Main line rail industry news – Page 1441
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News
The finest hotel on wheels
INTRO: For its R70m Blue Train refurbishment, Spoornet has drawn on the expertise of designers, architects and hoteliers. Rollo Dickson reports On June 27 Spoornet is due to relaunch its luxury Pretoria - Cape Town Blue Train service with the first of two trainsets to undergo extensive refurbishment. Confident that ...
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ICE3 test train rolls this summer
INTRO: The ability to run at 300 km/h, to climb 4% grades and to operate in several other countries dictated the design parameters for Germany’s third generation ICE. A five-car component test train capable of 360 km/h called the ICE-S will be ready to start a programme of trials in ...
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Regionalisation drive gathers pace
INTRO: The programme to transfer regional lines in Germany to local control is bearing fruit in some areas, but as Gordon Wiseman reports, it is unlikely to save numerous lightly-used rural routes in the east of the countryTHIS SUMMER’S timetable change on June 1 sees six more lines transferred from ...
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Rivals to build automated freight terminals
GERMAN Railway has let development contracts for two fully-automated freight handling terminals. Intended to cut the time taken to transfer containers between train and lorry, the terminals will also occupy less land than conventional intermodal sites with similar throughput.Krupp F
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Dürr leaves Ludewig a tough legacy
INTRO: Next month Heinz Dürr passes the reins of German Railway to Johannes Ludewig, an economist who is close to Chancellor Kohl. Inheriting a 40000 km railway halfway through an ambitious programme of reforms, Ludewig must tackle numerous unfinished tasksHEINZ DÜRR may be leaving his post as Chairman of ...
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Peoplemovers look to the millenium
BYLINE: Lawrence J Fabian *BYLINE: * Lawrence J Fabian is Director of Trans21, PO Box 249, Fields Corner Station Boston Massachusetts 02122, USA.Tel: +1 617 825 2318Fax: +1 617 482 7417e-mail: LFabian@ compuserve.comPROSPECTS of an exciting future for automated peoplemovers emerged at the American Society of Civil Engineers’s 6th international ...
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New York State to fund record car order
Details of the largest metro car order in North American history were confirmed on April 29. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has reached agreement with two manufacturers to acquire 1080 vehicles for the IRT division. They will replace many of MTA New York City Transit’s oldest cars, some dating from ...
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Sidetrack
Birds on the wiresIn the past green activists in Germany have pursued their cause by having steam trains banned, whilst expressing little opposition to new roads. Now, the French Transport Users Federation (FNAUT) has offered a three point punishment to a local section of the National Movement for the Environment ...
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Publications
Practical Railway Engineeringby Clifford F BonnettThis 210 page hardback provides an introduction to basic engineering techniques as applied to railways. Designed as a textbook for Imperial College’s MSc course in Transport, it includes a foreword by Professor Tony Ridley. Brief but informative chapters cover all aspects of the railway ...
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People
Mr John Prescott has been named Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions following Labour’s victory in the British general election. He is responsible for the overall direction of the Department of Transport. Dr Gavin Strang becomes Minister for Transport, a cabinet post. Ms ...
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Intelligence
Australia: Patrick Stevedores launched a thrice-weekly rail shuttle on April 29 to convey maritime containers between Melbourne and Adelaide; the wagons are hired from AN, which provides crews jointly with V/Line.Queensland Railways has launched a network of dedicated ’Cattletrain’ services to 40 key cattle producing areas, using a fleet of ...
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Letters
Link up down underSir - Your report that Australian businessmen are planning a 4000 km 250 km/h Melbourne - Darwin line (RG 5.97 p282) will arouse a degree of scepticism among many of your readers.The most needed railway in Australia is from Alice to Tennant Creek, about which the politicians ...
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Longer concession is the last hope
A PROSPECTUS due last month explains the deal with banks holding more than £8bn of junior debt which Eurotunnel hopes will enable the company to continue trading. Despite last November’s fire which will cost Eurotunnel and its insurers more than £200m, the restructuring deal is essentially unchanged from the package ...
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Barajas link to open in 1999
AIRLINE passengers will be able to reach Madrid’s Barajas airport by rail from the end of 1999. Funding has been agreed for construction of a 4·5 km metro extension to the airport from Mar de Cristal on Line 4, giving a 25min journey time from the airport to Plaza de ...
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Real time management becomes a reality
TENDERS will be called by German Railway this month or next for the first three of seven Advanced Train Control Centres that will ultimately take over train operations from thousands of existing signalboxes. These will be turnkey projects of substantial size, with around 150 workstations each, and great complexity, especially ...
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In Brief
n Canadian Pacific transferred 1839route-km in the US Midwest to I&M Rail Link in April for US$250m. Formed by Montana Rail Link owner Dennis Washington, I&M includes a route from Kansas City to the Chicago area plus branch lines in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.n A consortium headed by privatisedBrazilian steel ...
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Market
Australia: Adtranz Australia and Walkers Ltd have won a joint contract to build five two-car EMUs for Westrail; they will be similar to the existing fleet, and first delivery is due in November 1998.Queensland’s Department of Transport has called tenders for a consultancy study to improve efficiency and best practice ...
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Rotterdam shuttles to handle 1m TEU/year
IF ROTTERDAM has become the focal point for chartered intermodal shuttle trains around which the European Union’s first Freightways are to be constructed, NS Cargo has been a willing and enthusiastic partner in ironing out the obstacles.Bas C van Nes, NS Cargo’s Director, Combined Transport, says that ’rail’s share of ...
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Transrapid survives another review
WE HAVE lost count of the number of times that high speed maglev projects have been given green lights, go-aheads and approvals in Germany. The latest came at the end of April when Transport Minister Matthias Wissmann said the project to build a Transrapid line between Hamburg and Berlin would ...
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London Underground happy with first private train deal
Two years into the 400m lease-and-maintain agreement under which GEC Alsthom is building 106 trains for the Northern line, Richard Hope explains why London Underground expects a growing proportion of investment to be privately financed