All Railway Gazette International articles in March 1997 – Page 3

  • News

    Maintenance bids

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    February 12 was the closing date for expressions of interest in bidding for contracts to maintain the infrastructure formerly owned and managed by the State Rail Authority of New South Wales. Rail Access Corp, now responsible for infrastructure in NSW, intends to introduce competitive tendering by 2001 for all maintenance, ...

  • News

    LCR shortlists St Pancras bidders

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    on January 21 London & Continental Railways shortlisted eight groups for a contract to develop St Pancras Chambers. They are: Bouygues, DEGW/TG and Lynton consortia, British Land Co plc, The Burrell Co, Midland Grand Hotel Group, Rainham International and St Pancras Chambers Hotel Group.LCR subsidiary London & Continental Stations & ...

  • News

    Tilt trains in prospect as final franchises awarded

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    ANNOUNCEMENTS on February 11 that Britain’s National Express Group had been chosen as preferred bidder for the ScotRail and Central Trains passenger franchises marked the culmination of the drive to transfer 25 ex-BR train operating companies to the private sector in little more than a year. The Office of Passenger ...

  • News

    French light rail awaits the millenium

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    INTRO: Urban rail projects in France are again the focus of interest in the wake of last year’s municipal elections. Gordon Wiseman finds that smaller cities are investing strongly in light railTWO YEARS after the launch of light rail in Rouen and Strasbourg, the next round of activity is under ...

  • News

    Saarbrücken to launch second dual-mode LRT in the autumn

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    INTRO: Saarbrücken is almost ready to emulate Karlsruhe as other cities prepare to marry light and heavy rail technologies. Richard Hope reports from the tracklaying siteGROOVED RAILS have been laid along Kaiserstra§e in the heart of Saarbrücken, and trial running will begin shortly with the first of 28 dual-voltage light ...

  • News

    Ferrovías offers Atlantic concession

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    ON JANUARY 16 Colombia’s railway authority Ferrovías launched a competition for a 30-year concession to rehabilitate, maintain and operate freight services over its Atlantic network; bidding is due to close on July 16.The concession covers 1284 active route-km of 914mm gauge, formed by the Chiriguana - Dorada - Bogota - ...

  • News

    Central Asian upgradings funded

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    A CONSORTIUM of three Japanese suppliers has won a contract to assist with the upgrading of Kazakstan’s railway network. Choi Co, Kawasaki Steel Corp and Kawasho Corp will modernise KR’s telecommunications and reconstruct 350route-km of main line over the next four years. The aim is to boost capacity for the ...

  • News

    Amtrak tries DMUs

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    PENNSYLVANIA’s Department of Transportation has been authorised to buy a fleet of diesel multiple-units for the 176 km ’Keystone Corridor’ from Philadelphia to Harrisburg. Governor Tom Ridge has approved a package combining $18·7m of federal and $4·7m of state funding.Costed at $1·5m per vehicle, the two or four car sets ...

  • News

    Amtrak signs Illinois contract

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    AN AGREEMENT securing Amtrak’s continued operation of three Chicago ’corridor’ services was announced on January 14. Illinois Department of Transportation had been threatening to invite open tenders for the State House to St Louis, Illini to Carbondale and Illinois Zephyr to Quincy, in an effort to lower the state’s subsidy ...

  • News

    Alerted in a flash

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    passengers can be warned of the imminent closure of automatic coach doors on Zürich’s S-Bahn thanks to warning flashers developed by Bron Elektronik AG. A flash energy of 8 J at 1 Hz was found to achieve the desired effect of getting passengers to keep clear of the doors, whilst ...

  • News

    Chinese sign research agreements

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    CHINA ACADEMY of Railway Sciences signed a co-operation agreement with Japan’s Railway Technical Research Institute on January 28 covering the joint development of automatic train control for a possible Chinese high-speed line. The ´150m project to equip the CARS test track near Beijing with ’digital ATC’ by August will be ...

  • News

    Abando rebuild out to tender

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    PLANS for the long-awaited rebuilding of Bilbao’s main station, Abando, are close to being finalised. Tendering for the Pts41bn project is now in hand, and construction is expected to start towards the end of this year on the railway stations, bus station and car parks. The privately financed commercial areas ...

  • News

    SJ torpedoed by 60 tonne trucks

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    DRASTIC CUTS in passenger services are scheduled by Swedish State Railways for June 1, following losses in 1996 that could reach SKr1bn. Among many overnight sleepers to be abandoned are Stockholm to G

  • News

    JR West sets 2hr Osaka - Hakata target

    1997-03-01T11:00:00Z

    INTRO: Series 500 trains are poised to cut journey times on the Sanyo Shinkansen, but JR West’s long-term plans envisage high performance trains to replace Kodama services, and ultra-high-speed trainsBYLINE: Masataka IdePresident, West Japan Railway CoTHIS YEAR marks the 25th anniversary of the 161 km Sanyo Shinkansen which opened in ...