All Railway Gazette International articles in May 1999 – Page 2

  • News

    Launch on hold

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    CELEBRATIONS were planned in Lisboa for April 25. The day marked the 25th anniversary of the 1974 coup when Portugal’s Junta of National Salvation replaced dictatorship rule dating back to 1933, and it had also been chosen for the launch of a long-awaited rail service. For the first time trains ...

  • News

    High level talk

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    PROPOSALS for a rail link across the Tienshan mountains to open up trade between China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have inched forward. A protocol was signed in March in Bishkek, and a group of experts is working on possible routes.One would run from Kashi in China’s Xinjiang province northwest to the ...

  • News

    Greener toilets for ICN

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    Swiss Federal Railways’ ICN tilting trains (RG 12.98 p851) are being equipped with toilet systems from Protec, featuring an underfloor bioreactor. Solid and liquid effluent are first separated by a filter unit. Natural decomposition breaks down solid waste for removal at six to 12 month intervals.Liquid undergoes a sequence of ...

  • News

    Smart freight on the way

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    EUROPEAN freight trains are set to benefit from electronic braking controls. Trials in North America have demonstrated the advantages in terms of longer trains and higher productivity, and last year more than a dozen pilot projects were under way, including several revenue applications (RG 2.98 p95).On March 24 German Federal ...

  • News

    New entrants scoop LRV orders

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    SPANISH rolling stock builder Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles has been selected as preferred bidder to supply 54 light rail vehicles to Sacramento’s Regional Transit District. CAF bid US$124·9m compared to US$142m from local firm Siemens Transportation Systems which supplied RT’s 36 original cars. Other bidders were Kinki Sharyo of ...

  • News

    Informed and entertained

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    Adtranz Sweden has awarded a contract to Focon Electronic Systems for the supply of luggage rack units incorporating passenger information and entertainment systems, which will be fitted to the 17 trains for Danish State Railways and 10 for Swedish State Railways that will operate over the Øresund link from next ...

  • News

    FNM enters privatisationend game

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: With 14500 km of the National Railways of Mexico (FNM) system now operated by the private sector, FNM should see its operating role disappear by the end of this year as bids are invited for the remaining short lines. Head of Restructuring Jorge Machado outlined progress so far and ...

  • News

    Tilting ICEs enter service

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    ON APRIL 15 German Railway ran an introductory special train between Stuttgart and Horb to demonstrate the ICT tilting EMUs. Five of these will be allocated to inter-city services on the Stuttgart - Zürich corridor from the end of this month. With effect from the May 30 timetable change, ICTs ...

  • News

    Economic growth is spur to expansion

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: CB Transportes is using its business acumen to turn round run-down railways in Latin America. The company is operating successfully in Chile and Bolivia and is seeking more opportunities to expandBYLINE: Gonzalo Grebe NFinance Manager, CB Transportes SAOVER THE last decade commerce within the southern cone of Latin America ...

  • News

    Tasman is early

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Chairman Jim Lawson announced on April 5 that the $327m, 12·2 km Tasman West light rail line in San Jose, California, will open for revenue service on December 20. He said that the first extension since the initial 38·6 km route was completed in 1991 ...

  • News

    Dutch tunnels make progress

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    ON MARCH 17 Netherlands Transport Minister Tineke Netelenbos officially launched work on the country’s first bored rail tunnel. The double track Botleks tunnel under the Oude Maas will carry freight trains between the docks and the Betuwe line. The twin 1835m bores will replace the Botleks bridge on Rotterdam’s harbour ...

  • News

    Dieter

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    Netherlands Railways has been testing methods for removing chewing gum from stations, and found that a mixture of solvents, steam and brushing worked best. Dieter is concerned that more thorough cleaning may have unexpected side effects

  • News

    Partners promise to deliver on time

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    BYLINE: Union Railways South has the challenge of completing the first phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link by October 2003. Newly-appointed Managing Director Chris Jago told Chris Jackson that a partnership with project managers Rail Link Engineering promised ’a win-win solution’ INTRO: Union Railways South has the challenge of ...

  • News

    DB fixes on radio

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    BY THE END of this year radio-based signalling should be operational on German Railway’s route from Kaiserslautern to Lauterecken-Grumbach. The branches from Bielefeld to Dissen-Bad Rothenfelde and from Mainz to Gensingen-Horrweiler, Alzey and Monsheim are to follow shortly afterwards, kicking off a programme to convert 16000 route-km of mainly regional ...

  • News

    West Coast conundrum

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    THE SWEDISH government has selected a private consortium as preferred bidder to run passenger services on the West Coast main line between Gøteborg and Malm

  • News

    City NEWS

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    The Chinese city of Dalian has announced plans to relay 9·4 km of its 15 km tramway network this year, and to start work on 30 km of new light rail lines next year. The move reverses earlier proposals to run down and abandon the network.CAPTION: Finnish Railways Ltd has ...

  • News

    City NEWS

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    On March 23 the Denver RTD board approved another $7m for design and construction of the 3 km Central Platte Valley light rail branch. With $2m approved earlier this year, this completes the agency’s share of the $40m project, which will branch off the existing line at Auraria station. Serving ...

  • News

    Karachi tries Circular Railconcession

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    MAY 20 is the deadline for submission of proposals to revitalise the Karachi Circular Railway as a high-capacity commuter carrier. Pakistan’s National Mass Transit Authority envisages awarding a 25-year build-operate-transfer concession, with railway-owned land and stations forming a government equity stake in the project.NMTA is looking for private sector promoters ...

  • News

    Chinese plans

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    CHINESE Railways is to invest 55bn yuan during 1999, the Ministry of Railways announced in March. Under the five-year development plan launched last year (RG 9.98 p611) this year will see the construction of 1320route-km of new line.Last month CR completed feasibility studies for two alternative routes to the Tibetan ...

  • News

    Cassiopeia relaunches JR East sleepers

    1999-05-01T10:00:00Z

    ON April 10 East Japan Railway unveiled its Deluxe Super Night Express train at Tokyo’s Ogu depot. Marketed as Cassiopeia, the 12-car double-deck set is to enter revenue service between Ueno and Sapporo on July 16. It will run northwards on Sunday, Tuesday and Friday each week, returning on Monday, ...