Main line rail industry news – Page 1451
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Rail investment to cut fuel costs
THE GOVERNMENT of Kazakstan has approved a comprehensive upgrading plan for the republic’s railways, including new lines to integrate the former SZD West Kazakstan and Almaty regional railways.Top priority in the package are measures to cut the use of imported diesel fuel, which currently accounts for 80% of KR’s operating ...
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Dual-system LRVs arrive
Karlsruhe’s public transport operator VBK and its associated local railway AVG have taken delivery of the first of 21 low-floor eight-axle dual-system LRVs (right). Unlike the earlier dual-system cars (left) which have a high floor throughout, the vehicles have lowered areas in the two end sections. Floor heights are 880mm ...
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Local firm will assemble five US Talgos
PACIFICA INC, owned by the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, has won a contract to assemble five Talgo Pendular trainsets in the state of Washington. Three will be used in the Pacific Northwest rail corridor; two are being purchased by Washington and one by Amtrak at $10m each.Gustavo ...
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Sidetrack
Steaming backWITH a national electricity shortage following the run-down of the Chernobyl nuclear plant and soaring prices for imported oil, Ukrainian Railways has resorted to traditional motive power for trains in the Dniepropetrovsk coalfield and around Lviv in the west of the country. Hungarian-built steam locos mothballed in the 1960s ...
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Rodgau go-ahead
APPROVAL of a financing package worth DM605m has cleared the way for two extensions to the Rhein-Main S-Bahn network south of Frankfurt to be completed by the June 2001 timetable change. Work on upgrading German Railway’s two ’Rodgau’ branches began at the end of 1994 (RG 1.95 p14), but progress ...
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Tamshui line opens
TAIPEI Mass Rapid Transit System formally opened its Tamshui heavy metro line on March 28. Running northwest from Taiwan Railway Administration’s Main Station in the heart of the capital to the suburban town of Tamshui, the line largely follows the alignment of a former narrow-gauge branch. The first contracts for ...
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RT preferred to RS
ON MARCH 17 the Californian city of Folsom abandoned plans to buy RegioSprinter diesel railcars for a commuter rail line in favour of an extension to Sacramento Regional Transit’s electric light rail network. RT has agreed to build the 12 km link from Sunrise Boulevard to Folsom by 2000 at ...
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S-bane order confirmed
ON APRIL 8 GEC Alsthom announced that its German subsidiary Linke-Hofmann-Busch had won a contract to supply 112 suburban trainsets for Danish State Railways’ København S-bane, in consortium with Siemens Transportation Systems. Some local assembly work is due to be undertaken by the Danish arm of Adtranz in Randers. Total ...
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Integrated infrastructure monitoring
TRACKWATCH integrated monitoring systems are designed to log all signalling activity, enabling failures to be located and potential problems to be identified. Suitable for mobile use or permanent installation at level crossings and large interlockings, the modular concept has been developed by Solartron.Isolated measurement pods are connected to spare signal ...
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In Brief
Following talks in Frankfurt, German Railway Chairman Heinz Dürr and Italian State Railways Managing Director Giancarlo Cimoli have announced plans to upgrade services between the two countries. Improved overnight trains could be joined by Frankfurt - Milano and München - Roma high-speed services before 2000. ScotRail has installed a touch-screen ...
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Italian MUn sleepers arrive this month
Seeking to offer customers hotel train service, Italian State Railways will take delivery of the first of 20 Type MUn air-conditioned sleeping cars from Costamasnaga at the end of this month (PP 5.96 p5). Destined for international operation at up to 200 km/h, each car can accommodate up to ...
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Chuo Shinkansen will be 'a national project'
As JR Central prepares for a stock market listing in October, President Yoshiyuki Kasai tells Murray Hughes that the Chuo Shinkansen superconducting maglev line will only be built as a strategic national project
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Shinagawa ready in 2003
JR Central is to start construction this month of an extra shinkansen station at Shinagawa in southern Tokyo, for completion in 2003. Two 410m island platforms with four tracks for Tokyo - Osaka Tokaido shinkansen services are to be built adjacent to the existing Shinagawa narrow-gauge station, and three sidings ...
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Ten-point plan to boost traffic
French National Railways has unveiled a second tranche of measures designed to win back passengers following recent difficulties (RG 3.97 p175). According to SNCF President Louis Gallois, the 10 sales and marketing initiatives aim to make train travel easier, cheaper, more practical, punctual and inviting.From June, young people aged 12 ...
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IC-Neigezug to roll out next year
INTRO: From 2001 a fleet of tilting trainsets will cut 20min off Swiss Federal Railways’ journey times between Lausanne and St Gallen without the need for SFr500m of civil worksORDERED in July 1996 at a cost of SFr497m as an alternative to expensive civil engineering works originally planned under the ...
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Kuala Lumpur welcomes Exporail exhibitors
From May 14 to 16, Tun Razak Hall 3 of Kuala Lumpur’s Putra World Trade Centre hosts Exporail (Asia) 97, organised by Interfama Brooks Exhibitions. Local supporters include operators KTMB, PUTRA and STAR, the Chartered Institute of Transport, Malaysia, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers ...
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NS and CSX settle Conrail carve-up
A FORMAL agreement to divide Conrail between Norfolk Southern and CSX was unveiled on April 8. The two companies will drop litigation against each other and form a jointly-owned entity to buy the remaining Conrail shares for $115 each in cash. NS will take a 58% stake for $5·9bn and ...
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Stand-alone island
TASMANIA's 780 km narrow-gauge freight railway looks set to be the top seller in next month's sale of the remnants of the Australian National Railways Commission. Freed from the burdens of mainland cost structures, and benefiting from AN's A$1bn debt write-off, the vertically-integrated self-contained operation is seen as a nice ...
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People
Mr Henri Kuitunen has been named President & Chief Executive Officer of VR Group Ltd. He replaces Mr Panu Haapala, who became President on January 1, but died suddenly on March 15. Mr Albert Vilalta has been appointed President of the Spanish rail infrastructure authority GIF. Mr Francisco Ballesteros ...