All News articles – Page 442
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News
Pollution rules boost costs
FINAL RULES on exhaust emissions issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency are estimated to add $252000 to the whole-life cost of a locomotive - though the impact will be gradual as the tighter standards are phased in between 2000 and 2005.There are three levels, or tiers, of standards. Tier ...
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Traffic surge and debt relief boost SNCF prospects
INTRO: After several years in the doldrums, French National Railways is starting to improve its financial performance. Increasing traffic during 1997 has boosted the balance sheet, and the transfer of historic debt to RFF has relieved the interest burden. Jean-Paul Masse looks at the story behind the figuresON JANUARY 8 ...
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Spending boost
NORFOLK Southern is to invest $903m on capital projects this year, compared to $781m in 1997. Of this, $149m will go towards the proposed Conrail acquisition. Major programmes include $279m for rail, sleepers, ballast and bridge replacement, up 4% from 1997, and $237m for rolling stock including 116 six-axle diesel ...
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Products In Brief
AEA Technology has supplied its accelerometer-based RideMon ride monitoring system to British train operator South West Trains. On-board equipment uses GPS to record the exact location of track giving rise to poor ride quality, and passes the information to a control centre where maps to assist rectification are produced on ...
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In Brief
n On January 29 the Panama congress formally approved the award of a 25-year concession to rehabilitate and operate the country’s railway, in exchange for 5% of gross revenue. A consortium led by Kansas City Southern plans to invest US$70m over the next two years to develop a trans-isthmus container ...
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Flatter and brighter screen
Ferrograph has entered into a partnership agreement with Fujitsu Electronics to supply plasma flat screen systems in Britain. The standard 21 inch panel has been joined by a 42 inch screen (right), offering a wider choice of configuration.Plasma screens last twice as long as cathode ray tube screens, having a ...
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Jernbaneverket buys multi-function recording car
INTRO: Norway’s infrastructure authority is developing with MerMec a self-propelled car that can record track geometry and rail profiles at 200 km/h, as well as static and dynamic measurement of the catenaryBYLINE: Dr Tom Hultgreen Norwegian National Rail AdministrationOCTOBER 4 1998 sees the introduction of 200 km/h trains in Norway ...
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Turnout carrier goes to Spain
DESEC has supplied a TL70 tracklayer to infrastructure maintenance contractor TECSA, for track and turnout renewal work on the Renfe network in northern Spain. The TL70’s straddle carrier allows the correct geometry to be maintained when handling turnouts.DESEC Ltd, FinlandReader Enquiry Number 141
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Channel Tunnel Rail Link concession collapses
In an emergency statement to the House of Commons late on January 28, Britain's Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, said London & Continental Railways had notified him at 20.00 that it could not finance the Channel Tunnel Rail Link to London. The day before, LCR had asked for a further ...
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WCML tilting trains closer
BRITISH inter-city operator Virgin Rail announced on February 13 that it had chosen a preferred bidder to supply 225 km/h tilting trains for its West Coast main line between London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. Fiat Ferroviaria and GEC Alsthom will negotiate a £1bn package to provide around 60 seven-car ...
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CN to reach the Gulf
CANADIAN National announced on February 10 that it had agreed a US$2·4bn merger with US railroad Illinois Central, in a move to create ’a seamless north-south network from all major markets in Canada through Chicago and Detroit to the Gulf of Mexico.’ CN President & CEO Paul Tellier said the ...
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Konkan line completed
JANUARY 26 saw the start of through passenger services between Mumbai and Mangao, marking the formal completion of India’s Konkan Railway. Launched in 1989, the 760 km coastal corridor serving the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kuerla has been built by the autonomous Konkan Railway Corp using a mix ...
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Third concession imminent
THE CONCESSION to operate Mexico’s 1479 km Southeast Railway, linking Mexico City with the ports of Veracruz and Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf of Mexico, was due to go out to tender last month. The government announced on January 30 that two consortia had already expressed interest in the last of ...
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Rolling stock investment continues
During 1998 SNCF will spend Fr4·5bn on the purchase of new rolling stock, of which Fr300m will be contributed by the régions towards the cost of regional multiple units.The last seven of the 146 dual-system Sybic Bo-Bo electric locos are due to be delivered from GEC Alsthom’s Belfort works by ...
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Next shinkansen corridors picked
JAPAN’s state owned JR Construction Corp announced on February 3 that it had selected routes for shinkansen extensions to Nagasaki and Sapporo (below). This paves the way for the start of environmental assessment, but construction is not envisaged for some years.The Nagasaki line will leave the Kyushu Shinkansen to Kagoshima ...
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COURSES
London, Great BritainMarch 23 - April 18 1998Second Railway Infrastructure Engineering & Management Course. Railway Industry Association, 6 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E6JP, Great Britain.Fax: +44 171 821 1640Ångelholm, SwedenContinuous Banverket Railway Training Centre courses on aspects of railway operation and maintenance. Banskolan, S-262 52 ??ngelholm, Sweden.Fax: +46 431-442021
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Measurement of irregularities underpins grinding criteria
INTRO: Rail grinding to remove corrugations helps to ensure a high quality of track, but it is important to ensure that the process does not introduce its own irregularities. Advanced measurement techniques will help to refine acceptable quality standardsBYLINE: Stuart L Grassie, J D Smith, and Martin Saxon *THE PRINCIPAL ...
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Network modelling simplifies infrastructure data management
INTRO: German Railway is currently automating the administration of its network infrastructure data using the DB-GIS geographical information systemGERMANY’s rail network - like others in Europe - is undergoing a fundamental transition from a state-protected monopoly into a competitive market-oriented transport provider. Driven by a political desire to boost rail ...
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JLE delayed
LONDON Underground confirmed on February 9 that the start of public services on the £2·1bn Jubilee line extension from Green Park to Stratford would be postponed to ’the spring of 1999’. LU Managing Director Dennis Tunnicliffe said the delay resulted from problems with the moving-block signalling designed to achieve a ...
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Engineers under pressure
’The cost of freight must be cut by 50% - and then by 50% again’ was the challenge set by Lyn Fairbrother, Managing Director of the European Railway Research Institute, at its second interactive conference in Paris on February 4-5, organised in conjunction with the Association of American Railroads.The first ...