Main line rail industry news – Page 1445
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News
Technology transfer spearheads Indian inter-city renewal
INTRO: IR operates around 29000 all-steel lightweight vehicles to a common basic design. Now the Rail Coach Factory is poised to launch an up-to-date inter-city coach under a technology transfer deal with Linke-Hofmann-Busch. R C Acharya reports on IR’s inter-city business that handled over 404million passenger train-km in 1995-96IN A ...
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BNSF and UP test Positive Train Separation
INTRO: Richard Hope reports on a project to validate the non-vital automatic train protection overlay developed by GE Harris, using radio data links and GPS location. Now in the second of four phases, it is on course for completion by DecemberAFTER A DECADE of circling inconclusively around the Advanced Train ...
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Connex fleet replacement
French-owned Connex Rail Ltd has ordered 30 four-car Class 375 ’Electrostar’ EMUs from Adtranz for £90m, to operate Connex South Eastern services from London to Dover and Hastings. The contract signed on July 16 includes options for up to 800 more cars, up to half of which could be for ...
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Cali wants light rail
TENDERS were due last month for construction of a US$973m two-line light rail network in the Colombian city of Cali, 450 km southwest of Bogota. Work is expected to start next year, with the first segment opening in 2000, when the city’s population is predicted to reach 1·8 million. The ...
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Letters
Heavy haul bogiesSir - The Leader in your May issue (RG 5.97 p 267) concerning high axleloads for heavy haul railways mentions ’the unending search for the ideal wheel-rail interface’. This subject was addressed in detail in my paper titled Review of Freight Car Bogie Design and Performance presented to ...
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Series E4 offers high capacity at high speed
BYLINE: Yoshihiko SatoGeneral Manager, Transport and Rolling Stock Department,East Japan RailwayJR EAST has adopted a two-part strategy for replacing the 700 Series 200 cars that entered service with the opening of the Tohoku and Joetsu shinkansen in 1982. The fine detail is still under discussion, but Series E2 sets running ...
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Railways become agents of change
INTRO: Shri M Ravindra, Chairman of the Railway Board and Principal Secretary to the Government of India, sets the scene for next month’s International Seminar on Railways and the third Railway Equipment Exhibition in New DelhiWITH 62915route-km in operation - the largest network under common management outside Russia - Indian ...
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Spadina LRT inaugurated
TORONTO Transit Commission was due to open its Spadina Avenue light rail extension on July 27, adding 3·7 km and 12 stops to the 2·1 km Harbourfront line opened in 1990. At the northern terminus, the line interchanges with the east-west Bloor-Danforth subway. TTC has shelved plans for a ...
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Netherlands sizes up power conversion
INTRO: Everybody agrees that 25 kV AC is essential on three primary international routes; phased conversion between 2005 and 2017 is the best option for the rest of the trunk network, but who will pay?BYLINE: Robin HemelrijkSenior Project LeaderRailned InnovatieTHE DUTCH national network is 2739route-km of which 1991 km is ...
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Replaceable units keep GE locos rolling
INTRO: Computer diagnostics and the ability to replace electronic assemblies translates directly into higher asset utilisation, bringing major financial benefitsBYLINE: Vic SergeantSenior Systems Engineer,General Electric Transportation SystemsGENERAL ELECTRIC introduced the first ever microprocessor controlled diesel locomotive in production quantities in 1985. With the 4 000 hp C39-8, the concept of ...
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Modular seats meet many applications
DEVELOPED by Vogel Interieur Schienenfahrzeuge in conjunction with TriCon Design of Weiden, the Wing modular seating system has been designed for applications ranging from metro cars and suburban rolling stock to high-speed trains. Wing components meeting railway mechanical strength and fire safety requirements can be assembled as desired; four different ...
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Finance
Brazil: Ferrovia Sul-Atlântico is planning to invest US$56m this year, despite making a loss of nearly US$19m.Canada: CP Rail is to spend C$87m on capital projects in British Columbia; C$47m will go on an intermodal terminal near Vancouver.China: The Ministry of Railways has applied for a US$300m World Bank loan ...
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Sleepers abandoned
LONDON & Continental Railways Ltd, the company charged with building the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, confirmed on July 9 that it had abandoned plans to operate overnight sleeper trains to Paris from Glasgow, Swansea and Plymouth. LCR Chief Executive Adam Mills promised that ’we will bring the regional Eurostar day ...
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Hope in Africa
TWO DEVELOPMENTS give encouragement to the hope we expressed last month (RG 7.97 p427) that railways in the southern half of Africa are starting to benefit from the laying down of arms.A 51% interest in six management and operating concessions in Mozambique’s Maputo Development Corridor is being offered for sale ...
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Electric or diesel: tilting may tip the balance
Economic, technical, environmental and ergonomic factors must be addressed when selecting traction power. However, parameters shift if tilt is to be used. Felix Schmid* examines the issues which engineers must assessTravel time is a key element in the attractiveness of an inter-city or inter-regional rail service. Increasing maximum speed over ...
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Heathrow Express passes delivery milestone
JUNE 23 saw the first Heathrow Express Class 332 EMU built by Siemens and CAF handed over to airport operator BAA plc at a ceremony at the new HEx Old Oak Common Train Care facility in west London. BAA Chief Executive Sir John Egan received a three-car set from his ...
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Airport trains complete first phase of tests
INTRO: One of 23 seven-car trains for Hong Kong’s airport line is to be shipped from Germany this monthTEN WEEKS of trials with one of the first trains for Hong Kong MTR Corp’s airport line culminated in a media presentation on July 2 at the Adtranz works in Hennigsdorf near ...
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Redwing puts drivers in the picture
Driver-only operation offers cost savings, but the associated equipment - cameras, TV monitors and mirrors - are prone to vandalism. To view train doors, the driver must be able to stop the train accurately at the viewing point, and it is often difficult to continue to view the area around ...
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UIC faces up to revolution
The International Union of Railways marked its 75th birthday with a seminar in Paris on June 19 which revealed just how widely opinions differ on the best way to replace monolithic state-owned railways. But on one point there was consensus: the earthquake that has hit the industry in the 1990s ...
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NY expansion
NEW YORK’s Metro-North Commuter Railroad has announced plans to relieve a major bottleneck its 123 km Harlem line, which has seen ridership increase by an average of 2·6% annually since 1984. Whereas the Hudson and New Haven lines each have three or four tracks throughout, the mid-Harlem section has only ...