All News articles – Page 388
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News
Product NEWS
Chinese seek faster rerailingFACED with only 239 breakdown cranes to cover a network of over 62000 route-km, Chinese Railways has been stretched to cover rescue and rerailing operations after minor derailments. Many of the cranes are rated at less than 1 000 kN, and are limited to 40 km/h when ...
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TRAX overwhelmed
UTAH Transit Authority’s 24 km TRAX light rail line between Salt Lake City and Sandy was opened on December 4. Joining UTA Chairman Jim Clark and General Manager John Inglish for the ceremonies marking early completion of the $312m line were acting Federal Transit Administrator Nuria Fernandez, Utah Governor Mike ...
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PEOPLE
Ms Mamata Banerjee has been appointed Minister of Railways in the new Indian government, with Digvijay Singh named as Minister of State for Railways.Gerard Gibot, Director of European Affairs at French National Railways, has been appointed Director of the President’s Cabinet in succession to Eric Beaudonnet who has taken charge ...
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Santos privatises port railway
Codesp, the São Paulo State Docks Company, has agreed to transfer operation of its 200 km network serving the port of Santos to four of Brazil’s private freight operators. A joint venture of Ferroban, Ferronorte, MRS Logística and Novoeste was to expected take over 250 Codesp staff and a fleet ...
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Publications
Hidden Dangers - Railway Safety in the Era of Privatisationby Stanley HallPublication of this 128 page essay on safety could not have been better timed. In the wake of the hysteria that followed the Ladbroke Grove accident on October 5, this is a badly-needed sober assessment of railway safety on ...
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Sidetrack
Red for dangerThefts of diesel have become such a problem that cash-strapped Zambia Railways has resorted to dyeing its fuel red to deter thieves. A public notice in the Times of Zambia announces that ’Anybody found in unauthorised possession of the red fuel will be deemed to have stolen it ...
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BB21 contracts
ONSEPTEMBER 1 Netherlands Railways’ infrastructure unit Railinfrabeheer awarded contracts totalling 90m guilders to Alstom Signalling and Adtranz Signal for development of its planned BB21 train control system. The three-year project will cover the design and installation of pilot equipment. BB21 will meet ERTMS/ETCS Level 2 and Level 3 specifications (RG ...
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Finnish Sm4s enter service
DURING NOVEMBER, Finnish Railways will put into traffic its 10 new low-floor Sm4 EMUs on commuter services in the Helsinki region. Following demonstration runs on other routes, the air-conditioned sets will be assigned to the I and P services between Helsinki and Hiekkaharju.The 10 sets were ordered from Fiat Ferroviaria ...
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Line 5 heads São Paulo expansion
TENDERS were due to be submitted on September 16 for two tracklaying contracts on São Paulo metro Line 5 between Capão Redondo and Largo Treze. The contracts cover 9·5 km of ballastless double-track and 4 km of ballasted track for the maintenance depot and stabling sidings. Bids for M&E installations ...
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Line 8 to Barajas
SEPTEMBER 8 saw the formal inauguration of the final 1·9 km of Madrid metro Line 8 from Barajas airport to Pueblo de Barajas. Costing Pts4bn, this short addition completes the city’s 1995-99 metro expansion programme. Line 8 now runs between Pueblo de Barajas and Mar de Cristal, where passengers must ...
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Nordic Rail ’99 focuses on Europe
THE FIRST two Nordic Rail events in 1995 and 1997 were aimed at the railway industry in the Nordic region. In both cases, a conference was matched with a small trade exhibition. The next event being held in J
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Acela delayed
just as we publish our latest World Speed Survey (p659), which finds that the USA is one of only two countries where train performance has worsened in the last decade, comes news that the launch of 240 km/h Acela Express services on the Northeast Corridor will be delayed. On September ...
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Marmaray loan agreement signed
TURKEY: Minister of State Recep Onal and Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura signed a loan agreement in Ankara on August 19 releasing the first US$117m tranche of funding for the cross-Bosporus rail link. This follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed on March 26 under which Japan's Overseas Economic Co-operation ...
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Alaska airport update
Tenders have been called for design of a new Alaska Railroad station as part of a US$200m reconstruction of Anchorage airport. The elevated station will have a 100 m long covered platform and a three storey building with a waiting room accommodating up to 250 people. The station would be ...
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Sir Alastair sets ground rules
RENEGOTIATION of passenger franchises awarded three years ago by Britain’s last Conservative government has been on the agenda since Labour came to power in May 1997, but only now are firm ground rules emerging. They were spelled out in two speeches on September 15 and 17 by Sir Alastair Morton, ...
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Corridor IV upgrade approved
THE CZECH government has approved the upgrading of CD’s north-south Corridor IV as part of its transport development strategy for 2000-10. The Decin - Praha - Horni Dvoriste route is to be rebuilt by 2005, taking priority over Corridor III linking Cheb, and Petrovice u Karviné (RG 6.95 p379).Over the ...
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TER autorails arrive
NOVEMBER 28 will see the start of revenue operation with French National Railways’ first Class X73500 lightweight diesel railcars. The ’Autorail TER’ units are due to enter service on the Strasbourg - Molsheim - St Dié line in Alsace. They will also replace bus services between Tours and Chinon in ...
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Rio governor backs metro
ANTHONY GAROTINHO, Governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, has approved a funding package for a short extension of metro Line 1 in the city’s Copacabana district. The deal clears the way for concessionaire Opportrans to start work on the 760m extension from the present Cardeal Arco Verde terminus ...
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Berlin interchange renewed
ANYONE who visited Friedrichstraße station in Berlin before the Iron Curtain fell would barely recognise it today. Last month German Railway completed a four-year rebuilding programme of this major interchange, and the grim building where east and west were strictly segregated - with the eastern platforms only accessible under the ...