Main line rail industry news – Page 1425
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MAV gets fundsTENDERING was due to get under way last month for track and infrastructure work on two of Hungarian Railways’ strategic corridors, following the release of funding by the European Investment Bank. MAV Managing Director Istvan Sipos signed an agreement in Luxembourg on February 24 for a 20-year loan ...
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INTELLIGENCE
CAPTION: Belgian National Railways has started test running with the first of 60 dual-system electric locos from GEC Alsthom subsidiary ACEC Transport. Known as Tractis, the SNCB Class 13s will be assembled by BN at Brugge using mechanical parts supplied from BelfortCAPTION: Two 150-tonne bogie drop pits being supplied to ...
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INSIDE INDUSTRY
CAPTION: The regional headquarters of Cubic Transportation Systems Far East Ltd was officially opened in Hong Kong on February 18 by Dr Cheng Hon-Kwan, Chairman of the Transport Advisory Committee
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Industry
Austria: Bombardier Transportation of Canada has signed an agreement to purchase a 26% stake in ELIN EBG Traction GmbH, subject to regulatory approval. Initial co-operation will concentrate on development of regional trainsets derived from the Talent concept (p245).China: Leighton Contractors (Asia) Ltd of Hong Kong and RSA of Australia have ...
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Midland Metro car arrives on home ground
ONE HOUR’S SUNSHINE on an otherwise bleak February 19 in the heart of Britain’s industrial Black Country marked the official roll-out of the first tram for Midland Metro’s light rail Line 1. Linking Birmingham Snow Hill with West Bromwich, Wednesbury, Bilston and Wolverhampton, the line is due to open in ...
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Virgin picks Bombardier to build CrossCountry fleet
ON MARCH 3 Britain’s Virgin Rail Group announced in London that it had picked Bombardier Transportation as preferred bidder to supply rolling stock for its CrossCountry franchise. The company has a letter of intent for an £858m contract combining tilting diesel units and loco-hauled push-pull sets with a maintenance package ...
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Luxury lounges on the Coast Starlight
CAPTION: Amtrak West unveiled its newly redesigned and renovated Pacific Parlour car under dreary skies at Los Angeles Union Station on February 19. The first class lounges are assigned to the Coast Starlight, which connects Los Angeles with Seattle, and are open only to sleeping car passengers. The dome-like ...
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Managing high-speed infrastructure
INTRO: Gestor de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias has been established this year by the Spanish government to build and manage high-speed routes. GIF President Albert Vilalta explained the role of his organisation and its involvement in the Madrid - Barcelona - French border project to Robert PrestonGIF’s primary role today is the ...
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End of the line for Hopewell project
THAILAND: Sad news reaches us from the city of eternal metro planning: the Thai government appears to have dashed any remaining hopes of resurrecting Hopewell Holding's ambitious Berts project to build a 60 km network of elevated transit lines in Bangkok with motorways on top. With only rows of ...
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Handling containers under catenary
MANNESMANN Dematic has installed a prototype Transmann portal container-handling crane in the yard at Wetter, near Dortmund. The Transmann features a rigid load guidance system that enables it to handle containers under catenary.Designed to handle 20 to 45ft containers weighing up to 41 tonnes, the Transmann can transfer up to ...
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Training strategy
CONTINUING optimism about the future of rail in Britain has prompted concern that engineering expertise could be lacking in years to come. Launching a consultation paper on February 25, the Chairman of the Railway Division of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Peter Lowe said that it was important ’to ...
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Adtranz unveils modular range
ON MARCH 16 Adtranz launched a new business strategy based on seven ’Modular Product Platforms’: Innovia - peoplemovers; Incentro - light rail vehicles; Movia - metros; Itino - regional multiple-units; Crusaris - inter-city multiple-units; Octeon electric locos; and Blue Tiger diesel locos. While these will initially complement rather than replace ...
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Porto regauging
PORTUGUESE infrastructure authority Refer began work on February 16 to regauge and electrify the metre-gauge branch from Lousado to Guimarães, part of the 62 km route from Porto Trinidade to Guimarães. Between Trofa and Lousado trains shared a 2 km dual-gauge section with the Porto - Valença main line. Through ...
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Niche players happy with their lot
INTRO: While exploring new avenues away from their established core businesses, Spanish rolling stock builders Patentes Talgo and CAF are content to remain outside the larger international groupings, forming temporary alliances as requiredIN JUNE Patentes Talgo is due to begin dynamic tests of a low-cost prototype trainset for 225 km/h ...
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Rail Business Intelligence
LAST MONTH Rail Privatisation News, our newsletter about Britain’s privatised rail industry, celebrated its third birthday. The break-up of British Rail into around 100 companies and the subsequent sell-off are history, but interest in the hard commercial information in which RPN specialises is as strong as ever. Feedback from readers ...
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Composite reefers on test
LAST month Union Pacific began an 18-month performance test of 50 refrigerated wagons, carrying fresh and frozen produce between the western United States and major markets. Designed and built in conjunction with Trinity Industries and Hardcore DuPont Composites, UP’s first new reefer since 1971 features a 40% increase in payload ...
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Spain joins Terff
ON FEBRUARY 27 an agreement was signed to bring Renfe into partnership with the railways of Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Italy to extend the first Trans-European Rail Freight Freeway. The deal was signed by SNCF and RFF, SNCB, CFL, and the FS Infrastructure Directorate. The Terff which opened on January ...
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DB to test TBS
GERMAN RAILWAY’s infrastructure business DB Netz is due to begin work next month on a test installation of transmission-based signalling using equipment from Adtranz Signal. Trains between Kaiserslautern and Lauterecken are to start using the equipment at the beginning of 1999.Designated FFB (FunkFahrBetrieb), the system will use the European ...
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All Greek to Siemens
REFLECTING progress made with electrification at 25 kV 50Hz of its 503 km Athens - Thessaloniki trunk line, Hellenic Railways Organisation has placed orders worth DM600m with Siemens of Germany for a fleet of main-line electric rolling stock. Announced on March 10, the contracts are for 20 five-car inter-city EMUs, ...