All Railway Gazette International articles in May 2001 – Page 3

  • News

    Bush boosts transit budget

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    US PRESIDENT George W Bush has put forward a 7·8% increase in public transport funding in his proposed budget for the 2002 financial year, unveiled on April 9. The federal transit programme would receive $6·7bn, whilst the allocation for the Federal Highway Administration would be cut by $1bn. Amtrak would ...

  • News

    SNCF bids to conquer the Med

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    ON JUNE 1 French National Railways will launch commercial services on TGV Méditerranée. Adding 250 km to France’s high speed network, the new line joins end-on with TGV Rh

  • News

    Railtrack rescued by government bail-out

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    KEY STATEMENTS issued on April 2 have altered significantly the relationship between the government and Railtrack, the company that owns and manages Britain’s national rail infrastructure. Payment of a £1·5bn subsidy agreed with the Rail Regulator as recently as January will now be brought forward from the 2006-11 period to ...

  • News

    DETR backs light rail schemes

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    BRITISH Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott confirmed on March 28 that light rail schemes in Leeds, South Hampshire and Bristol had passed a government ’value-for-money’ appraisal. This will enable the promoters to invite bids for a concessionaire to finance, build and operate the lines at a profit. A final go-ahead ...

  • News

    Belgian investment authorised

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Austrian Talents

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Russian reforms approved

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Reform Council backs Amtrak break-up

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Japanese form bidding alliance

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Alice - Darwin finalised

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Air-rail developments

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    India forges ahead with installation

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Radio agreement

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Swiss merger agreed

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Bombardier cleared to buy Adtranz

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Ads move underground

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    SBB Cargo acts to secure a European future

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    ETCS/ERTMS test sites across Europe

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Halving intermodal times across the Brenner

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    ICE and Talgo 350 share high-speed order

    2001-05-01T10:00:00Z

    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 ...