All News articles – Page 150
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News
Records fall as the French forge ahead
AN UNOFFICIAL world rail speed record of 554?3?km/h was set in France on February 13 during trials on TGV Est. This comprehensively beats the 515?3?km/h rail record that SNCF established on May 18 1990 and surpasses the 552?km/h achieved by the Japanese experimental maglev trainset MLX01 at Yamanashi on April ...
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United Streetcar to enter American tram market
ON JANUARY 26 Oregon Iron Works announced a $4m contract to produce a prototype modern low-floor light rail vehicle for the North American market at its Clackamas plant in the USA. United Streetcar LLC has been established as an OIW subsidiary to produce the vehicle, which will be based on ...
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Restructuring announced at Tognum
TOGNUM announced a restructuring on February 5, creating two divisions which Chief Executive Volker Heuer says will provide ’clear structures of responsibility and allow us to implement our growth strategy more effectively.’ The new Engines & After-Sales division is centred on MTU’s rail, marine and heavy industrial engine manufacturing ...
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NewsPendolino deal falls apart
THE SURGE of passengers riding Virgin's tilting Pendolinos after the UK's West Coast Main Line was upgraded for 200 km/h operation has created an urgent need for two extra vehicles in each of the 53 nine-car trainsets. Under a 'handshake deal' valued at around ?158m, reached on January ...
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NewsBDZ separation plan approved
BULGARIA: The cabinet approved a plan to further restructure Bulgarian State Railways on January 18, following the creation of financially independent passenger, freight and traction divisions of the national operator on January 1 (RG 12.06 p764). Transport Minister Peter Mutafchiev plans to create separate telecoms, rolling stock management, maintenance ...
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Second high speed line for Argentina?
ON FEBRUARY 8 President Néstor Kirchner launched tendering for the second high speed line planned in Argentina, linking Buenos Aires with Mar del Plata. It is hoped to complete tendering this August, including the award of contracts for civil works, tracklaying, electrification, signalling and telecommunications as well as the ...
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NewsWorld railway market is 'robust and attractive'
A study commissioned by UNIFE from Roland Berger Strategy Consultants puts the value of the world railway market at over €100bn a year. Growth is predicted at 1·5% to 2% a year for the next decade.
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Dubai auto-couplers
VOITH Scharfenberg is to fit auto-couplers to a fleet of 87 metro cars for Dubai being built by Kinki Sharyo. The couplers will be fitted with shock absorbers to protect the driverless vehicles in a low-speed collision. The couplers, like the vehicles themselves, are being designed to cope with the ...
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Second Avenue contract
Skanska USA Civil, Schiavone Construction and JF Shea Construction were due to sign a contract in mid-February to build the first section of the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan. The $333m agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority paves the way for work to begin on the first of four planned ...
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Bluetooth in Bilbao
RENFE Cercanías de Bilbao has launched a trial Bluetooth service, offering passengers timetable, fares and service disruption information on their mobile phones and PDAs. The service uses J2ME technology to communicate with Bluetooth-enabled devices, allowing passengers to download a guide to RENFE services in the local area, complete with ...
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Building blocks
Poundfield Products believes its Betabric retaining wall design could reduce the cost of building such structures by as much as 50% on the UK network. Many earth retaining walls were built in the nineteenth century and their structural integrity is a growing cause for concern. Poundfield’s Betabric product allows ...
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Freight bottlenecks in focus
EU POLICIES deregulating European rail freight are forecast to generate significant growth in intermodal traffic over the next decade. Initiatives such as Singer (p164) are already demonstrating what may be achievable. But operators and infrastructure managers are becoming increasingly concerned that the continent’s rail network will not be able to ...
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Bratislava commissions expansion studies
A CONSORTIUM of Bratislava-based contractors Dopravoprojekt and Infraprojekt has been appointed by Railways of the Slovak Republic to draw up a KS940m detailed feasibility study for three major investment projects in the capital. Construction bids will be invited shortly for the ambitious 2007-15 expansion programme, which includes upgrading and electrification ...
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Industry in Brief
Railpower Technologies announced at the end of January that it had raised C$30m through a bought deal with a syndicate of Canaccord Adams, Sprott Securities, National Bank Financial, Paradigm Capital and Pacific International Securities. The hybrid loco technology company will use the proceeds to finance the fulfilment of current orders ...
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Five qualify to build CDG Express
FRENCH Minister of Transport Dominique Perben announced on January 30 that five consortia had qualified for the concession to develop a dedicated rail link to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport (RG 9.06 p485). The five bids are from: Eiffage partnered with Macquarie Bank a group formed of Bouygues TP, Seco-Rail, RATP-Développement, ...
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Channel Tunnel freight is collapsing
EUROPE: Two of the regular streams of freight traffic through the Channel Tunnel ceased at the beginning of February because the cost of using the Tunnel has increased substantially. Unilog based in Belgium has been forced out of business altogether, while GTS Trasporti in Italy stopped dispatching intermodal trains ...
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Festive start for Chinese sets
High speed trainsets have begun trial services between Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzen and Guangzhou, marking the latest step in Chinese Railways’ passenger service upgrade. The first services operated on the line to Hangzhou on January 28 using sets derived from the E2-1000 Shinkansen used by JR East (RG 8.05 p485). ...
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Freightliner prepares to compete in Poland
LAST MONTH the first four of seven EMD low-emission Class 66 locomotives ordered by Freightliner PL was delivered to Rotterdam, where they are being modified by NedTrain before entering service on open-access coal services in Poland in the second quarter of this year. UK operator Freightliner is investing ...
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Metro_Centro nears completion
NEXT MONTH is due to see completion of a 1?32?km light rail route in Sevilla, built in conjunction with a programme to pedestrianise streets in the historic core of the city. The first phase of Metro_Centro runs from Prado de San Sebasti?n to Plaza Nueva with two intermediate stops, and ...
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Line E extension contract
A CIVIL ENGINEERING contract for the extension of Buenos Aires metro Line E was officially awarded to Benito Roggio on February 16, with the expectation that construction would start within 90 days. The US$346m deal was announced by Argentina’s President N?stor Kirchner in a ceremony attended by the head of ...