All News articles – Page 341
-
News
EMU maintenance plan improved
ELECTRIC multiple-units operated at 3 kV DC by South Africa Rail Commuter Corp are up to 42 years old, requiring a careful approach to maintenance to keep them running. The period between general overhauls for the Class 5M2A fleet had been extended from seven to 18 years, but part of ...
-
News
Finance
China: The Export-Import Bank has negotiated a ´11·6bn loan for the Shuoxian - Huanghua heavy-haul coal line. The money will allow the autonomous Shenhua (Group) Co Ltd to purchase 20 high-power locos and 3000 coal wagons.From June 1 the Hang Seng Index includes Mass Transit Railway Corp. MTR has the ...
-
News
Fleet management software
SWISS consultancy Enotrac was to launch an English-language version of its VIS-Carsis fleet management software at the UITP’s Mobility & City Transport exhibition in May. Available on both local area network and over the internet, the software is designed for use by any size of railway. Lifetime data collection for ...
-
News
Freight strategy unveiled
A £4bn investment package to boost rail freight traffic in Britain was announced on May 3 by the Strategic Rail Authority’s Freight Director Julia Clarke. Intended to form part of the SRA’s Strategic Plan due later this year, the freight strategy is designed to deliver the 80% increase in tonne-km ...
-
News
Nigerian funding
TRANSPORT Minister Ojo Maduekwe has allocated state finance totalling 1bn naira for rehabilitation of the Nigerian rail network. The move followed a promise made by President Olusegun Obasanjo on April 26 to complete the revitalisation of the national railways within two years. The President made his comments during the inauguration ...
-
News
S-Bahn funds
AUSTRIAN Transport Minister Monika Forstinger has approved an initial grant of Sch600m towards the development of an S-Bahn network in Salzburg. A further Sch150m will come from the local authority towards the first stage of the Sch3bn scheme originally agreed in 1998. A start of work is expected shortly on ...
-
News
Investment funds sought
THIS YEAR’S TransAfrica 21 conference, organised on May 8-10 in London by GlobalSA Ltd within the Africa Investment Forum promotional framework, treated delegates to a range of contrasting views on ways to privatise or restructure their railways.With concessioning and privatisation starting to bear fruit in several African countries, investment is ...
-
News
Line H gets under way
On April 19 Aníbal Ibarra, head of the Buenos Aires city government, formally marked the start of work on metro Line H during a ceremony at the site of the future Incl
-
News
Grasping the nettle
EARLIER this year alarming reports surfaced about a McKinsey study that envisaged German Railway making huge cuts in passenger and freight services in an attempt to avoid massive financial losses in the next few years. At the time DB acknowledged that McKinsey had been asked to undertake studies, but was ...
-
News
MetroRail keeps growing
WASHINGTON Metro held a groundbreaking ceremony on May 8 for its 5 km Blue line extension from Addison Road to Largo, Maryland (RG 1.01 p29). The $434m project includes two new stations, and the line is expected to open at the end of 2004.On April 19 the WMATA board ...
-
News
Infraspeed wins HSL-Zuid PPP
ON MAY 11 Dutch Transport Minister Tineke Netelenbos and Finance Minister Gunnar Zalm announced that a Memorandum of Understanding had been signed for provision and maintenance of track, signalling, power supplies, noise barriers and communication systems on HSL-Zuid between Amsterdam and the Belgian border.The Infraspeed BV consortium has been selected ...
-
News
Industry News
Germany: Voith Turbo opened a service centre in Heidenheim on May 9. It stocks 19000 spare parts, and will provide 24h service to locomotive hire pools.South Africa: Austrian track materials manufacturer VAE AG has acquired 65% of Transwert Perway (Pty) Ltd.USA: Harris Corp announced on May 9 that it had ...
-
News
Integrated smart ticketing
CUBIC Transportation Systems is to install smart card fare collection equipment on 14 Baltimore metro stations and 957 buses under a US$21·9m contract awarded by Maryland MTA on April 18. The equipment is compatible with that already in use on the Washington metro. A second contract will cover Baltimore’s light ...
-
News
INTELLIGENCE
Australia: An audit of the interstate rail network carried out for Australian Rail Track Corp by Booz·Allen & Hamilton suggests that A$507m needs to be spent over the next five to six years to attract more freight to rail (p397). A$398m would go on the Melbourne - Sydney - Brisbane ...
-
News
Wheel-rail interface must be managed
’WEAR IS HEALTHY, but uncontrolled wear is not.’ Richard Keefe, Infrastructure Engineering Manager for MTR Corp in Hong Kong, was referring to the management of rail deterioration on one of the world’s busiest metros. Intriguingly, the model developed for rail management on Hong Kong’s MTR had been prescribed by BHP, ...
-
News
Intrastate revival
THE VICTORIA state government has confirmed plans to reinstate a number of regional passenger services radiating from Melbourne. Under the previous state administration, several services were replaced by buses. Trains are due to begin running again to Mildura, Ararat and Bairnsdale in 2003, and to Leongatha in 2004. Extensive work ...
-
News
Separation issue not resolved
OF ALL THE CHANGES thrust on the world’s railways in the last decade of the 20th century, separating operations from infrastructure was the most fundamental. Embraced by few and denigrated by many, separation generated more controversy than any other topic. In Britain, it led to unprecedented havoc after last October’s ...
-
News
Letters
Mixed train dailySir - The successful Amsterdam - Milano OverNight Express (RG 5.01 p339) shows that inspiration, innovation and dedication can produce the high-quality service that just-in-time freight customers demand but seldom receive from rail. In this interesting experiment, the modern equivalent of the old-style ’mixed’ passenger and freight train, ...
-
News
Traffic management software
ADTRANZ Signal A/S of Denmark has completed the development of its Ebicos TMS traffic management software. Already sold to railways in Sweden, Portugal, India and Australia, a test version of the software is due to be up and running in Sweden this month.Adtranz Signal has invested €25m in developing Ebicos ...