All News articles – Page 470
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News
Intelligence
Australia: Westrail has been prosecuted by Worksafe Western Australia for failing to provide automatic train protection at Hines Hill crossing loop; two people died after a National Rail driver failed to stop at a red signal in January 1996.Formal approval has been given for National Rail to compete with V/Line ...
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Izmir LRT to open next year
INTRO: Faced with worsening traffic congestion, Turkey’s third largest city has embarked upon the construction of a light rail network that will eventually total 50 km. Under a turnkey contract awarded to the ABB-Yapi Merkezi-Adtranz consortium, the first 11·5 km is scheduled to open during 1998 BYLINE: Lennart GunnarssonProject ManagerAdtranz ...
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The VAT lady sings
ENLIVENING the closing minutes of ICM's conference on Managing Privatised Railways in London on January 16 was a chilling dissertation by Celia Brennen of KPMG on the looming horrors of Value Added Tax. January 1 1997 saw the expiry of a derogation which legitimised a long-established practice in some European ...
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News
Letters
Green issuesSir - Articles in your November 1996 issue on train noise raise the issue of ’greens’ causing railway operators excessive costs, although they fail conspicuously to complain so vociferously about road noise. Here in the US the words are the same, the melody just a bit different. Too many ...
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ZW track machines load themselves
Plasser & Theurer has developed the ZW range of compact self-loading track maintenance machines, designed for use on regional and urban railways. Each of the four ZW models is equipped with four hydraulic jacks which raise the machine clear of the rails, allowing a flatbed road trailer to be positioned ...
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Market
Australia: SRANSW has called tenders for technical support in its timetable planning and train control activities over three years.Belgium: Siemens has won a DM28·5m contract to modernise marshalling yard control equipment at an Antwerpen yard, including MSR32 radio-control equipment for shunting locos.Brazil: CPTM and Renfe have signed a technical co-operation ...
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Metro spending
In addition to Pts19·31bn to be spent on Madrid’s infrastructure in 1997, mainly on metro extensions (RG 2.97 p76), the Catalan regional government has budgeted Pts22·7bn this year.This covers completion of Barcelona’s Line 2, ATP for Line 5 and substation upgrading on Line 1. Another Pts4·2bn will go on rolling ...
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Metros
Canada: Vancouver city authority has bought part of a 1·5 km of right-of-way through CP’s False Creek yard for a proposed light rail line between SkyTrain at Main Street and Science World.Great Britain: London Underground has invited tenders for its Connect network-wide radio communications Private Finance Initiative; prequalified are Gensys, ...
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On the way out
WHILST the Mercosur free trade zone may have revived freight traffic on Latin America’s railways, the same cannot be said for the residual passenger operations. Word reaches us from Uruguay that the pro-rail party in government since 1993 has been ousted by the administration which abandoned all services in 1988.Our ...
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Reform is in, privatisation is out
INTRO: After a false start last year, France’s rail network is being restructured. A new national agency will own the infrastructure, with French National Railways managing and operating the network and providing the transport service. Louis Gallois, appointed as President of SNCF last July, reveals his strategy to Murray HughesHughes: ...
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People
Mr Valeri J Kovalyov has been appointed Vice-Minister of Railways in Russia. Mr Michail P Likhachov has become President of Russian Railways’ Volga Region.Mr G K Malhotra has taken over as Chairman of Rail India Technical & Economic Services (Rites).Mr Christian Cochet has been named Director of the Cabinet of ...
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News
Publications
Jane’s World Railways 1996-97The 800-page 38th edition of this substantial tome retains the usual format, with manufacturers listings followed by a gazetteer of world railways. It is liberally illustrated with photographs, loading gauge diagrams and tables. There are 197 new entries, and over 400 new photographs and drawings, including some ...
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Sidetrack
Model passengersAs part of its drive to encourage courteous and safe behaviour, Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway Corp has presented gold pendants to 20 Model Passengers. The winners received their awards from four celebrities who star in MTR safety literature to demonstrate the ’proper modes of behaviour’ for the travelling ...
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The tender trap
ON FEBRUARY 12 Netherlands Transport Minister Annemarie Jorritsma rejected the concept of open competition for passengers on the national network until at least 2000 unless ’something extra is offered which would add value to existing services.’ She threw out an application by Lovers Rail to run rival services from Amsterdam ...
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1997 marks milestones for Øresund link
INTRO: Construction of the fixed road and rail link across the Baltic between Denmark and Sweden is well on course for opening in 2000.Chris Jackson took a look at progress TRACKLAYING is getting under way on the Danish approaches to the Øresund fixed link, which is due to provide road ...
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Akita shinkansen opens next month
JR EAST will launch direct shinkansen services on March 22 between Tokyo and Akita. Marketed as Komachi, they will be formed of Series E3 trainsets (RG 10.95 p663) running over the Tohoku shinkansen as far as Morioka and then on the regauged Tazawako line from Morioka to Omagari and Akita.Of ...
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First phase of TGV Est approved
FRENCH Prime Minister Alain Juppé announced on December 23 that construction of the first phase of the long-planned TGV Est project will start in 1998. With the declaration of public utility agreed in May 1996, the way is now clear for SNCF to proceed with detailed design and land acquisitions.Although ...
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Channel Tunnel Rail Link gets Royal Assent
ON December 18 the Act authorising construction of the 108 km Channel Tunnel Rail Link to St Pancras in London received Royal Assent. London & Continental Railways, which won the concession to finance and build CTRL in February 1996, is now free to acquire land, undertake detailed design, and prepare ...
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Storebaelt reverts to ballasted track
INTRO: Although slab track was originally to have been laid in the Storebaelt tunnel, failure to optimise the choice of track with the diameter of the tunnel at the design stage led to a compromise using ballasted trackBYLINE: Palle ReenbergProject Manager, TrackDSB Banetechnik StorebaeltDANISH STATE Railways was appointed by A/S ...
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Quality initiatives bear fruit
On December 23 Jean Boutanquoi, Director of SNCF’s Ile-de-France commuter business, presented the first results of quality initiatives introduced last June after a survey of customer opinion. They are focused on personal safety, punctuality, passenger information and ticket retailing.At the end of December, the first 170 of 240 extra personnel ...