All Railway Gazette International articles in May 2009 – Page 2
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NewsGetting a grip with plastic sleepers
SLEEPERS: A small number of plastic bearers have been installed on some turnouts in the Netherlands since creosoted timber was banned, but a different approach to sleeper design is now being taken by Lankhorst Mouldings, which has looked beyond the straight replacement of wood. The company specialises in the production ...
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NewsDeveloping railways must fight for their interests
Freight Railways in the emerging economies of southeast Asia have for too long allowed their market share to be eroded by the road haulage sector. Dr Julison Arifin argues that the industry has often underestimated its role in the logistics mix, and the time has come to fight back.
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NewsActing on IMpulse
SAFETY: IMpulse 3000 has been developed by Dual Inventive to provide track workers with visual confirmation that a track circuit operating device is shorting out the track circuits to indicate to the signalling systems that the track is occupied while maintenance takes place. IMpulse 3000 sends coded signals through the ...
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NewsNews in Brief
The New Zealand government has scrapped the previous administration’s plans for regional car fuel taxes to fund transport investment. Suburban electrification in Auckland will now be funded through capital appropriation or additional debt. The government has decided the nationalised KiwiRail should own the new passenger trains for Auckland and Wellington, ...
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NewsWagon fleet split aims to attract private finance
RUSSIA: The board of Russian Railways has approved the formation of a second freight business comparable to the existing OJSC First Freight Company. RZD's wagon fleet will split between the two companies in a strategy to improve services, increase utilisation and attract private investment. 'All the documents should be ...
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NewsWestinghouse to provide Sydney freight line signalling
AUSTRALIA: Invensys Rail Group announced on May 21 that Australian Rail Track Corp had awarded its Westinghouse Rail Systems Australia subsidiary a A$14m turnkey contract for signalling on the Southern Sydney Freight Line. The SSFL project will provide a 36 km dedicated freight line between Macarthur and Sefton, ...
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NewsDSB reaches IC4 settlement with AnsaldoBreda
DENMARK: A year after issuing an ultimatum to AnsaldoBreda over the protracted delays to the delivery of its IC4 diesel multiple-units, on May 20 state railway DSB announced an agreement to restructure the troubled procurement contract. The delivery timescale for the 83 IC4 trainsets and 23 IC2 derivatives for regional ...
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NewsCSR to offer Pacemaker EMU in Britain
UK: Chinese rolling stock manufacturer CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Co announced on May 21 that it plans to offer electric multiple-units from its Pacemaker family in response to a call for tenders to supply London Midland with between 40 and 120 vehicles. The train operator issued an OJEU ...
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NewsCalgary to fund C-Train expansion
CANADA: Mayor of Calgary Dave Bronconnier has announced a two-year investment programme to develop the city’s public transport network. He was joined by federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice and Alberta’s Minister Justice Alison, as the three levels of government will each be providing one-third of the C$270m funding package. According ...
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NewsLoan for Serbian Railways train order
SERBIA: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development signed a €100m loan agreement with state railway Zeleznice Srbije on May 8. The money will part-fund the purchase of a fleet of around 30 two or three-car electric multiple-units for regional and inter-city services. Tendering is expected to begin in the ...
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NewsCommissioning of Egyptian JT42CWRM begins
EGYPT: Commissioning has begun in Cairo of the first 15 of 40 Electro-Motive Diesel JT42CWRM locomotives being supplied to Egyptian National Railways. They are the first locomotives from the Class 66 family to be delivered to a customer outside Europe. The JT42CWRM locomotives will be deployed on passenger routes, ...
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NewsSiemens to install static frequency converters
SWEDEN: Infrastructure manager Banverket has awarded Siemens Mobility a €33m contract to install six Sitras SFC Plus compact and low-noise modular static frequency converters. The 17 MW converters change the three-phase 50 Hz supply into single-phase 16·7 Hz for traction power. One will be installed in Eskilstuna and five ...
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NewsZSSK orders 12 DMUs
SLOVAKIA: ZOS Vrútky has won a €53m contract to supply 12 Class 860 three-car inter-regional DMUs to national passenger operator ZSSK. The first tender, announced in September 2008, was withdrawn after a lack of interest from suppliers. The Class 860 will be partly based on six Class 840 two-car ...
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NewsParis Saint Lazare station works launched
FRANCE: On May 13 Sophie Boissard, head of SNCF's stations department, launched the third and most substantial phases of the Cœur Saint Lazare project to refurbish the Paris terminus. The main concourse floor will be opened up in a number of places, with 20 escalators installed to improve the ...
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NewsStrong commercial activity at Alstom
ALSTOM: 'A solid performance in both Power and Transport' saw overall orders up 5% to €24·6bn and sales up 11% to €18·7bn for the year to March 31 2009, according to Alstom Chairman & CEO Patrick Kron. Power orders were up 3%, but Transport grew 9% with a record ...
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NewsGE to supply locomotives to Nigeria
NIGERIA: GE Transportation and the Federal Ministry of Transportation announced the signing of a letter of intent covering the supply of 25 diesel locomotives on May 12. The C25 EMPD six-axle locomotives will be built by GE Transportation South America at Contagem in Brazil, with 12-cylinder 7FDL 2 500 ...
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NewsHigh speed trains with a local flavour
SOUTH KOREA: The first of 19 KTX-II high speed trainsets built for national operator Korail by Hyundai Rotem is currently undergoing a six-month testing programme before entering service on the Seoul – Daegu line.
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NewsLyon TGV depot inaugurated
FRANCE: Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau and SNCF President Guillaume Pépy attended the opening of the Gerland TGV depot in Lyon on March 31. Built at a total cost of €247m of which SNCF contributed €145m, it is the first TGV maintenance facilit y outside the Ile-de-France region. Its ...
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NewsRegional lifeline gets refurbished coaches
SOUTH AFRICA: Two refurbished eleven-car trainsets have been introduced on Kei Rail services between Ambele and Mthatha. The two sets are intended to act as prototypes to gauge customer reaction - a total of five refurbished sets would be introduced if the vehicles prove successful. Each air-conditioned set is formed ...
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NewsBART plans replacement of entire fleet
USA: On May 6 Bay Area Rapid Transit District announced an ambitious $3·4bn plan to purchase 700 metro cars to replace its entire 669-car fleet, some of which is now nearly 40 years old, and increase capacity to handle 500 000 weekday passengers in the San Francisco area. There ...