Main line rail industry news – Page 1417
-
News
End of the line for Hopewell project
THAILAND: Sad news reaches us from the city of eternal metro planning: the Thai government appears to have dashed any remaining hopes of resurrecting Hopewell Holding's ambitious Berts project to build a 60 km network of elevated transit lines in Bangkok with motorways on top. With only rows of ...
-
News
Handling containers under catenary
MANNESMANN Dematic has installed a prototype Transmann portal container-handling crane in the yard at Wetter, near Dortmund. The Transmann features a rigid load guidance system that enables it to handle containers under catenary.Designed to handle 20 to 45ft containers weighing up to 41 tonnes, the Transmann can transfer up to ...
-
News
Training strategy
CONTINUING optimism about the future of rail in Britain has prompted concern that engineering expertise could be lacking in years to come. Launching a consultation paper on February 25, the Chairman of the Railway Division of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Peter Lowe said that it was important ’to ...
-
News
Adtranz unveils modular range
ON MARCH 16 Adtranz launched a new business strategy based on seven ’Modular Product Platforms’: Innovia - peoplemovers; Incentro - light rail vehicles; Movia - metros; Itino - regional multiple-units; Crusaris - inter-city multiple-units; Octeon electric locos; and Blue Tiger diesel locos. While these will initially complement rather than replace ...
-
News
Porto regauging
PORTUGUESE infrastructure authority Refer began work on February 16 to regauge and electrify the metre-gauge branch from Lousado to Guimarães, part of the 62 km route from Porto Trinidade to Guimarães. Between Trofa and Lousado trains shared a 2 km dual-gauge section with the Porto - Valença main line. Through ...
-
News
Niche players happy with their lot
INTRO: While exploring new avenues away from their established core businesses, Spanish rolling stock builders Patentes Talgo and CAF are content to remain outside the larger international groupings, forming temporary alliances as requiredIN JUNE Patentes Talgo is due to begin dynamic tests of a low-cost prototype trainset for 225 km/h ...
-
News
Rail Business Intelligence
LAST MONTH Rail Privatisation News, our newsletter about Britain’s privatised rail industry, celebrated its third birthday. The break-up of British Rail into around 100 companies and the subsequent sell-off are history, but interest in the hard commercial information in which RPN specialises is as strong as ever. Feedback from readers ...
-
News
Composite reefers on test
LAST month Union Pacific began an 18-month performance test of 50 refrigerated wagons, carrying fresh and frozen produce between the western United States and major markets. Designed and built in conjunction with Trinity Industries and Hardcore DuPont Composites, UP’s first new reefer since 1971 features a 40% increase in payload ...
-
News
Spain joins Terff
ON FEBRUARY 27 an agreement was signed to bring Renfe into partnership with the railways of Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Italy to extend the first Trans-European Rail Freight Freeway. The deal was signed by SNCF and RFF, SNCB, CFL, and the FS Infrastructure Directorate. The Terff which opened on January ...
-
News
DB to test TBS
GERMAN RAILWAY’s infrastructure business DB Netz is due to begin work next month on a test installation of transmission-based signalling using equipment from Adtranz Signal. Trains between Kaiserslautern and Lauterecken are to start using the equipment at the beginning of 1999.Designated FFB (FunkFahrBetrieb), the system will use the European ...
-
News
All Greek to Siemens
REFLECTING progress made with electrification at 25 kV 50Hz of its 503 km Athens - Thessaloniki trunk line, Hellenic Railways Organisation has placed orders worth DM600m with Siemens of Germany for a fleet of main-line electric rolling stock. Announced on March 10, the contracts are for 20 five-car inter-city EMUs, ...
-
News
Faster but quieter
FRENCH Railways has begun to examine the production, maintenance and safety implications of a range of wheelset and rail combinations to reduce noise generated by high-speed trains. SNCF’s Research Division has directed the project, divided into the RONA (wheelsets), VONA (track) and MONA (grinding) subgroups. Development work has made use ...
-
News
Sokol bids called
WORK is under way on a 5ha site next to the present station in St Petersburg to build a terminal for the planned high speed line to Moscow being promoted by the Russian High Speed Railway Shareholding Co, RAO VSM. While the company still does not have enough secure finance ...
-
News
PUBLICATIONS
Maghreb Rail (map)This detailed 70x100 cm colour relief map covers at 1:2350000 scale Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya - a region whose railway geography is unfamiliar to many. Colour coding and hatching is used effectively to distinguish four different gauges, single and double track, electrification, closed and projected lines. Also ...
-
News
Focused approach keeps Renfe on target
INTRO: To beat their financial targets for 1997, the eight operating business units of Spanish National Railways placed key emphasis on sales, applied rigorous cost control and made maximum use of resourcesTHE EIGHT business units forming the Operations Directorate of Spanish National Railways were particularly successful in meeting the commercial ...
-
News
Sizarail seizure settled
THE GOVERNMENT of the Democratic Republic of Congo has started paying off a debt of R136m owed to South African operator Spoornet following renationalisation of the railways in the former Zaire. The aim is to restore relations damaged last year when Laurent Kabila’s regime seized the railway and rolling stock, ...
-
News
Metros
Canada: Toronto Transit Commission has asked the promoters of the AirCanada Centre to help fund expansion of the metro station at Union Station, to handle the anticipated traffic which will be attracted by the new sports arena.China: Hong Kong MTR Corp signed a contract with Siemens on February 18 ...
-
News
Via at the Styx
’CAN we close the gap between revenue and costs any more? The answer is no.’ Addressing the Standing Committee on Transport on February 26, Via Rail Canada President & CEO Terry Ivany told Canada’s MPs that by the end of this year Via will have reduced its reliance on government ...
-
News
CFR plans upgrading programme
ROMANIAN state railway CFR is working to raise Ecu340m for an upgrading programme which includes renovation of 900 route-km, main line electrification and line speed increases, rolling stock renewal, and communications modernisation.CFR has signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Bank for half the cost of a US$18m programme ...