Main line rail industry news – Page 1411
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Finance
Australia: The Victoria state budget for 1998-99 has allocated A$37·5m to relocate tram tracks in Melbourne as part of the Federation Square project, and A$34·8m for improving rail safety facilities. A total of A$10m has been allocated to track renewal on the Geelong - Warrnambool route.China: The French government has ...
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Thameslink every 15min
BRITISH Train Operating Company Thameslink Rail relaunched its cross-London service as two distinct service groups with the summer timetable on May 24, with a simplified 15min interval service pattern for most stations outside peak hours. Bedford - Brighton services via Gatwick Airport have been branded City Flyer, and Luton - ...
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Ultrasonic level crossing safety
TRIALS have shown that road vehicles which have stopped on level crossings can be detected by ultrasonics. Stationary or stalled vehicles cause a quarter of the 350 level crossing accidents which occur each year in Japan, and automatic detection linked to signals could avoid or mitigate many of these incidents.Since ...
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Incentro order
On April 20 the French city of Nantes announced a contract worth ’under Ecu50m’ for 23 all-low-floor trams to the Adtranz Incentro design, with an option for four more. The first order for the ’modular product platform’, delivery is scheduled for the first half of 2000.The chosen configuration is 36·4m ...
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Best practice wins the passengers
INTRO: Continuing growth in air traffic is offering the rail mode more opportunities to develop high quality links to airports. With several launches this year and more in 1999, railways are taking advantage of their ability to provide fast and comfortable service. Freight links too are poised to take off ...
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London terminus offers bike hire
BRITAIN’S first dedicated on-station cycle hire and storage facility was opened in London at Victoria station on April 21 by Transport Minister Glenda Jackson, who was joined by Railtrack Commercial Director Richard Middleton and Clive Long, Managing Director of Bike `N’ Rack.Commuters arriving at Victoria can either hire or collect ...
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Wisconsin sets the pace in Europe and Australasia
INTRO: Ed Burkhardt’s vision of how rail can win freight and make profits is capturing enthusiastic converts in some unlikely places, as Richard Hope discovered ED BURKHARDT is unique. That often overworked adjective is justified by the fact that nobody else has hands-on experience of carrying freight profitably by rail ...
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INSIDE INDUSTRY
China: Siemens, Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Plant and the Zhuzhou Research Institute of Electric Locomotives are to invest 300m yuan in a joint venture, Zhuzhou Siemens Traction Equipment Co, to build up to 60 AC locos a year. The Austrian government is to provide start-up fundingEurope: After GEC Alsthom’s flotation on ...
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Developers hold the key to recovery
INTRO: Even after a long period of apparent decline, rail still enjoys significant potential to help solve the transport problems of the Philippines. Michael Reilly reports on initiatives to develop the national network and mass transit using private and public fundingYears of neglect and gross mismanagement have taken their toll ...
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Görlitz launches third ICE generation
WELL OVER 1500 people were present at an emotional ceremony on April 3 in the DWA works in Görlitz to mark completion of the first two series-built end cars for German Railway's 230 km/h ICT tilting train fleet (RG 5.98 p279). The Görlitz factory had turned out the legendary Fliegender ...
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Gardermobanen prepares to open in October
ALL BEING well, Oslo’s 48 km rail link to the new twin runway Gardermoen airport will open in October 8. Airline traffic is expected to reach 11·7 million in 2000 and 16·8 million in 2010, with 50% of passengers travelling by train. Some doubt remains about the rail link’s opening ...
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Ballast cleaners handle higher volumes
TRACK MAINTENANCE engineers from Russia, Bulgaria and Austria are gather beside a siding in the outskirts of the Austrian city of Linz. In front of them stretches a combination of track maintenance machines gleaming in fresh yellow paint.Focus of interest is an RM801 ballast cleaner just completed in Plasser ...
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Tanayong cars ready to start trials
ON APRIL 17 Siemens SGP Transport Systems unveiled in Wien the first of 35 three-car metro sets for the Bangkok Mass Transit System. The blue, white and red-flashed vehicles are due to enter service in early 2000.They form part of a DM4bn turnkey contract for Tanayong subsidiary Bangkok Mass Transit ...
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‘s-Hertogenbosch interchange opens
Netherlands Railways opened a rebuilt station and transport interchange at ’s-Hertogenbosch on May 14. The five year project has cost 185m guilders, with nearly half of this going on improved railway infrastructure including grade separated junctions and extra tracks.The station has been expanded with an extra island platform to cope ...
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UP woes over?
ATTACK is the best form of defence, so the saying goes. Perhaps this explains Union Pacific’s May 1 decision to pour $1·4bn into its Texas and Louisiana operations over the next five years, with up to $160m to be spent this year. Of this, about half will go on upgrading ...
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Monorail for sale
After going round in circles for a decade, Sydney’s Darling Harbour monorail could be heading for pastures new. Australian business group TNT announced at the end of April that the single-track loop opened in July 1988 is up for sale. Built at a cost of A$65m to offer visitors a ...
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Accessibility regulations start to firm up
INTRO: Richard Armitage reports on progress with drawing up and implementing regulations governing accessibility to public transport and rail vehicles in Europe. In Britain, Rail Accessibility Regulations requiring all new main line rolling stock to be accessible to wheelchairs will come into force on December 31MUCH of COST335, the Europe-wide ...
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Airport Express brings the plane to town
INTRO: MTR Corporation’s Airport Railway will open next month to connect the centre of Hong Kong with Chek Lap Kok. The aim has been to make the link an extension of the airport, achieving seamless rail-air integrationBYLINE: Jack C K SoChairmanMTR CorporationON July 6 MTR Corporation will begin operating its ...
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Bombardier targets market leadership
Two international units will centralise control of Bombardier Transportation's recently acquired European operations. Chris Jackson spoke to President Jean-Yves Leblanc about his strategy
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Strasbourg Eurotrams commission Derby test track
FIRST vehicle to be trialled on the 1·1 km test track commissioned at the Adtranz Litchurch Lane works in Derby was the launch unit in a follow-on order for 27 all-low-floor trams for Strasbourg. The vehicles are similar to the original 26 cars supplied from Derby in 1994, but 17 ...