All News articles – Page 446
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News
QR builds on record traffic
INTRO: Last year Queensland Rail carried well over 100 million tonnes of freight on its 1067mm gauge network and is still investing heavily to meet surging demand. QR’s Chief Executive Vince O’Rourke discussed his plans with Murray Hughes in AustraliaLOOKING back on a year when Queensland Rail carried record ...
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One-Stop-Shops in business
The first Trans-European Rail Freight Freeway train, the Bel-Italia, left Muizen yard in Belgium at 01.51 on January 12 and was due in Lyon at 13.14, having covered 800 km at an average of just over 70 km/h including stops at Arlon, Luxembourg and Thionville for crew or locomotive changes. ...
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Buyers will be spoilt for choice
INTRO: Privatisation of Australia’s railways looks set to bound forward this year. Mark Carter of Rail 2000 assesses the pictureANY ASSESSMENT of current railway developments in Australia must conclude that 1998 is shaping up to be the ’year of the privatised railway’. Aspiring railway barons are likely to be spoilt ...
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Intermodal cane lines re-equip
NARROW GAUGE sugar cane railways in Cuba, Indonesia and elsewhere almost always give the impression of being on their last legs. Images abound of antique steam locomotives struggling against the onslaught of the ubiquitous lorry as the run-down networks eke out the last years of a precarious existence. Not so ...
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OSE orders low-floor cars
HELLENIC Railways Organisation announced on January 6 that it had ordered 29 GTW2/6 low-floor articulated diesel railcars from Adtranz and Stadler AG of Switzerland to modernise and expand the Athens suburban fleet before the city hosts the 2004 Olympic Games.Valued at SFr120m, the order covers 17 metre-gauge units for the ...
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CFM renovation
MOZAMBIQUE Ports & Railways has launched a US$26m programme to renovate its northernmost branch line, running from the Nacala corridor at Cuamba to the town of Lichinga in Niasa province. Work is already under way on refurbishing the transit corridor from the port of Nacala to the Malawi border at ...
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Tunnellers chosen
LONDON & Continental Railways announced on January 15 that it had chosen preferred contractors for two of the main tunnelling contracts for the 108 km Channel Tunnel Rail Link.The bigger of the two deals covers the 5·4 km twin tunnels from Barking to Dagenham, known as London Tunnels East. Preferred ...
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Tariff cuts help to extend concession
Terms agreed by the French and British governments on December 19 for extending Eurotunnel’s concession by 34 years include a substantial reduction in the cost of sending Anglo-German rail freight through the Channel Tunnel. This is the first time Eurotunnel has agreed to vary tariffs set out in the Railway ...
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CP launches EMU fleet renewal
PORTUGUESE Railways is planning to call tenders for up to 100 three-car 25 kV 50Hz EMUs. They would operate northern routes currently being electrified, and replace 1957-built EMUs on Lisboa suburban services. CP is also looking at a mid-life interior refurbishment of its 2100 and 2200 series EMUs following the ...
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Dallas speed-up
WITH ridership soaring, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board approved on December 10 a financial plan to accelerate the construction of two light rail extensions. The single-track lines to Garland, Richard and Plano will be doubled from the outset and opened in phases as they are ready.Blue line trains should ...
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DB to be restructured
GERMAN Railway’s Supervisory Board has endorsed plans to implement a further stage of restructuring from January 1 1999. Briefing senior managers in December, Chairman Johannes Ludewig said that ’we have not yet reached the halfway point’ in the reform programme, which is likely to occupy 10 years from start to ...
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Dock line development
Heads of agreement for a 25 km north-south rail service in Buenos Aires have been signed by the Argentinian government, the city administration and suburban concessionaire Ferrovías, which hopes to complete the first phase of the Tren del Este project from Aristóbulo del Valle to Caminito within 12 months ...
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Dismantled by robot
CENTRAL Japan Railway has installed equipment in a rolling stock depot at Osaka that automates the process of dismantling shinkansen bogies in preparation for maintenance work.The equipment comprises a six-axis articulated general purpose robot with a bogie positioner and a range of tools including position detectors, socket wrenches, and a ...
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JR-East seeks ’lean and flexible’ EMU
EAST JAPAN Railway has started planning its next generation of commuter trainsets for Tokyo suburban services to follow the Series 209 ’half-life’ EMUs introduced five years ago. An experimental prototype will be developed over the next two years, with series production starting around 2003.The Series 209 launched on the Yamanote ...
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Ringsted expansion launched
DANISH rail infrastructure authority Banestyrelsen launched a public consultation on January 12 into options for increasing capacity on the 64 km København - Ringsted main line running west from the capital. The Folketing passed a law last May authorising the start of planning for the project.With the opening of the ...
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Motorail expansion
GERMAN Railway subsidiary DB AutoZug is to expand its motorail services next summer, with new destinations including Fréjus on the C
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Exporail returns to Hong Kong
INTRO: Exporail (Asia) 98 is taking place at the Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Centre from February 17 to 19. Over 100 exhibitors from 18 countries will display products and services for rolling stock and infrastructureTHE third Exporail (Asia) event returns to Hong Kong, where this exhibition of railway technology ...
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Industry Extra
Great Britain: On December 23 FirstBus plc shareholders approved a change of name to FirstGroup plc, reflecting the widening scope of its transport operations with the Great Eastern rail franchise.Switzerland: Stadler Group has bought the remaining 30% of Stadler Altenrhein from Adtranz subsidiary Schindler Waggon.