All News articles – Page 404
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News
Pointers
n Look for an announcement this month of the preferred bidders to control Peru’s state rail network now run by Enafer. Under a process being organised by Mercer Management Consultants, the government will retain ownership of the infrastructure, and the concessionaires will be responsible for selling timetable paths to various ...
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RailNoise for Windows
WS atkins Noise & Vibration has released a Windows version of its RailNoise software which calculates operational noise generated by railways and guided transport systems (RG 3.97 p189). Running under Windows 95, 98 or NT4, RailNoise 98 is available in three versions: LT for smaller projects, Standard, and Enterprise with ...
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Sidetrack
Airport is all at seaWith growth at Schiphol airport continuing (p355), its management, the airlines based there and the air traffic authority have concluded that the construction of an off-shore airport, similar to that serving Osaka in Japan, is the best solution, and is needed by 2010. Connection to the ...
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Tagus troubles
AS PREDICTED last month, no celebrations were held in Lisboa on April 25 to mark the launch of cross-Tagus rail services. Testing was still under way early last month on the cross-Tagus route, and the double-deck EMUs (below) built for the service to be operated by concessionaire Fertagus were only ...
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Railtrack boosts rolling 10-year plan to £27bn
THE 1999 Network Management Statement which Railtrack is required to publish each year suggests that total spending on Britain’s national network in the 10 years from April 1 1999 to March 31 2009 is expected to reach £27·1bn. This is 64% higher than the £16·5bn foreseen in the 1998 NMS. ...
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World Speed Survey 1999
Sir - Work has now begun on the 1999 World Speed Survey, which as usual will be based on the summer timetables. Our 1997 review prompted an above-average reader response. It seems appropriate now to reply in the hope that with help from readers we can avoid errors. These days ...
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Athens Line 2 breakthrough
ON MARCH 26 a tunnel boring machine broke through into the station box at Agiou Ioanni station in the southeastern suburb of Neos Kosmos, marking the completion of tunnelling on Line 2 of the Athens Metro. Work on the Sepolia - Dafni line is late because boring was suspended for ...
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NS float in 2003
THE NETHERLANDS cabinet proposed at the end of March that national rail operator NS should be privatised in 2003, through a stock market flotation expected to raise at least 4bn guilders. In order to boost the sale price, NS will retain its monopoly of inter-city services for the next 10 ...
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Line 9 reaches Arganda del Rey
ON APRIL 7 Madrid Metro inaugurated its 18·3 km suburban feeder line between Puerta de Arganda and Arganda del Rey. Operating above ground along a former industrial railway alignment, the route is worked as an extension of Line 9 with intermediate stations at Rivas Urbanizaciones, Rivas Vaciamadrid and La Poveda.Operating ...
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Piggyback in favour after Mont-Blanc tunnel fire
RARELY indeed do road accidents attract significant media attention. But the catastrophic fire in the 11·6 km Franco-Italian Mont-Blanc road tunnel on March 24 certainly did - despite the dominance of Balkan war coverage. It also prompted serious calls for much more European freight to be moved by rail. Among ...
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CN-IC merger approved
ON March 25 the US Surface Transportation Board voted unanimously to approve the merger of Canadian National and Illinois Central. The STB will issue its written decision on May 25, and this is to become effective on June 24. CN’s 25600 route-km and IC’s 5420 route-km will be integrated from ...
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Arsenal climate chamber will be hot property
SNOW OR SUNSHINE can be produced at will in the climate chamber at Wien-Arsenal, where rolling stock of all kinds is sent to check its performance in extreme weather conditions. Built in 1960 mainly to serve the research arm of the UIC, the test centre was refurbished in 1977. It ...
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Tel Aviv starts suburban line
ISRAELI Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and National Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon participated in ceremonies in March to mark the start of work on Israel Railways' Tel Aviv suburban network. The first line to Kfar Sava is costed at US$160m for infrastructure and US$88m for rolling stock, but IR ...
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Sterling bags tourist circuits
INDIAN Railways has finally agreed terms with Sterling Resorts to operate two of its eight planned luxury tourist trains, under a profit sharing agreement (RG 2.98 p87). A memorandum of understanding signed in March after three years of negotiations provides for Sterling to own and staff the train, which will ...
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Brenner basics
CONTAINER trains using the Brenner route across the Alps are taking up to 12h from close of loading in München to the first box being unloaded in Verona. A lorry can do the trip in 9h, and prices are typically 10 to 15% cheaper. So the Brenner motorway is crushingly ...
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Toronto beckons urban rail suppliers
AROUND 7000 visitors and delegates are expected to converge on the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on May 23-27. Prominent among them will be delegates attending the 53rd Congress of the International Union of Public Transport, which is sharing this modern venue with the City Transport 99 exhibition. Supporting events include ...
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Bundesboxes Berlin-bound
As Sidetrack was closing for press, ceremonies in Berlin on April 19 marked the formal opening of the new home of Germany’s government at the rebuilt Reichstag. The transfer of power from Bonn requires government departments to be dismantled and reassembled in their new home.The impact of the move on ...
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Big three lead rail renaissance
INTRO: By focusing on customer service and investing in both infrastructure and new equipment, Mexico’s three major concessionaires are working to provide safe, reliable and punctual freight service and win back traffic lost to road. Senior executives from TFM, Ferromex and Ferrosur spoke to Robert Preston about the progress they ...
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Bilbao termini
SPANISH National Railways has completed a further rationalisation of local rail services in Bilbao, with the diversion of suburban routes C1 and C2 from Santurtzi and Muskiz into the main terminus at Abando (RG 3.97 p153). This has involved reconstruction of an orbital freight line and construction of a 600m ...
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Luggage blocker
LAST AUGUST we reported that German Railway and national airline Lufthansa had signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at switching short-haul domestic air traffic to rail. When Frankfurt Airport’s dedicated inter-city station opens on May 30, the trip by rail to Stuttgart will take only 1h 15min, while from 2002 ...