All News articles – Page 281
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News
UIC launches timetable database
ON DECEMBER 3 the International Union of Railways unveiled the Merits project to develop a European timetable database. Unveiled just ahead of the timetable change on December 15, Merits allows around 30 operators to exchange timetable data electronically. Any participating railway can access the timetable of any other. The database ...
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Hallandsås deal
SWEDISH rail infrastructure authority Banverket awarded a contract on November 8 to a joint venture of Skanska and Vinci of France for completion of the troubled 8·5 km Hallandsås tunnel. The double-track bore is intended to form part of the West Coast main line upgrading between Göteborg and Malmö. ...
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Fire detection
SEVEN stations on Rotterdam metro’s Benelux line (p20) have been fitted with fire detectors from Apollo. There are over 400 Apollo XP95 analogue addressable smoke detectors and manual call points, with beam detectors to protect platforms and waiting areas. A CEL Discovery control panel with a graphical display is used. ...
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Metro duty-planning improved
BILBAO Metro is planning its train schedules using ILOG’s Solver and CPLEX software. It is used as part of a planning package designed to simplify the rostering of drivers and producing exact work shift calendars adapted to the real service needs. Supplied by Thales Information Systems, the system relies on ...
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North East Line ready to open
INTRO: Revenue services are about to start on Singapore’s North East Line. Advances in technology since the island’s first heavy metro routes were built have permitted the use of full automationBYLINE: Tai Chong ChewSenior Director, Projects & Engineering,Land Transport Authority THE FIRST quarter of 2003 will see the opening of ...
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Tenerife gets EIB funding
METROPOLITANO de Tenerife SA has been granted a €138m European Investment Bank loan to finance the island’s planned 16·7 km light rail network. Promoted by Tenerife Island Council, the project forms part of the Special Territorial Plan for the Tenerife metropolitan area, and will connect the towns of Santa Cruz ...
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Parcels EMU plan
JAPANESE parcels delivery company Sagawa Express Co has announced plans to switch its trunk hauls between Tokyo and Osaka to rail in early 2003. As well as cutting exhaust emissions, the move is intended to mitigate the effects of requirement limiting Japanese lorries to 90 km/h from next September.The traffic ...
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Pioneer of separation finds the experiment could unravel
EVEN THE most ardent supporters of separating infrastructure and operations must surely be wondering about their policy following revelations in early December that serious financial problems were affecting the passenger business in Sweden. It was here in 1988 that the first moves were made towards separation when Swedish State Railways ...
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Tohoku Shinkansen extended
CEREMONIES were held at Hachinohe station on December 1 to mark the inauguration of a further section of Japan’s Tohoku Shinkansen. Participating in the tape-cutting were JR East President Ohtsuka and the Governor of Aomori prefecture Mr Kiamura. The inaugural Hayate train 2 to Tokyo was then dispatched at 06.55 ...
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Faster to Malpensa
FERROVIE Nord Milano has taken a further step towards its goal of a 30min journey time for the Malpensa Express airport service. Contracts were awarded at the end of November for relocation underground of the route at Castellanza and associated works to complete double-tracking between Saronno and the airport junction. ...
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Finance
Canada: In the fourth quarter of 2002, CN took charges against earnings totalling C$252m, resulting from a new method of accounting for personal injury claims in the USA and severance costs for 1146 staff. Net income for the quarter was expected to be down on the C$296m recorded in 2001.Czech ...
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Zürich Phase III funded
THE BOARD of Swiss Federal Railways voted on November 29 to allocate SFr115m towards the third phase of the Zürich S-Bahn expansion programme. The canton of Aargau has already approved its share of the SFr202m project cost, and the balance will come from the cantons of Zürich, Thurgau and St ...
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Gijón tunnel
AS PART OF THE Metrotrén Asturias project (RG 1.02 p9), the Spanish Ministry of Development is to call tenders for the construction of a 3·54 km tunnel under the centre of Gijón. Starting at a depth of 20m below the existing Renfe terminus, the tunnel will run to Viesques with ...
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Grid success
NOTTINGHAM University’s School of Civil Engineering has won the Royal Society’s £250000 Brian Mercer Innovation Award for its research into reinforcement of ballast using polymer meshes. The award will fund research staff, an experimental facility and test rig.This testing facility will feature a three-sleeper section of track. It will use ...
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GSM-R testing
LATEST addition to the Willtek Communications range is the 4202R mobile tester for use with GSM-R radios, telephones and peripherals.In addition to standard measurements for mobile telephone testing and alignment, the 4202R supports incoming and outgoing group calls at various priority levels. It simulates a network, initiating test calls to ...
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Inside Industry
Talgo arrives in Kazakhstan THROUGH its German subsidiary Talgo Deutschland GmbH, Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Patentes Talgo SA has formed a 50:50 joint venture in Kazakhstan with local maintenance company Remvagon. Known as Tulpar-Talgo, it is expected that the new company will maintain Talgo trainsets operated by Kazakhstan Railways under ...
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INTELLIGENCE
Australia: A ceremony was held at Dunmarra on December 13 to mark the final weld linking together rails laid southbound from Katherine and northbound from Tennant Creek on the Alice Springs - Darwin railway.Public consultation is underway for construction of the direct Perth - Mandurah line, following the passing of ...
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More money for UK light rail
ANNOUNCING on December 10 transport funding allocations to local authorities in England outside London for 2003-04, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling confirmed that a package of £520m had been agreed for extending the Manchester Metrolink light rail network to Oldham, Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Airport. Total cost is £820m, of which ...
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Sheppard line opened
TORONTO Transit Commission’s first new heavy metro line for 36 years opened for revenue service on November 24, following official dedication ceremonies at Don Mills station two days earlier. The inaugural train was operated by Kevin Brown, whose late father Ed drove Toronto’s first subway train in 1954 and also ...