All News articles – Page 67
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NewsHigh speed scramble
USA: As expected, the decision by the Obama administration to allocate $8bn of stimulus funding for high speed rail development, followed by $5bn from the transport budget over the next five years, has triggered a flood of interest across the country. Earlier this year the federal government invited proposals ...
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NewsDB assault forces Eurostar reform
EUROPE: Five years after the collapse of Project Jupiter, another attempt has begun to transform Eurostar from an unincorporated tri-national partnership into a single coherent entity. The operator confirmed last month that negotiations were underway to position the business ready for the introduction of competition in the international passenger sector ...
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NewsRZD approves Finnish freight joint venture
EUROPE: The Russian Railways board has given the go -ahead for a planned joint venture between its First Freight Company subsidiary and Finnish national railway VR. An equally-owned joint-stock company is to be incorporated under Finnish law, and will be responsible for marketing and organising rail freight services between ...
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NewsBanerjee warns of tighter times
INDIA: Internally-generated funding is likely to fall sharply this year, according to the Indian Railways budget for 2009-10 presented on July 3 by recently-appointed Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. Noting the ‘continuing trend of recession’, she announced ‘more realistic’ projections than those set by her predecessor Lalu Prasad in his interim ...
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NewsSiemens railway test site equipped for Galileo trials
GERMANY: Eight 'pseudolite' signal generators which are being installed at Siemens Mobility's Wegberg-Wildenrath railway test centre will allow practical trials of railway applications of the Galileo satellite navigation system before the real signals are available in 2013. Signal generators on 50 m masts will provide a Galileo signal across ...
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NewsFirst CityRail double-deckers delivered
AUSTRALIA: The double-deck commuter trains being built for Sydney under the Reliance Rail PPP contract were officially named 'Waratah' when Minister for Transport David Campbell unveiled four pre-production cars at Newcastle on July 29. Waratah is a shrub native to southeast Australia, and the floral emblem of New South Wales. ...
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NewsPointers August 2009
Following an unsuccessful first round of tendering, Arica port authority EPA expects on August 25 to announce its preferred bidder for a contract to restore the 205 km of the Arica - La Paz Railway between the Chilean port and the Bolivian border (RG 1.09 p7). Five bidders including Comsa ...
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NewsIndustry News in Brief
Engineering consultancy Buro Happold has opened a Hong Kong office to develop its business in the Asia Pacific region. Its first contract is with an Aecom-Aedas joint venture for the West Kowloon Terminus of the proposed Express Rail Link. ‘Rapid growth in China and Hong Kong is being accompanied by ...
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NewsWheelset troubles strike again
GERMANY: Passengers turning up for S-Bahn services in Berlin on July 20 were confronted with a drastically reduced timetable. S-Bahn Berlin GmbH had been forced to withdraw a huge proportion of its rolling stock fleet, leaving just 165 of its 630 two-car units operational. Under the emergency timetable, 19 stations ...
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NewsLocomotives get less hungry
EFFICIENCY: More than 2·3 billion litres of fuel a year would be saved if every train in North America were to be fitted with GE Transportation's Trip Optimizer, the supplier believes. The launch customer for the energy management package is Canadian Pacific, which is to fit it to 200 locomotives ...
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NewsPlanning for growth
SOUTH AFRICA: Putting forward his budget in July, Minister of Transport S’bu Ndebele said the government is spending R25bn over the medium term to stabilise and upgrade passenger rail services. R14bn is allocated for infrastructure and rolling stock, the rest for operations. Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa CEO ...
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NewsShunting locomotive upgrade underway
SWITZERLAND: SBB's Biel workshop rolled out the first of 23 SBB Cargo Tm IV light shunting locomotives which are being rebuilt as type Tm 232 on August 4. A prototype rebuild was completed in 2007 before the start of the modernisation programme, which aims to extend the life of ...
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NewsGrease in the right place
LUBRICATION: Turnout sliding joint lubrication can prove ineffective if the grease gets pushed out during the first few operations. The automatic lubrication system from SPX Rail Systems injects the grease into the centre of the slide interface, guaranteeing effective lubrication with no need for manual intervention for six months to ...
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NewsStrategic wins help in difficult times
STADLER: Two strategically important rolling stock contracts were won during 2008, when Swiss-based Stadler Rail Group recorded consolidated turnover of SFr1·07bn. Though turnover was down from SFr1·24bn the previous year, the ‘development of the order book was particularly pleasing’ last year, with its highest-ever total order value of SFr2·6bn ensuring ...
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NewsMontréal's Windsor Station sold to Cadillac Fairview
CANADA: On August 4 Canadian Pacific Railway announced the C$86m sale of the Windsor Station office complex in Montréal to The Cadillac Fairview Corp. Now designated a National Historic Monument, Windsor Station was built in 1887-89 as both a station and Canadian Pacific's head office. Passenger services now use ...
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NewsRobots to cut train delays
FIRE FIGHTING: UK defence technology company QinetiQ has been awarded a contract to provide remotely-operated vehicles able to enter unsafe environments to search for acetylene gas cylinders at fire sites near rail routes in London. The initiative aims to reduce the disruption to services caused by the imposition of ...
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NewsChina Gateway construction launched
KAZAKHSTAN: President Nazarbayev formally launched construction of the China Gateway Railway with a ceremony in Zhetigen on August 3. Providing a second rail link to China, the 293 km broad-gauge line will run from Zhetigen to Korgas where there will be facilities for transhipping freight to and from a 295 ...
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NewsCork - Midleton commuter line open for business
IRELAND: A full commuter service between Midleton and Cork began on August 4, following the inauguration of an introductory service on the re-opened line by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey on July 30. The minister had launched the €75m rehabilitation of the 10 km Glounthaune - Midleton section of ...
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NewsVenezuela rail construction contract agreed
VENEZUELA: China Railway Engineering Corp's Venezuelan subsidiary is to build the planned railway between Anaco and Tinaco under an agreement reached with state railway IFE and the Ministry of Public Works & Housing on July 30. The deal is worth US$7·5bn, making it one of the largest overseas contracts ...