All News articles – Page 337
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Software signal blocks
LAUNCHED at the UITP Mobility & City Transit exhibition in May, Seltrac FB communications-based train control from Alcatel can be used as a stand-alone or overlay system. It is aimed primarily at the urban market, and an initial demonstration on the Paris metro is planned for later this year.Expanding the ...
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Metrorail investment boost
SOUTH AFRICAN Transport Minister Dullah Omar has approved a R400m investment package for modernising the country’s urban rail networks over the next five years. Funding is being allocated to SA Rail Commuter Corp in the national budget for safety improvements including signalling and telecommunications upgrading.Later this year SARCC expects to ...
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Branch revival
RESTORATION of the railway to Kotipalli in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh began with the laying of a foundation stone on May 11. The route from Kakinada through the Godavari delta is primarily expected to handle agricultural traffic to and from the port at Kakinada which is being expanded.The ...
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Industry in Brief
Alstom has acquired the British train maintenance and refurbishment business Railcare Ltd, which was formerly owned by Siemens and Babcock International. The 680 staff at three sites will be integrated into Alstom Transport Service.MAN B&W Diesel Ltd is to reorganise its engine and after-market businesses in Britain. A Medium Speed ...
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Passenger News in Brief
Direct Tehran - Almaty passenger services began on April 1. A weekly train leaves Tehran on Sunday, returning on Thursday, and takes two days to make the trip. In future, Kazakhstan Railways hopes to extend the service to Urumqi in China.British operator First North Western has introduced at-seat entertainment on ...
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Products in Brief
Fibreglass Grating Ltd has supplied a range of anti-slip chemical-resistant floor gratings for work areas and walkways in manufacturing plants and maintenance workshops.Ebo Systems has supplied over 52 km of GRP cable tray to support optic fibres in the Channel Tunnel service tunnel. The trays lock together without bolts, are ...
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NewsIntegrating 'global brilliance'
IN HIS KEYNOTE speech to the 7th International Heavy Haul Conference in Brisbane on June 11, former Spoornet Chief Executive Braam le Roux, currently Representative for Southern Africa at the International Union of Railways, drew attention to the constant threat facing railways from their competitors. Telling 580 delegates from 27 ...
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Indiana Rail Road shows how to grow regional business
INTRO: The last decades have seen numerous unprofitable secondary and branch lines spun off to regional and short line operators. The Indiana Rail Road demonstrates how labour flexibility, innovative technology, and close attention to service can turn once marginal routes into successful regional railways, reports William DMiddleton ESTABLISHED IN 1986, ...
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TGV Méditerranée opens for business
On June 7 President Jacques Chirac formally opened the latest addition to the French high speed network, the 250 km TGV Méditerranée running from the TGV Rh
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Dutch plan to juggle capacity
STUDIES by Railforum Nederland suggest that it may be possible to boost capacity on the Dutch rail network by 30 to 40% over the next five years with relatively minor modifications to signalling and track layouts.NS is currently struggling to handle its growing traffic, with many passenger trains cancelled due ...
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MTA seeks capital funds
NEW YORK MTA has applied for federal funding to support a number of capital projects during the financial year starting in September. MTA has allocated $4bn for New York City Transit, $302m for Metro-North, and $216m for Long Island Rail Road, plus $150m for the LIRR’s East Side Access project. ...
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Cargo Express launched
SWISS Federal Railways introduced an accelerated overnight service for domestic freight on June 11. Offering later loading times and earlier deliveries than existing wagonload services, Cargo Express combines SBB’s former Cargo Rail Rapid and Cargo Domizil networks and relies on a network of trains that converge on yards at Bern ...
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High-speed fortunes change
FLORIDA Governor Jeb Bush has signed the High Speed Rail Authority Act, setting up an agency to build a passenger railway connecting the state’s five largest metropolitan areas, and providing $4·5m to fund the first year’s work. Nine board members were to be appointed by June 30: three each by ...
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TramPlus is changing the face of Rotterdam
INTRO: Government grants for public transport modernisation will fund new low-floor cars, route extensions and upgrading work in a programme that will eventually see total restructuring of Rotterdam’s tram network. Chris Jackson finds that the first phase of TramPlus has already brought a welcome upturn in ridershipAPRIL 17 saw the ...
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Chinese inspect screen doors
ON MAY 24 the Chippenham plant of Westinghouse Brakes (UK) Ltd was visited by a delegation from the Chinese city of Guangzhou, led by Mayor Lin Shusen and including Guangzhou Metro General Manager Lu Guanglin. Under a contract worth £12m, Westinghouse and its local partner Guangzhou Otis Elevator Co Ltd ...
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Compact tacho
Bombardier is using a new design of hand-held tachometer to measure diesel engine components during maintenance work at Crewe. The Compact CT6 Tachometer has a magnetic probe to measure cooler group fan speeds without the need to remove safety covers. A piezo-electric quartz crystal pressure sensor strapped to a fuel ...
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Metros need co-ordination, not competition
’THIS IS A tremendous opportunity for us all to learn’, suggested Mayor of London Ken Livingstone as he welcomed delegates to the 54th UITP World Congress which opened at Earl’s Court on May 21. Readers will be aware of recent developments in London which led him to continue ’and you ...
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Link completes pan-European corridor
THERESTORED rail link between Slovenia and Hungary was formally inaugurated by the two Prime Ministers on May 16. The route forms part of the pan-European Corridor V, linking Venezia, Trieste, Koper, Ljubljana, Budapest, Bratislava and L’viv (RBR 95 p67).The first railway to be built in Slovenia for over 30 years, ...
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Railtrack’s costs go through the roof
ON MAY 24 Railtrack released preliminary results for the year ended March 31 2001. These were bad enough, with the previous year’s £360m profit replaced by a £543m loss. This was mainly due to £561m in extra penalty payments to train operators after the Hatfield derailment on October 17 2000, ...
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Unusual layout led to Ladbroke Grove crash
The unsafe track and signalling layout adopted by British Rail when the approaches to Paddington were remodelled in 1989-92 appears to be the root cause of the 210 km/h head-on collision that occurred at Ladbroke Grove on October 5 1999 (RG 11.99 p703). Lord Cullen’s report on the accident, published ...