All Railway Gazette International articles in May 2001
All articles published this month.
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NewsPilots go live as 11 railways commit to ETCS
After a decade of development, the European Train Control System and European Rail Traffic Management System are being tested under live conditions on Italy's direttissima. An International Union of Railways conference in Firenze in March pinpointed progress
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Over 200 exhibitors at UITP show
THIS MONTH sees the 54th International Union of Public Transport Congress take place at London’s Earls Court exhibition centre from May 20 to 25. In conjunction with the Congress and the technical visits, well over 200 companies from across the world will be participating in the Mobility & City Transport ...
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West Rail will come in under budget in 2003
INTRO: The largest expansion programme ever undertaken by Kowloon - Canton Railway Corp is well under way, with West Rail Phase 1 now 40% complete. Construction of two extensions to the East Rail route from Kowloon to Lo Wu began in FebruaryBYLINE: James BlakeSenior Director, Capital ProjectsKowloon - Canton Railway ...
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Bogie builders tackle European 25 tonne challenge
FACING pressure to improve productivity and increase the competitiveness of their rail freight operations, several European railways are looking at the scope to raise axleloads beyond the classic 22·5 tonnes laid down in the current UIC standards. British Rail adopted a 25·5 tonne limit many years ago for its then-isolated ...
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ICE and Talgo 350 share high-speed order
SPANISH National Railways announced on March 24 that it was awarding two contracts totalling Pts123bn for the supply of 32 high-speed trainsets to operate on the Madrid - Barcelona line. The 350 km/h sets are intended to cut the journey time from 6h 30min to under 2h 30min.Siemens is to ...
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ETCS/ERTMS test sites across Europe
THERE are 12 locations where ETCS/ERTMS components and systems are being tested, and 10 countries have made a commitment to implement it at Levels 1 and 2. No railway is as yet committed to Level 3, although it is expected to be rolled out for application on high speed lines ...
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Halving intermodal times across the Brenner
INTRO: Acting on the initiative of a customer, the national railways of Germany, Austria and Italy aim to halve transit times for intermodal traffic between München and Verona. Until a few years ago swap bodies took 12 h to make the trip, but timings have been cut to 8h, with ...
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SBB Cargo acts to secure a European future
BYLINE: Daniel NordmannDirector, SBB CargoON AUGUST 1 SBB Cargo moves its headquarters from Bern to Basel. Pulling out of the Swiss capital to start afresh in a new venue symbolises a programme of major change for SBB Cargo. The programme was announced on April 4 and followed a strategic review ...
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Ads move underground
MOVING advertising images are to be projected onto the walls of London Underground stations, following the signing of a contract on April 6. Cross Track Projection (XTP) digital projection equipment will be installed in some central stations this autumn, and across the network within five years.XTP makes it possible ...
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Bombardier cleared to buy Adtranz
ON APRIL 3 the European Commission approved the acquisition of DaimlerChrysler subsidiary Adtranz by Bombardier of Canada. The transaction is expected to be complete by May 1.As part of the approval process Bombardier Transportation was required to meet several conditions set by the Commission. It must sell its 26·5% share ...
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Swiss merger agreed
AFTER many years of close co-operation, Switzerland’s Bodensee-Toggenburg and Südost railways are to merge. On March 26, the BT and SOB boards announced that they had signed a letter of intent; subject to shareholders’ approval, the merger will take effect from January 1 2002.Mergers elsewhere have left the two ...
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Radio agreement
SIEMENS Transportation Systems and Austria’s Kapsch AG have signed an exclusive agreement to jointly produce and market next generation GSM-R mobile termination units and cab radios.Developed from existing products, the equipment will include General Packet Radio Service data and voice communications functionality. It will meet the requirements of ERTMS radio-based ...
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India forges ahead with installation
CONSIDERABLE interest in ERTMS/ ETCS has been expressed by railways outside Western Europe, which has brought some comfort to the manufacturers. Eastern Europe in particular is seen to have much potential for applications, with Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary following developments closely. There are also indications of interest ...
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Air-rail developments
Korean National Railroad has opened an unstaffed station at Chongju International Airport. The site was provided by Korea Airports Authority, and North Chungchong Province shared the 300m won cost with KNR. Rail tickets are sold in the airport terminal.H Air passengers arriving in Switzerland from North America can now ...
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Alice - Darwin finalised
ON April 20 documents were signed in Sydney marking Financial Closure of the Alice - Darwin rail link project. Included in the 179 documents was the concession deal between AustralAsia Railway Corp, representing the state governments, and the Asia Pacific Transport Consortium. Construction of the 1410 km line was due ...
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Japanese form bidding alliance
KAWASAKI Heavy Industries and Hitachi are forming an alliance to bid for rail business worldwide. The two set up a joint order processing centre in April.Combining Hitachi’s background in railway systems with KHI’s rolling stock and construction experience, the companies will jointly take orders to develop their rail businesses, in ...
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Reform Council backs Amtrak break-up
ON MARCH 20 the Amtrak Reform Council released a scathing report accusing the National Railroad Passenger Corp of suffering from ’fundamental institutional flaws’. The document noted that Amtrak, set up in 1971, could not function both as a profit-driven organisation and as an arm of public policy. It called for ...
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Russian reforms approved
THE FINAL programme for structural reform of the Russian rail network was formally endorsed by the cabinet and Prime Minister Mikhail Kassyanov on April 12. The policy was debated by the Duma in March, although it has not yet been voted on. The cabinet agreed to submit the programme for ...
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Austrian Talents
AUSTRIAN Federal Railways confirmed on April 17 that it had exercised an option to buy a fleet of Talent electric multiple-units from Bombardier Transportation and Elin EBG Traction, at a total value of 166m euros. The deal is the first to be agreed under a ’framework contract’ negotiated last year ...
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Belgian investment authorised
ON TUESDAY March 27 two trains collided head-on at Pécrot, 14 km from Leuven on Belgian National Railways’ line from Ottignies, killing three crew and five passengers. The driver of an empty EMU appears to have misread a signal at Wavre that had been cleared for a freight train, and ...