All Railway Gazette International articles in May 2003
All articles published this month.
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News
The writing’s off the wall
PAINT or ink scrawled across signs coated with K20209 AntiGraf film cannot stick to its fluoropolymer surface, and instead ’floats’, making removal with spirit-based solvents a simple task. The 50
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News
Tunnelling under Valencia
THE SPANISH Ministry of Development has begun public consultation on a €804·5m package of works in Valencia that would enable high speed trains to serve the city centre without reversing at the Estació del Nord terminus, as is currently the case for inter-city services on the conventional network. The programme ...
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News
Wind tunnel
EUROTUNNEL has signed an agreement with two firms planning to build a wind farm on land at its French terminal. If planning permission is obtained, five 2MW turbines will be erected at Coquelles by Canadian energy company Boralex and Innovent, a French company specialising in the design and management of ...
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News
Suckers no more
MAY 4 sees a 33% hike in the flat fare on the New York subway, from US$1·50 to $2·00. Despite a wave of protests, Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of directors voted unanimously in favour of the increase on March 6, along with a 25% increase in commuter rail fares. MTA ...
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News
STC to upgrade
CONSULTANT SYSTRA is to design a modernisation of STC Mexico City Metro’s busiest lines-1, 2 and 3. The eight-month contract involves a technical assessment of the three lines and development of an action plan for their complete overhaul, starting in November. Systra will also produce a detailed programme of works ...
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News
Swedish spend
ON APRIL 15 Banverket presented a formal application to the Swedish government to invest SKr275m during 2004. The money would form the first stage of a 12-year package totalling SKr101·5bn which is due to be approved later this year. Banverket is currently undertaking public consultation on its long-term investment plan ...
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News
VIA revenue up
INCREASING passenger numbers contributed to improved financial results at VIA Rail Canada during 2002. The Crown Corporation’s revenue for 2002 was C$270·8m, an increase of 90% since 1990. In the same period passenger numbers have risen by over half a million. Last year brought an increase of 116000 passengers to ...
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News
Turbos return
YEARS have passed since we first reported the rebuilding of seven of Amtrak’s gas-turbine powered trainsets originally supplied to the US operator in 1976. At 09.00 on April 14 the first of two rebuilt RTL-III Turboliners pulled out of Albany to begin revenue service trials on CSX tracks in the ...
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News
Revenue up at ’recession-resistant’ Transportation
BOMBARDIER Inc reported consolidated revenues of C$23·7bn for the year ended January 31, up 8·5% from the previous year. The increase came from a higher level of activity in the Transportation business, mainly in Europe, and a full year’s contribution from Bombardier Transportation GmbH (Adtranz), compared to eight months the ...
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News
Publications
Jubilee Line Extension: From Concept to CompletionBob MitchellThis major reference work provides a record of all aspects of the 10-year project to extend London Underground’s Jubilee line from Green Park to Stratford. The planning and political procedures are traced from the emergence of the first proposals in 1943, through the ...
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News
Praha recovers
THE LAST of Praha metro’s stations closed by floods in August 2002 were reopened in March. Rehabilitation, funded by a European Investment Bank loan, has included repairs to tunnels, escalators and safety systems, as well as a large amount of general cleaning up. Through running on Line B, the most ...
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Pointers
n Vietnam’s Minstry of Transport & Communications has announced that work will begin this year on a 5 km railway extension from Halong to the new Cai Lan deep water port in Quang Ninh province, at a cost of 281bn dong.n AustralAsia Railway Corp now expects to complete construction of ...
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Web planning
NATIONAL Rail Enquiries has launched an on-line journey planner for Great Britain. Replacing a Railtrack facility, www.nationalrail.co.uk/planmyjourney provides timetable and fare information. It does not offer ticket sales, but provides links to established internet ticketing agents Qjump and TheTrainLine.On March 4 the Finnish Railways web site www.vr.fi began selling tickets ...
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News
PEOPLE
Bert Klerk has been appointed Chairman of the executive board of Netherlands infrastructure authority ProRail. Anita Arts has special responsibility for the Railned division. Henk van Dijk has been appointed Operations Director of Railned, L J M Bovee of Railinfrabeheer, and J G Los of Railverkeersleiding.As part of a restructuring ...
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News
UK spending must rise
UKRAIL infrastructure owner Network Rail published its 2003 Business Plan on March 31. It projects an average annual spend of £6·25bn on Operations, Maintenance & Renewals over the next three years - significantly higher than the amount projected by the Rail Regulator in his review which took effect on April ...
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News
Moving paper mountains
SWISS Federal Railways is replacing paper documentation and hand-written notes issued to drivers with 4000 Psion Teklogix netBook portable computers. SBB drivers were issued with the netBooks in mid-December, replacing an estimated 40 tonnes of paper.Supplied by Excom, the netBooks use Locomotive Electronic Assistant software custom-designed for railway use by ...
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News
More Minuettos on order
TRENITALIA has ordered a further 100 three-car Minuetto trainsets in a follow-on order with Alstom, which is already building 37 units. Valued at €315m, the latest batch comprises 49 electric and 51 diesel-powered versions, and brings the total number of sets on order to 137 (70 electric, 67 diesel).Destined to ...
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Metros
Bulgaria: Sofia has called tenders for the construction of a 2·3 km extension of the city’s metro to the World Trade Centre, financed by a US$104m loan from JBIC.Canada: The city of Niagara Falls has invited expressions of interest in building and operating a 10·3 km circular peoplemover serving the ...
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Statio metropolitana
AS PART of a public art project by Michael Pinsky, signs at Wallsend station on the Tyne & Wear Metro have been translated into Latin. Around 1 900 years ago, Wallsend was the site of a fort at the eastern end of Hadrian’s Wall, marking the northernmost limit of the ...
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Market
Czech Republic: Citing high prices, CD has abandoned a tender to acquire 20 tri-voltage locomotives to operate at up to 230 km/h (RG 3.03 p123). Denmark: Interfleet Technology has assisted Railion Denmark in tendering and drawing up contracts for maintenance of its 43 locos and 1500 wagons.France: SMC Rail and ...