Main line rail industry news – Page 1409
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News
CR raises top speeds
CHINESE Railways is to increase the maximum speeds on its five trunk routes with effect from July 1, paving the way for the introduction of a new national timetable in October. The three main lines from Beijing to Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang, currently limited to 120 or 140 km/h, will ...
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TAV funding released
THE EUROPEAN INVESTMENT Bank has awarded a loan of 700bn lire to the Italian high-speed project company TAV SpA as the first tranche of an agreed total of 3 200bn lire. Repayable over 25 years with interest at 5·44%, the money will speed construction of the Roma - Napoli and ...
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IR wins budget boost
INDIAN Prime Minister A B Vajpayee has approved a 10% increase in the Railways Ministry budget for 1998-99, which will total US$2 454m compared to US$2 155m in 1997-98. Railways Minister Nitish Kumar says the increase will help to to boost IR’s capital investment under the 1997-2002 five-year plan.The budget ...
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Corridor accords
UPGRADING of two strategic rail corridors in Eastern Europe moved a step closer in May with the signing of two multilateral agreements.On May 13 representatives from Polish State Railways, Austrian Federal Railways and Czech Republic Railways met in Wien to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the modernisation of the ...
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Railtrack invests
INVESTMENT in the British rail network rose by 30% in 1997-98 compared to the previous year, according to the Railtrack annual results presented on June 3. In the year to March 31 spending on asset renewal and network enhancement rose steeply to £1 254m, the highest rate in real terms ...
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Oil line study
MALAYSIAN national oil company Petronas has appointed Canarail to undertake design of an 80 km industrial railway along the country’s northeast coast. Scheduled to open in 2001, it would link processing plants around Kerteh to the port of Kuantan. Last year Canarail completed an initial feasibility study for the link, ...
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Ottawa takeover
CANADIAN passenger operator VIA Rail reached agreement on June 10 to take over parts of Canadian National’s network in the Ottawa Valley, forming part of its key Montreal - Ottawa route. CN’s Alexandria Subdivision runs from Coteau, Québec, to Hawthorne, Ontario, a distance of 92 km. Excluded from the deal ...
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Branches reopen
CEREMONIES attended by the Czech Transport Minister Petr Moos and CD General Manager Vladimír Sosna marked the launch of private operations on the 9 km Sumperk - Sobotín line on May 1. Part of CD’s Desn
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LDZ to split by 2002
THE LATVIAN government is to introduce a bill in November to split the national railways into five business units, following the passing of legislation in April enabling the partial privatisation of the LDZ network. Following studies of rail restructuring in Sweden, Germany and Great Britain, Latvian transport minister Uldis Petersons ...
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PEOPLE
Claude Boutté, Head of the UIC’s East-West Working Group, was elected President of the Union of European Railway Engineer Associations (UEEIV) on May 20 for a three-year term.Michael P Pracht has been named Vice President, Marketing and Sales for Siemens Transportation Systems Inc. Norberto Achille has been named President of ...
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RATP opens Line 13 extension
ON MAY 20 Paris Transport Authority opened a 1·3 km extension of metro Line 13 to St Denis-Université. The terminus is designed as a multi-modal interchange with a bus terminal, bicycle storage, and a 300-space car park.The extension from St Denis-Basilique is expected to attract around 14000 passengers a day. ...
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LU investment up
LONDON Transport Chief Executive Dennis Tunnicliffe announced on June 11 that LT would invest £1bn in the Underground and bus services over the next two years. The bulk of this will go on stations, track and signalling improvements. £480m will come from operating surpluses and £500m from government grants.The LT ...
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Sounder bi-levels ordered
ON JUNE 11 the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority authorised purchase of 18 bi-level cab cars and 20 coaches from Bombardier Transportation for the Seattle - Tacoma Sounder commuter rail service. The US$75m deal includes a $39·2m option for an extra 20 coaches for the extensions from Seattle to ...
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SNCF parcels to run at 200 km/h
FRET SNCF is planning to operate parcels trains at 200 km/h on its Paris Sud-Est high-speed line by the end of this year. SNCF subsidiary Sernam launched 160 km/h trains from Paris to Bordeaux and Toulouse and to Orange, near Avignon, last October (RG 10.97 p656). The Orange train already ...
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SL takes C20 option
STORSTOCKHOLMS Lokaltrafik has decided to order a further 75 Series C20 metro cars from Adtranz Sweden at a cost of SKr1·6bn. The move exercises an option in SL’s 1995 order for 75 cars, and lifts the value of the contract to SKr3·4bn. The three-section articulated units are destined to replace ...
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Eschede: questions and consequences
THE German ICE tragedy (p449) has shattered the excellent safety record of high speed rail travel. To date the only two serious accidents involving high speed trains both occurred last year. One was a collision in September at about 160 km/h between an IC125 and a freight train at Southall ...
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Derailment attempt
DETAILS have emerged of a recent attempt to sabotage the Tokaido shinkansen. Maintenance staff working on the track one day at the end of April found that 25 rail fastening bolts had been removed from a section of track on the Nagoya - Shin Osaka route between Maibara and Gifu ...
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AVE contracts
SPANISH high-speed line authority GIF awarded contracts on May 22 for the construction of a further 124 km of the Madrid - Barcelona high-speed line at a cost of Pts83·5bn. The package covers eight sections between Chiloeches and Calatayud near Zaragoza (RG 4.98 p253). Work is expected to start in ...
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Cheaper ways to cross the French Alps
AT THE end of May France’s Ministry of Transport published the findings of a report into development of its transalpine links with Italy. Drawn up by transport experts Christian Brossier, Jean-Didier Blanchet and Michel Gérard at the behest of Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot, French Policy for Land Transport through the ...