All News articles – Page 215
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AlpTransit costs rise as tracklaying starts
IN THE next few weeks tunnellers working on the 34·6 km L
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Out of the arc
NEXT month Metronet Rail will complete the installation of 30 arc suppression ramps which have been developed to cut the number of track fires in tunnels on three London Underground lines.The ramps are designed to minimise the duration of arcing on the conductor rails at locations where fires have occurred. ...
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Barcelona prepares for AVE arrival
THE SPANISH Ministry of Development has given its approval for tenders to be called for three contracts to undertake civil works on 8·9 km of the Madrid - Barcelona high speed line on the western approach to Barcelona. A budget of €316·4m has been set for the works, comprising Sant ...
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The man who never returned is back
MASSACHUSETTS Bay Transportation Authority's smart card has been named CharlieCard in honour of a fictional passenger who was trapped in the metro when he did not have an extra 5 cents to exit the station after a fare increase while he was travelling. The song 'Charlie on the MTA', was ...
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Bearing share sold
TIMKEN South Africa announced on January 5 that the Bokamoso Investments black economic empowerment consortium had acquired a 26% share in Timken Bearing Services South Africa for R38·6m. The transaction is being funded by a loan from First National Bank. Under the agreement, all the assets of Timken South Africa’s ...
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Blast off
BOMBARDIER is using a Vacu-Blast mobile abrasive blasting system to prepare the surfaces of complex aluminium formed panels used in the construction of multiple-units and light rail vehicles.The SHA03 and the larger SHA04 machines are installed at Bombardier’s Litchurch Lane plant in Derby, where they are used to produce an ...
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Evergreen II to boost Chiltern
WORK STARTS this month to double peak-hour capacity at London’s Marylebone station, as part of the first investment package to be funded by a UK train operating franchisee through a privately-financed special purpose vehicle.Chiltern Railways’ Evergreen II project was launched on December 20 by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling and Laing ...
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Wagon builders co-operate in China
THE Greenbrier Companies and Zhuzhou Rolling Stock Works announced the signing of two long-term co-operation agreements on December 15. The US company is to use Chinese-made parts in its North American and European wagons, and will identify design and commercial opportunities in China and elsewhere. Greenbrier also plans to examine ...
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European Bulls charge into the ring
JANUARY 13 saw the launch in Rotterdam of an alliance of private rail freight operators known as European Bulls. The alliance is modelled on airline groupings such as the Star Alliance, which the Chairman of European Bulls Matthias Raith cited in his address as guaranteeing 'high quality over the entire ...
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Skoda cleared to buy CKD
ON January 4 the Czech Republic’s Office for the Protection of Economic Competition decided to allow Skoda Holding to buy 100% of the shares of CKD Vagónka from 11 Fite Group, owner of the residual CKD Holding businesses. CKD Vagónka, which employs 300 people and has annual sales of KC1·5bn, ...
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Catastrophe on the coast
NEVER BEFORE have so many people perished in an accident on a railway as on December 26 2004. We will never know how many died because of the Indian Ocean tsunami, nor is it likely that we shall learn how many passengers lost their lives on Sri Lanka Railways’ Train ...
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JR Central to go fully private
FACED with a yawning gap in the state budget, the Japanese government is looking to sell off its remaining 39·56% stake in Central Japan Railway during the financial year starting in April.If the sale goes ahead, it will complete the process of privatising the three JR companies on Honshu: JR ...
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Eastleigh to close
ALSTOM announced in December that it is to close its ex-BR workshops at Eastleigh near Southampton by the end of 2005. The company blamed the closure on excess capacity at its three UK refurbishment plants, caused by falling orders following the delivery of new trains, competition, and uncertainties associated with ...
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Where the passengers come from
PRIOR to the announcement that Eurostar would transfer all operations from London Waterloo to St Pancras when Section 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link opens in 2007, Arthur D Little and FaberMaunsell conducted research into the perceived journey times by public transport to the two stations.FaberMaunsell’s South East Regional ...
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Common man goes mobile
MINISTER for Railways Laloo Prasad launched Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corp’s mobile telephone booking service on September 9.Reservations can be made over the telephone using Hindi and English voice-recognition technology developed by Hutchison Essar Telecom. Once registered, users provide their origin and destination stations, the number of passengers, class, ...
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Delay compensation standardised
MINIMUM levels of compensation for passengers delayed during international journeys within the European Union, Switzerland and Norway came into force with the December 12 timetable change. The compensation scheme was drawn up by UIC and CER, and specifies that passengers holding tickets for cross-border journeys costing more than €50 will ...
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Nacala concession completed
ON JANUARY 10 private-sector operators took over Mozambique's Northern Railway and the port of Nacala, with the start of a long-awaited 15-year concession. The handover marks the completion of the second phase of the Nacala Corridor concessioning process. It also paves the way for the start of upgrading on the ...
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GM-EMD sale confirmed
GENERAL Motors Corp announced on January 12 that it had reached a definitive agreement to sell Electro-Motive Division to an investor group led by Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners. Transaction terms will not be disclosed. The manufacturing facilities at LaGrange, Illinois, and London, Ontario, are included in the agreement, ...
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Contactless Taipei
THALES has been selected by Alstom Transport and CTCI Corp to update ticketing on the Taipei metro. The Transport & Energy business will be working with local partners Mitac and ACS on the €40m contract announced towards the end of last year.The metro’s existing ticketing equipment was supplied by Thales ...
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Madrid lets light metro contracts
MADRID regional government has awarded two contracts worth €131m for construction of a 5·3 km ’light metro’ from Pinar de Chamartín to Las Tablas. Expected to take 20 months to complete, construction will be undertaken by a consortium of Comsa and Ortiz and a second grouping of Comsa and Corviam. ...