All News articles – Page 305
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News
PIS updated
DANISH State Railways and Banestyrelsen have introduced a new passenger information system developed by Atkins Danmark using Siemens technology. VICOS I replaces the previous EMPS technology which Atkins Danmark (formerly ScanRail Consult) helped to develop in the mid-1980s. The Windows-based VICOS I draws on automated traffic management systems, timetable ...
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Pointers
n A study into the potential for reopening the Slavonice - Fratres border crossing between the Czech Republic and Austria is underway.n Tenders will be called shortly for construction of a 38 km spur from BHP Billiton’s existing line to the iron ore deposits in Mining Area C of the ...
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Vialia progress
UNDER the second phase of its Vialia programme to develop retail and leisure facilities at 16 major stations, Spanish National Railways has awarded Riofisa a contract covering A Coruña and Vigo. Metrovacesa will be building and letting new premises at Lleida and Logroño.Involving €601m of investment, Vialia has already seen ...
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Publications
Rail Map of Europe, 13th EditionThe Thomas Cook map of Europe’s passenger rail routes has been revised and updated to mid-2001. The main map shows the area from the Atlantic in the west to Moscow and the Crimea in the east at 1:4000000 scale. On the reverse of the sheet ...
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Tactical retreat
NETHERLANDS Railways confirmed last month that it had withdrawn from bidding for three regional rail franchises in Nordrhein-Westfalen. NS prequalified for the Sauerland, WestMünsterland and Haard concessions, but the Managing Director of the company’s International Business Group Anton Valk said NS would not be ’able to submit a sufficiently high ...
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TGV traffic still rising
FRENCH National Railways’ policy to win passengers to its Grandes Lignes long-distance inter-city business is paying off. The number of journeys is 35% higher than five years ago, with turnover up by 62%.This year SNCF plans to increase TGV traffic by over 10%. By March 23 the number of journeys ...
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West Side study
NEW YORK MTA called bids by May 1 for consultants to design a proposed extension of its Flushing subway, Line 7. The idea is to extend the existing two-track tunnel southwest from Times Square to the Jacob Javits Convention Center on 11th Avenue between 34th and 39th Streets. The project ...
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Not suburban
Sir - Your article ’Hillside EMU shipped to Melbourne’ (RG4.02 p208) says ’fitting out will take place at Ballarat in the Melbourne suburbs’. Well, I know that Melbourne suburbs extend quite a fair way out, but Ballarat is 118 km from Melbourne, by road or by rail. This is about ...
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Shinkansen network tops 2000 km
INTRO: December this year sees the opening of the Morioka - Hachinohe extension of the Tohoku Shinkansen, taking the length of Japan’s high speed network to 2047 km. The first part of the Kyushu Shinkansen will open next year, and work is proceeding on two other extensions BYLINE: Hiroshi KanazawaDirector, ...
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Westbahn upgrading adds capacity to priority transit corridor
INTRO: Austrian Federal Railways’ 317 km Westbahn between Wien and Salzburg is being modernised to handle growing transit traffic as the European Union prepares for expansionBYLINE: Dipl-Ing Helmut Hainitz and Dipl-Ing Rudolf Koller*AUSTRIA’S location at the heart of Europe obliges it to handle heavy flows of transit traffic, both north-south ...
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Advanced Commuter Train pioneers changes on Tokyo’s suburban network
INTRO: Testing of East Japan Railway’s prototype Advanced Commuter Train is now in hand. Breaking with several conventions, the articulated EMU makes extensive use of on-board information technology to reduce operating costs and increase reliabilityBYLINE: Takashi EndoDirector, Advanced Railway System Development CentreEast Japan Railway CoJR EAST operates 17 suburban routes ...
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Rebodied EMUs take over South African commuter routes
INTRO: Unable to afford new trainsets, South African Rail Commuter Corp is fitting new bodies to old EMU underframes. Rollo Dickson has the storySTRIKINGLY refurbished rolling stock is appearing in Johannesburg and Cape Town, where the electric multiple-units that work South Africa Rail Commuter Corp’s suburban services are typically 30 ...
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Service pattern not yet agreed
PLANS are being finalised for the domestic and international inter-city services which will use HSL-Zuid, but Managing Director of the NS-KLM High Speed Alliance Nol D
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Schwechat Express go ahead
AUSTRIAN Federal Railways has reached agreement with the operators of Wien Schwechat international airport to launch a dedicated rail service. This paves the way for the long-planned renovation of Wien Mitte station, which is due to be completed by the end of 2003. A new City Air Terminal will ...
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Tunnel freight all but stopped
ON MARCH 8, SNCF informed neighbouring railway administrations in Belgium, Italy and Spain that it would not accept any freight bound for Britain until a backlog of 17 trains in transit through France had been worked through the Channel Tunnel. While a few subsequently made it to the other side, ...
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Alstom boosts confidence
ON MARCH 14 Alstom announced details of its ’Restore Value’ plan to investors and analysts. Aimed at strengthening the balance sheet and generating cash, the plan prompted an immediate rise of 7·5% in the share price quoted in Paris.’Key challenges’ facing Alstom include high gearing following internally-funded acquisitions, insufficient cash ...
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Poles no longer apart
BOMBARDIER Transportation has reached agreement with Polish State Railways over the purchase of high-performance EU11 electric locomotives, originally ordered from Adtranz on December 23 1996. The contract was for 50, of which eight were to have been dual-voltage units able to accept 15 kV 162/3Hz as well as PKP’s 3 ...
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AustralAsia link making rapid progress
Tracklaying begins this month on the A$1·3bn Alice Springs - Darwin line. Opening in 2004, the Darwin extension of the existing line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs will realise a plan first put forward in 1858 and which has been a federal commitment since 1911BYLINE: Franco MorettiChief Executive Officer,Asia Pacific ...
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Bolt from the green
MARCH 15 saw the opening of a 375m light rail line in Los Angeles, linking the Farmers Market tourist complex and a new outdoor retail and entertainment centre dubbed The Grove. The 'environmentally-friendly transit system' is worked by a double-deck, open-top tram carrying up to 62 passengers at a top ...
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Products in Brief
Alstom Ferroviaria has ordered 78 SAFT Matrics MRX compact rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries (RG 3.02 p151) for use on Cityway trams that it is supplying to Torino.Laniel Canada has supplied its model LC-12017 change machines fitted with CashCode ST banknote validators for use at stations on the Shanghai Metro network.Cattron-Theimeg has ...