All News articles – Page 125
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News
Cross-acceptance moves closer
DRAFT legislation to recast the Technical Specifications for Interoperability in a revised directive has been agreed by the European Parliament. In a first reading on December 11, MEPs voted by a large majority to accept the proposals, the key objective of which is to streamline acceptance procedures for traction and ...
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SCT Logistics locos on test
CURRENTLY undergoing acceptance trials in Australia are the first of 11 GT46Ce locomotives ordered from Downer EDI Rail by SCT Logistics for use on Melbourne - Perth freight services. Photo: Mark Carter The first private interstate rail freight operator, SCT currently hauls around one-third of Australia's east-west traffic, using ...
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Work starts on Wehrhahn line
FOUR shovels were driven simultaneously into the earth at a construction site in the centre of Düsseldorf on November 28 when Mayor Joachim Erwin and Nordrhein-Westfalen Land State Secretary Günter Kozlowski, accompanied by two senior city transport officials, marked the start of work on the Wehrhahn U-Bahn line. The 3·4 ...
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NewsFirst Flirt to Algeria
STADLER has begun rolling out 64 four-car Flirt EMUs ordered by SNTF for Alger suburban services at a cost of SFr600m. Top speed of the 25 kV 50 Hz standard gauge units is 120 km/h, and deliveries will run until the end of 2010.
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NewsTraxx locomotive family meets European needs
Rapid liberalisation of Europe's rail sector, and an associated increase in cross-border operations, is challenging operators and suppliers to rethink locomotive design. The flexibility of the Traxx locomotive platform meets a wide range of requirements, and no fewer than 1 226 locomotives have been ordered to date
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NewsVIA loco rebuild contract
ON DECEMBER 12 VIA Rail Canada announced it had awarded a C$101·5m contract for the rebuilding of its fleet of GM-built F40 diesel locos over five years. The project is being funded under a C$691·9m investment package announced by the government on October 11 (RG 11.07 p673), and will see ...
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Graz S-Bahn launched
AMBITIOUS plans to increase local rail travel by 10 000 trips a day came to fruition on December 7 when the first stage of a S-Bahn network was launched in the Austrian city of Graz. Hourly, half-hourly or quarter-hourly trains run on routes to Bruck an der Mur, Übelbach, Köflach, ...
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Le Mans light rail takes off
LE MANS Metropole inaugurated light rail services on November 17 as the French city became the latest in a growing club to have opened a modern tram system in recent years. Le Mans' network consists of a principal route of 12·6 km from the university in the northwest to a ...
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Freight crosses the Korean divide
DECEMBER 11 saw the first commercial freight service cross the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea when a train loaded with construction materials from Munsan in the south reached an industrial complex at Kaesong in the north. It returned south carrying footwear and clothing. Operation of the train followed ...
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NewsChina rolls out 300 km/h trainset
THE FIRST Chinese-built high speed trainset capable of 300 km/h operation was rolled out at Sifang Locomotive works on December 22. The design is derived from East Japan Railway's E2-1000 Shinkansen trains, and follows from a batch of 60 CRH2 sets developed by a Kawasaki-led consortium and assembled by Sifang ...
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Railion brand dropped
GERMANY'S national rail operator launched a fresh identity for its freight, passenger and infrastructure businesses last month. The Railion brand has been discarded in favour of DB Schenker, which more accurately reflects the organisation of the freight and logistics business. Passenger services will operate under the DB Bahn brand, while ...
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ETCS software error led to Lötschberg derailment
A FULL service of passenger and freight trains began operating through the 34·6 km Lötschberg base tunnel using ETCS Level 2 on December 9, marking another milestone in the protracted history of Europe's interoperable train control system. The tunnel had been formally opened on June 15, when authority was granted ...
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Patriot Rail Corp buys third railway
USA: Short line and regional freight line operator Patriot Rail Corp announced its purchase of Utah Central Railway on January 3. This is the third railway acquired by Patriot, which now owns and leases 400 km of rail line in Tennessee, Alabama, Montana and Utah. Established in 1995 to use ...
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Amsterdam workshop ready
THE DUTCH High Speed Alliance may be some way from launching services on HSL-Zuid (RG 11.07 p688), but at least its trains now have somewhere to live. In November the Mayor of Amsterdam Job Cohen formally opened the newly-built Nedtrain workshop at Amsterdam Watergraafsmeer which will maintain locomotives and high ...
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Constant guardian protecting bridge
THE SAFETY of trains crossing a major waterway in the western USA is being enhanced with the deployment of a $380 000 Collision Alert Monitoring & Impact Analysis system developed by Florida-based Duos Technologies. A bank of vibration and acceleration sensors detects any impact along the bridge, while a series ...
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NewsEWS promises Channel Tunnel 'revolution'
EWS announced on November 22 that its Euro Cargo Rail subsidiary will be launching 12 intermodal services through the Channel Tunnel during 2008, connecting 'the key UK economic regions' with terminals in France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. The first is due to start at the end of January ...
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NewsHS1 for sale
LONDON & Continental Railways, owner of the £5·2bn Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the UK share of Eurostar, is to be separated into three businesses, UK Rail Minister Tom Harris announced on November 20. The recently-completed 109 km high speed line between London at the Channel Tunnel will be sold ...
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Railway Gazette team strengthened
TWO FURTHER members of staff joined the Railway Gazette journal team in November as part of an expansion strategy for the DVV Rail Media portfolio. To strengthen the editorial team under Editor Chris Jackson, Robert Preston has been promoted to Deputy Editor with special responsibility for the expanding newsletter business; ...
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Demonstrating the power of hydrogen
A pan-European consortium aims to demonstrate a hydrogen fuel cell powered passenger train in Denmark during 2010
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East Coast franchise handover
NATIONAL Express Group began operating the UK's prestigious InterCity East Coast franchise on December 9, replacing Great North Eastern Railway which had held the previous franchise until the operator and its parent company hit financial difficulties. The new agreement covering 200 km/h services between London, Yorkshire and Scotland via the ...