Main line rail industry news – Page 1442
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News
Stoneblower provides ballast maintenance solution
INTRO: A five-year development programme culminated in Britain’s infrastructure company Railtrack officially receiving the first fleet-build Stoneblower from Pandrol Jackson on June 13. Maintenance contractors are eager to receive further Stoneblowers to help them meet demands for high quality track at affordable cost. Andrew Hellawell saw the first machine in ...
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ERRI leads the quest to cut railway noise
INTRO: While railways can rightly claim many ’green’ credentials, noise reduction is one field where they need to make rapid progress. The European Rail Research Institute is tackling the issue urgently BYLINE: Brian Hemsworth BSc, CEng, FIOA and William Bird MA, CEng, MIMechE, MCIT*BYLINE: * Brian Hemsworth is Manager, Noise ...
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US suppliers convene in Kansas City
NORTH AMERICAN track maintenance experts and suppliers will be congregating in Kansas City, Missouri, this month, for the Expo 97 show organised by the Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association. Running from September 7 to 10, Expo 97 will be held in the H Roe Bartle Hall of the Kansas City Convention ...
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Harder heads reduce rail wear
INTRO: Continuous casting of round billets has been combined with a Japanese head-hardening technique to enable the production in Pueblo of premium long-welded rails with a Brinell hardness of 390BYLINE: Mark McLeanManager, Rail ProductsCF&I Steel LPIN MAY this year CF&I Steel LP uprated the specification of its premium head-hardened rail ...
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Investigating the dynamic behaviour of rigid track
INTRO: Numerical simulations will augment practical trials for optimal design of future track structures. Dynamic analysis of a rigid track slab using the boundary element method has shown close correlation with measurements at test sites on the German Railway network BYLINE: Branislav Verbic, Günther Schmid, Heinz-Dieter K
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Video speeds line surveys
BR Business Systems has put together a package of three products, originally developed by different suppliers, which together provide a means of obtaining quickly detailed information on the location and condition of rail infrastructure.BR Business Systems officially launched TuScan, RouteScan and Infrastructure Video Survey (IVS) on a demonstration run on ...
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In Brief
n The US Surface Transportation Board has announced it will issue its decision on the break-up of Conrail between CSX and Norfolk Southern on April 14 next year, followed by a written ruling on June 8. The deadline for comment, protests and opposition evidence is October 21, followed by oral ...
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All-conquering maglev
SOME railway publicity managers could learn a thing or two from Transrapid International, the company set up to market and promote German maglev technology. If the stories published by sundry media from Sydney to Santiago are to be believed, we shall shortly see Transrapid vehicles whooshing businessmen across the Andes, ...
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Kumamoto low-floor car enters service
AUGUST 2 saw the start of revenue operations with Japan’s first 100% low-floor tram in the city of Kumamoto. Ordered in June 1996 from Niigata Engineering and Adtranz, the two-section car was delivered for commissioning trials in April and was approved for operation by the Japanese Ministry of Transport in ...
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Kuala Lumpur seeks integrated network by 2000
INTRO: Three privately-promoted light metro lines are under construction to augment Malaysian Railways’ electrified commuter rail networkIN EXACTLY ONE YEAR, the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur will host the 1998 Commonwealth Games, at a new stadium taking shape south of the city. The start of the games on September 14 1998 ...
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Inchon on course to open in 1999
BYLINE: Cho, Ai-KyoungOperations Planning ManagerInchon Municipal GovernmentSubway Construction HeadquartersCONSTRUCTION is pushing ahead on the first metro line in the South Korean port of Inchon. Started in 1993 and now expected to open in 1999, the 24·6 km Line 1 is the first of five routes in a planned 125 km ...
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Tigers invest in urban rail expansion
Urban rail development is proceeding apace in an arc of the Pacific Rim from Singapore to South Korea. Chris Jackson looks at some of the projects which are setting the pace
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Toronto turns the clock back
INTRO: On July 27 Toronto Transit Commission officially opened its Spadina Avenue light rail extension. William D Middleton was there Chinese dragon dancers, a festival atmosphere the length of lower Spadina Avenue and an estimated 32000 riders were all at hand when the Toronto Transportation Commission celebrated the opening of ...
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People
Messrs Eric Gissler and Jean-Pierre Pronost have been appointed Directors-General for French infrastructure authority Réseau Ferré de France.Dr Manuel Frasquilho has been confirmed as President of Portuguese infrastructure authority Refer. Eng Raul Vilaca e Moura has been appointed Vice-President. Other board members are Messrs M Fernandes, C Reis and E ...
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Talgo curving trials
The US Federal Railroad Administration has allowed Amtrak and Burlington Northern Santa Fe to test a Talgo 200 Pendular trainset at higher speeds on curves between Portland, Oregon, and Blaine, Washington, just south of the Canadian border. During the three weeks of trials, which began on August 5, the train ...
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Pointers
n Indian Railway Construction Corp is negotiating for a five-year contract to refurbish and maintain 15 Malaysian Railways Class 22 diesel locos of 1750hp, following an earlier contract to refurbish 12 of the class.n Research consortium GasRail USA is to equip a Los Angeles Metrolink F59PHI diesel loco ...
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Russians implement cost saving programme
SWEEPING proposals to reduce the cost of operating Russia’s 87469 km rail network are being implemented under an ’anti-crisis programme’ agreed at a board meeting of the Ministry of Railways in July. Recently appointed Railways Minister Nikolai E Aksyonenko said that the restructuring of Russian Railways (RG 3.97 p149) was ...
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Spoornet steps back from the brink
AUGUST 4 did not bring the cataclysm that South African analysts had expected. Instead of Transnet’s losses for the year ending March 31 mounting to a predicted R750m from R253m last year, the state-owned transport group increased turnover and cut its operating deficit to R170m, much to the relief of ...