All Railway Gazette International articles in October 1999 – Page 3

  • News

    Cold clean carbodies

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    CAR BODY design is set for radical change. Since the earliest days of railways, rolling stock has been fabricated using ’hot and dirty’ manufacturing processes. Now the days of welding large metal structures are numbered, and they are set to give way to ’cold and clean’ processes like bonding, bolting ...

  • News

    Subte car order placed

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    BUENOS AIRES metro concessionaire Metrovías has ordered 16 five-car EMUs from Alstom Transport to re-equip Line A between Plaza de Mayo and Primera Junta. The deal is valued at 186m euros, and the first deliveries are due 18 months after the contract has been signed.The stainless steel cars are to ...

  • News

    First capacity review by SSRA

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    THE WEST Midlands region surrounding Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city after London, has been selected for the first network capacity review to be undertaken by the ’shadow’ Strategic Rail Authority. Pending legislation to establish the SRA formally, staff of the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and the British Railways Board ...

  • News

    CVRD to buy FCA

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    LAST MONTH Brazilian mining group Companhia Vale do Rio Doce announced that it had reached agreement to take over Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica, in which it already holds a 12·5% stake. With the backing of its parent steel conglomerate CSN, which also owns 12·5%, CVRD will pay R$218m for the 75% stake ...

  • News

    Lounges target business market

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    IN THEIR continuing efforts to increase ridership as subsidy levels decline, Britain’s inter-city train operators are paying particular attention to the lucrative first class market by offering improved facilities for business travellers. Virgin Trains, holder of the West Coast franchise, opened new first class lounges at Manchester Piccadilly and Stoke-on-Trent ...

  • News

    Passenger in Brief

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    n Swiss Federal Railways and tour operator Kuoni have signed a co-operation agreement to develop rail tourism in Europe. SBB is to take a stake in Kuoni-owned Railtour Suisse and Kuoni will invest in the SBB subsidiary RailAway. To secure a larger share of the short breaks and leisure travel ...

  • News

    Steel sleeper breakthrough

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    Up to now, steel sleepers have typically been used in developing countries where speeds are modest, the climate is dry, wood is vulnerable to termites, and track circuits are short if they exist at all. Steel is normally more expensive than wood or concrete, and the perception has been that ...

  • News

    Boxtel rebuild

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    Work on a new station building for Boxtel in the Netherlands began on September 9, undertaken by NS Railinfrabeheer as part of a programme to quadruple the Boxtel - Eindhoven route. The original station building, dating from 1872 and situated on an island platform, was demolished in July last year. ...

  • News

    Car Care prolongs body life

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    Wagons carrying iron ore or coal are susceptible to rapid deterioration of the body due to corrosion and abrasion. Repairs to carbon steel bodies may be needed after as little as four years, and they rarely last beyond 16 to 20 years6. In South Africa, Spoornet’s coal wagons operating on ...

  • News

    R&D optimises stainless-steel ore car bodies

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    INTRO: Faced with replacing half the bodies of its 2224 car fleet over five years, BHP Iron Ore worked with Lynx Engineering to develop an innovative design which not only boosts fuel efficiency but also cuts substantially the whole life cost of buying and maintaining rolling stockBYLINE: Mike Moynan, Alex ...

  • News

    Deli reconstruction blitz

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    Hungarian State Railways started a six-week renovation programme at Budapest Deli on August 30, with many services diverted to other stations. Funded from MAV’s HF11bn capital investment programme for 1999, the HF550m blitz includes platform reconstruction and rail renewals.

  • News

    Berlin interchange renewed

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    ANYONE who visited Friedrichstraße station in Berlin before the Iron Curtain fell would barely recognise it today. Last month German Railway completed a four-year rebuilding programme of this major interchange, and the grim building where east and west were strictly segregated - with the eastern platforms only accessible under the ...

  • News

    Rio governor backs metro

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    ANTHONY GAROTINHO, Governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, has approved a funding package for a short extension of metro Line 1 in the city’s Copacabana district. The deal clears the way for concessionaire Opportrans to start work on the 760m extension from the present Cardeal Arco Verde terminus ...

  • News

    TER autorails arrive

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    NOVEMBER 28 will see the start of revenue operation with French National Railways’ first Class X73500 lightweight diesel railcars. The ’Autorail TER’ units are due to enter service on the Strasbourg - Molsheim - St Dié line in Alsace. They will also replace bus services between Tours and Chinon in ...

  • News

    Corridor IV upgrade approved

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    THE CZECH government has approved the upgrading of CD’s north-south Corridor IV as part of its transport development strategy for 2000-10. The Decin - Praha - Horni Dvoriste route is to be rebuilt by 2005, taking priority over Corridor III linking Cheb, and Petrovice u Karviné (RG 6.95 p379).Over the ...

  • News

    Sir Alastair sets ground rules

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    RENEGOTIATION of passenger franchises awarded three years ago by Britain’s last Conservative government has been on the agenda since Labour came to power in May 1997, but only now are firm ground rules emerging. They were spelled out in two speeches on September 15 and 17 by Sir Alastair Morton, ...

  • News

    Alaska airport update

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    Tenders have been called for design of a new Alaska Railroad station as part of a US$200m reconstruction of Anchorage airport. The elevated station will have a 100 m long covered platform and a three storey building with a waiting room accommodating up to 250 people. The station would be ...

  • News

    Marmaray loan agreement signed

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    TURKEY: Minister of State Recep Onal and Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura signed a loan agreement in Ankara on August 19 releasing the first US$117m tranche of funding for the cross-Bosporus rail link. This follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed on March 26 under which Japan's Overseas Economic Co-operation ...

  • News

    Acela delayed

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    just as we publish our latest World Speed Survey (p659), which finds that the USA is one of only two countries where train performance has worsened in the last decade, comes news that the launch of 240 km/h Acela Express services on the Northeast Corridor will be delayed. On September ...

  • News

    Nordic Rail ’99 focuses on Europe

    1999-10-01T10:00:00Z

    THE FIRST two Nordic Rail events in 1995 and 1997 were aimed at the railway industry in the Nordic region. In both cases, a conference was matched with a small trade exhibition. The next event being held in J