of this month for a contract covering civil works on its Line H metro project. The 10·3 km route from Retiro to Nueva Pompeya will be largely in tunnel (RG 1.98 p10), and Secretary of Production & Services ...
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STB considers the unthinkable
IT SEEMS that Union Pacific is not out of the soup yet. Indeed, some of the stories reaching our offices would suggest that progress towards solving the fearsome congestion problems that followed UP’s merger with Southern Pacific is far from encouraging. Take, for example, the one about a train of ...
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Shippers seek open access
’We need to respond. We can’t wait any longer. We have to act now.’ Linda Morgan, who chairs the US Surface Transportation Board, was speaking on April 3 at the end of a two-day public hearing to deal with shippers’ complaints about poor service and high charges. In the light ...
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Infrastructure separation: will it work?
Splitting railway infrastructure and operations is seen by politicians and economic gurus around the world as a panacea to problems of road-rail competition, poor cross-border service quality, and many other ills. But will the methods being adopted achieve the desired results? In an exclusive survey for Railway Gazette International, David ...
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Refer faces a busy year
INTRO: The Portuguese infrastructure authority is developing a charging structure this year as it works to complete major projects and define the ground rules for future investment. Refer President Dr Manuel Frasquilho outlined the challenges ahead to Robert PrestonBYLINE: Dr Manuel FrasquilhoPresidentReferON JANUARY 1 1999 Refer will take over the ...
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Pilgrim shuttles
MANY MOONS have passed since anyone has suggested reviving the Hedjaz Railway, built in 1901-08 from Damascus to the Islamic holy city of Medina in what is now Saudi Arabia. Although sections were famously destroyed by Lawrence of Arabia, substantial parts of the 1050mm gauge line are remarkably intact, and ...
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Unions stall NSW tenders
TENDERING of infrastructure maintenance work worth A$500m was halted indefinitely in February by New South Wales Transport Minister Carl Scully, following pressure by the Public Transport Union. SRA’s 6500 staff maintaining infrastructure and some rolling stock were regrouped into the Rail Services Authority in July 1996 (RG 7.96 p418). RailAccess ...
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Milwaukee backs Metra
WISCONSIN state officials are backing proposals to extend the Chicago - Kenosha Metra commuter rail service to Milwaukee, using 53 km of existing freight line. Funding is now being sought for a detailed investigation, following a preliminary feasibility study which estimated the capital cost at about US$140m and annual subsidies ...
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Order bonanza rolls on
GERMAN Railway is taking up more options for locomotives and regional tilting trains.Most significant is a decision to exercise an option with Adtranz for 400 main line electric locos of Class 145. The main customer will be DB Cargo with 300 units; some of these may be built as two ...
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Bridge link funded
THE BANGLADESH government has signed a 40-year concessional loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank providing US$110m towards construction of a 99 km rail link from Jamtoli to Joydebpur, via the new Jamuna river bridge, which is due to open for road traffic later this year.Tenders for construction of a ...
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EIB to fund Line 4
THE HUNGARIAN government has reached agreement with Budapest City Council over guarantees for investment in the capital’s fourth metro line. Under a deal with the city council last year, the government will raise 60% of the Ecu514m cost of the 7·3 km line, and the city the rest (RG 10.97 ...
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Extension talks enter last lap
TRENES de Buenos Aires, operator of the Mitre and Sarmiento suburban systems in the Argentinian capital (RBR98 p42), has entered the final stages of renegotiating its 10-year concession with the federal government. In return for a 30-year extension, TBA is willing to pledge investment totalling US$1·8bn, including more electrification and ...
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Suburban expansion strategy
WITH municipal and regional elections due in June 1999, Madrid Regional Transport Authority is developing proposals for expanding the Spanish National Railways suburban network. The authority is to sign a new agreement with Renfe this year (p251) and local politicians are keen to gain closer control over suburban services.A key ...
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Talgo speed-up
THE FEDERAL Railroad Administration and BNSF have given Amtrak West permission to raise the speed of its Talgo tilting trains through curves on the Seattle - Portland portion of the 750 km Pacific Northwest corridor. The move will cut journey times by up to 25 min, permitting introduction of a ...
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WestRail design awarded
KOWLOON-CANTON Railway Corp announced on March 2 that it had awarded five civil engineering design contracts for the WestRail link between Kowloon and Tuen Mun. These will take the design of WestRail through to the start of construction by the end of this year.Maunsell Consultants Asia will design two stations ...
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CITY NEWS
n New York subway ridership jumped to 1·13 billion during 1997, the highest figure for 25 years, including a 30-year monthly record in December. This reflects major investment during the last decade to overcome neglect and deferred maintenance.MTA officials expect a further jump of around 100 million riders with the ...