All News articles – Page 295
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News
Uruguayan rescue plan
AS THE GOVERNMENT considers options for the future of the Uruguayan railway network, including its transformation into a state-owned infrastructure company, AFE has submitted an investment plan to the office of the President which would see US$45m spent on upgrading a smaller network. AFE Vice-President Roberto Médica said that ’the ...
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Turkish plans
BIDS WERE opened on June 17 for a feasibility study of the planned Polatli - Afyon cut-off in Turkey. Lowest bidder is Akum Mimarlik, at 162 000bn lire. Together with upgrading between Afyon and Usak, the link is intended to shorten the route from Ankara to Izmir (RG 12.94 p808).The ...
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Predicting point wear
CURRENTS in point machine motors can be measured using the PointSenz PCM10 family of waterproof Hall-effect transducers from LEM. Measurements of the DC supply to the point motor are logged to produce a profile of current used against time. A variation from the normal profile may indicate the possibility of ...
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Turning points
GE Transportation Systems Global Signaling has acquired part of Railway Technology Inc’s point machine range. The deal covers RTI’s model 3000, model 3000LP, and model 3000ES Hydra-Switch products. The points machines can be worked remotely from a control centre or locomotive cab, and can be powered either from a local ...
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Publications
Underground to EverywhereStephen HallidayThis entertaining social and economic history of the oldest and largest metro shows how what we now call Enronitis delivered wealth to some unscrupulous promoters but scant dividends to investors. Formation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933 brought public ownership and a flowering of reliable ...
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Sidetrack
Shot to piecesNOW underway in Russia is the disposal of the former Soviet Union’s fleet of rail vehicles equipped to transport and launch SS-24 intercontinental ballistic missiles. These wagons could be moved around as necessary, so that the missiles could be launched from anywhere on the vast SZD rail network.Scrapping ...
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Torino trials
Sir - I was very interested to read the report about Torino in the latest issue of Metro Report (MR 02 p51). Unfort-unately, it contains a number of errors, and some expectations which I feel are unrealistic.The main error is that the southern end of tram Line 4 has never ...
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Line 4 consortia prequalified
A TOTAL OF 12 consortia have prequalified for turnkey contracts to design and build metro Line 4 in the Brazilian city of São Paulo. The first phase which will run for 12·8 km from Luz to Vila S
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RZD accelerates the pace of electrification
INTRO: Electrification of the final two sections of the Trans-Siberian main line ranks among several major wiring projects nearing completion under a Russian Railways investment programmeAFTER A LONG period during the 1990s when financial problems prevented much investment in the Russian Railways network, electrification is once again a priority in ...
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Master Plan will add capacity
INTRO: Earlier this year Vietnam’s Prime Minister authorised a 160921bn dong programme of investment that will expand and modernise the DSVN network by 2020MAJOR upgrading of existing routes and construction of new lines feature prominently in Vietnam Railways’ Master Plan. With Prime Minister Phan Van Khai’s seal on the document, ...
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PPP in the dock again
ONCE AGAIN the High Court in London is due to consider the legality of the Public-Private Partnership that is intended to hand over the maintenance of the capital’s metro to the private sector. On June 12 Mayor of London Ken Livingstone announced that Transport for London, which he chairs, had ...
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ERRAC sets out strategic agenda
THE DIRECTION of European railway research for the next 20 years was mapped out on June 4, when the European Commissioner for Research Philippe Busquin unveiled the Strategic Rail Research Agenda. Subtitled ’A Turning Point for European Rail Research’, SRRA 2020 outlines four ’areas of action’ to be progressed by ...
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AGV in need of a customer
HAVING completed its task in May, Alstom's Elisa test train formed of two experimental AGV cars married to part of a TGV Réseau set is being dismantled while the results are analysed. AGV stands for Automotrice à Grande Vitesse, and Project Director Georges Palais told us on the final trip ...
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WMATA picks Alstom
WASHINGTON DC metro operator WMATA has selected Alstom Transportation Inc to supply a build of 64 new cars, although the recommendation by the Operations Committee on May 23 must still be endorsed by the board of directors. The $148·6m contract will include an option for up to 120 cars at ...
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Amtrak ’near the point of no return’
IMMEDIATELY after taking office as President & CEO of Amtrak in May, David Gunn set about tackling the railway’s precarious financial position. In particular, he warned that Amtrak would have to cease running services in July unless an emergency $200m short-term loan was arranged by the end of June to ...
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CAF expands US arm
SPANISH rolling stock builder CAF has opened a new technical development centre at Elmira Heights, New York, which will work closely with its North American manufacturing plants at Hunt Valley, Maryland and Sacramento, California. The centre will also support the company’s contract to supply 28 new light rail cars for ...
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Echoes of Armagh
FLAGS in Mozambique were lowered to half mast on May 26 as the country began three days of official mourning following a disastrous runaway incident on the previous day. At around 05.00 a mixed train bound for Maputo from Ressano Garcia was on a grade near the town of Moamba, ...
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Swiss to test asphalt substructure
TWO OR THREE trial sections of asphalt-based track are to be laid in Switzerland. Leading the project is Swiss Track Systems, a grouping of companies set up to promote use of asphalt track in Switzerland.The group is led by local company Aeschlimann AG, whose partners are Cellere AG, also from ...
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Italians lift up and away
ACCESSIBILTY specialist Bestgroup Industrie has developed MoDiLift, a battery powered on-board lift which can be fitted to vehicles during refurbishment. Two prototypes are currently undergoing tests on Spanish National Railways regional trains, and MoDiLift will be used on 10 trainsets being refurbished by Magliola & Figli for services between Italy ...