All News articles – Page 253
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News
Magnetic detectors
E-AWS has been developed to remove the need for Automatic Warning System receivers to be switched between high and low sensitivity as trains move between areas with differing or no electrification systems. The solid state magnetic detector used by E-AWS covers the full range of receiver-to-magnet sensitivities, eliminating the need ...
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Plug-in doors
TWIN-LEAF passenger doors on a Bombardier LF2000 low-floor tram used in the city of Dessau have been replaced with a new door module from a range developed by Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau AG.The installation of the new doors for a one-year demonstration and testing period did not require changes to the tram’s ...
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Minding the doors
MODERN trains and trams need doors which are intelligent. A passenger caught in a closing door can be injured, and even trapped clothing causes short delays while the doors are released. Systems are available to prevent doors trapping obstructions, but it is vital to reduce the number of false alarms.Siemens ...
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Dublin expansion gets underway
LAST MONTH saw the start of work on the €170m first phase of the DART & Suburban Enhancement Project to expand commuter services in the Dublin area. Due to be completed by mid-2005, the project includes platform lengthening to ensure that all 30 stations on the DART network will be ...
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Sharing knowledge is essential to secure the future
INTRO: With international delegates in attendance from all sectors of the railway industry and academia, the World Congress on Railway Research provides an opportunity to network with colleagues and industry peersBYLINE: Len PorterChairman, WCRR 2003 Organising CommitteeTHE ORGANISING Committee is proud to host the 6th World Congress on Railway Research, ...
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UK franchises to be extended
ON SEPTEMBER 9 the UK Strategic Rail Authority announced that it was to start formal negotiations to extend four of the remaining first-generation franchises. The Wessex Trains and West Anglia Great Northern franchises currently held by National Express expire on March 31 2004, as does GOVIA’s Thameslink franchise. NEG’s contract ...
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Monopoly falls
FOLLOWING complaints by Germany’s private railways, the Federal Cartel Office has ruled that third parties are free to supply electricity to the 162/3Hz high voltage grid which feeds DB’s traction substations. Until now this has been operated exclusively by DB subsidiary DB Energie GmbH. A report commissioned by 28 of ...
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German tenders re-called
GERMAN Railway announced on August 21 that it was to call tenders early next year for the supply of 203 diesel locomotives for its freight subsidiary Railion Deutschland (left). Options for a further 263 locos could lift the total value of the package to around €1·1bn. Contracts for the supply ...
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Getting a grip
LIFTING the concrete slabs which make up cable troughing frequently installed alongside railway tracks can be made easier using a scissor-action tool developed by J Muscroft Engineering. ’It grips concrete slabs at each end and allows two operators to lift the slab via handles, enabling operators to keep their backs ...
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Getting out
The provision of emergency escape routes is a growing consideration in carriage design, with analysis of passengers’ responses to incidents showing it is an important factor in the aftermath of a serious incident. AEA Technology Rail has developed sliding vestibule doors which include a simple mechanism to allow passengers to ...
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Glimmer of hope
WITH TEARS in their eyes, the citizens of Basavilbaso in Argentina congregated at the small town’s station on August 26 to witness the departure at 08.00 of the first passenger train since 1992. Around 21/2h later it arrived at Villaguay 62 km down the line. Local politicians were joined on ...
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Suburban quadrupling heads infrastructure programme
INTRO: Construction of new tracks through the western suburbs of Oslo will relieve the biggest bottleneck on the Norwegian networkDEEP IN THE hills to the southwest of the Norwegian capital, contractors are hard at work boring rock tunnels 2·7 km and 3·6 km long. They will form part of the ...
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The right height
OVH Wizard is an ultrasonic overhead contact wire height and stagger measuring unit, which can be installed in under two hours. Cheaper than laser-based devices, it can be easily mounted on any railway vehicles from 2·75 to 3·75m high. The rugged aluminium beam construction is suited for installation on ...
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Hirers to the rescue
ZIMBABWE Mining & Smelting Co is to hire two diesel locomotives from South Africa in a deal that could pave the way for major rail users to overcome loco and rolling stock shortages crippling the national railway. Chief Executive Sydwell Jena confirmed early last month that Zimasco was about to ...
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Russian links to be improved
MEETING in Warszawa on August 20, railway officials from Germany, Poland, Belarus and Russia agreed details of a programme to improve passenger services on the Berlin - Warszawa - Minsk - Moscow corridor. Moscow - Berlin services are to run daily all year round, and the Moscow - K
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Inn tunnel starts
AUGUST 12 saw the formal start of work on a 7·7 km tunnel between Terfens and Vomp in Austria, which will carry the new Lower Inn Valley line between Innsbruck and Wels. Being built by Brenner Eisenbahn GmbH on behalf of the Austrian, German and Italian governments, the 40 km ...
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intelligence
Angola: Work is expected to begin next month on the rehabilitation of the 23 km Bungo - Viana section of the Luanda railway.Argentina: Buenos Aires suburban operator Metropolitano was due to begin electric operation over the 6·6 km between Temperley and Claypole last month. Work to install 25 kV 50Hz ...
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IR looks at Suez landbridge
NEXT MONTH is due to see the publication of a report into the feasibility of a rail freight corridor between Eilat and the Mediterranean port of Ashdod. On August 20 Israeli Transport Minister Avigdor Liebermann announced that creation of 'a landbridge alternative to the slow and costly Suez Canal' had ...
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JR-East seeks supremacy in the long-distance market
INTRO: With plans in hand to extend the Tohoku and Hokuriku Shinkansen, JR-East has calculated that to compete with the airlines it must raise the current maximum speed from 275 km/h to 360 km/h, prompting research into noise reduction, bogie stability and ride comfortBYLINE: Takashi Endo Director, Advanced Railway System ...